#12 - Tain's Tower

Sorry - the postcard posts are out of chronological order, but only by 30 minutes - the last postcard I wrote about was sent at 12:15PM, this one was sent at 11:45AM - both on October 21, 1909.  Both were also sent from the same man in Tain.  However, the last postcard was sent to Jack, this one was to his brother, William, who also lived at 9 Roseneath Terrace in Nairn.  And on the last postcard, the signature was not legible.  On this one we see the man's name is Andrew - it's definitely the same man as the writing is exactly the same.

Text on the card reads:  "Got back to the old place once again.  Hoping this will find out all well.  What do you think of our Tower     Your Old Chum Andrew".  The card itself was made by J. McCulloch and Co printers in Edinburgh, and it was part of the "Caledonia Series."

There were at least 5 adults living at 9 Roseneath Terrace at that time.  Susannah (the mother), Jack, William, and Bella (all siblings) are all living here according to the postcards we've seen so far.  Annie, the youngest daughter, seems to have been a domestic servant for someone, and she sent cards from Gourock and Dunoon which seem to lead to this conclusion.  John (father to Jack) was also living there.  Alexander (oldest son) had moved to Toronto, Ontario, Canada in 1907 and got married to Matilda Spencer later that year - so by the time this card was sent, he was gone.  By 1911, Jack, William, Alex, and Matilda, were all living in Vancouver. 

The front of the postcard shows the tower in Tain that is attached to the court building - if you look at the last postcard, the base of the tower can be seen on the left hand side.  The courthouse was built in 1849 with additions in 1873.  The tower itself, however, is "ancient" (no date found) with its bell being made in Holland in 1616 - it was formerly part of a prison.  If you look at the pictures, you can see the difference in the masonry between it and the rest of the building.  More information on the history of the town can be found here.

Like most places in these images, it looks rather the same today.

Nothing I'd rather be doing on a Thursday night than a little research!

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#11 - Tain

This postcard was sent from Tain.  Tain is located in the Highlands of Scotland, on the North Sea Coast, on Dornoch Firth.  I believe it is the northernmost community represented in this collection:

"The origin of the name "Tain" is uncertain and may be derived from the pre-Celtic name for the nearby River Tain. The origin of the town's Gaelic name is however quite clear: Baile Dubhthaich, meaning 'Duthac's town' after the saint of this name, also known as Duthus." (care of Wikipedia - the whole article is here).

Tain was granted royal charter in 1066, making it Scotland's oldest Royal Burgh (also from the Wikipedia article).  A large aerodrome was built here in the 1930s and was home to many airmen during WWII.

This post card was sent October 21, 1909 from Tain to Jack in Nairn - not too very far away, really - just across a peninsula and Moray Firth - I'm starting to understand where Colin Firth's name comes from).  The text reads:  "I got back once again + feeling alright what do you think of High St. Did not see J (?) yet but will write you when I do .  Remember me to all at home.  Your old cheer (chum?)" illegible signature.  

The mark WR&S is on this card as it was on numbers 2 and 7 as well.  I thought I wrote about them earlier, but I can't find that reference, so I may repeat myself.  WR&S (William Ritchie and Sons) was an Edinburgh firm that produced a lot of postcards at this time - all of these ones are the "Reliable Series."  They also put out albums of postcards for purchase.

The front of the card is of High Street in Tain.  Love to see the photos with the dresses, top hats, carriages, bicycles and such.  

Here's how Google Street View has it today:

Hasn't changed much, has it.

I want to go visit these places.

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#10 - Madeira and Burghead

Addressed to Mr. J. McCurrach (Jack) of 9 Roseneath Terrace, Nairn, this postcard is of the church in the town of Monte on the island of Madeira, but the postmark is from Burghead, Scotland.  I don't know if this person went to Madeira themselves, or if they got it somewhere else.  My suspicion is that the postoffice or store in Burghead sold a varied collection of postcards from various places.

