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Recollections
1.
George Smith
British Columbia, Canada - Dec 2004 |
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Saughton House
The building behind the three-arched
bridge in the engraving above is Saughton House. It was
demolished to make room for Broomhouse primary School.
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Saughton Hall
There was also a Saughton Hall, which
stood in 98 acres of land, built around mid-1600s, or perhaps
developed from an even earlier building. It was purchased by
Edinburgh Corporation in 1900 to be developed as a public park and
housing. The building became derelict and dangerous and was
demolished in 1952.
Further details can be found in a
Historic Monuments (Scotland) report of 1929 which also includes a
floor plan of the building. The report records that the
property remained in the family of Robert Baird (who was knighted
in 1695) from 1660 until the early 19th century.
It then became The Institute for
the Recovery of the Insane, described as "a private lunatic
asylum exclusively designed for the reception of Patients of the
higher ranks".
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Saughton Hall
Thank you to George Smith for
providing the details above, and also for his reminiscences of the
1930s. George describes Saughton Hall as:
"a derelict building which teased my juvenile imagination.
It was turreted and reminiscent of Dracula or perhaps The
Munsters. I know it was owned by the Baird family (my mother was a
Baird). The building was used as accommodation during the 1908 Exhibition."
George Smith, British Columbia, Canada - Dec 2004 |
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Recollections
2.
Ken
Smith
Calgary, Alberta, Canada |
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Saughton Hall
Ken Smith of Calgary, Alberta, Canada recalls
a story of an apparition:
"a 'white lady', which
caused a stir at a concert in the park some time just before
Saughton
Hall was demolished by the Royal Engineers and the Fire Brigade in
1952"
Ken Smith, Calgary, Alberta, Canada, Feb 2005
Ken is not related to George Smith, above |
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Recollections
3.
Matt Rooney
New Cumnock, Ayrshire, Scotland |
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Saughton Prison
Thank you to Matt Rooney for the following recollections.
Matt wrote: |
Picking Potatoes
"My recollections
of Saughton, while working as a driver for
William Stewart's coaches of Dalkeith, were of arriving at the prison very early to collect a
few prisoners and their warders and take them to the 'tatties' .
The furthest we
went was round about Berwick. The prisoners were sort of
trustee's, or they didn't have long to go before the end of their
sentences, so they were allowed out to work on selected farms, where
they helped to lift the tatties,
I do remember
taking one of the trustees into a local village for messages for the
farmer's wife. The farmer fed them each day. All I had to do
was drop them off, and either myself or another driver would collect them
and take them back to Saughton."
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The Journey
Home
"Another time I
was at one farm and the prisoners and the warders were late in finishing
up for the night. I had to take a shortcut along Princes Street,
which was normally taboo at that time as the route was mapped out to
avoid the City at all costs, but it was unavoidable.
Now the buses
that we the Drivers drove were the old type with wind-down handles for
the windows, so we were told by the boss to unscrew these, so that the
prisoners couldn't open them. But, within 2 minutes of knowing
that they would be going along Princes Street they had all the windows
open and were whistling at all the girls and ladies in the street.
Fortunately, none
of them attempted to escape, as they could easily have disappeared into
the crowds. Needless to say, that never happened again."
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Matt Rooney: New
Cumnock, Ayrshire
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Recollections
4.
David Welsh
East Lothian, Scotland |
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Thank you to David
Welsh who wrote: |
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Move from Pilton
"My family moved to Saughton Mains
Loan from the Pilton prefabs in 1966 and lived there until 1981
when I got married." |
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Tony Demarco's
"There was a great bunch of kids there
and we spent our nights sitting on the wall outside Tony Demarco's
chippy which, when it opened in 1971, charged the princely sum of
11p for a fish supper and 4p for a bag of chips.
Tony is my cousin and I occasionally
got treated to a freebie if I was lucky." |
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Local Shops
"The local shops which have now been
pulled down to make way for houses included:
- Joe Massey, the baker.
- Walsh's newsagent, where my
mum worked for a while.
- Gavin, the butcher." |
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Busy Bee
"Once I got to 18, I worked in the
Busy Bee pub along with several colourful characters. The
pub is still there, although looking a little run down these
days." |
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David Welsh, East Lothian: April 18, 2008 |
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