Gardens & Landscape
The four acres of land around Baltersan earmarked for the development are presently laid out to crops and grazing. We know that historically there were gardens and orchards there when the castle was the main house of a small estate. Indeed, we even know the name of John Kennedy's gardener at Baltersan in the 16th century, one John MacMillan who died there in July, 1621.
As in all country houses, the gardener was one the two most important members of staff; the other being the cook who would rule the kitchen. Such was John MacMillan's importance that he was able to leave a Will with several legacies. What we do not know is what he grew in his garden, but we can have a fair idea from a 1559 inventory of the Castle of Sanquhar-Hamilton in Ayr ...
"2 large orchards and yards having 3 gates and planted with stands of hawthorn bushes, gooseberry bushes, redcurrant bushes, rose bushes, apple trees, plum trees, cherry trees, wild plum trees, almond trees, plane trees, birch trees, ash, hawthorn and other trees and provided with two ponds and enclosed by a stone wall, capped with lime."
Further evidence comes from Timothy Pont's 16th c. description of Baltersan as ...
"A stately fine house with gardens, orchards, parks and woods about it ..."
Moving forward one hundred years we find John Reid publishing Scotland's first gardening book, from which comes the quotation in the picture above. We have the rare opportunity three centuries later to re-discover a truth our ancestors knew all too well.
Baltersan's orchard in the 21st century
Charter evidence for Baltersan's orchards is contained in a Precept of Clare Constat by Alan, Commendator of Crossraguel, dated 28th March, 1574;
"The three merkland of Baltersan of old extent, with mansion and orchards, with a piece of meadow lying behind the said mansion on one side and the Lands of Dalchomie on the other side, and the meadow formerly called Lady of Row's meadow."
We can recreate that idyllic component of past country life. By good fortune, Ayrshire is home to Scotland's first specialist tree nursery at Auchinleck Estate, by Cumnock. It is there that John Butterworth produces fruit trees to rigorous official Organic Standards. Set at 300 feet above sea-level and amongst 300 acres of broad-leaved woodland, the small MAIL ORDER nursery also carries out research on the 40 Scottish-raised (and largely forgotten) varieties of fruit trees.
Mr Butterworth has produced a guide to growing apple trees in Scotland.
Apples in Scotland:
A practical guide to choosing and growing our favourite fruit
ISBN 1-904078-00-1
Further reading:
John MacMillan's Testament is in the National Archives of Scotland
ref. C/C/9/7/18 ff 3r-4r
John Reid's book of 1683, The Scots Gard'ner Published for the Climate of Scotland was reprinted by Mainstream Publishing Company (Edinburgh) Ltd in 1988, ISBN 1-85158-125-1.
The Scottish Gardener by Suki Urquhart ISBN: 9781841583631
Published in 2005 by Birlinn Ltd.
This lavishly illustrated book is a celebration of the diversity of Scottish gardens and gardeners, past and present.
http://www.birlinn.co.uk/book/catalog/S/
Early Scottish Gardens: A Writer's Odyssey by Sheila Mackay
Published by Polygon Edinburgh (Edinburgh University Press Ltd.) 2001
ISBN 0 7486 6254 5 (paperback)