Glassingall Mansion House, just North of Dunblane, was demolished in the months before my birth. I have seen photographs of it, and to my eyes, it looks to have been a Gothic pile. I prefer the simple symmetry and the domestic scale of ‘Old Glassingal’ a house that still stands and was said to have been the inspiration for the ‘House of Shaws’ in Kidnapped by Robert Louis Stevenson [though Cammo House, outside Edinburgh has also been given as the inspiration!]
The Gardens at Glassingall were once extensive: with fruit houses, glasshouses, walled gardens, parterres, orchards and woodlands.
At one time Drumdruills, the farm and orchard of my grandfather, was owned by Glassingall.
Andrew Barlas, born at Linnley in Forgandenny, was the Head Gardener.
One ornate feature from Glassingall survives: the Garden House:
However, the gardener, Andrew Barlas, was not so fortunate:
