Scott, Walter, 1729-1799

Father of Sir Walter Scott.

Father of Sir Walter Scott, the author.

The Edinburgh suburb of Clermiston which lies to the west of Corstorphine Hill and the city's Zoological Gardens was originally the Clermiston Estate. Earliest mention of the land is recorded circa 1250 in the Dunfermline register . In these earlier days it was referred to variously as Clerbaudiston and terram de Clerribaldi and Clerembald's toun. By 1754, the estate had been subdivided into North Clermiston and South Clermiston, and Clermiston House had been built in 1792. North Clermiston was also referred to as Nether Clermiston, and South Clermiston has been referred to as Mid Clermiston, and later Clermiston Mains.

In 1774, Sir Walter Scott's father had raised a loan on security of part of the Clermiston Estate.

As the city expanded in all directions into the near countryside in the 19th and early 20th centuries, references to Clermiston were drawn into city street names in the area: Clermiston Terrace by 1912, Clermiston Avenue by 1937, and Clermiston Crescent, Drive, Gardens, Green, Grove, Hill, Loan, Medway, Park, Place and View by 1953. The Clermiston Mains area together with part of Cramond Muir began to be developed for housing in 1957 and street names there were borrowed from Kidnapped by Robert Louis Stevenson.