DUCHESS OF YORK

Evening Post, Volume CXIII, Issue 54, 5 March 1927, Page 21

DUCHESS OF YORK

HER LINEAGE AND SCOTTISH HOME ' EARLY LIFE AT GLAMIS CASTLE . Her Eoyal Highness the Duchess of York, -who, prior to tiei , marriage -was the Lady Elizabeth Angela Marguerite Bowes-Lyon, , Js the youngest daughter of the Earl and Countess of Strathmore. ■ -She. was born on 4th August, 1900, so that she is five years younger than the Duke. As the Lady Bowes-Lyon she was very popular in Society, and is said to be a very charming personality.

( Lord and Lady Strathniore liavo had a family of six sons and four daughters, ,of whom four sons and three daughters survive. The eldest son,* Lord.!. Glands, married Lady Dorothy Osborne, third-daughter of the Duke and' Duchess of Leeds. The eldest daughter, Lady Mary Bowes-Lyon, married Lord Elphinstone, and it was with them that Princess Mary stayed

In 1371 Sir John Lyon, of Fortevio., and afterwards of Glamis, was appointed Keeper of the .Privy Seal on the sue ' cession of Robert 11. to the Throne of Scotland, arid a. few years later became Chamberlain of Scotland. This Sir John Lyon had a grant from Robert 11. of the lands' of the thanage ,of Glamis in-1372, and four years later married Jean, the, daughter of Robert

when-she visited her regiment, the Boyal Scots, at Edinburgh, some time ago. The second : daughter is Lady Rose Levenson-Gower. Lord Glamis, the heir to the earldom, is a major in the Black Watch, and:two other brothers are also soldiers, one being killed in action'with the Black Watch in 1915. FAMILY HISTORY. Tho family of the Earl of Strathmore and Kinghorne, according to Burkes Peerage, goes back to about the middle of the Fourteenth Century.

11. by his first wife, Elizabeth Mure, the widow of Sir John Keith. Sir John Lyon was slain by Sir John Lindsay, of Crawford,,in 1382, and was succeeded by Ma only son, John. This Sir John married his' cousin, whoso mother was the daughter of Robert ll.'s son, David, Earl Palatino of Strathevn. Tho eldest son of this marriage became the first Lord Glamis, and was ono of tho hostages delivered up to the English iv 1424 for the ransom of James I. He was created a Peer of Parliament, in

June, 1445. Prom this date downwards the family played a considerable part in : ,the history of Scotland, and many marriages were contracted with members of the Scottish Peerage, while in more recent times many members of the family have married into the English Peerage. The title of Earl of Kinghorne was bestowed on the ninth Lord Glaniis, who was Captain of the Guard and one of the Privy Council of King James VI. The Earl, who was also created Lord Lyon and Glaniis, married ■. Anne, daughter of John Earl of Tullibardine. The name Bowes was adopted by the ninth Earl of Strathmore, who married, in 17G7, Mary Eleanor, the only daughter and heiress of George Bowes, of Streatlam Castle and Gibside,\ County Durham, and, in consequence'^, assumed, by Act of Parliament, the surname of Bowes. The present Countess of Strathmore was Miss Nina Caychdish-Bentinck, and—as some one riekly remarked— had she been a boyishe would have been Duke of Portland." Her marriage took place in the early''eighties, and she has had a family of ten children. In appearance, Lady Strathmore is a tall, good-looking woman, and she possesses a decided grace of manner and bearing. Nearly all her married life has been spent in the country ROMANCE OF GLAM'IS.

