Description of the Walled Garden in 1846
BELLE ASSEMBLÉE A Magazine of Literature and Fashion, July to December 1846
THE OLD HOUSE OF GRANTON, A Sketch, anonymous
……Pleasant it was, after two days and nights of the London steamer, after a sleep in which the tossing of the unstable ship had transferred itself mysteriously to the fixed four-poster of the Granton Hotel best bed-room; pleasant in truth, after all this, to come down on a fresh September morning to a hearty Scotch breakfast, and a magnificent view over the blue Firth of Forth, and the harvest-gilded hills of Fife…………
………..During breakfast the head waiter appeared, to inform us, with that grandiloquence so characteristic of the Scotch lower orders, that ladies and gentlemen residing at the Granton Hotel enjoyed the privilege of promenading the pier, without being mulcted, in the usual charges for that sea-side amusement.
” And what other privileges are enjoyed by the residents here ?” we not unnaturally inquired. The waiter paused, and by the sedate reflection of a few seconds refreshed his memory with this fact, which he graciously communicated to us—that we might be admitted to the garden of the hotel, situated on the grounds of Royston, near the Old House or Castle of Granton.
An old castle was an irresistible temptation, and forth we marched along the beach, in high glee, justly evoked by the lovely day and the lovely scene. I pity any one who can view the panorama of the Firth of Forth without the keenest emotions ………..
…….About one mile from the pier of Granton, we descried the castle, of which we had come in search. It is a fair average Scottish tower of the period, having the staircase in the corner of a court, and the apartments diverging on the three sides.
We sought in vain for an entrance, but found it necessary to repair to the garden of the hotel,(the Walled Garden of today) a large enclosure walled all around, at a little distance from the castle. Here we saw the head gardener, to whom we had been directed……..
………we followed him into the garden, which was cultivated richly and carefully, even to the old walls. What a little paradise it was! You could hear the soft plash of the waves upon the shingle, yet you saw nothing but flowers and green trees, and those hoary, melancholy ruins lifting their head to the blue sky. A fine orchard extended to the house of Royston (Caroline Park)……..