Scottish "park" walls

[pierre the shy]

Some questions about C18 Scottish terrain for those more knowledgeable about such things than me - with a view to period around 1685 - 1745.

1. From what I can gather all the '45 Jacobite rebellion battlefields had "park" walls somewhere on them. Do these represent the boundries of a particular lards/clans estates, or only mark the lards own particular "personal" estates?

2. When driving round Angus, Fife etc last year we came across a lot of quite high old stone walls along roads  etc - would these be "park" walls?

3. How substantial would "park" walls be height wise? are they always made of stone or so they use timber etc as well (too early for good old No 8 fencing wire  ).

4. Are Scots C18 rural farms and "great houses" (such as Col Gardeners estate adjacent to the Prestonpans battlefield), generally similar to other European buildings of the period?

5. Can anyone recommend any particular models from Total Battle Miniatures or Escenografia Epsilon that PM stock?

I'm about as "far across the water" as I can get from Scotland so any help appreciated 

 

[SV52]

First thing is that a 'park' in Scots can simply mean a field, so depending on where you are the fields could be bounded by dry-stane dykes (dry stone walls, i.e. built without the aid of mortar.)  Obviously stone was used because it was the most readily at hand material.  Other parts used hedges, banks, ditches, etc.  The 'park' is the land immediately surrounding the proprietors house.  There's an old Scots saying about someone 'viewing the parks' which is a tongue-in-cheek reference to a proud owner strolling around admiring their own garden.

The larger varieties usually form the boundaries of estates' land, if you follow them you'll more than likely happen upon an elaborate gateway with a gatehouse, which is the main entrance and a road leading directly to the 'big hoose'.  The larger the wall, the closer it is to the inner sanctum of the estate.  Further out the boundaries would be marked by the same means as any other field (park).

I'm no expert in 18th century colloquial architecture but what you tend to find is that aspiring persons would model their properties on the impressive structures they had seen on the European 'grand tour', or having seen great houses south of the border.  Scots farms like anywhere else can range from a one room 'black house' to structures akin to Hougoumont at Waterloo.  Large estates had what was known as the 'mains' which was the large home farm of the estate, the tenantry would have had much smaller establishments.  In the North-East of Scotland fermtouns are common, these are large establishments commonly of buildings surrounding a central yard.  The fermtoun housed the farm workers as well as the tenant or owner.

Hope this is of some help; punching these terms into Google should get plenty of info'.

[fsn]

Aye. Wot he said.

In Shetland, park walls are about 4' high (breast high) and made of dry stone - there being no trees on the islands. They're easy enough to maintain and allow for some shelter to the animals in periods of high wind (January to December). My grandfather did tell me that the gaps in the wall allowed the wind to blow through, but maybe he was just a poor drywaller.

There are some posh people who have mortared walls around their houses, but I've not seen anything so grand around a park. 

[Ithoriel]

A bastle (fortified farmhouse) and surrounding fermtoun from Glenochar in around 1600. Wouldn't look too much different 100 years later.



More on Glenochar here

The Escenografia Ukranian houses aren't too far off the fermtoun buidings though the walls should really be exposed stone rather than rendered.

[Leman]

Only the biggest of the Scottish lairds were called lards.

[paulr]

Tartan is looking more and more likely in my painting future

[fsn]

[Fenton]

Is that the family homestead?

[fsn]

I was born in the long white house in the upper middle of the picture.

[pierre the shy]

Only the biggest of the Scottish lairds were called lards.

Opps my spellings a bit off    Maybe they visited clan MacDonald frequently 

Thanks for all the replies...very helpful.

[Sunray]

Some questions about C18 Scottish terrain for those more knowledgeable about such things than me - with a view to period around 1685 - 1745.

1. From what I can gather all the '45 Jacobite rebellion battlefields had "park" walls somewhere on them. Do these represent the boundries of a particular lards/clans estates, or only mark the lards own particular "personal" estates?

2. When driving round Angus, Fife etc last year we came across a lot of quite high old stone walls along roads  etc - would these be "park" walls?

3. How substantial would "park" walls be height wise? are they always made of stone or so they use timber etc as well (too early for good old No 8 fencing wire  ).

4. Are Scots C18 rural farms and "great houses" (such as Col Gardeners estate adjacent to the Prestonpans battlefield), generally similar to other European buildings of the period?

5. Can anyone recommend any particular models from Total Battle Miniatures or Escenografia Epsilon that PM stock?

I'm about as "far across the water" as I can get from Scotland so any help appreciated 

 

Some questions about C18 Scottish terrain for those more knowledgeable about such things than me - with a view to period around 1685 - 1745.

1. From what I can gather all the '45 Jacobite rebellion battlefields had "park" walls somewhere on them. Do these represent the boundries of a particular lards/clans estates, or only mark the lards own particular "personal" estates?

I lectured on the socio economic history of GB and know a wee bit about the terms used for land.  In the 17th Century the word 'Park' meant the same in England and Scotland = land enclosed or reserved such as Windsor Great Park.  In the 18th Century however, all  enclosed land in Scotland was called 'park' or 'perk'.  Unenclosed cultivated land was simply called a field. The tradition of creating enclosed parks spread throughout Scotland due to the modern 18th Century practice of rotating crops and the need to restrain the grazing of sheep or cattle  

2. When driving round Angus, Fife etc last year we came across a lot of quite high old stone walls along roads  etc - would these be "park" walls?