t,™ - wll° liave walked from Thrums" along the ridge called the Ivames of Airiie, will remember the glorious view over the Valley of Strathmore to Glainis Castle, the baronial home of Lady Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon And those who, like the writer in the Morning Post," have been entertained and listened to romantic stories in the Castle, can never forget its majestic appearance; the stately, great hall, gay with heraldic blazonry, the dark Scriptural subjects, the one hundred and forty-three stepped staircase leading to the battlements, and the wonderful panorama of the beautiful plain rising gradually to its guardian heights. Warms (pronounced Glahms) stands in richly-wooded grounds in the beautiful Valley of Strathmore, and is one of the finest existing examples of the real feudal castle, entire and perfect. In the picturesque group of buildings, the gradual growth of ages, all the periods of Scottish baronial architecture are represented. One account, attributed to Daniel Defoe, says that from a distance the pile of turrets, spires, and towers, some plain, others shining with gilded tops, looks not like "a town, but a city. The poet Gray was impressed with the height of the castle—"its mass, the many towers atop, the spread of its wings." Within it is equally remarkable.

Princess Mary, and ever, then predictions of a brilliant engagement were made for her. MANY GOOD QUALITIES. Her Highness the Duchess of York, who is small, dark, ■ and piquante, speaks several languages, is an immense reader, full of life, popular with a wide circle of girl friends, and a lover of games; She is devoted to music and poetry, and a hard worker in the Girl Guide movement. She is an animated talker, and is very, fond'of dancing. The Duchess of York is described by a friend as oue "who combines great amiability with great strength of character and determination. No one could possibly help liking her, she is so lively and amusing, as-well as being exceedingly pretty. Unfortunately, though, her photographs • o not do her

Glamis Castle is famous throughout the world for its mystery. It has the reputation of being haunted, and it used to bo believed that there was some strange secret connected with it, a secret room which was known only to the Earl of Strathmore and his eldest son. It was—so the story, runs—revealed to successive heirs when they came

of ago. Glamis was a stronghold as far back as the thirteenth:century. Tradition, however,, assigns it an earlier fame as the death-placo of Duncan, and a room in tho castle bears the name of King Malcolm. The present fabric is believed not to be earlier than the fifteenth century. Sir Walter Scott visited the castle in 1794 and wrote of his corio fooling on that occasion: "After a very hospitable reception, I was conducted to my apartment in a distant part of the building. I; must own that when-I heard door after door shut, after my conductor had retired, I began to consider myself too far from tho living and somewhat too near the dead."

It has been alleged that in the. secret room in the castle on one night of the year two ghostly gamblers play cards, T;ho noise of dice is heard, and other queer sounds, while windows in other parts of the castle are violently blown open. According to some of tho tales, one of those ghostly players is a thing half-human, half-devil, which is apt to roam at night. In recent years, however, nothing has been heard of these "spooks." Another 'version alleges that there is a "human toad endowed with immortality" which dwells in the secret room, and that all attempts to discover the exact position of this room fail. It-is, indeed, said that a former earl tried to locate it by hanging handkerchiofs out of all the accessible windows,'and when he went out there was a window which showed no signal, but all his efforts to find the entrance into the room from within-tho castle failed. The name Glamis occurs in the very early pages of Scottish history, and is imperishably associated with Shakespeare through tho witches' scene in "Macbeth": All hail, Macbeth! ! Hail to thee, Thane of .Glamis!" such is the historic house from which a King's son chose his bride.' '■■••' ■

It was ttiia ..ancient' -Forfarshiro stronghold that saw' the birth of the Royal romance. It was in September, 1921, that Lady Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon was faced with the responsibility f being hostess during a visit to the castle of! the Queen, Princess Mary, and the Duke of York, and on her, in the absence through illness of her mother, devolved the duty of showing the visitors over the castle and relating its history. This was the first occasion since the days of Charles 11. that a son of the reigning King had visited the castle. Thereafter -Lady , Elizabeth was seen often in the company of members of the Boyal Family. She was the most-talked-of bridesmaid at tho wedding of

justice, for it is her expression that is her chief beauty, and it'is quite impossible for the camera to catch it Sho is essentially an unselfish g'rl. For eighteen months, prior to her'marriage the Duchess, of York .was absent from Glamis very little, owing to the illness of her mother. Ever since her operation in 1921 the Countess of Strath ore' has been more or less an invalid, and Lady Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon, the only girl left at home, undertook all the entertaining and '- -usekeeping -n her mother's place. This was no light task, I can assure you, especially at Glamis, where it is not • '.' all an uncommon thing for a hundred people to be entertained and provided for. Lady Elizabeth neve went to school, but was educated by governesses at home under the supervision of the Countess of Strathmore. She was so quick and in-

telligent at learning all subjects that it is difficult to say wha* was her especially strong'point. She is what might be called an all-round girl at be th work and play. She plays a creditable game at tennis and golf, and although she does not shoot much herself, there was nothing she liked better than a tramp over the iioor with the guns at Glaniis." , .

