Faded glory....

Lord Forbes of Pitsligo and his descendants were staunch supporters of the Royal House of Stewart. The fourth and last Lord Forbes of Pitsligo, 1678 - 1762, forfeited his lands and title because of his support for the Jacobite cause. He was "out" in both the 1715 and 1745 uprisings and although declared an outlaw with a bounty on his head and forced into hiding in different parts of Buchan he was never betrayed. He died peacefully in his son's house near Rathen, Fraserburgh.

By the time it came to the 19th Century, the Forbes of Pitsligo were still owners of lands in the North-East - but this house, Canaan Park, was their Edinburgh pad. The house sat in an estate with several other large mansions - and the neighbours included highly influential medics - such as Syme and Lister, and Thomas Carlyle was operated on in one of the houses.

Anyway, with the whole estate, Canaan Park now belongs to the Hospital Trust - and it looks a poor and sad place, compared to the time when it would know carriages, servants, and the best of Edinburgh society.