SRP Archaeology Notes

Date 28 September 2011

Event ID 637038

Category Descriptive Accounts

Type Srp Note

Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/event/637038

Scotland's Rural Past (SRP)

Capelaw Hill lies at the W end of the N Pentland range and was an area of common land, or commonty, until its division in 1709 when it was apportioned between landowners Alexander Brand of Redhall (who gained the Tarbrax Grazings portion) and Sir James Foulis of Colinton (who was granted the rest). Sir James died the same year with his estate in serious financial difficulties so in 1719 his son Harry Foulis (appointed curator in 1711) sold Capelaw to the Rigg family of Morton who continued to hold it until 1830. A 1718 proof of rentals created prior to the sale included James Din of Capelaw among the listed tenants so it seems likely that the new land had been very quickly converted into a moorland farm to enhance the value of the estate prior to its sale (James Steuart ‘Notes for a History of the Parish of Colinton’ (1939)). Capelaw Farm is positioned just inside the commonty's southern boundary at a height of 345m OD and the rig and furrow recorded by RCAHMS on 25 May 2005 probably date to this period, while the well built stone foundations visible beneath the walls of the present ruined steading probably formed the terraced base of a farmhouse constructed 1709-1718 for the original tenant. The walls standing today are likely to reflect a later rebuild because their stones are densely packed and bonded with lime mortar which would have been too expensive a commodity to use on a simple moorland farmhouse in the early 18th century.

James Din was still the tenant at Capelaw in 1725 when he was mentioned in Colinton Kirk Session records and the farm was significant enough to be recorded on Adair’s map of Midlothian when the engraved version was printed c.1735. It was not depicted on the manuscript version drawn up c.1680 since this was prior to the commonty division.

In 1830 the ownership of Capelaw was disponed to William Robertson of Humbie who merged it with the Logan Estate which he also acquired around this date. This estate, which occupies the central portion of the Pentland Hills range, had been run by factors since about 1752 and the new owner clearly intended to embark on some improvements. An annotated plan drawn up in 1831 (GD89/1/860) shows that Capelaw farm encompassed the whole of Capelaw Hill, but its focus was primarily as a sheep or cattle farm since the majority of the area is designated as pasture. The oval enclosure/sheepfold and the head dyke recorded by RCAHMS in 2005 (NT26NW 416 and NT26NW 442) are also depicted and land SE of the farmhouse is shown divided into two enclosed fields. However the surrounding area is labelled “Green pasture ought to be Improved as Arable and Meadow land” so any earlier rig ploughing had ended long enough ago for the ground to revert to grazing. It is notable that although the land lies between 325m OD and 350m OD the upper enclosed field is designated “Arable” indicating a high expectation of growing crops at this altitude. The lower field is labelled “Meadow” and an area to the S is also described as pasture "capable of Improvement as Meadow and Arable" so the possible Water Meadows recorded in Canmore NT26NW 475 might date to this period. The plan was incorporated without annotations into a later 1840 Estate plan (RHP 13489/1-2) but there is no indication that any of the Improvements had been carried out. In the 1841 and 1851 census Capelaw’s only occupant was a shepherd and his family and although the Namebook for the 1st Edition Ordnance Survey 6-inch map (Edinburghshire 1854, sheet 12) refers to a farmhouse with a farm of moorland attached, it was almost certainly being run as a sheep farm.

The Logan Estate changed hands again in November 1852 when it was disponed by William Robertson of Loganhouse to Charles Cowan for £31,000 sterling (NAS RD5/1852/917 f.258) and by 1861 the census shows that Capelaw had been abandoned and its shepherd had been moved to a newly built cottage on Kirkton farm.

In the 2nd edition of the OS 25-inch map (Edinburghshire (New Series) 1895, sheet VII SW) the unroofed outline of the farm is still clearly shown and the field has been divided into three, but by the 3rd Edition of the same map (1913) the back wall is depicted by a dotted line only. Curiously, James Steuart’s ‘Notes for a History of the Parish of Colinton’ (1939) which were compiled 1896-1904, refer to the ruins of Capelaw as “houses”, but this might simply be an error and the only other reference to Capelaw in a book, "The Fringes of Edinburgh" by John Geddie’s (c1920) when describing the course of the Edinburgh city boundary across the Pentlands says "it passes near ... [to] the ruins of the Capelaw shepherd’s house."

Information from SRP Pentland Hills, September 2011.