Langwell Castle (5 of 5)
<i>&quot;The grandfather of Donald Horne was a blacksmith, without any connexions among the gentry, but a clever fellow who made money, bought a piece of land called Scouthal, gave his family a good education, and was latterly received in Society.&quot;</i>

Legend has it that while ploughing his land at Scouthal, he uncovered treasure trove, and that this was the true source of his wealth!

<i>&quot;One son, if I remember right, entered the Army and died without children.  Another was James Horne who made a considerable fortune as a WS [lawyer] and died a bachelor.  He left the bulk of his means [i.e. Langwell] to his nephew Donald.  I remember James Horne, an old man with a large red nose (which the Collector says he derived from his father) crawling about the streets of Edinburgh and turning round as a young and pretty girl passed and gaping after her with a goatish stare.  This propensity also he derived from the old blacksmith, and among them they transmitted it to Donald whose pranks are notorious, and were at one time likely to prove dangerous to himself.&quot; </i>

Donald Horne sold Langwell in 1856 to the 5th Duke of Portland, and the house and estate remains with the heirs of the Dukes of Portland, the dukedom having become extinct with the death of the 9th Duke in 1990.
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