Fog House

A Fog House at Invercauld near Braemar

Fog Houses are a special type of pleasure or summer house popular in Scotland and at one time commonly found on many country estates as a feature in the pleasure gardens.^[1][2] The name 'Fog' derives from the Scots word for the moss that was a major feature of the building, mainly used to line the walls and roof.^[3]

Description

One definition states that 'Fog Houses' were 'Pleasure Houses', small shelters lined with mossy turf.^[4] They were often thatched with materials such as heather. Contents typically included a curved bench placed against the walls with other features such as the example at Bonnington Isle that had its table and bench neatly covered with moss,^[5][6] and the one at Ballochmyle in Ayrshire that had the verses of a Robert Burns song hanging from the walls.^[7]

Foundations of the Bonnington Isle Fog House.

Examples of Fog Houses

• Ballochmyle Estate - Destroyed by fire by vandals in 1944, the Ballochmyle Fog House is said to have been built by Claude Alexander, the brother of Wilhelmina Alexander, on the site of the where Robert Burns' first saw his 'Bonnie Lass o' Ballochmyle'.^[8][9] Other authors state that it was a nephew who built it.^[10] In surviving photographs the two support poles at the front of the building appear to be cut fir trees, however they were actually made of iron. The roof is thatched and the flimsy walls appear to be made of heather.^[11][12] The OS maps show that it was located on one of the many woodland walks to the west of the stables. The Jacob's Ladders Steps gave access to it for visitors approaching from the direction of Catrine.

Ballochmyle lies near Mauchline and Robert Burns' Mossgeil Farm where Robert lived for a time. Whilst walking in the private estate he saw Wilhelmina Alexander, sister of the owner, walking alone and this inspired him to compose a romantic song. Burns wrote to her, enclosing the song, seeking her permission to allow him to publish it. Wilhelmina was 30 years old at the time and no great beauty, so thinking that Robert was teasing her and being aware of his reputation she never replied. The correspondence was however in later life one of her most prized possessions and, as stated, the Ballochmyle Fog House was built in honour of the occasion.^[13][14]

These verses were hung on the walls of the fog house^[15][16]

The Lass o'Ballochmyle

Twas even-the dewy fields were green, On every blade the pearls hang; The zephyr wanton'd round the bean, And bore its fragrant sweets alang: In ev'ry glen the mavis sang, All nature list'ning seem'd the while, Except where greenwood echoes rang, Amang the braes o' Ballochmyle.

With careless step I onward strayed, My heart rejoiced in Nature’s joy, When, musing in a lonely glade, A maiden fair I chanced to spy. Her look was like the morning’s eye, Her air like Nature’s vernal smile; Perfection whispered, passing by, Behold the lass o’ Ballochmyle!.

Cuthbertson visited in the 1940s and comments on the winding mossy paths by which the 'heather house' was reached, confirming that it was built on the site where the poet first espied Wilhelmina Alexander.^[17][18] He goes on to mention the rarely visited 'Poet's Seat', a vantage point where Burns would sit and think over his poems and songs. The seat was the branch of an oak that grew horizontally at this point.^[19]

Douglas refers to the fog house as a rustic grotto and states that the two verses were recorded on a tablet.^[20]

Ruins of the old New Mar Lodge Fog House

• Bonnington Estate - The cast iron bridge here is presumed to be that built for Lady Mary Ross who replaced or adapted the dovecot which stood on Bonnington Isle, to which the bridge leads, with a 'Fog House', lined with moss. The Wordsworths visited the site in 1803 and Dorothy Wordsworth described the interior of the fog house as being 'as snug as a bird's nest' and resembling a scooped out haystack.^[21] It had a domed roof and the walls, roof and furniture were neatly covered with moss. It reminded her of huts illustrated in the book of Captain Cook's Voyages.^[22] The building had a lockable door and was reached as mentioned via a cast iron bridge that replaced an earlier wooden one. Dorothy was however far from impressed by the view from this fog house and saw it as being too close to the path frequented by visitors. She did however regard it as being the finest example of a fog house that she saw during her tour in Scotland.^[23] The fog house here no longer exists although the stone foundations are still visible and the bridge, although still present, cannot be used.
• Invercauld Estate - A fog house in 2010 was located above Invercauld Castle on a woodland walk overlooking the park. It is featured in the photograph above.
• New Mar Lodge - locally known as Corriemulzie Cottage, New Mar Lodge is situated near Linn of Corriemulzie at the top of Mar Lodge Brae. The Fog House is now a ruin with only the drystone walls surviving.
• Penicuik Estate (NT 21728 58916) - In the 1990s a ruinous fog house was recorded on the Pencuik Estate.^[24]

References

Notes

1. Walker, Page 64
2. Buxbaum (1989), 152
3. Dictionary of the Scots Language
4. Dictionary of the Scots Language
5. Buxbaum (1987), Page 17
6. Walker, Page 64
7. Dougal, Page 163
8. Boyle, Page 20
9. Douglas, page 110
10. McIntyre, page 96
11. The Fog House in the Ballochmyle Estate
12. Buxbaum (1989), Page 152
13. Burns Museum
14. Mackay, Page 246
15. Dougal, Page 163
16. McIntyre, page 96
17. Cuthbertson, page 101
18. Douglas, page 110
19. Cuthbertson, page 103
20. Douglas, page 110
21. Canmore RCAHMS
22. Buxbaum (1989), Page 151
23. Walker, Page 64
24. RCAHMS Canmore

Sources

• Buxbaum, Tim (1987). Scottish Doocots. Shire Publications. ISBN 9-780-85263848-4.
• Buxbaum, Tim (1989). Scottish Garden Buildings. From Food to Folly. Edinburgh : Mainstream Publishing. ISBN 1-85158-113-8.
• Boyle, A. M. (1996). The Ayrshire Book of Burns-Lore. Darvel : Alloway Publishing. ISBN 0-907526-71-3.
• Cuthbertson, D. C. Autumn in Kyle'. London : Herbert Jenkins.
• Dougal, Charles S. (1911). The Burns Country. London: A & C Black.
• Douglas, William Scott (Edit.) (1938). The Kilmarnock Edition of the Poetical Works of Robert Burns. Glasgow : The Scottish Daily Express.
• Mackay, James (2004). Burns. A Biography of Robert Burns. Darvel : Alloway Publishing. ISBN 9780907526858
• McIntyre, Ian (2001). Robert Burns. A Life. New York : Welcome Rain Publishers. ISBN 1-56649-205-X.
• Walker, Carol Kyros ed. (1997). Recollections of a Tour Made in Scotland by Dorothy Wordsworth. Yale University Press. ISBN 0-300-07155-8.

External links

• The Fog House in the Ballochmyle Estate
• Video footage of the Braes of Ballochmyle
• Video footage of the Jacob's Ladder site, Fog House, etc.