3. How substantial would "park" walls be height wise? are they always made of stone or so they use timber etc as well (too early for good old No 8 fencing wire  ).

The high of the walls can relate to the nature of the animal being restrained.  Drystone walling is practised on most upland UK and Ireland- in lowland areas thick thorn hedges and ditches were created as enclosure. The stones are usually recovered from the ground where they were deposited by glacial action.  And yes, in 1745 these enclosed fields would have been known as parks.  Around the big estates of landed gentry you find very high walls. This is to keep the deer in, and the poachers out.  

4. Are Scots C18 rural farms and "great houses" (such as Col Gardeners estate adjacent to the Prestonpans battlefield), generally similar to other European buildings of the period?

Scottish great houses vary in period, social status  and location.  The fortified house such are mentioned above were a  distinct feature of the Borders area and built during the troubled Rever period.  Not so common to the rest of Scotland.  A solid farmhouse could be in stone three story with a  double gable  and slate roof. If you google "18th century Scottish farmhouses" who will get the range of images .  The common term for a farm and yard in Scotland is "Mains" which comes from the Norman term demesne.  In addition to the sturdy stone build house of the farmer there would be smaller cottages for herdsmen and labourers.  These could be thatched single story with an earthen floor.  In the highlands single story dwellings or  crofts were more common.    

5. Can anyone recommend any particular models from Total Battle Miniatures or Escenografia Epsilon that PM stock?

Suggest you have a look at the images and select what is most accurate to your needs.

I'm about as "far across the water" as I can get from Scotland so any help appreciated 

Hope this is helpful

 

[SV52]

Sorry Sunray, can't agree with some of your comments. 

The Scottish National Dictionary has  "Park, in the acceptation of the English law, is a large extent of ground inclosed and privileged for wild beasts of the chase, by royal grant, or by prescription. In Scotland, park has no such signification, the synonymous term being forest, whereby is meant a large tract of inclosed ground where deer are kept"

'The common term for a farm and yard in Scotland is "Mains" which comes from the Norman term demesne.'  It is indeed common in Scotland but refers to (in English terms) the 'home' farm, not just any farm. That's why on Ordnance Survey maps farms don't all have 'mains' in the name.  There is also a Gaelic root, ' Mànas' as in 'Mànas Fhionnghasg for Mains of Fingask', i.e. the home farm of Fingask Castle in Perthshire.

The Border structures you refer to are 'Bastle Houses', fortified farmhouses on both sides of the Border whose heyday was in the 16th century at the height of Border Reivers' activity. Colonel Gardner's Burnfoot House at Prestonpans was unlikely to have been a Bastle house.  It is described as a 'Detached House (17th century)', so it's walls were basically garden walls.

[d_Guy]

I was born in the long white house in the upper middle of the picture.

Interesting, and from where were you born?

This is a great thread btw. since I try to do 17th century Scotland (an Ireland) I am still trying to get a better feel for the look of the land and structures. This has been helpful - thanks all!

[Sunray]

Sorry Sunray, can't agree with some of your comments.  

The Scottish National Dictionary has  "Park, in the acceptation of the English law, is a large extent of ground inclosed and privileged for wild beasts of the chase, by royal grant, or by prescription. In Scotland, park has no such signification, the synonymous term being forest, whereby is meant a large tract of inclosed ground where deer are kept"

There is the de jury term and there is the de facto common use.  By the 1740s a park was used to describe enclosures- its a case where Wikipedia is not always right. I have seen it in too many  primary source Scots documents.   As you do when you research a doctorate.  Phrases like "three park lengths away"   Sorry
'The common term for a farm and yard in Scotland is "Mains" which comes from the Norman term demesne.'  It is indeed common in Scotland but refers to (in English terms) the 'home' farm, not just any farm. That's why on Ordnance Survey maps farms don't all have 'mains' in the name.  There is also a Gaelic root, ' Mànas' as in 'Mànas Fhionnghasg for Mains of Fingask', i.e. the home farm of Fingask Castle in Perthshire.
Yes the use has resorted to the home farm or main farmyard. Interesting you quote a Gaelic word.  I speak a little Ulster Gaelic and can communicate freely with the inhabitants of Lewis.  Again you have relied on Wikipedia.  Like all languages words are lifted from other tongues. Gaelic was no exception.   Can you find many Mains outside the Norman influence and settlement?  There also is primary source evidence of new farms in the 1800s being styled Mains.  What we may be getting is Gaelic speakers translating a Scots-Norman term into their own vernacular.    

The Border structures you refer to are 'Bastle Houses', fortified farmhouses on both sides of the Border whose heyday was in the 16th century at the height of Border Reivers' activity. Colonel Gardner's Burnfoot House at Prestonpans was unlikely to have been a Bastle house.  It is described as a 'Detached House (17th century)', so it's walls were basically garden walls.

Yes, I know.  My comment regarding  the Border Bastle was in response to an earlier entry on the thread- scroll back and you will see it.   

Now, the point of the thread.  Peter wants a model.  Timecast 7/005 put two together to give the double hipped roof, and you have a sturdy Scottish 18th century farm.

[SV52]

Yes, I know.  My comment regarding  the Border Bastle was in response to an earlier entry on the thread- scroll back and you will see it.   

Now, the point of the thread.  Peter wants a model.  Timecast 7/005 put two together to give the double hipped roof, and you have a sturdy Scottish 18th century farm.