Inspired by a folly which he had seen in Ireland, Joe Donnelly decided to build an eye-catcher on a patch of waste ground near his home. It was constructed between 2011 and 2015, and once the building work was complete Joe, with his grandson Aidan, created a garden around the folly. During lockdown Joe and Aidan (the latter by now working in horticulture) used their time to redesign the planting around the sham ruin.

The folly echoes the genuine ruins of nearby Kilwinning Abbey, below. The abbey was established in the late 1100s as home to a community of monks from Kelso Abbey, but was abandoned after the Protestant Reformation in Scotland in 1560. History tells that the abbey was pulled down by a ‘Protestant mob’, but the dramatic wall and gable of the south transept were left standing.

The folly at Kilwinning continues a Scottish tradition of such simple, but extremely effective, eye-catchers in the landscape. At Blair Atholl in Perthshire stands The Whim, built in the middle of the eighteenth century as an object to be viewed from Blair Castle in the valley below.

And on the Mellerstain estate in the Borders is the wonderfully named Hundy Mundy, thought to have been erected in the 1720s as an eye-catcher from the mansion. The tale is told that the folly takes its name from a Pictish Princess called Hunnimundias who lived nearby. The Flâneuse often experiences frissons of excitement when visiting follies, but she was surprised to feel such a powerful surge when visiting the Hundy Mundy: it turns out that she was leaning against an untagged electric fence when trying to get a good photograph.

High on a hillside in Easter Ross are the equally exotically named Gates of Negapatam, also known as the Fyrish Monument. The folly was erected in 1782 by Sir Hector Munro, the 8th Earl of Novar (1726-1805) who had served in Madras and, as the story goes, modelled his hilltop monument on that city’s Gates of Negapatam.

The Kilwinning folly might stand in a slightly less palatial plot, but it is every bit as impressive. The planting around the folly is constantly evolving, with old roses, herbaceous plants, grasses and bulbs adding interest.

The folly can be seen from the road, but as it is a private garden the Flâneuse won’t reveal the exact location: intrepid folly spotters will find it. For more on Kilwinning Abbey click here.

The Whim at Blair and the Fyrish monument can be reached via public footpaths. The land around the Hundy Mundy is now a tranquil woodland burial ground but respectful visitors are welcome.

Thanks to the Scottish Correspondent for sharing news that the Fyrish Monument’s lonely hilltop setting is threatened by plans for an onshore wind farm. There’s more here.

Your thoughts are always welcome – scroll down to the comments box at the foot of the page to get in touch. Thank you for reading.

High above the valley of the River Tilt, within the policies of Blair Castle, sits this beautifully designed and situated eye-catcher. A walk through woodland brings one to the folly and, turning, a wonderful panorama is revealed.

The Whim as it looks today was built by Lord John Murray (1729-1774), who was already managing the Blair Castle (aka Blair Atholl) estate before he succeeded his uncle as the 3rd Duke of Atholl in 1764. He was said to have ‘with great judgement’ laid out walks that ‘cannot fail to attract the admiration of every traveller of taste.’

The idea for a hilltop folly originated in his uncle’s lifetime, and a drawing in the Blair archives, dated 1747 and tentatively attributed to William Adam, shows the arched screen.

It is not clear if this structure was built at that date, or put on hold. But in 1760 a new design, which also included two pavilions in front of the screen, was proposed and drawings and a model were made. The building work was completed in 1762: no architect is recorded and the folly as built has been attributed to the Duke himself. An estate map of 1780, surveyed by the Blair estate factor James Scobie, shows the screen and pavilions, and is annotated ‘The Wheem’. A few years later Scobie included the Whim on another of his maps:

The two little square pavilions are just big enough to shelter in, but the arched central screen is flat, and built only to catch the eye and ornament the landscape.

A visitor in 1799 wasn’t quite sure what to call the assemblage, and settled for a ‘kind of summerhouse’.

John Murray had also been unsure what to name his hillside folly. The story (recounted a century later) is that upon completion of the building, he asked the minister of Blair Atholl, Mr Stewart, what it might be called. Mr Stewart, after considering a little, remarked that it was only a whim. “Well, Whim let it be”, replied His Grace.

This area of Perthshire was popular with 18th century tourists, and there was much to pack into their itinerary, so only the more intrepid seem to have made their way up to the ‘singular building’. As well as functioning as an eye-catcher within the landscape, the Whim was also what was then termed a ‘station’ – a place from which the most perfect views could be obtained. From the Whim there were vistas across the Blair Castle designed landscape with the river and extensive plantations, and a wider view of the ‘whole course of the valley’.

The Whim, listed by Historic Scotland at grade B, is beautifully maintained and will delight visitors for many years to come. Atholl Estates are also to be applauded for the series of way-marked trails that can be explored. The Banvie Burn Walk includes The Whim and, with a short diversion, the Balvenie Pillar, another fascinating landscape feature. It was quite magical on a bright November day last year with the fallen leaves fissling underfoot.

The autumnal equinox fell on Friday, 23 September 2022, so summer is officially over, and we can look forward once more to the gorgeously gaudy hues of autumn.

The walks can be found here https://d1ssu070pg2v9i.cloudfront.net/pex/athollestates/2021/06/21085312/Walks-from-Blair-Atholl-1.pdf

For more on visiting Blair Castle see https://atholl-estates.co.uk/blair-castle/

Comments are always welcome, please scroll to the foot of the page to share any thoughts. Thank you for reading.