The Dower House

Though a suburb of Edinburgh for many years, Corstorphine, where I live, has a proud history going back to 1128, and thankfully amongst all the 1930-50s bungalows and the fact the main road road west out of the city interjects it, it has still managed to retain a fair bit of its history, including The Dower House. The Dower House and grounds can be traced back to 1587 when it was in the ownership of James Ingles. The name Dower House probably originates from J.P. Wood's Draft History of Corstorphine Parish, (1792) in which the author says when speaking of the old castle "remains were carried away probably to build Mr. Mitchelson's house that was the residence of the Lord Forresters".

Corstorphine gives its name to its own unique tree species, the Corstorphine Sycamore (Acer pseudoplatanus Corstorphinense). The leaves are bright yellow when it first appears, several weeks before most sycamores. The original tree was planted c. 1600, forming part of an avenue leading to Corstorphine Castle (long gone with parts of the castle used to build the above, Dower House). At its base, the drunken philanderer James Baillie, 2nd Lord Forrester, was murdered by his lover in 1679.

It is also suggested that Lord Forrester buried treasure beneath the tree. This remarkable heritage tree fell in a gale in 1998 and its shattered stump finally died in 2005.

Yes, can you tell I like history. Anyway, it is the weekend now, enjoy!