South Gate, Arniston House

Dated 1824, South Gate comprises a pair of 18th-century circular piers constructed from polished ashlar, with alternating rusticated band courses. A polished frieze is carved with swags, and a bracketed cornice supports crouching lions. The decorative ironwork gates have two leaves, bearing the inscriptions "1W8" and "2D4," indicating William Dundas, 1824. The gate is enclosed by screen walls with tooled surfaces and droved margins, finished with moulded ashlar coping.

These piers and gates, known as the Cougar Gates, were not originally located at Arniston House, but were acquired by Lord Chief Baron Robert Dundas (1758-1819) in 1766 or 1767. According to the Arniston Memoirs, they originally stood in front of a house on Nicolson Street, and were purchased for twenty guineas.