Dalmahoy
A former seat of the Earls of Morton, Dalmahoy House lies
1¼ miles (2 km) southeast of Ratho on the western edge of the City of
Edinburgh Council Area. This fine baronial mansion was built in 1725 by
architect William Adam (1689 - 1748) for George Dalrymple, Lord Dalmahoy
(1680 - 1745). It was sold to James
Douglas, 14th Earl Morton c. 1750. The house
comprises three storeys arranged in seven bays. The east front retains its
sandstone details contrasted against harled walls, but the west front was
significantly altered in the 19th century. An additional wing was built in
1787 by Alexander Laing (d.1823) and an entrance porch was added to the
west front in 1830 by William Burn (1789 - 1870).
The house was restored and extended in 1990 as part of its conversion
to a luxury hotel, golf and country club. The hotel includes a sport and
leisure club, with swimming pool, sauna and gym.
The mansion is set in 405 ha (1000 acres) of wooded parkland in the
shadow of the Pentland Hills. It is still owned by the present earl of
Morton, but is let on a long lease.
(c) The Gazetteer for Scotland, used with permission.
It is to be assumed that the following is no longer true:
It may be mentioned that at Dalmahoy House, in the possession of the
Earl of Morton, is the Bible of his ancestor the Regent Morton, supposed
to be the only complete copy remaining of the original Scotch
Parliamentary Bible; it is a beautifully-printed folio, ornamented with
numerous emblematical devices, and, according to the notice in the title
page, was published at Edinburgh by order of James VI. in 1579. Here are
also preserved the keys found a few years ago, in the process of
draining Lochleven, as mentioned in the article on Kinross. They are
supposed, from strong circumstantial evidence, to be the identical keys
thrown into the loch by George Douglas, at the time of his assisting the
escape of Queen Mary; they are five in number, and held together by an
iron chain, and are now in the possession of Lord Morton. The same
nobleman has in the library at Dalmahoy the original warrant upon which
Mary was confined in Lochleven Castle, and also a letter of Knox, the
Reformer, to the lord of Lochleven, dated 31st March, 1570. The
incumbency of Ratho was at one time held by William Wilkie, denominated
by some biographers the "Scottish Homer." - From: 'Rabbit
Isle - Renfrewshire', A Topographical Dictionary of Scotland (1846), pp.
399-416. URL:
http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.asp?compid=43474 .
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