LASSWADE, a parish, in the county of Edinburgh;
containing, with the village of Loanhead, and the former
quoad sacra district of Roslin, 502.5 inhabitants, of
whom 539 are in the village of Lasswade, 2| miles (W.
S. W.) from Dalkeith. This parish is supposed to have
derived its name from the situation of the church and
village in a well-watered pastoral district. Lasswade was
anciently much less extensive, now including the parishes
of Pentland and Melville, which were suppressed at the
Reformation. On the north lie the parishes of Colinton
and Liberton; on the east, those of Dalkeith, Newbattle,
Cockpen, and Carrington; on the south, the parish of
Penicuick; and on the west, Colinton, Glencross, and
Penicuick. The parish is about eight miles in length and
five miles in breadth, and of extremely irregular form,
comprising an area of ten square miles. Its surface, with
the exception of the Pentland district, is chiefly a level
tract of arable and pasture land in a high state ol cultivation,
abounding with scenery of unrivalled beauty, and
with features strikingly romantic. The loftiest of the
Pentland hills within the parish is Allermuir, which exceeds
1600 feet in height above the level of the sea. The
North Esk river flows through the parish, between precipitous
and richly-wooded banks, and is remarkable for
the picturesque character of the vale along which it pursues
its course. It winds round the ruins of the ancient
castle of Roslin, and near the mansion of Hawthornden,
and, intersecting the village of Lasswade and the pleasuregrounds
of Dalkeith, runs into the South Esk about a mile
below the Palace. That portion of the parish which was
for a time annexed to the church of Roslin is described
in the article on that place.
The SOIL is luxuriantly rich; and the tracts of moor
and wet moss that abounded in the southern parts have
been reclaimed, and brought into a good state of cultivation.
The lands are principally arable, producing excellent
crops of grain: the oatmeal of this place has
long been noted for its superior quality. The dairyfarms
are also under careful management, and the produce
forwarded chiefly to the Edinburgh market. Much
land is laid out in nurseries and gardens, yielding abundant
supplies of vegetables and fruits of all kinds for the
use of the city, to which great quantities of strawberries,
particularly, are sent daily in the season. The Pentland
hills are covered partly with heath, and in other parts
with grass affording excellent pasture; the meadows and
low-land pastures are exceedingly fertile. In this parish
the substrata are coal and limestone, with red sandstone,
freestone, and whinstone, the last a very good material
for the roads: the coal is extensively wrought in the
vicinity of Loanhead, and not less than 30,000 tons a
year are sent from the mines to Edinburgh. The annual
value of real property in Lasswade is £21,833.
Melr.Me Castle, the residence of Lord Viscount Melville,
is an elegant and spacious structure in the castellated
style, with circular towers, erected about the
close of the last century, on the site of an ancient house
said to have belonged to David Rizzio, secretary to Mary,
Queen of Scots. It is situated on the bank of the North
Esk, in an ample and richly- wooded demesne, and forms
a conspicuous and highly interesting object. George
IV., when visiting Scotland in 1822, was hospitably entertained
in this noble mansion. Haivthornden, the romantic
seat of Sir James Walker Drummond, built by
the poet Drummond, and incorpnrateii with the remains
of the baronial castle of that ancient family, stands on a
precipitous rock below Roslin, on the south bank of
the North Esk; and is remarkable for the numerous
artificial caverns beneath the mansion, and in various
parts of the rock. These, during the war with England
in the reign of Edward I., afforded secure shelter to the
adherents of Bruce, of whom Sir Alexander Ramsay,
concealing himself with his followers in these almost
inaccessible retreats, frequently sallied forth upon the
enemies of his country, whom he surprised and defeated
with great slaughter. The principal of the caverns are,
the King's Gallery, the King's Bedchamber, and others;
and in one of them, detached from the rest, and of
smaller dimensions, called the Cypress Grotto, Drummond
is said to have composed many of his poems. In
the court-yard is a deep dry well, from which a narrow
opening leads to a long subterraneous passage; on both
sides of the passage are various small apartments, and
below them some of larger dimensions, the entry to
which is lighted from a fissure in the rock. The house
is adorned with numerous ancient relics, and family and
other portraits, among which is a portrait of Mary,
Queen of Scots. The pleasure-grounds attached to it
abound with interesting features, and with picturesque
and romantic scenery. Mavisbank House is a handsome
mansion in the style of an Italian villa, beautifully situated
on the right bank of the North Esk, in a demesne
of highly-pleasing character. Sprhigfield House is also a
good mansion; and on the same bank of the river are
Dryden and Rosebank: on the left bank are Polton,
Glenesk, and Gorton.