The text written on the front of the postcard reads: "Dear J.  We were sorry we did not see you before we left Nairn the last day we were there.  I am so busy just now that I forgot it was my turn to send a post-card.  What miserable weather.  Sarah"

When I initially wrote this post, I did not know who Sarah was.  But from other postcards, I did find out.  Read more here.

From what Sarah wrote, it would seem that Jack (as well as his mother and other members of the family) was caught up in the craze of the day:  postcard writing.  Postcards offered an inexpensive way to communicate.  These were public messages, so personal details are rarely included on a postcard, but lots of other information can be gleaned, as you'll see if you read more of the posts on this blog (they are meant to be read in order starting from #1)

Obviously there were many more postcards from Sarah that no longer are in the collection.  I wonder how many went missing over the years.  And I'm so grateful that my great-grandparents and my grandmother held on to these ones.

Madeira, for those of you who don't know, is an island owned by Portugal, but it's actually closer to Africa - southeast of the Azores and about 400 km north of the Canary Islands.  The islands of Madeira, Porto Santo, Deseratas, and the Savage Islands, form an administrative autonomy that is part of the European Union.  Madeira was claimed by Portugal early in the 15th century and is considered the first territorial "discovery" in the Age of Discovery. (source)

The small village of Monte is located on the island of Madeira, and the Church of Nossa Sinhora Do Monte ("Our Lady of the Mountain" - the building pictured on the postcard) is a major tourist attraction. Built on the foundations of an old chapel, the church was constructed in 1741 and damaged by an earthquake in 1748. The island became and continues to be a destination for tourists with 1.4 million people currently visiting each year. But was Sarah one of them? I hope so.  Just because travelling is a wonderful thing to do. But I do doubt it. From what I've learned about Sarah, and simply because of her association with Jack (implying similar social status), I don't think she would have had the money to travel.

Burghead, where the card was postmarked, is a small town in the northeast of Scotland about 13 km north-west of Elgin.  In the process of building the town between 1804 and 1809, the remains of the largest known Pictish fort of its kind were partially destroyed.  The fort itself was destroyed during the Viking age and then nearly obliterated in the 19th century, but today, an active archaeology program is enlightening us about the earlier history of the area.

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#9 - St. Andrews Castle

The 9th postcard in the collection was sent to Mrs. McCurrach at 9 Roseneath Terrace in Nairn, Scotland, from someone who signed "M. McL" (or maybe it's "McJ", could be an "S", "I", or "P".  Damned early 20th century hand-writing!)

The postcard was sent from Nairn on August 10, 1909 at 9am - so it was sent to Susannah from someone in the same town.  It would be odd today to send a postcard across town, and it would probably take a week, but postcards were popular before the ubiquitous use of telephones (after WWI) because they were a way to mail a short note cheaply.  If you didn't have the time to walk over, postcards were one of the few alternatives.  Postcard popularity declined after around 1920, and I would guess it was because of the widespread accessibility of the telephone.

The back of the postcard reads:  "I shall send 3 pints currants on Tuesday with Baker.  Please call there for them. These are all I have to share now all well."  This was just the best way to send a quick, impersonal note in Nairn in 1909.

Black currants have been cultivated in Britain for the past 400-500 years - they are native plants that have grown there for a long time, though, and herbalists have known their benefits for far longer than that.  Black currants are a source of concentrated Vitamin C and are known to help cure scurvy.  During WWII, black currant syrup was provided to children as citrus fruits were hard to obtain.  My grandmother always put black currants in her scones and had a bush in her backyard in the Okanagan Valley (British Columbia).  Good way to ruin a scone, but if I grew up having to eat them, I think I might feel differently.

Communications like this postcard make me think of how little we would communicate if we had to consciously put a stamp on every e-mail or Facebook post - and how spoiled we are with our electronic communications in this day and age.