should acknowledge the spell of the "Great Magician," who himself yielded to the spell of her ancient home, and found there some of his happiest inspirations. It was the famous Lion Cup at Glamis that suggested to Sir Walter the idea of the Blessed Bear of Bradwardine.

But the Duchess of York has a dearer friend in fiction even that Scott—and that is Sir. Walter's favourite novelist, Jane Austen. It is- easy to stand how that;writer's delicate} lively humour and appreciation of quiet home: life should appeal to one who has proved herself an ideal daughter and an ideal sister, just as she is now' proving herself to be an ideal wife. Jane Aus--ten speaks somewhere of "the unchecked, equal, fearless companionship with the brother and friend' which sisters may enjoy," and no words could better describe the Duchess's happy comradeship with her brothers. Although efficient in several forms of sport, her chief interests have always been laid in other spheres of modern woman's activity.

_ In 1914, while the Duchess was still in the schoolroom, far too young to engage in the more strenutus forms of war-work, she found a lerful sphere of usefulness in the private hospital organised ,jy her mother a' Glamis pastle. These services lend additional interest ■to the appointment a year or two back of the Duchess as a Lady of Grace of the Order of St. John of Jerusalem. From the wounded whose days she brighteued she' won the same

Her introductions public life as the wife of the Duke of York must have proved a very great ordeal in its early days. If, like most speakers, she suffers beforehand from great nervousness (and she does hot escape this inevitable penalty), yet the moment of facing an audience finds her entirely equal to her task. She speaks in uublie with ease and finish. ' She has escaped the handicaps'of the ultra-modern spirit, and retains that exquisite simplicity and charm of manner which has become something of a lost art Since her marriage the Duchess of York has played a very prominent part in. official circles in England. As the .wife of the Duke of York she has been required to carry out many official' pilgrimages and has come through the ordeal with flying colours. The visit to Kenya, her firrt great Imperial journey with her husband, was entirely successful in its object, the. bringing of this portion of the Empire into line with the remainder of the Dominions. Both she and the Duke proved their capacity during that tour as "Ambassadors of Empire," and now they have Deen entrusted with a far more important undertaking. That the Duchess has accepted the trust imposed upon her and her husband, leaving the baby Princess Elizabeth, only some ten months old, to the care of others when all a mother's thoughts would cry aloud to hr beside her baby, show how bravely and adequately she is facing the ordeal of the position thrust upon her as the helpmeet of one who is in direct line with the Throne, and who is, on the present and many other occasions, the King's representative. It is this facing of the realities of Koyalty which has placed the Duchess of York in a special niche in the hearts of the people of the Empire, and which will ensure a continuation of the warm welcome.

golden opinions sho had already won from the Glamis tenantry. They, had known, and loved her since first" she came among them as a very • little girl. Her friendship -with the kindly Forfarshire folk.may bo one reason, why she counts Sir James Barrie's> books, particularly "Margaret, Ogilvy,"- among her favourites. ' The Barrie country is. very near Glamis Castle, and a road to Kirri'emini (Thrums) runs lose past the castle gates. . Barries, plays also appeal to the Duchess of York, and she likes especially "Dear Brutus" and "Mary Eose." With the works of pre-sent-day writers, the Duchess has a wide acquaintance, but her preference has always been for the older English classics.. Sho does not caro for Dickens, but she is ail enthusiastic, reader of Scott. It was inevitable, perhaps, that a daughter of the Strathmores