NEWS FOR WOMEN Visit To 400-Year-Old Scottish Home Described

Press, Volume XCIV, Issue 28104, 20 October 1956, Page 2

NEWS FOR WOMEN Visit To 400-Year-Old Scottish Home Described

the 400-vear-nld home of a iscnttish family at Blairgowrie, in k 'otiand. is described bv Miss Meiva Finney in a letter to her narents ..w nd ** r? George Finney. Pqpanui We went up the drive under beech trees laden with nuts and iu«=» beginning to turn golden ” Miss Finnev ‘‘Then the house came in sight, a large, solid stronghold, with 2nd battlements. I felt like Winnie the Pooh when he came to Christopher Robin’s door. I did not know whether to use the bell or the kn icker The bell was quite a large one hung outside with a rone to pull it. The knocker was of solid wrought iron on an exceedingly heavv oak door No-one answered our knock so in the good British custom we ent in and called the hostess by her Christian name" Christian were used far more frequently in Scotland bv peonle of the older veneration than was the custom in New Zealand, she says . The hostess and her daughter were Jr the drawingroom upstairs. Miss Finney and the friend who accompanied her walked up the circular stairway, which was lighted bv daylight that filtered through slit windows ip the th»-ee-foot stone walls The drawing room tone did not vail it a lounge in polite English society) was a delightful room, with deep window alcoves, a beautiful grand piano, and mahogany china display cabinets. The floor was covered bv rather well-worn Persian carpets, wood was burning cheerily in the £ r ate. but in sharp contrast to the old worldness” was a brand-new knitting machine used by the daughter of the house. In addition to her knitting, the daughter did some of the housework and all the garden and lawns of the three acres in which the house was set. Rooms Within Tower With her hostess. Miss Finnev went on a tour of the four floors of the old house, which, she was told was at least 400 years old. and probably older. It had been occupied bv members of the_ family for that period It was originally a farm house on property belonging to a nearby monastery which was dissolved by John Knox and his followers. The earlv occupants probably leased the farm and paid tithes to the monastery. The rooms were all built within the tower for protection, and the spiral staircase wound up clockwise, so that the Scots would have the right hand free to defend themselves from invaders From the drawingroom, she climbed to the bedrooms. They were not luxurious, but in them were really old pieces of furniture. There were no curtains to the window’s. Curtains would not suit the rooms because of the deep recesses of the thick walls. On each floor there was a bathroom—quite a feat of plumuing Thev descended by the back stair-

wav. once leading to the servants' quarters There were now no servants in the house. The morning-room was hung with family portraits The dining-room was on the ground floor and had an unusual three-cornered fireplace with no grate It was made for bi" logs but was not at all like the old English fireplaces of the same period The kitchen was well eouioped. and the floor was of stone flags. Raspberry Centre There was no electricity in the house Gas lighting and heaters were used. The lights were attractive bracket lamps, which the family intends to continue using w’hen within the t’pxt few months electricity is installed. This year’s raspberrv cheque Miss Finney was told, would pay f or the installation. Blairgowrie. Miss Finney explained. was the raspberry centre of Britain, and the growers had had a bumper crop this season. In her next efforts at modernisation of the home, the daughter intended to have a refrigerator. a vacuum cleaner, and a television set. One wing built on to the house about 1700 was considered quite new. said Miss Finney. The hostess was a most unassuming person. She was warmlv clad in a rough tweed skirt, woollen jumper, lace lisle stockings. and brown brogues This, she had found, was almost the uniform of the country “lady.” said Miss Finney. Another interesting old home where she had stayed during her Scottish visit belonged to an Anglican religious, community, which ran it. and another more luxurious house on the same property, as a retreat and guesthouse The homes had an interesting history. They had been left to the religious order by a Miss Ballantyne. a member of the order, who became heiress to her family’s estate. The homes continued all that was best in Victorian furniture, and there were numerous Victorian knick-knacks round the house, beautiful china and works of art. Twenty-four of the guests sat down to dinner at the din-ing-room table, which was set with the Ballantyne silver plate. In the evening, tea was set informally on small tables and guests helped themselves During a visit to the Perth Art Gallery, Miss Finney was amused to find that frocks of the seventeenth and eighteenth century were arranged with the backs showing. A close examination revealed the reason. The models on which the frocks were displayed were too big for the tiny waists and bodices of frocks worn in days gone by and the frocks did not meet in front. Miss Finney, who left Christchurch about a year ago. was ordained a deaconess of the Anglican Church in England on September 29. Mr and Mrs Finney plan to visit her next March