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SIR GEORGE SKENE'S HOUSE IN THE GUESTROW, ABERDEEN-ITS HISTORY AND ARCHITECTURE by EDWARD MELDRUM, D.ARCH., A.R.I.B.A., F.S.A.SCOT. i. INTRODUCTION THE GuestroAberdeen'f o e on ws i s most ancient thoroughfare shares ha t n i di s- the storms and in the glories of the burgh's history since at least the fifteenth century. s shortIt , cobbled, narrow causewa manw ysa y famous personages traversd an t ei dwell in its old houses - today little is left, for by the late nineteenth century the ancient tenement becomd sha e slum condemnee b o st demolitiono dt forgotted an ; n wer e medievaeth l mansion f provostso s , bishops, nobles, advocate d generalsan s ; vanished wer e slopinth e g walled gardens built ove y lateb r r accretions which obscure originae dth l good Scots architecture Guestroe .th f Todao e wl se tha ye al tw e streeith s t itself denude mansionss it f do , sav restoree eth d town-hous f Provoseo t r GeorgSi e Skene, standing somewhat starkly, deserte neighbourins it y db g buildings whose foundation beneate sli surroundine hth g wast parksr emucs i ca area t d I h. san hopee b o t d that future developments wilt obscurno l e permanentl line thif yth eo s ancient Guestrow vere th yr namfo , embeddes i e Aberdonian di n e historth d yan derivatio name bees th subjecf e eha no n th mucf o t h interes eved an tn controversy. e namTh e 'Guestrow pronounces i ' d 'Gaistra dialece Aberdoniae th th f n i 'o t n and has nothing to do with guests or guest-houses. Although Parson Gordon in A Description of bothe Touns of Aberdeene is doubtful whether 'guests' or 'ghosts' led to the name, G. M. Fraser in Historical Aberdeen claims its origin from the fact that it overlooke kirkyare dth Toue th f ndo t NicholaKirthus S f wa kso associated san n di the medieval mind with ghosts. Now it is of course impossible to see the burial yard of St Nicholas from the Guestrow today because high buildings intervene. But even in the fifteenth century it scarcely 'overlooked' the kirkyard, and between street and Toue th n Kirk flowe Loce th dr Flourmil ho l burparalled an n thao t l t alone gth wes Guestrote sidth f eo w garden r Flouo d r sMi Mill flowee th lade . r dth Howe fo - ever chartea , f 143o r 9 refer 'Vicuo t s s Lemurum' (the spectrese streeth f o t ) and, whil medievae b e y thisma l latinisation onle th ys i acceptabl t i , e explanatio thif no s intriguing name, failin gpossibla e derivation from Gaelic othen i s a ,r Aberdonian place-names, i.e. Mounthooly (Monadh-tulach): Green (Grianan): Fitt Footder yo e (Feithe). By the sixteenth century, the Guestrow was already somewhat built up — each tenement consiste housa f do e fronting paralled streete an th , , ,to l through whicha pend gave acces innen a o st r court side whicf e on o ,occupie s hwa buildina y db t ga right angles to the street house. The back of the court might be closed by another house also giving pend access beyond to the 'four-neukit' garden sloping to the west. We know from Parson Gordon1 (1661) that in his time the houses were of stone and 1 A Description of bothe Touns of Aberdeene (Sp. Club, 1842), 9. 6 8 PROCEEDING SOCIETYE TH F O S , 1958-59 lime, slate-roofed, mostly thre r fouo e r stories high, some higher. Streets were carefully paved and house frontages were adorned by timber galleries and forestairs. Adjoining most dwellings were garden d orchardan s s wit mano hs y trees thae th t whole town would seem to be set down in a woodland. Throughout the centuries, the now-demolished houses of the Guestrow were the mansion famouf so s personages, for, apart fro r GeorgmSi e Skene 'Bloodye th , ' Duke of Cumberland d Majoan , r James Wolfe (late e victoth r d f Quebeco rha o wh ) occupied the 'Cumberland' House which is our subject, several civic chiefs resided along this street: Provost Leslie, Provost Jaffra Provosd an y t Bannerman Jacoe th , - bit f 1715lattee o Th . rhous e liveth n edi know. i Shepherd'No s na s Court jusf of t Guestrow; earlier occupants were Sheriff-Depute Andrew Thomson and his wife Agnes Divie in 1673, whose initials appear on a plaque over the gateway, originally re-erectew leadin courno e t th bu o Uniotgn t d i n Terrace Gardens. Howevee th r gateway itself is at least early seventeenth century, similar in date to the old house, which old photographs show to have been a