At
the end of the walled garden in Dunmore Park is The Pineapple. It is
a folly par excellence, a stone fruit to revitalise the most jaded architect's
palate. This gigantic reproduction of the now familiar fruit dwarfs the surrounding
trees, the most singular monument to come out of the little practised art
of fruit architecture. In 1761 the twenty-nine year old John Murray, fourth
Earl of Dunmore, had been married two years. Perhaps it was his marriage going
sour that prompted the enormous fruit; or was it intended as a belated wedding
present; or the result of a frivolous wager; or to commemorate the growing
of a pineapple (not the first - they had been grown in hothouses in Scotland
for nearly thirty years), but whatever the reason, this extraordinary building
never fails to astonish. From a range of side pavilions rises an octagon with
Gothick windows, the arches of which culminate in carved stone foliage. Then
the actual pineapple starts, fifty three feet high and brilliantly carved
from stone. There is no need to describe it; it is a remarkably accurate rendering
of a pineapple, but two centuries ago the fruit was so rare, luxurious and
desirable that it made today's luxuries such as caviar, smoked salmon and
champagne mundane by comparison. The pineapple was scarcely seen except by
the very rich, so the stone copy must have astounded the locals - and if we
narrow our eyes and place ourselves in Martian mode, never having seen a pineapple
before, it really is a most extraordinary looking object.The building was planned and designed with the utmost care, with each of the gently curving leaves being drained separately in order to prevent frost damaging the delicate masonry. There are two entrances: a classical loggia to the south and a Gothick doorway to the north on the upper level, leading into the second storey. The keystone above the south entrance carries the date 1761, and above this is a carved heart and the inscription "FIDELIS IN ADVERSIS", commemorating the marriage of George Murray, the fifth Earl of Dunmore, to the daughter of the Duke of Hamilton in 1803. Some years ago the Landmark Trust took the building on a long lease from the National Trust for Scotland and carefully restored it for letting as a holiday home. A hermit's cave has been reported nearby, so perhaps the Pineapple was not the only Dunmore folly. Sadly the name of the designer of this wonderful structure has not been recorded - it is a work of genius, certainly unique and probably impossible to duplicate nowadays. Tradition ascribes it to Sir William Chambers, but he was working in London at the time it was built and it is not mentioned in his writings, as such a remarkable building surely would have been.
From the original draft of Follies by Gwyn Headley & Wim Meulenkamp, published by Jonathan Cape in 1986 and 1990, now out of print.
The new, expanded, fully revised and rewritten FOLLIES, GROTTOES AND GARDEN BUILDINGS by Gwyn Headley and Wim Meulenkamp, with photos on nearly every one of its 600 pages, is available from GREAT bookshops at £20 (ISBN 1-85410-625-2, published by Aurum Press, July 15 1999). Signed copies are available direct from the authors. Send a UK cheque for £23 (inc. p&p, UK only) made payable to "Gwyn Headley" to:
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