With Europe’s only Senior Major golf tournament (for males), the ISPS HANDA Senior Open, returning in July, 2026, to The King’s Course at Gleneagles, it seemed appropriate for the Library to report on a few of its historical associations with the game of golf. We do not have any connection to the Gleneagles complex you see today, other than the occasional guest who comes on a visit to Innerpeffray. There is, however, a longstanding link to the 12th Century barony of Gleneagles. In the hands of the Haldane family, it grew in size over the centuries and Mary, a daughter of David Drummond, founder of the Library, married John Haldane of Gleneagles. The Haldane family still maintain a direct link with the Library. In the early 1900s the Caledonian Railway Company acquired 850 acres of land from the Gleneagles Estate, opening the King’s and Queen’s golf courses to the public in 1919, followed by the hotel in 1924.
Within the Library collections there are several books in which golf is mentioned. An appropriate place to begin this year, is with the attitude of James II. In 1457 he issued a statute on the practice of archery, adding “ …and as tuiching the futeball and golf to be punished be the Barronies un-law, and gif he takes not the un-law that it be taken be the King’s officiares…. And that al men that is within fifty or past twelve years sal use schutting.” Forty years on, James IV was even more adamant. “It is statute and ordained that in na place of the Realme there be use fute -ball and golfe or other unprofitable sports for the guide of the Realme and defense thereof.” Bows and shooting had to be practised in every parish or there would be fines “…of fourtene shillings to be raised be the Shireffe and Baillies, ..” At this point it should perhaps be noted that in 1552, St. Andrews formally dedicated its Links “..to golfe, futeball, shutting and all games.” In 1744, the Scots Magazine, records an important incident in the game’s history. “On the application of several persons of honour, skilled in the ancient and healthful exercise of goff the Edinburgh Council appointed the Treasurer, on 7th of March, to make a silver club of £15 value, to be played for on the links of Leith the first Monday of April, annually……… .”
The Act states that candidates had to book the week before and pay a fee of five shillings; recorded specific rules to be adhered to during play; that the “victor be stiled ‘Captain of the Goff’;” and lists the duties he will be required to undertake. “Accordingly, the first match was play’d on 2nd April by ten gentlemen and won by Mr. John Rattray, Surgeon in Edinburgh.”
Images from: Chambers’ Information for the People 1842; Advertisement, The Tatler, 1933; Punch Drawings, 1921
The Borrowers Register, from 1747- 1968, provides a tangible insight into what people were reading and their interests. It also gives us a doorway to discover more about their lives. Several members of the Kay family, who farmed at Cuilt Balloch, Muthill, were borrowers at various times between 1856 and 1888. David Miller Kay borrowed only twice; once in 1885 and once in 1888, whilst visiting his father, Peter. As a student, David excelled in a wide range of subjects, studying in St. Andrews, Edinburgh and in Europe. In 1897 he was ordained and went to Turkey as a Church Missionary, returning to St. Andrews in 1902, on his appointment to Regius Professor of Hebrew and Oriental Languages. After serving in WW1 he continued in his role at the University. He was a keen golfer, and whilst never a leading player at St. Andrews, he could claim to have once been the champion golfer of the Ottoman Empire during his time in Constantinople. Serving on the Management Committee of the R&A for many years, in 1924 he was invited to become their Chaplain, a role he held until his death in 1930.
Our Visitors Books date from 1859 and are ongoing. Whilst many of those signing their name have been ‘famous’ in their field, if not immediately recognisable, the name Bing Crosby, writ in a bold hand, in 1926, certainly is. He was a very keen golfer and stayed at Gleneagles but did he really visit Innerpeffray? Or was it someone playing a prank? We will probably never know.
In 1917, Mr. John Adam purchased the Innerpeffray Estate. Innerpeffray School was a great source of interest to both him and his wife, but he was particularly supportive of the Library, The couple were both Borrowers and Mr. Adam was also a Library Governor, who did much to create local interest in and to safeguard its treasures. A pioneer of motoring and a founding member and first President of the Royal Scottish Automobile Club, he was also a keen curler and golfer. In 1930 he gifted the Innerpeffray Cup to Crieff Golf Club, to be played for annually in a Gents Open Amateur Competition. Entry fee was five shillings. For many years the winning golfer received a solid silver, miniature replica of the cup. The competition still takes place in August each year, over 36 holes, for golfers with a maximum handicap of 4.0 and who now pay an entry fee of £50.
Innerpeffray Cup
Another Crieff Golfing Connection
Visitors to the Library often ask about the antique inkwell stand on display (pictured below). This was gifted by George Philp, resident of Crieff, lover of Innerpeffray Library and another keen golfer. During WW1 Mr. Philp was a piper in the Royal Scots and served with the 16th Battalion in France. Originally in the garage business he brought his family to live in Crieff in 1946 and took over the Birches Hotel. He retired in 1953, when his son, James, carried on the family business. Always a golfing fanatic, in 1980 George was the oldest captain of Crieff Golf Club presenting prizes, including the cup he had gifted to the club. In his latter years he was appointed a Life Member and was playing the Ferntower course at the age of 90. He died in 1983 aged 93.