Lasswade village is seated in the deeply-sequestered
and well-wooded dell watered by the North Esk. The
houses are irregularly scattered along both banks of the
river, and are surrounded with gardens and plantations,
which, combining with the sylvan aspect of the vale
generally, render this one of the most attractive villages
in Scotland. The beauty of its scenery, and the mildness
of the climate arising from its sheltered situation,
have made it a favourite ])lace of resort for the citizens
of Edinburgh; and numerous handsome villas have
been erected in the immediate vicinity, as residences
during the summer months. The principal manufactures
carried on here are those of paper and carpets. There
are three extensive paper-mills, in which several hundreds
of persons are employed. The carpet manufactory
at St. Anne's was established in the year 1834, by
Messrs. Richard Whytock and Co., for the production
of Tournay and Axminster carpets of all sizes and shapes,
without seam; and a new kind of Brussels carpet, of
great beauty, resembling tapestry, with various fabrics
in velvet pile, has been invented by the pro])rietors, and
is in much re(|uest in London and other places. In
this establishment more than 100 persons are constantly
employed. There are also an iron and brass foundry,
and several corn and oatmeal mills. Within the parish
are likewise the villages of Loanhead and Pentland, and
there are two postoflices connected with Edinburgh
and Dalkeith, each of which has two dehverics daily.
Facility of communication is afforded by parish-roads
kept in excellent order, by the turnpike-roads to Edinburgh
and other places, and by the Edinburgh and Hawick
railway.
For ECCLESIASTICAL purposes the parish is within the
limits of the synod of Lothian and Tweeddale and the
presbytery of Dalkeith. The minister's stipend is about
£ 180, with a manse on an eminence near the church, and
a glebe of eight acres, valued at £40 per annum; patron.
Sir George Clerk, Bart. Lasswade church, erected in
1793, and substantially repaired and improved within the
last few years, is a neat structure adapted for a congregation
of about 1000 persons: the remains of the ancient
church, within the churchyard, consist chiefly of one
of the aisles, which has been converted into a sepulchral
chapel for the Dundas family. There are places of
worship for members of the United Presbyterian Church
and Reformed Presbyterians. The parochial school is
well conducted, including in its course of studies the
Latin, Greek, and French languages, and the mathematics;
and is numerously attended: the master has a
salary of £34, and the fees average about £150 annually.
There are also schools at Hawthornden and Pentland,
the masters of which have salaries and rent-free houses;
and in the villages of Lasswade and Loanhead are good
subscription libraries. Upon the river North Esk, half a
mile above Hawthornden, is Wallace's Cave, an artificial
excavation in the rock, in the form of a cross, and capable
of containing about seventy persons. On the
north side of the Bilston burn, about a mile from its
confluence with the North Esk, is Wallace's Camp, in the
shape of a semicircle, eighty-four feet in circuit, and defended
by a broad and deep ditch. At Springfield, near
a ford on the Esk, is a narrow road supposed to have
been part of a Roman way between two camps; and
not far from Mavisbank House is a circular mound of
earth, near which have been found several ancient weapons
and various other relics of antiquity. An ancient
stone coffin, containing the skeleton of a male, was lately
found at Polton, by some workmen who, in the course
of certain improvements at that seat, were excavating
within a few feet of the oldest part of the mansionhouse.
At a few yards' distance from the coffin, the
remains of a horse were found. The poet Drummond
was a native of this parish, and was buried in its churchyard;
the late Mr. John Clerk, author of a Treatise on
Naval Tactics, resided on the estate of Eldin, and Sir
Walter Scott resided for a time after his marriage in a
cottage at Lasswade.