Later Years
The last occupant of the old castle was Colonel Erskine, known locally as the "Black Colonel", who died in the 1790s. George Elphinstone, 1st Viscount Keith bought the estate in 1799, and built today's castle as his family residence. The roof of the old castle was removed and it was allowed to crumble into ruins. An ancient bronze kettle was dug out of these ruins, about 8.5 inches (22 cm) in diameter and 5 inches (13 cm) high. Legend says that it formerly hung from one of the bosses of the castle roof, filled with gold. As long as it hung there, the castle would stand and the Blackadders of Tullyallan would prosper.
The modern-day Tulliallan Castle is about a half mile to the southeast of the old castle, built in 1818-1820 for Lord Viscount Keith. The building was acquired by the Mitchell family in 1924. During the World War II it was the headquarters of the Polish Armed Forces in the West. It has been the home of the Scottish Police College since 1954 and will become the headquarters of Police Scotland upon its creation in 2013.
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Famous quotes containing the word years:
“There’s something like a line of gold thread running through a man’s words when he talks to his daughter, and gradually over the years it gets to be long enough for you pick up in your hands and weave into a cloth that feels like love itself. It’s another thing, though, to hold up that cloth for inspection.”
—John Gregory Brown (20th century)
“Belief is with them mechanical, voluntary: they believe what they are paid for—they swear to that which turns to account. Do you suppose, that after years spent in this manner, they have any feeling left answering to the difference between truth and falsehood?”
—William Hazlitt (1778–1830)