Images courtesy of Library of Innerpeffray and Crieff Golf Club
Thus wrote John Adams, future second President of the United States of America, in a letter to his wife, Abigail, describing the day when the thirteen colonies on the eastern seaboard of the North American continent came together and severed ties with Great Britain, initiating a seven year war that ended with them emerging onto the international stage having humbled the mightiest empire in the world at that time (admittedly with some help from the second mightiest empire of the time!). He was, of course, describing 2nd July 1776. Yes, 2nd July, not 4th – this letter was written on 3rd July – so despite getting other aspects of his prediction of how this momentous occasion would be celebrated correct (“It ought to be solemnized with Pomp and Parade, with shews, Games, Sports, Guns, Bells, Bonfires and Illuminations from one End of this Continent to the other”), he got the wrong date…
Figure 1: Independence Hall, Philadelphia, where the Declaration was signed
So what, you are probably asking, does this have to do with our little Library hidden away by a beautiful river on the fringes of the Highlands? Well, more than you may imagine! The story told through this letter shows how this event was being viewed at the time by a man very much at the heart of events; yet even he did not correctly foresee how history would come to remember it. At Innerpeffray, we have a number of books from 1776 that give us an insight into contemporary accounts of what happened over those fateful few days in July. I want to shine a little spotlight on these, as they reveal some fascinating insights into how the nation-building in Philadelphia was viewed in the drawing rooms, coffee houses and, of course, libraries of Britain three thousand miles away.
I’ll start with perhaps our most popular account of the Declaration of Independence. This lies within the August 1776 edition of the Scots Magazine and includes the first Scottish printing of the Declaration itself, as well as a most fascinating editorial rebuke. The Scots Magazine typically takes a very neutral stance on events, even with the Jacobite rising in 1745-6. Here, however, the tone is set from the beginning of their first footnote “In what are they created equal? Is it in size, strength, understanding, figure, moral or civil accomplishments, or situation of life? Every ploughman knows that they are not created equal in any of these.” Ooft! It goes on “I will defy any American rebel, or any of their patriotic retainers here in England, to point out to me any two men throughout the whole world of whom it may with truth be said, that they are created equal.”.
Figure 2: The Scots Magazine has a very important question for Congress…
Vitriolic almost! Turning the page, I love the next column where we have three more lines of the Declaration and the rest is entirely editorial commentary, including a rather remarkable reference to cabbage-stalks and broomsticks and a slightly more sombre one to slavery “slaves there are in America; and where there are slaves, their liberty is alienated”. What we see here is, perhaps, the most obvious British response to the Declaration; absolute outrage that Americans could do such a thing! We see a strong focus on the areas that they feel they can easily challenge, but a lot less commentary in response to the actual grievances held by the American “rebels” (no editorialising of paragraphs such as “he [King George III] has plundered our seas, ravaged our coasts, burnt our towns, and destroyed the lives of our people”. We will return to these aspects of the Declaration with our final book.
Whilst the Scots Magazine is one of the more popular books at Innerpeffray, our next book suffers somewhat from being located on one of the top shelves. The Annual Register’s pedigree is almost as ancient as that of the Scots Magazine and it is similar in scope, except that it was only produced annually rather than monthly (and, admittedly, it was so lengthy and difficult to compile that the 1776 edition was not exceptional in being published three years after the year it describes!). As such, this is a less contemporaneous account and it is notably brief in commenting on the impact of the Declaration. It is, perhaps, made more poignant by the fact it was written in the depths of the Revolutionary Wars and the author is left reflecting on the immense cost, both financial and in lives, of the conflict with the line “Such are the unhappy consequences of civil contention”. The author’s pro-British allegiance is shown clearly by his statement that “the fatal day… must be deeply regretted by every true friend to this empire”. Clearly some significance was attached to the Declaration, but it was already receding – at least to this author – into the background compared to the myriad other events that had happened in the years following.
Figure 3: 3 lines of Declaration; 60 lines of commentary!
So far, we have seen two very pro-British accounts of the Declaration itself, as you may expect from a Scottish Library. Our final book, however, breaks the trend somewhat, and in a rather unusual way. The Monthly Review was the first literary journal to be published in the UK, starting in 1749, and contained reviews of recently published books. The reviewers could be uncompromising in their comments – one book, “by a student in the Inner-Temple”, gets a single line of “The Writer declaims vehemently and reasons badly”. The Review was published monthly and then bound together biannually and most months throughout 1776 have a section on the “American controversy”. What is quite fascinating is just how many of the reviews demonstrate a strong pro-American bias.
