Omaha daily bee., 1895-05-01

| permitted TO publish Mrs. John V. Mont
somerles 'Glmpses Of Ayrshire
EGLINToN CASTLE, Ayrshire, Scotland.
| My Dear Margaret: Just notice where this
| letter is dated, will you? From a real castle,
and such castle too! Yes, your plain, sim-
! pie sister, Hester Montgomerie, is the guest
OF an earl and countess in this grand old
| castle of thers-and how 1t happened you
| would never guess.
Before tell you let me describe my present
abiding place
| 1t is a stately, baronial structure second to
few in Scotland for dignity, and yet ii has
a cheerful and winsome look withal-mors
| of beauty than of stateliness.
| The site has something to do with this the
| noble trees in which 1t is embowered tho
| waters OF the stream that flow past the rear
| of the castle and above all the soft grey tons
| of the walls and towers and the masses OK
| dark green ivy In which they are clothed.
| II is a perfect picture. Never, perhaps,
| have the feudal fortress and the convenient
| modern dwelling been combined in a more per.
| feet harmony
The interior is just what one would expect
| from the exterior. The great entrance hall
| is rich in suits of armour and other relics.
| including chair made in 1918 from oak OF
| the roof of Alaway Kirk.
The salon-a circular apartment into which
several Of the main rooms converge-has Its
walls draped with banners, each Of which
| has an interesting history.
| The library is a large and noble room, :
especially rich in local literature, and the
| spacious dining room with its beautiful pic
| lures is place for feasting the eyes as we'll
| as the physical man.
! Here hangs portrait of Mary Seaton, one
| OF the -Four Maries' Of the ballad, whose
| necklace, by the way, is still worn on occa-
| sons by the countess Of Eglnton And here
| also is the likeness of the wife of the ninth
| earl, Susanna Kennedy, the greatest beauty
of her time. 1t was to her that Allan Ram
say dedicated his Gentle Shepherd" and DR..
johnson counted 1t one Of the crowning honors
OF his life that this lady, then eighty-6ve
years Of age, received him at Auchaus.
Besides these portraits in the dining room.
many other beautiful pictures rejoice the
| artistic eye. scene in Venice, said TO be
| Queen Victoria going to a masked ball;
portrait by Reynolds Of Jean, wife Of the
| eleventh earl; a head OF Rubens by himself
and other gems, which repay careful study.
| On the second floor six suites OF bed
rooms furnished by the late earl for the re-
ception Of five duchesses, who were all his
| guests at the same tme-and now one Of the
| suites is occupied by John and me!
And, yet, l haven't told you how we came
! to be here! Well, just moment and l will.
The castle grounds are simply magnificent.
| Imagine a yard" of 1876 acres surrounded
| by a fine stone wall. Think Of taking a six
| mile drive inside your own grounds Gardens
| and grassy glades, plantations and drives
| the finest bowling green in Britain-one might
| live here in content, / should think. even
| if the castle Is quite modern-bu:lt as recently
| as 1896 the site of an older building.
Really, Margaret, although l have been
| Montgomere only two months, and though
| John cannot trace our connection straight
back to the chief stem-I am proud Of the
! family!
But to relieve your curiosity and tell you
| how we got here. At last John has had that
onged-f for adventure, and luckily I was along
to help him enjoy 1t.
Two days ago we left Glasgow enroute for
the land Of the MOntgomeries. About half
way between Glasgow and Ayr the train sud-
denly jumped the track-which had spread or
something, l don't know just what-and rolled
off the embankment into deep ditch.
Our coach being turned up-sde-down, John
and l found ourselves in heap on what had
been the ceiling Of our compartment but as
no bones were broken we were soon safe OUT
side, bag and baggage. Our exit, however,
was not made with the greatest dignity im-
agnable, the door was locked and we de-
parted through window.
The next coach was piled on top Of the one
which had been In front Of 1t and we could
just see the waving hands Of some one trying
to escape from the under coach.
John went to the rescue and succeeded after
much difficulty in prying up the top car
enough to allow a gentleman and his 6fteen-
year-old son to scramble out unhurt.
In their gratitude they made themselves
our guides to an inn not far distant, and
chatting on the way thither, discovered that
we were "two Mongomeries from America
on our way to visit the home of our an,
cestors."
Quoth the elder gentleman: 81 am also q
member Of that clan. You must permit ma
to be your cicerone while you stay" and
forthwith carried us of bodily to Eglinton.
castle, when 1t appeared that he was nona
other than the head Of the clan-the EARL
himself.
So here we are, and my next shall tell Of
our trips to Craigie house and Crosbie castle.
which will remind you Of Scottish Chiefs, y
since they belonged to the family of Sir Will
liam Wallace, Blair house and Culzean castle.
and Cassilis House on the Doom. Till then,
farewell. Your loving sister,
HESTER MoNTGoMERIE.
| III.
The second week of our stay at Eglinton
, is now at an end-and a busy week II has
been, too. We have been doing" this part
of Ayrshire most thoroughly, taking in most
Of the famous places in the district as we'll
! as the lesser houses Of the Mongomeries
| l think Blair house interested me most OF
all that we have seen-excepting Eglinton, OF
course. Blair house is the oldest inhabited
baronial mansion in Scotland.
1t was erected about 1910 and added to In
1910 and 1639-and here 1t stands today just
as 1t looked then. Thought not without ele-
ments Of picturesque beauty the old house
has a plain homelke look. II is an oblong
building, four stories high with a single
. tower, and stands on a semi-circular plateau
some fifty feet above the little river that
skirts Its northern side.
You enter by a door with wicket through
which the watchman peeped before drawing
, the bolts and letting down the draw bridge.
and in the hall stands figure clad in the
, veritable armor OF Sir Bryce Blair, the patriot
OF Wallaces time
When you pass through walls fourteen feet
thick and see all preparations for defense.
you can realize something Of the stormy
days when this old house was built whom
Roger de Blair fought by the side Of Bruce.
! Think, Margaret, of a family which can
trace an unbroken line, living in the same
house for more than 800 yearsi
Then we visited Craigie house, which be-
longed to Sir William Wallace and Crosble
castle. in which that hero himself once lived.
Perhaps the grandest place we saw was
a castle, part OF which was built before 1861,
although additions have been made even IN
this century. 1t is nearly square and COM
tains upwards OF ninety apartments. The
entrance hall is seventy feet long by thirty
feet wide, and Is open to the roof II cons
tans many fine pictures and library OF over
5000 volumes The most interesting thing
, in it-in my eyes, al least-ls the two-handed