Restalrig Castle (1)
The pleasant (unless you're a duck) scene depicted here hasn't changed much since this engraving was made - except you're not allowed to shoot the ducks here anymore! While pleasantly bucolic it may look, it's actually surrounded on all sides by Edinburgh suburbs these days.
The building is more often called Lochend House, but I will be sticking with Restalrig, not just because I am inherently stubborn, but because the family that lived here were important players on the national stage in their time and they were the Logans "of Restalrig." In other words the name Restalrig is more historically important than Lochend. The name Lochend House really only applies to the part of the building that was built c.1820.
The gentleman standing among the reeds helping keep the duck population down to manageable levels, is standing beside Lochend Loch in what is now called Lochend Park. Interestingly, at the north end of the loch there is a 16th century doocot, built to provide the castle with pigeon eggs and meat - presumably for when they ran out of ducks! It is known as the Plague Kiln because in 1564 it was used to burn the clothes and bedding of people that had been infected during an outbreak of bubonic plague.
Restalrig is often described as looking like a miniature Edinburgh Castle, because like its big brother, it is perched on top of an outcrop of volcanic rock.
Restalrig Castle (1)
The pleasant (unless you're a duck) scene depicted here hasn't changed much since this engraving was made - except you're not allowed to shoot the ducks here anymore! While pleasantly bucolic it may look, it's actually surrounded on all sides by Edinburgh suburbs these days.
The building is more often called Lochend House, but I will be sticking with Restalrig, not just because I am inherently stubborn, but because the family that lived here were important players on the national stage in their time and they were the Logans "of Restalrig." In other words the name Restalrig is more historically important than Lochend. The name Lochend House really only applies to the part of the building that was built c.1820.
The gentleman standing among the reeds helping keep the duck population down to manageable levels, is standing beside Lochend Loch in what is now called Lochend Park. Interestingly, at the north end of the loch there is a 16th century doocot, built to provide the castle with pigeon eggs and meat - presumably for when they ran out of ducks! It is known as the Plague Kiln because in 1564 it was used to burn the clothes and bedding of people that had been infected during an outbreak of bubonic plague.
Restalrig is often described as looking like a miniature Edinburgh Castle, because like its big brother, it is perched on top of an outcrop of volcanic rock.