semi-castellated building consisting of a rectangular block having attache corneone dstronat ra g round conical-roofed tower with entrance door. Sheriff-Depute Thomson's house had possessed the interesting qualities of sturdy Scots domestic architecture at its best. Unfortunately, when the Guestrow slum properties were demolished, few discerning eyes could distinguish good medieval buildings from relatively modern squalor. Even up to about 1850 the Guestrow was a 'respectable' neighbourhood - in 1807 for instance, the celebrated Duches Gordof so presens elegann nwa a t a t t bal t Major-Generaa l l Macdonald's residence Societthe ; Friendy of meeting-hous a shad streetthe Episcopalianein the ; s smala l Aberdeee chapelth d an , n Savings Bank their office from 1838 till 1858t A . No. 15 Guestrow was born Archibald Simpson, now famed as architect of Aberdeen's finest granite buildings, whil onle eth y other hous remaininw eno streete th n gi , other than Skene's House, belonged in the late eighteenth century to the'family of Black of Cloghill. This building, often referred to as the 'Dispensary', has little architectural merit, being much altere d addean d durino dt s morgit e recent conversion into offices. However, it retains its walled and tree-lined garden, grass-planted nowadays, t offerinbu g visual face prooth t f tha fo enclosee th t d gardens contributed muco ht Guestroe th w bein gdesirabla e residential neighbourhood t undoubtedli s a , s ywa unti centura l (figo yag . i). 2. DESCRIPTION (a) Exterior (figs. 3 and 4) Sir George Skene's House present impressivn sa e external appearancs it o t e edu massing and its sturdy granite walls (PI. XIV, i). There is a stark and austere quality given by the severe line of the flat roof and the comparative absence of decoration, a circumstanc notee b o et d whe considere non exuberance th s ofted ean n grotesque features presen mann o t y seventeenth-century country castle towd san n ludgings. The frontage to the south is by far the most attractive although the other aspects certaia ar f eo n aesthetic interest relativ evolutioe th buildinge o et th f nsouto e Th .h elevation, wit projectins hit g forestair lofto porchtw y s corbelled-ouit , t angle stair SIR GEORGE SKENfi's E GUESTROWHOUSTH N I E , ABERDEE7 8 N turretsalmoss it d tan , symmetrical fenestration intendes wa ,viewee b o dt d froe mth point where the arched pend led through from the Guestrow on to a courtyard of granite paving slabs higwallea y hb Scotch-copen di d dyke. This quitaspecw no e s i t lost, for, together with the huddle of lesser buildings which stood around, the pend and the Scotch dyke have now disappeared. Entrmaie th no yt eastmoste buildinbase th th f eo t a s ga i staif o ry towewa y rb very decorative entrance doorway with freestone surround carved wit h'Restoraa - tion' patter thistlf no rosd ean e motifs. Abov ornate eth e over-lintel with grapd ean vine-leaf pattern in relief is a panel holding the personal coat-of-arms of Sir George Skene and the motto 'Gratis a Deo Data' meaning 'Thanks be given to God'. Sir George Skene's arms were 'Gules a chevro, n argent between three skeene th f o s second hefte pommelled dan , surmountedor mans a y dyb wolfs' heads coupee th f do third, tusked proper'. The wooden studded door with massive timber deadshot lock is late seventeenth-century work. Unde staie eavee th rth rf so tower e th ,n higo p hu south-west angle double-faca s i , e sundial, undate t evidentldbu y late seventeenth centur oldes e town e square probabl d typth s th yit - Th an t n .ef i eo onle e yth y on stair storee toweon s yi r higher tha four-flooe nth r mai nflae th houst rood s ean i f reache e easterth y db n turret stair whil maie eth n flat roo s accessibli f e froe mth western turret .smalle e Savth r efo r opening stain si r towe turretsd ran , most windows are large and generous - nearly all jambs and lintels are in chamfered dressed free- stone with the exception of four windows with wave-roll moulding surrounds. Masonry is granite generally, rough in texture, built in uncoursed rubble, with many 'heathen' boulders - the original finish to the stonework had been harling, only the dressed surround openingf so s being left exposed. The west wing is slate-roofed with one dormer window at second-floor level, overlooking the courtyard.

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