Ditty bag

**Milo Pine**: This house was built for someone in your family?

**Mrs. Hereward**: Yes, although neither that woman nor anyone else of her line lived here for long. There was a tragedy in the family. The bag—they would've called it a ditty bag back then—was made for a girl who was meant to live in the house, before it became clear that she never would. But she kept the bag and used it, ad much later, she passed it on.

— *Greenglass House*, pg. 146 |  | ”

The Lansdegown House ****d******itty bag** is a bag made for Lucy Bluecrowne by Kendrick and Garvett and passed down through her descendants to Eglantine Hereward. On one side is depicted Lansdegown House, and on the other a gate that stood on the grounds during Lucy's time, with Julian Roamer's lantern hanging from one gate.

## History

### *Bluecrowne*

Lucy saw Kendrick sewing a ditty bag. Garvett later gave Lucy a ditty bag he and Kendrick had made for her, with her house sewn onto it. Garvett had even sewn on the symbols that spelled "blue crown" in Chinese, what Lucy and Liao had named the house. Lucy put the key in her bag, and showed it to Liao, who approved of the symbols.

### *Greenglass House*

When Mrs. Hereward and Dr. Gowervine were shouting at each other, Mrs. Hereward was holding an embroidered bag like a shield. Mrs. Hereward later had the same bag, and Meddy told Milo to look at the bag. He did, and he saw Greenglass House stitched onto the bag. Mrs. Hereward saw him looking, blushed, and turned the bag around. There, Milo saw the iron gate.

Mrs. Hereward's knitting bag and two other things were later stolen. It did not make sense to Milo why anyone would steal that, but Meddy insisted that it had something to do with Greenglass House. Mrs. Hereward was very upset about the loss of her bag. Milo talked to her, hoping that he could learn something about the bag that might help him find it. She explained to Milo that she had inherited the bag from a very distant ancestor, for whom Greenglass House was built. The bag had been made for a girl who was meant to live in Greenglass House, and although she never really did, she had kept the bag, used it, and later passed it on. Mrs. Hereward was upset about the loss of the bag because it was the only thing she had that linked her to her ancestors.

Milo found the bag in the attic, underneath a pile of sailcloth. In order to keep the thief from discovering it had been found and moving the other things, Milo did not plan to return the bag until they had found all the missing things. He didn't want the guests to think he had stolen the things, se he hid them under the Christmas tree, disguised as Christmas gifts, so that they would not be connected with him. He noticed Chinese writing on the door on the bag, and planned to ask Mrs. Hereward.

Mrs. Hereward got angry and began to accuse Clem and Dr. Gowervine of being the thief, feeling that it must be one of them since they were the only ones that had not been robbed from. Milo and Meddy decided it was time to return the things, and Meddy made the guests find the presents. Mrs. Hereward found her ditty bag, to her great delight. Milo told how he'd found the things, and Mrs. Hereward sat on the couch and ran her fingers over the stitching. Milo asked about the Chinese writing, and she told him that it was the original name of Greenglass House, Lansdegown. He later asked about the gate, but she did not know about the gate. When Milo found Julian's lantern, he connected it to the lantern stitched on her bag.

## Physical characteristics

The bag is cylindrical, has a flat bottom, and is made of thick canvas, making it sturdy. There was decorative stitching along the sides, an embroidered image of Greenglass House on one side, and an iron gate on the other.

## Gallery

**Take a look at our **gallery for Ditty bag****.