The building which we now know as ‘The Star & Garter’ was conceived in the same year as Scotland’s National Bard, Robert Burns. The year 2009 marked the 250th anniversary of the poet’s birth and also 250 years of 1 High Port, Linlithgow: affectionately known to local residents as simply “The Star”.
The stately, three story, Georgian mansion was the home of the rich Boyd family – merchants and ship owners. Between 1818 and 1830 John Boyd was Provost of Linlithgow and it is his property which is marked on John Wood’s 1820 map of the burgh.