As you can see, the picture on the postcard is of the ruins of St. Andrews Castle - a 13th-century Medieval castle that served to house the bishops and archbishops of St. Andrews Cathedral.  There has been a castle at this location since 1189.  After the Reformation, the castle fell into disrepair, and the cathedral's structures mined for housing materials (I would think the castle's, too).

Located on the east coast of Scotland, south of Aberdeen and north of Edinburgh, St. Andrews is probably best known today for its golf course.  Here is a modern image of the Castle (thanks, Google Earth!!).  It hasn't changed a whole lot - as a heritage consultant, I'm glad to see the ivy growth has been taken off the structure on the left.

Here's the cathedral:

Location of St. Andrews in Scotland

Obviously M McL (?) had an extra postcard hanging around that she used for a short note.  Very interesting behaviour, actually.  I wonder if she collected them from the places she visited or just bought them at the local shop.

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#8 - Dunoon from the Pier

This postcard was sent from Annie McCurrach (my great-grandfather's sister) in Dunoon to her mother, Susanna at 9 Roseneath Terrace in Nairn, on August 7, 1909.

Dunoon, population around 4500, is located in the western portion of Scotland, west and north of Glasgow, across the water from Gourock, which was mentioned in this previous post.  It is the main resort on the Cowal Peninsula in the Argyll & The Isles region in western Scotland.

Dunoon Castle (because there's always a castle), the remains of which stand just behind and to the left of the photographer, was built in the 12th century and first recorded in the 13th.  It may have been built due to the Stewart's increasing influence in the area.  Surrendered to the English in 1333, an insurrection ensued and the Scots retook it.  By the 1400s, it was a royal castle and the Campbells were its hereditary keepers.

In 1544, the castle was captured by Matthew Stewart with military support from Henry the VIII, at which time Archibald Campbell, 4th Earl of Argyll, was driven out.  A violent feud between the Campbell and Lamont clans led to the Dunoon Massacre in 1646.  After the restoration, Dunoon was the residence of the the bishops of Argyll for a time.  in 1685, the castle was destroyed during the Earl of Argyll's rebellion against James VII and II (Wikipedia).

The castle hill in Dunoon

Dunoon remained a small village made up of mostly traditional Highland cottages until the early nineteenth century when steamers started to bring more people here.  The pier from which the postcard photo was taken was built in 1835 and is still there.  The town became a popular place for vacationers from Glasgow.  It has always been a defensive position for Scotland and I'm sure will continue to be so.  The Castle House Museum is one of the destinations for a history traveller.

Annie McCurach was on one of those holidays with her employers - she was a domestic servant, as you'll read below.  

The text of the postcard reads:  "Dear mother will you kindly tell me how you streach your shawels do you wash them or just damp them my lady is doing one and is wanting to no how to streach it.  we are having fouly weather here but to hot for working at least for fat people like me ta ta with love annie write soon."

A couple of conclusions come to mind - Annie had poor writing skills despite a good education system in Scotland, and she was what she considered fat.  I'm not sure what the standards were for that in her day in Scotland, though, and I have no photos of her, so I have no idea if she was truly overweight or just thought herself such.

I have recently started knitting, and now understand how important it is to properly block a piece after completing it.  Which leads me to be so grateful for the Internet.  I learned basic stitches when I was young, but the Internet allows us to learn whatever we want without having to rely on relatives or friends to teach us.  Aren't we lucky?

The Argyll hotel seen in the postcard can be found on Google Earth today: 

Good travel information can be found here:

I want to go stay at this hotel - in that top room above the sign - if it's a room.  But I'd like to avoid the "fouly" weather.

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#7 - Burns Walk Dumfries

Auld Lang Syne is a song we all sing (or at least hear) at the turn of the New Year.  The tune is rarely heard otherwise here in Canada, but when the first syllables are heard, memories of the ball dropping in New York, past house parties, and Frank Capra's "It's a Wonderful Life" flood into my head.  You would be hard pressed to find any adult in the commonwealth who does not know the tune - much like Happy Birthday.

