With an aching heart, as may well be imagined, Edward viewed this wreck of a mansion so respected.  But his anxiety to learn the fate of the proprietors, and his fears as to what that fate might be, increased with every step.  When he entered upon the terrace, new scenes of desolation were visible.  The balustrade was broken down, the walls destroyed, the borders overgrown with weeds, and the fruit-trees cut down or grubbed up.

Sir Walter Scott, Waverley