News

There are opportunities galore to get into the spirit of Halloween at Traquair House this year with the chance to join spooky, night-time Jacobite Ghost Tours, plus a day of Halloween fun and games for all ages.

The special Jacobite Ghost Tours (Fri 28 & Sat 29 Oct, 7pm & 9pm) promise to bring history alive, with characters from Traquair’s past retelling tales of extraordinary bravery as they supported the Jacobite cause at enormous personal cost.

Visitors are warned to be on their guard for the odd unexpected surprise and even descending into the dungeons of the Tower of London before relaxing in the comfort of the 18^th century dining room with a Jacobite toast to the ‘King o’er the water’.

Then, on Sunday 30 October, it’s the turn of the annual Halloween Fun Day – a firm favourite for families with children of all ages. This year’s fun day features magic shows, creepy crawly animal handling sessions, the famous spooky passage experience, Tarot readings, ghost stories, a witches and wizards workshop, scavenger hunts, spooky face painting and, of course, traditional Halloween games.

This year also sees not only a Dressed to Kill fancy dress competition, but also Halloween Hounds – a chance for dogs to put on their best Halloween costumes.

Throughout the weekend, the 1745 Cottage Restaurant will serve Halloween suppers on the nights of the ghost tours as well as delicious lunches and teas every day until the end of October.

Further info

Ghost tour prices (Fri 28 & Sat 29 Oct, 7pm & 9pm), £12.00, children £8.00. Tours suitable for 8yrs and over. Combined tour and supper ticket £24.50. Tickets should be booked in advance as numbers limited.

Halloween Fun Day (Sun 30 Oct, 11-4pm), £8.50, children/concessions £4.50, family ticket £22.00. Tickets on the gate only for this event. For more, visit www.traquair.co.uk

Look out too for spectacularly spooky goings on at nearby Bowhill Estate and Abbotsford House this coming weekend.

It seems that Traquair House’s love of dogs knows no bounds. Hot on the heels of hosting its inaugural Ruff Dugger adventure race in May, this grand old house and estate is preparing for the first ever Dog’s Day Out – a brand new event for dogs and their owners this Sunday (17 July).

The day sees a variety of fun-filled events for dogs and their two-legged companions. The main avenue at Traquair will see sheep dog demonstrations by Julie Hill, an award-winning international sheep dog trialler and full-time shepherd who has developed her own special method of training working dogs. Meanwhile, on the lower part of the avenue, there will be terrier racing with a chance for all dogs to have a go at chasing a lure. Find out if your dog has a natural racing instinct!

For more agile and obedient pooches, there is an opportunity to try out some dog agility with the Dryburgh Abbey training group. Even those without a dog, and especially children, will be able to try out the course with an experienced dog from the team.

And, of course, no self-respecting doggie event is complete without a few competitions to enter. The Companion Dog Show in the old walled garden includes categories such as Dog with the Waggiest Tale, Best Six Legs, Dog with Most Appealing Eyes, Best Rescue Dog, plus a Best Pedigree Puppy Show. Dogs can be entered on the day, with proceeds going to the New Beginnings Cavalier Rescue Charity.

Throw in the opportunity for great dog walks, doggy tales from a master storyteller, a canine treasure hunt in the maze, an exhibition of dog portraits as historical characters by Marie Louise Brulatour, plus a host of stalls selling doggie gear, and it’s clear that it will be a day of pure doggie heaven. 

Further info

A Dog’s Day Out will take place at Traquair House near Innerleithen, Sunday 17 July (11am-5pm). The day sees a special admission ticket for the house and grounds, £8.00 adults, £4.00 children (dogs go free). Don’t forget your poo bags! For more details, visit www.traquair.co.uk/dogs-day-out-traquair

With an exciting family event on Easter Sunday plus outdoor fun for kids during the school holidays, the home of Sir Walter Scott has got the Easter period all wrapped up.

On Easter Sunday (10-3pm, 26 March), Abbotsford will host a special day of drop-in activities for the whole family, including a spectacular egg hunt through the glorious Abbotsford spring gardens, face painting, birds of prey demos and story-telling in a tipi.

Visitors can discover all of what Abbotsford has to offer for the special price of a Garden ticket (Family £13.00/Adult standard £3.60) and enjoy a day of outdoor fun exploring the walled gardens with their hidden treasures and eggs. There will also be opportunities to take part in craft activities in the Learning Centre and play and build dens on the estate's extensive woodland play trails. Best of all, by paying once, visitors can return to the gardens free for the whole season.

Meanwhile, Abbotsford’s Ochiltree’s family restaurant will offer a special 10% Easter discount, with a kiosk for refreshments available for thirsty children and adults taking a quick break.

Later, during the Spring holidays, there’s a chance for kids to spend a week outside, making friends and playing wild under the expert guidance of fully-qualified Forest School staff at Nature Unlimited. The week-long programme runs from Mon 4 April to Fri 8 April, 10-1pm daily (£60/child for week, booking essential).

For more information, visit www.scottsabbotsford.com

The Abbotsford Trust has announced the opening of a special new exhibition at Abbotsford this spring in partnership with the National Library of Scotland. The exhibition – Rave Reviewer: Scott on Frankenstein, Emma and Childe Harold – tells the story of Walter Scott's engagement and interaction with some of the most famous literature of the early nineteenth century: the works of Mary Shelley, Jane Austen and Lord Byron.

Scott achieved this through penning some of the most insightful, sympathetic and outstanding literary reviews of the age – a time when reviews on all manner of subjects were often more widely read than the original publications. Walter Scott was central to the launch and subsequent popularity of John Murray’s Quarterly Review, and remained a key contributor throughout his years as the most famous and prolific novelist of the time.

With novelists and reviewers often writing anonymously, the story behind the exhibition is one where appearances can be deceiving. Few were as capable at playing this elaborate game as Scott – he even anonymously reviewed his own novels in 1816. This was without doubt, the harshest review these works received.

Two hundred years from the time that Mary Shelley first began work on Frankenstein, in the company of her husband Percy Bysshe Shelley and Lord Byron, visitors will be able to see a very rare first edition of the gothic novel belonging to Walter Scott, one of only 500 copies originally circulated, along with his first edition of Jane Austen’s Emma. Visitors will also be able to view a selection of letters and manuscript reviews that bring to life the story behind preparing a work for publication and review, including original documents in the hand of the poet Percy Byssche Shelley, Mary Shelley, Lord Byron and Sir Walter Scott, on loan from the National Library of Scotland. Many of these items will be on display to the public for the first time. There will also be original artwork on display from accomplished artist Hugh Buchanan, inspired by Scott's review of Byron’s famous poem Childe Harold’s Pilgrimage.

"We are delighted to be collaborating with the National Library of Scotland to tell this fascinating story about a community of readers and writers shaping the present, and indeed future, impact of what we now consider to be classic works of literature,” commented Kirsty Archer-Thompson, Collections and Interpretation Manager for the Abbotsford Trust. “Novels such as Frankenstein did not fare well with the reviewing community as a whole and Scott’s acknowledgement of Shelley’s genius ran very much against the grain. This exhibition is a wonderful platform to show that Scott was just as capable of looking to the future as he was to the past.”

The exhibition will be on display at Abbotsford House from Saturday 2 April and run until the end of the season in November. Entry is included as part of the admission ticket to the house. 

For more information, visit www.scottsabbotsford.com