"Auld Lang Syne" can be translated from Scots to English as "Old Long Since" - or, in the case of the song, as "for the sake of old times."  It started out a poem, written in 1788 by Robert Burns (Robbie to those who know him well 😁) and was set to the tune of a traditional Scottish song.

Burns lived a prolific but short life - 1759-1796 - and died when he was only 37.  Rumours abound about why he died so young, but a general consensus now seems to be that he died of bacterial endocarditis secondary to chronic rheumatic heart disease - probably because of having rheumatic fever as a child.  However, his lifestyle undoubtedly added to an earlier death.  He was quite a drinker (1) (he was an artist, and a Scot), and also a womanizer.  Weak heart, bacterial infection, unhealthy lifestyle ... it adds up.

Regarding children, the first known child of Burns' came from him impregnating his mother's servant, Elizabeth Paton (source).  Also named Elizabeth, the child lived with Burn's mother until Robert died in 1796 (source).  He, however, abandoned his mother's servant for a relationship with Jean Armour, his future wife, who became pregnant (with twins) in March, 1786.  Despite Burns declaring his marriage to Jean in writing, Jean's parents sent her away, and Burns himself lamented having abandoned the children in a letter written in 1786 addressed to Mr. Robert Aiken:  "... how should I meet the reproaches of those who stand to me in the dear relation of children, whom I deserted in the smiling innocency of helpless infancy?".  This feeling alone, the feelings of a father and his responsibility to his children, made him hesitate about going to Jamaica when it looked like his only option to make money and escape arrest under the hand of Jean's father (2).  A publication deal, the money from which made it possible for him to avoid arrest, allowed him to stay in his homeland and abandon plans to move to Jamaica to work on a sugar plantation.  He officially married and cohabited with Jean in 1788, though they had claimed marriage two years before.   She gave birth to a total of nine children, three of whom survived infancy (source).

Burns, regardless of his apparent social faux pas, was a beloved artist in Scotland.  He produced poetry in the Scots language which made it accessible to the general public.  He is widely considered the national poet of Scotland and is celebrated worldwide.  Every year on or near January 25, you can find a Burns supper somewhere to get your Scots on.

Burns lived his life in the southwest of Scotland (Alloway, Tarbolton, Mauchline, Dumfries), the last few years in Dumfries, the largest parish in Dumfriesshire in 1755 (with 4517 inhabitants - mostly Protestants) (source).  The numbers were likely very close to this 40 years later when he moved there.

This postcard is from Dumfries.

The front of this postcard reads:  "Burns Walk Dumfries (one of the fine rural walks in the district)."  Dumfries is located in the southwest of Scotland, about 75 miles south and slightly east of Glasgow.  The Burns Walk is along the river Nith and is still a recreational area (more information here).   The path is about 7.5 km and takes 2 to 2.5 hours.

An interesting side note, I have a copy of some The National Burns Vol.II - and it is at least 125 years old.  Here is the frontispiece:

The book contains his songs and his general correspondences from 1780 to 1796.  As well as the correspondences between himself and Agnes Maclehose.  The correspondences give an intimate look into Burns' psyche.  One gets the impression that he is depressed at times, manic at others.

The Burns Walk postcard was sent to Belle McCurrach at 9 Roseneath Terrace in Nairn (where she lived with her mother, father, sister and two brothers).

Text is hard to read - but I'll do my best:  "Dearest Belle.  Have had a lovely time.  Sorry it is nearly all past  Shall be with __________ train tomorrow (dumfries? something). Shall tell you all news.  trust you are well and not lonely.  Love Ettie" (I believe it is Ettie because she is mentioned in another postcard as having joined the "Sally's" [the Salvation Army]).

As an update:  thanks to blog reader, Carole Hastings, we have a full translation:  "Dear Bell Have had a lovely time Sorry its nearly all past Shall be with 4.07 train tomorrow (Tempus fugit) Shall tell you all news Trust you are well and not lonely love Ettie."

