The
flats built at Oxgangs on the south side of Edinburgh were on farm land,
presumably on the former Oxgangs Farm, situated in the lea of the Pentland
Hills. Looking back the air must have been fresh and clear as there were no local
industries there. There was however still some local working farms on the go
including Hunters Tryst Farm which was a dairy farm. Further up toward the
Pentlands was Swanston Farm which grew potatoes and turnips and was also a pig
farm and always noticeably smelly whenever we ventured past it-but more of that
later.
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| RLS from a photograph by Lloyd Osbourne |
Eighty
years or so before, Robert Louis Stevenson walked along the same dirt road going
to and from Swanston Village where the family had a holiday house, Swanston
House. Perhaps it is a trick of memory, but I seem to remember seeing his
initials carved on a door of the old Oxgangs Farm-house on Oxgangs Road North
which then became a police station. Comiston Farm also grew potatoes and
turnips; a beautiful house was an integral part. At one time there were wild
rumours circulating of a ghost haunting the farm, known as the White Lady-this
caused great consternation amongst the pupils at Hunters Tryst which was
adjacent to the farm.
