Traquair House

With its bear-topped gates and Jacobite affections, Scotland’s oldest inhabited house inspired one of the nation’s finest novels

Scotland’s oldest inhabited house has undoubtedly a few stories to share – the estate has been visited by 27 Kings and Queens, after all. But it has welcomed literary royalty over the centuries too.

A travelling Robert Burns visited Innerleithen and Traquair on his grand tour of Scotland in 1787, and Sir Walter Scott – just a teenager when Burns passed through – would go on to be a regular visitor to the house.

It is thought that Scott drew great inspiration from Traquair for his fictional estate of Tully Veolan, the home of the Baron Bradwardine and his daughter in Waverley. Reading his description of the castle’s grand entrance, it’s impossible not to picture the iconic Bear Gates at the top of Traquair’s main drive – closed in 1745 following Bonnie Prince Charlie’s visit and vowed never to be reopened until the Stuarts returned to the throne:

‘In the centre of the exterior barrier was the upper gate of the avenue, opening under an archway, battlemented on top, and adorned with two large weather-beaten mutilated masses of upright stone, which, if the tradition of the hamlet could be trusted, had once represented, at least had been once designed to represent, two rampant bears, the supporters of the family of Bardwardine.’

Scott goes on to describe the grand, tree-lined avenue and central courtyard at Tully Veolan – a scene which very much mirrors the approach to Traquair from the main entrance. It’s no coincidence either that both the residents of the Tweed Valley’s historic house and the fictional Baron of Bradwardine at Tully Veolan would share sympathies for the Jacobite cause.

On the literary theme, Traquair is also home to two fine libraries. The First Library was created between 1700 and 1740 and remains largely untouched, with a second overflow library bringing the house’s collection to close to 5,000 books.

Buried within the shelves are over 100 volumes printed before 1600, including a copy of the fifth Koberger Bible printed in 1479 by Anton Koberger. It is an example of one of the first mass produced Bibles that appeared with the arrival of printing a decade earlier and features delightful gold and coloured initials throughout. A rare treasure!

As the house has remained in the family for over 500 years, the Second Library is packed with a wealth of letters and papers chronicling the fascinating lives of Traquair’s long line of residents. One of the family’s most extraordinary tales involves Lady Nithsdale’s dramatic plot to rescue her husband – brother-in-law to Charles, 4th Earl of Traquair – from imprisonment in London Tower for his support of the Jacobite cause. You can read the daring account, which includes a cunning switcheroo, in Lady Nithsdale and the Jacobites by Flora Maxwell Stuart.

Contemporary writing

For something a little different – but equally as dramatic – the Tweed Valley makes a dark appearance in Sunyi Dean’s gothic fantasy horror, The Book Eaters (2022). Late chapters of The Sunday Times bestseller features thrilling action in and around a snowy Traquair House with its large, beech-hedged maze.

Further info

The gorgeous grounds at Traquair are the ideal backdrop to year-round events including promenade performances of Shakespeare’s classics and the annual Beyond Borders International Festival. The festival offers a valuable platform for writers, diplomats, philosophers and politicians from diverse cultures to come together, united in their goal of finding peaceful resolution to the world’s conflicts.

Image credits: Visit Scotland; Traquair House