"Tempus fugit" is a new phrase to me.  According to Wikipedia, it was first expressed in Virgil's Georgics (written in 29 BC) as "fugit irreparable tempus" - translated as "it escapes, irretrievable time" - I like it.  I might have to incorporate the term into my lexicon.

The back shows it post-marked from Dumfries on July 25, 1909.

The postcard is published by J. Swan 63-67 High Street, Dumfries.  Thanks to the "Old Dumfries" group on Facebook, we have this wonderful ca. 1900 photograph showing J. Swan's storefront:

Here is where the store was located - there isn't a Google Streetview image of it, darn it:

One of my favourite lines of Robbert Burns' was written early on in his career and has always impressed me, perhaps because a famous play was named after it.  From his poem "To a Mouse", the line reads:  "The best laid schemes o' Mice an' Men / Gang aft agley" or "the best laid plans of mice and men often go awry". Who can argue with that?

(1) The National Burns Vol II ca. 1894 - correspondences

(2) ibid p.113

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#6 - Camp Life

Sent on July 21, 1909, this postcard was from Nellie Steele (my great-grandmother) to Jack McCurrach (my great-grandfather) before they were married.  Jack was living in Nairn with his mother at 9 Roseneath Terrace, and Nellie was in Aberdeen (or at least sent the postcard from there as it was postmarked from Aberdeen at 9:50 AM) waiting for a "place" in Inverurie.  She may have had a position as a domestic in Inverurie, or it might have been something else - can't imagine at this point that she had the means to do a summer rental - and Inverurie wasn't exactly a hot vacation spot.

The text on the postcard reads:  "D.J. Is this how you did when you were at camp I have got that place at Inverurie so I am just staying here until I go to it I go to it on the 31 July N.S."

I assume the camp Nellie is talking about is a military camp.  Jack was with the 4th Cameron Highlanders for 1 1/2 years.  The 79th Regiment of Foot (Cameronian Volunteers) was raised on August 17, 1793 from members of the Clan Cameron by Sir Allan Cameron of Erracht.  Originally an Irish regiment, they became part of the British Army in 1804 and in 1806 were renamed the 79th Regiment of Foot (Cameron Highlanders).  In 1873, they became the 79th Regiment, The Queen's Own Cameron Highlanders (source).

In 1908, the 4th Battalion was formed, based at Inverness with the Seaforth & Cameron Brigade in the Highland Division.

So, in doing the math, that means that Jack was a member for 1 1/2 years between when it formed on (or after or about) April 1, 1908 and when he left on June 4, 1910.  They had an annual camp which is likely what Nellie was referring to.

In 1916, Jack joined the Canadian Expeditionary Forces (CEF) with the B.C. Bantams - you can read all about that odd little battalion in my published article (self-promotion, self-promotion).  It is on his attestation papers to the CEF that he stated his previous military service with the 4th Cameron Highlanders.

Jack would end up in France on the front lines in Lens during the battle for Hill 70.  He was shot and ended up in hospital for several months before joining the Stationery & Typewriter Service (he was a trained compositor or printer).  He remained in Great Britain until he came home to Canada in August, 1919.

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#5 - Duchess of Hamilton

Today's postcard is one of the Duchess Of Hamilton steamer.  My great-grandfather's sister, Annie, sent this one back home to 9 Roseneath Terrace, Nairn to their sister Bella.  At the time, Annie would have been around 16 years old, Bella about 19.

The written text reads:  "Dear sister  having a lovely day this is the boat but we have not the rough weather that you see here do you wish you was with us annie"  Good thing their weather was better!

A stamp on the back reads:  "Caledonian Steam Packet Co. Limited. P.S. Duchess of Hamilton." And some text printed on the back reads: "Caledonian Steamers via Gourock, Wemyss Bay and Ardrossan."  The Caledonian Steam Packet Company formed in 1889 to complement the Caledonian Railway.  More can be found about it here.

