A color illustration of Ficus carica kennedyensis Hort. is given in L’Illustration

Horticole, vol. 13 (ser. 2, vol. 3), pl. 476. 1866. A writer in the Gardener’s Chronicle,

November 19, 1864, observed that Messrs. Lawson and Son were to distribute the Castle

Kennedy fig, which had been exhibited in Scotland and had obtained an award from

the Edinburgh Horticultural Society. An anonymous account in 1865 (Florist and

Pomologist, p.141) stated that this variety had then existed at Castle Kennedy for nearly

a century; but how it came there or what was its origin were matters on which there

was no reliable information. It was believed to be quite distinct from any other variety

in cultivation in England. Archibald Fowler, who grew this fig at Castle Kennedy,

along with Brunswick and Brown Turkey, also maintained that it was distinct from both

varieties. Several reports indicate that the trees are poor producers; but on the contrary,

Hogg stated, “The tree is an abundant bearer.” A writer of 1873, signed simply as “K.,”

reported that Castle Kennedy was worthless as a cropper.....it is a runaway, unfruitful

variety, not worth house room.” Brotherston noted that in England only one crop,

presumably the first, is produced in a year. This seems to confirm the report of Burger

and De Wet, that in South Africa the second crop requires caprification, a fact that

places the variety in the San Pedro group.

A letter dated June 20, 1954, from Sir John Dalrymple, Earl of Stair, states that two

trees of the Castle Kennedy fig are still being grown mainly for sentimental reasons at

Lochinch Castle, Stranraer, Wigtownshire, Scotland. R. W. Rye, the head gardener,

agrees with “K.” above that this fig “is not worth house room as it is very shy in setting

fruit.”