Cammo
{{Short description|Northwestern suburb of Edinburgh}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2017}}
{{Use British English|date=February 2017}}
{{for|the use of materials or colouration for concealment|camouflage}}
{{distinguish|Camo (disambiguation){{!}}Camo}}
File:Cammo-1-.jpg within the Cammo estate]]
Cammo ({{IPAc-en||k|æ|m|ˈ|m|oʊ}}) is a northwestern suburb of Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland. It is south of A90, at the edge of the city, approximately {{convert|6|mi|km|0|abbr=off}} from the city centre.
Etymology
The name is Celtic in origin, but could have originated either in Scottish Gaelic or Cumbric. In the former case it would be an adjectival form of Gaelic cambas 'bay. creek'; in the latter it would be from Brittonic *cambāco-, an adjectival form of *camas 'bend in river, bay'.Bethany Fox, 'The P-Celtic Place-Names of North-East England and South-East Scotland', The Heroic Age, 10 (2007), http://www.heroicage.org/issues/10/fox.html (appendix at http://www.heroicage.org/issues/10/fox-appendix.html); {{cite web |url=http://www.staff.ncl.ac.uk/p.l.younger/documents/TheGaelicFoundationsoftheGoldenAgeofNorthumbria.pdf |title=Archived copy |access-date=2009-11-30 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100215004340/http://www.staff.ncl.ac.uk/p.l.younger/documents/TheGaelicFoundationsoftheGoldenAgeofNorthumbria.pdf |archive-date=15 February 2010 |df=dmy-all }}{{cite book|title=Literary Corstorphine: A reader's guide to West Edinburgh|date=2017|last=Bell|first=Raymond MacKean|location=Edinburgh|publisher=Leamington Books|isbn=9780244644406}} This element would probably refer to a bend of the river in this context, as Cammo is inland.
Cammo House
File:Cammo Park - geograph.org.uk - 1523957.jpg
To the west of the housing area there is the former estate of Cammo House. The house was built for John Menzies in 1693, and the surrounding parkland was laid out between 1710-26 by Sir John Clerk of Penicuik (1676–1755). In 1741, the estate passed to the Watsons of Saughton at which time it was called New Saughton. The house was bequeathed to the National Trust for Scotland in 1975 but, in 1977, the house was torched twice by vandals. The house was considered unsafe and was reduced to its external ground floor walls. In 1980 the City of Edinburgh Council was gifted the estate and declared it a Wilderness Park.{{cite web | url = http://britishlistedbuildings.co.uk/sc-28037-cammo-road-cammo-estate-cammo-house- | title = Cammo Road, Cammo Estate, Cammo House, Cammo Road | access-date = 2011-10-25}} The Council now maintain the grounds and operates a ranger service. Cammo is thought to have been the inspiration for the "House of Shaws" in Robert Louis Stevenson's novel Kidnapped.{{cite web|url=http://www.scottish-places.info/features/featurefirst8656.html |title=Cammo House|work=Gazetteer for Scotland|access-date=2008-11-27}}Baillie, Simon J. The private world of Cammo (1995)
Cammo Tower ({{coord|55|57|14.96|N|3|19|16.94|W|name=Cammo Tower|region:GB_type:landmark}}) is a 19th-century water tower for Cammo House.{{cite web|url=http://www.scottish-places.info/features/featurefirst16977.html |title=Cammo Tower|work=Gazetteer for Scotland|access-date=2008-11-27}} Other remains include the ruined stable block, an ornamental canal, a bridge, and the lodge which now houses a small visitor centre. The grounds are now widely used by people for walking in, although other sections remain as farmland, used for cattle grazing.
Stable Block
The stable block was built in 1811 and consists of a two story building floored with flagstones, a large central arched pavilion, an octagonal clock tower, and a cobblestone courtyard. Behind the stable block there is a steep hill where there are the remains of worker's cottages, which were known as offices or steadings. The possible existence of an older stable block is supported by older maps which predate the current buildings.{{Cite web |title=Cammo Estate {{!}} EAFS |url=https://eafs.org.uk/eafs-projects/cammo-archaeological-dig/ |access-date=2023-07-12 |language=en-GB}}
Famous Residents
- Alexander Charles Stephen zoologist lived at 17 Cammo Crescent
References
- Baillie, Simon J. The private world of Cammo (1995)
- Bell, Raymond MacKean Literary Corstorphine: A reader's guide to West Edinburgh, Leamington Books, Edinburgh 2017
- Cant, Michael, Villages of Edinburgh volumes 1 & 2, John Donald Publishers Ltd., Edinburgh, 1986-1987. {{ISBN|0-85976-131-2}} & {{ISBN|0-85976-186-X}}
- Cowper, Alexandra Stewart Corstorphine Village, 1891 (1973), Edinburgh University Extra-Mural Association
- Dey, W.G. Corstorphine: A Pictorial History of a Midlothian Village (1990), Mainstream Publishing {{ISBN|1851583661}}
- Harris, Stuart (1996). The Place Names of Edinburgh. Edinburgh: Gordon Wright Publishing. p. 144. {{ISBN|0-903065-83-5}}.
- Sherman, Robin Old Murrayfield and Corstorphine (2003)
{{reflist}}
External links
- [https://web.archive.org/web/20150109090527/http://www.edinburgh.gov.uk/directory_record/377101/cammo_estate Cammo Estate Park]
- [https://www.friendsofcammo.org Friends of Cammo]
{{Areas of Edinburgh}}
{{coord|55|57|37.28|N|3|19|0.11|W|display=title}}