Postmarked July 1, 1909 at 8:10pm from Gourock P.O., Renfrewshire.

Gourock is located to the top left of the map on the south side of the river, near Greenock.  Ardrossan is to the lower left with the ferry lines coming form it.  As you can see, they are both relatively close to Glasgow.

The Duchess of Hamilton was built in 1890 and served as a ferry before being put into service during WWI as a minesweeper.  She was sunk in 1915 by a mine from a German UC-3.

Gourock, like Nairn and other coastal towns, began as a small fishing village, and functioned as a seaside resort.  After trains offered faster, easier access to different cities, visiting the coast for a short visit was a possibility for more people.  I imagine that is why Annie was visiting Gourock at this time - either with family, or (more likely) with a family she worked for.  On the 1911 census, she is listed as a laundress and domestic servant, and she was likely doing that job by 1909 (14 was when most children left school to join the work force).

In Gourock today, you can stay at the Castle Levan which has been restored and is in use as a Bed and Breakfast.  It's not cheap, but what an experience to sleep in a 1457 castle!

Castle Levan, Gourock (from B&B website)

If you wanted to see all the places this ferry went, you could also visit Ardrossan - further south on the open coast, Ardrossan was a good location for shipyards, transportation, and exporting.  During the Industrial Revolution, exports of coal and pig iron to North America and Europe where a mainstay.  The shipyard provided fishing vessels and small cargo boats, and passenger service to the Isle of Arran, the Isle of Man and to Belfast were all implemented in the 1800s.  Ardrossan, in 1921, was also the first European site to receive radio signals form North America (source).

Interesting notes - there is an Ardrossan here in Alberta - however, the word means "headland of the little promontory" and Alberta's Ardrossan is completely landlocked.  It was, indeed, named after Scotland's Ardrossan.  

Also, we are having a very large tree removed from our backyard today (2014?) (more to come on that) and one of the fellows working on it is Scottish - quite likely from near this area - spent time in Glasgow, anyhow.  Is it just me, or does everyone love a Scottish accent?   Maybe it's my genes - or the fact that my great-grandmother had a Scottish accent that I remember from when I was very small.

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#4 - Keith Hall Again

So postcard number 4 in the series is the same as number 3 - sort of.  It is a colourized photograph and was produced by WR&S Limited - part of the reliable series 483/23.  WR&S was William Ritchie & Sons, Ltd who were in business from 1902-1928.

It also was sent to Mrs. McCurrach (my Great-Great-Grandmother, Susanna) at 9 Roses Place, Nairn, like yesterday's.  It was postmarked June 30, 1909, and also from Pitcaple (like the other Keith Hall postcard) - but on the side of this postcard the writer has written "Pitcaple Castle".  Pitcaple is located in Aberdeenshire to the northwest of Inverurie - it's near the lodge in this satellite image:

The text written on the P.C. says "Thanks for P.C. we were beginning to think you had been drowned in the rain. glad to hear you are all well. we come back to Nairn on the 27th I must really tell you Lizzie is not behaving very well.  with kind regards to you all from B. Donald."

Obviously, it had been a wet summer - but isn't it always in Scotland??

I'm not sure who Lizzie was - or who B. Donald was.  In looking at the Scottish census, I'm thinking Lizzie may have been a niece to Mrs. McC - she was not a daughter.  I wonder what she was doing and why she was with B. Donald ...

Sir John Johnston the third Knight Baronet of Johnston, is shown in "Genealogical account of the family of Johnston of that Ilk, formerly of Caskieben, in the shire of Aberdeen and its principal branches"as apparently the last Johnston of Caskieben.  It looks like he was only "of Caskieben" by name, not by location.  Apparently, John's father, Sir George Johnston of Caskieben, had lost his estate by "a too generous way of living" (p.236).  John Johnston didn't do any better with his money, and ended up in the British Army in Ireland where he tried to find a rich wife.  Basically he got chased out of the country and, ending up in England short on money, he became beholden to Captain James Campbell.

