Pitsligo Castle:Through the garden gate

Pitsligo Castle from Barnyards. The gardens are on the left -  the north, seaward side - and are surrounded by sheltering walls.

The main entrance to the castle, this has a datestone of 1656 which may be either the date of construction or of the coming of age of the 2nd Lord Pitsligo.

The main entrance opens into what was the West Garden and Pleasance. The small gateway leading through to the North  West Garden is visible in the garden wall. The Pleasance was once divided by a long gone cross wall close to the point at which the ground falls away to the building.

Rufus peering through the garden gate.  The gateway is faced with dressed red sandstone blocks on the Pleasance side only, the lintel is not thought to be original. There is evidence of several holes for bolts and other fittings cut into the sandstone. One may be seen just above R's tail.

A group of  apparently aged trees survives in the NW corner of the NW garden. From right to left these are a  Catshead apple tree, laburnum and elders. Interestingly there is a large colony of Arum Lily, also known as Lords and Ladies, spreading from under the apple tree to the elders, densest in the angle of the walls.  David Welch describes Arum Lily as being 'occasional, often near buildings and policies so probably introduced or escaped'.The only other Arum Lily Grey Granite is aware of in growing in the area is across the road at Barnyards. It would seem likely that it is an off shoot of this large castle garden group.

Arum Lily, (Arum maculatum). 

Historically arum lily was used as a substitute for arrow root and was used to stiffen ruffs. It is an appealing thought that perhaps Lord Pitsligo's ruffs were starched using the direct ancestors of the plants still growing in what was his garden.

A line of elm trees growing on a slight bank in the NW Garden runs parallel to the wall  separating it from the  NE Privy  Garden. 

A bird's nest in a hole in the West wall of the NW garden close to the junction with the Pleasance wall. 

Looking to the North West Garden from the Privy Garden towards the laburnum in the NW corner. The apple tree in the foreground is probably a Newton Wonder and is one of a group of fruit trees including plums , cherries, a pear tree and other apples which survive close to the North and East walls. There is considerable evidence from nails in the walls that originally the trees were trained against the walls. The nails are from different dates from the 17th to early 19th centuries, which along with the varieties of trees present today, many of which were introduced early in the 20th century, suggests that the orchard trees were regularly replaced. 

Newton Wonder blossom. 
This variety was introduced around 1870 and widely planted from the 1890s onwards, particularly in the 1920s and 30s. Of the present trees only the Catshead  shows evidence of having been wall trained.

Writing in the New Statistical Account  (1845), the parish minister, Rev.Edward Humes aid of Pitsligo Castle  'The ground around is planted with young wood, and the garden still yields some of the finest fruit to be found in the county.'