Carberry Hill

A historical perspective, drawn from the Ordnance Gazetteer of Scotland: A Survey of Scottish Topography, Statistical, Biographical and Historical, edited by Francis H. Groome and originally published in parts by Thomas C. Jack, Grange Publishing Works, Edinburgh between 1882 and 1885.

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Carberry, a hill and a mansion in Inveresk parish, Edinburghshire. The hill (400 feet) culminates 2¾ miles SE of Musselburgh, close to the Haddingtonshire boundary, and, forming part of the right flank of the vale of the Esk, presents to the NW an ornate and picturesque surface. Here, on ground held by the English at Pinkie, and known now as Queen Mary's Mount, that unfortunate princess surrendered to the Confederates, and took her last farewell of Bothwell, 15 June 1567. Carberry Tower, on the western slope of the hill, was built about 1579, more as a fortalice than as a mansion; but about 1819 underwent changes and improvements, adapting it to the comforts of modern times, and is embosomed by orchards and fine old groves. It is the seat of Wm. Buller Fullerton Elphinstone, fifteenth Baron Elphinstone in the peerage of Scotland since 1509 (b. 1828; suc. 1861), who owns in the shire 769 acres, valued at £3790 per annum, including £1210 for minerals.

An accompanying 19th C. Ordnance Survey map is available, or use the map tab to the right of this page.

Note: This text has been made available using a process of scanning and optical character recognition. Despite manual checking, some typographical errors may remain. Please remember this description dates from the 1880s; names may have changed, administrative divisions will certainly be different and there are known to be occasional errors of fact in the original text, which we have not corrected because we wish to maintain its integrity. This information is provided subject to our standard disclaimer

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