Interestingly, Johnston was executed in 1690 for his part in kidnapping Miss Mary Wharton so she could be forcibly married to James Campbell.  Campbell did not meet such a fate, but managed to get away "scot free", as they say (page 237).

Caskieben was renamed Keith Hall when it became the property of the Earl of Kintore (Sir John Keith) in 1677 - the same time he was made Lord Keith of Inverurie and Keith Hall.  He was the third son of William Keith, the Chief of Clan Keith (source).

Keith Hall is now the family seat for the Keiths.

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#3 - Keith Hall, Inverurie

Sent June 25, 1909 from Pitcaple, Aberdeenshire, from L. Sim to Mrs. McCurrach (my great-great-grandmother) at 9 Roses Place, Nairn (Roseneath Terrace, actually, but I guess it go to her anyhow.)

The postcard shows Keith Hall, Inverurie:

Located (strangely enough) east down Keithhall Road and over the Urie Bridge (as seen in yesterday's post) this beautiful structure is just outside of Inverurie.

Keith Hall is a very interesting place.  A look at Keith Hall on the 1901 Ordnance Survey Map from the National Library of Scotland (thank you NLS for this AMAZING resource!) gives us an idea of the size of the establishment before WWI (and a glimpse into its history):

Ordnance Survey Six Inch Map Aberdeen Sheet LV

You'll note to the north of Keith Hall, the location of Caskieben with a moat around it.  Caskieben, meaning "Wooded Hill" was a palisaded wooden tower structure built by the Garviach (Garioch) family during the Norman expansion into Scotland in the 12th century.  The Moat surrounding it was 2 metres deep and 15 metres wide - hard to get around, I'm sure (source).  I'm assuming there must have been a drawbridge over the moat.  

The hall that we see today began construction in the 13th century as a replacement for the tower structure.  It was also originally called Caskieben, but later named Keith Hall.  Sir Andrew Garioch of Caskieben in the 14th-century was (obviously) a Knight.  My mind goes a little wild imagining knights in armour on horseback jousting in the fields. Very classic Romantic imagery.  

Early 14th century knight from Wikimedia

By the 15th century, the Johnston family were lords of Caskieben - followers of the Stuart kings in their attacks on England.  Combative in many ways, Alexander Johnston and others, in 1492, were ordered to pay William Hay of Ardendraught for burning the Houses of Ardendraught in the parish of Cruden (source).  Now, in my mind, knights and their armies are raiding and burning properties much like in the movies.  The imagination runs wild.

As I read more and more online, I see that this place has an amazing history which I can't possibly cover here in one post - so see next one.  

(*As a side note, it is quiet something for a Canadian to be imagining knights and raids this long ago - my culture's history only goes back a little over a century in this country.  How amazing to live where your history goes back so much further).

Keith hall is recognized by Historic Environment Scotland for their Garden and Designed Landcape which covers the area with the Bridge of Ury as well.

Interestingly, a couple of years ago, if you had a million dollars to spend, you could buy a 4-bedroom flat in Keith Hall!  See this link.  It has great indoor photos of the place, too.

Text is "Dear Mrs. McCurrach I am sorry for being so long in sending you a P.C. but I hope you will like this one like to stay here very much it is a lovely place, Tigh-na-mara will be rather desolate looking just now with kind regards from L Sim."

There is a Tigh-na-mara (meaning house by the sea) located on the Isle of Skye, which she could be referring to.  Although there may well be other places named such, here is a website for the one on Skye.

I'm not sure if the writer of this postcard, yesterday's and tomorrow's were all travelling together and had visited Mrs. McCurrach, but it seems that might be the case, since all of the P.C.s were from the Inverurie area and sent around the same time.

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