Ossian's Hall of Mirrors is a Georgian structure located at The Hermitage in

Dunkeld Dunkeld (, , from , "fort of the Caledonians") is a town in Perth and Kinross, Scotland. The location of a historic cathedral, it lies on the north bank of the River Tay, opposite Birnam. Dunkeld lies close to the geological Highland Boundar ...

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

History of the site

The original view-house

The Hermitage and Ossian's Hall of Mirrors was originally an unremarkable view-house in a position overlooking the

Black Linn Falls Black Linn Falls is a waterfall on the River Braan in The Hermitage, Dunkeld, Scotland."The Hermitage"

of the Braan, a tributary of the

River Tay The River Tay (, ; probably from the conjectured Brythonic ''Tausa'', possibly meaning 'silent one' or 'strong one' or, simply, 'flowing' David Ross, ''Scottish Place-names'', p. 209. Birlinn Ltd., Edinburgh, 2001.) is the longest river in Sc ...

. This folly was built on a rocky outcrop for the 2nd Duke of Atholl in 1757.Trust Walks: "Dunkeld and The Hermitage
" a

podcast A podcast is a Radio program, program made available in digital format for download over the Internet. Typically, a podcast is an Episode, episodic series of digital audio Computer file, files that users can download to a personal device or str ...

by the National Trust for Scotland; 27 June 2009

Ossian's shrine

The Hermitage was redecorated in 1783 as a shrine to the blind bard,

Ossian Ossian (; Irish Gaelic/Scottish Gaelic: ''Oisean'') is the narrator and purported author of a cycle of epic poems published by the Scottish poet James Macpherson, originally as ''Fingal'' (1761) and ''Temora (poem), Temora'' (1763), and later c ...

.The Hall of Mirrors at Hermitage, Dunkeld
/ref> Ossian is supposed to have lived and written his heroic verse around the 3rd century. The redecorated hall was intended to evoke features of 'shock' and 'amazement' in the viewers' minds; the room from where views of the waterfall were taken was lined with mirrors which made the spectator imagine that the water was appearing from all angles. William Wordsworth composed a poem which described the 'World of Wonder' in this room. Another description states that in the 1780s, visitors entering were met by a painting of Ossian serenading a group of maidens. The guide operated a device that withdrew the painting into the wall, providing access to another room - a hall of mirrors - giving the illusion of water pouring all around reflecting the river cascading outside.Scotland on Sunday article.
/ref> In 1803 the hall had walks that were intersected, here and there, by a small garden of fine flowers among rocks and stones'. These small-scale gardens have since gone. In 1803

Dorothy Wordsworth Dorothy Wordsworth (25 December 1771 – 25 January 1855) was an English author, poet, and diarist. She was the sister of the Romanticism, Romantic poet William Wordsworth, and the two were close all their adult lives. Dorothy Wordsworth had ...

wrote "The waterfall, which we came to see, warned us by a loud roaring that we might expect it; we first, however, conducted into a small compartment, where the gardener desired us to look at a painting of the figure of Ossian, which, while he was telling us the story of the young artist who performed the work, disappeared, parting in the middle, flying asunder as if by the touch of magic, and lo! we are at the entrance of a splendid room, which was almost dizzy and alive with waterfalls, that tumbled in all directions - the great cascade, which was opposite to the window that faced us, being reflected in innumerable mirrors upon the ceiling and against the walls".Wordsworth, Dorothy (1894). ''Recollections of a Tour Made in Scotland AD 1803''. Edinburgh : David Douglas. page 210

Early literary accounts of the Hall of Mirrors

Garnett in 1800 visited the site. He describes the 'Hall of Mirrors' as having its sides and ceiling covered with mirrors, in which "the cascade is seen by reflection, sometimes running upwards, contrary to the direction of gravity, and sometimes in a horizontal stream over the head."

The decline and restoration of the site

In 1869 vandals blew up part of Ossian's Hall and the area was left to decay. In 1943 the 8th Duchess of Atholl donated it and 33 acres (13.3ha) of, by then, coniferous woodland along the banks of the River Braan to the

National Trust for Scotland The National Trust for Scotland () is a Scottish Building preservation and conservation trusts in the UK, conservation organisation. It is the largest membership organisation in Scotland and describes itself as "the charity that cares for, sha ...

in accordance with the wishes of the late Duke. The National Trust for Scotland restored the building in 2007 for the use and enjoyment of the public.National Trust for Scotland's Hermitage.
/ref>

Similar structures

Bonnington Pavilion The Bonnington Pavilion or Hall of Mirrors, now a ruin, is situated in the grounds of the old estate of Bonnington, near New Lanark, overlooking Falls of Clyde (waterfalls), Corra Linn falls on the River Clyde in Lanarkshire, Scotland. Alternative ...

References

{{coord, 56.5575, -3.6145, type:landmark_region:GB, display=title Houses completed in 1757 1757 establishments in Scotland Buildings and structures in Perth and Kinross Tourist attractions in Perth and Kinross Ossian Georgian architecture in Scotland