June 2020



Mellerstain Stories Part 2



With the house and gardens currently closed we've been looking at other ways to share the fascinating history and stories of Mellerstain.


In this second section we look at further stories which we have shared on our Facebook and Instagram pages. Please do follow and like the pages as this will bring our future posts directly to you.


Due to the ongoing coronavirus situation Mellerstain House and Gardens and the Borders Sculpture Park is closed until further notice. We continue to monitor government advice and will share further information once reopening plans are known.






Midnight Meals for the Borders General Hospital


Mellerstain House and Gardens and Fig Food teamed up to raise donations and supply nutritious meals to the amazing overnight NHS staff working at the Borders General Hospital (BGH).


Over £1,200 was been donated on the BGH Midnight Meals Just Giving page. Izzy Baillie Hamilton whose family owns Mellerstain House and Gardens set up the initiative with Georgie Harding-Newman of local Borders business Fig Food.


Using the Courtyard Café at Mellerstain and Fig Food’s kitchens Izzy and Georgie have been preparing meals for delivery to the BGH.


The initiative aimed to raise £200 per week to feed over 80 NHS staff. Following the first delivery of Squash and Tomato Curry with Lime and Coconut, Izzy and Georgie were back hard at work to prepare more Midnight Meals.



Flowers from the Gardens


This week’s selection from the garden features a beautiful Azalea near the garden entrance, Narcissus Avalon in the courtyard and a Cymbidium Orchid our gardeners is growing in the greenhouse.





Sir Jackie Stewart OBE on canvas?


Our next portrait is the Hon. George Baillie of Mellerstain, a painting which recently caught the eye of a tour, as told below by our guide Gill below. Hung in the small library above the fireplace and painted by David Martin around the late-18th century.


It was this George (there are a few in the history of Mellerstain!) that appointed Robert Adam to link the two wings of Mellerstain.


As a young man in the 1740s George Baillie set off on a ‘Grand Tour’ returning to Scotland with enthusiasm for contemporary architectural taste. In 1759 he inherited the Mellerstain estate and in 1770 commissioned Robert Adam.


Our guide Gill tells the story of a case of mistaken identity: “A couple of years ago I was conducting a tour and when we entered the small library three ladies, huddled in a corner, started to laugh. “I waited for them to stop and tried to continue with the tour. However something was clearly tickling them and I invited them to share as everyone was now intrigued.”


One of the ladies asked “Do you know who the man above the fireplace is?” “I said yes and explained about George Baillie, another said, “Are you sure?”, I said yes but they continued to laugh. “So I asked, “who do you think it is?” and unison they replied “Sir Jackie Stewart”.


“I and the assembled group then fell about laughing, because indeed the portrait does look like the three-time Formula One World Champion!”





The Gardens
The colour in the garden at Mellerstain continues to come through in the sunshine.


This week’s selection includes: Centaurea Montana, Peony (unknown variety), Pipanthus Nepalensis, Azalea Thatched and Rose (unknown variety) from the bottom terrace.



A Window on Scotland


We are delighted to be part of VisitScotland’s #AWindowOnScotland social media campaign. Encouraging everyone to share some of their favourite photos from across Scotland.


Find out more in VisitScotland’s blog: www.visitscotland.com/blog/history-ancestry/historic-views-from-home/.


Which includes a beautiful Instagram photo by @studiofinestra through the window of Mellerstain’s music room. The photo shows the edge of the top terrace, the statue of Hermes, lake and Hundy Mundy on the horizon.












Mellerstain House, Gordon, Scottish Borders TD3 6LG
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