Figure 4: Extract from the Annual Register, showing the author’s resignation at the Declaration
Figure 5: A beautiful contrast in the reviews of the Annual Register
Obviously, without access to the works themselves, it is difficult for us to judge for ourselves how well written these books were, but it is difficult to imagine that all pro-British works were “so illegible that the devil himself could not make out the meaning” whereas all pro-American books “exhibit a perspicuous, sober, and rational defence of the Colonies”. I have previously written about the different reviews on the topics in my “Tour of the Tops” series here: https://innerpeffraylibrary.co.uk/tour-of-the-tops-episode-6-a-shameless-catch-penny-jobb/
Perhaps it is of little surprise that the Monthly Review is on the side of the colonists; after all, it was founded by a non-conformist minister, Ralph Griffiths. The Review will also reflect the sentiments of many in Britain at the time, given the splits that existed within the government, as well as the population at large, over how to handle the American situation. Even some individuals seemed to hold simultaneous conflicting views on the matter. Dr. Richard Price, whose pamphlet “Observations on the Nature of Civil Liberty, the Principles of Government, and the Justice and Policy of the War with America” crops up frequently throughout the Monthly Reviews of 1776, was a British author who was presented with the Freedom of the City of London a few years before receiving a Doctor of Laws degree from Yale College alongside George Washington!
Figure 6: An extremely dismissive review of a rebuttal to Dr. Price
He is credited by some with pushing the Americans to declare independence, yet attacked the actual Declaration in 1784, particularly over slavery, stating “if there are any men whom they have a right to hold in slavery, there may be others who have a right to hold them in slavery”.
To conclude, as we celebrate 250 years since the Declaration of Independence, its legacy remains complicated. Some see the beacon of freedom shining out from the pens of the 56 men who signed it as they faced down the mightiest empire in the world, ready to lay down their lives for the causes they believed in, whereas others see only a group of white middle / upper class men who were angry at being asked to pay taxes they had not voted on, claiming rights that they did not feel the need to extend to others, notably women and slaves. It is clear from the three books discussed herein that the flaws and strengths of the Declaration were apparent from the very beginning to the varied audiences who came across it in the weeks and months following its signing. It is incredible to think that the words set out by Franklin, Jefferson, Adams and others in Philadelphia over late June and early July 1776 were being read in our little Library mere weeks later and here we are, 250 years later, still marvelling at what was set in train. Whatever your personal views or politics, it is undeniable that Declaration was one of the most consequential documents ever produced and its impact continues to reverberate down the centuries, even in a small Library by the banks of the Earn.
Images via Google images and courtesy of Library of Innerpeffray volunteer (RS).
On 15 March 2026 historian and author Alan Montgomery presented an account of his exploratory journey by foot, bicycle and car along a road that many of us had never heard of, Dere Street. The trip came about following the success of an earlier journey exploring the Antonine Wall, the Roman fortified structure that extended from the Firth of Forth in the east of Scotland to the Firth of Clyde in the west.
Dere Street starts near present day York, but Alan decided to begin his journey in the Scottish borders and follow the road north to Aberdeenshire on the route taken during the first century invasion of northern Britain by renowned Roman general Gnaeus Julius Agricola. The invasion was described in some detail in a book, now known as The Agricola, written by the general’s son-in-law and historian, Tacitus. In addition to describing the the invasion and the advance deep into north of Caledonia (almost as far as the Moray Firth) Tacitus wrote about Agricola’s talent for the strategic building of forts and fortlets along the route to create a fearsome military zone. Some of the forts were huge and well resourced eg Ardoch near Braco and Inchtuthill which, if the Romans had remained in Britannia, was large enough to have developed into a frontier fortress town, a kind of capital city.
Tacitus also wrote about a final, violent confrontation between the Roman legions and the indigenous people at a place he dubbed Mons Graupius. Ten thousand Caledonians died in the battle whilst only 360 Roman soldiers perished, according to Tacitus’ flattering account of his father-in-law’s exploits. But where is the site of Mons Graupius and how did The Agricola survive from antiquity to the present? Well, the actual site of the battle is a mystery despite Tacitus’ written descriptions of it in his book. Alan outlined the credentials of several sites along the route of Dere Street as potential battle sites, including Woden Law, the Eildon Hills, Dalginross (near Comrie) Raedykes and Bennachie in Aberdeenshire. There is no hard evidence to confirm any of these sites as the definitive one, but Alan seemed to favour Bennachie as the most likely.
During the talk he explained that the naming of the Grampian mountains may have come about because of a transcription error in the copying of manuscripts. Tacitus would have written his manuscript by hand and over time it would have been copied by slaves, and later on by monks, over and over again. Copying mistakes happened and mistakes then became part of the accepted text. It seems that only one copy of The Agricola survived from antiquity into medieval times when it resurfaced in the 1400s in a European monastery. At some point, Mons Graupius appeared in the text as Mons Grampius and so it is easy so it is to extrapolate how the word Grampian came about and how Bennachie might be considered the prime contender for the battle site, even though it does not fit perfectly with Tacitus’ descriptions of the battle’s geography.
Wherever Agricola took his final stand against the Caledonians, the Roman legions departed from Britannia soon after and in haste, possibly to fight in other regions of the empire. But no-one knows for certain. The emperor of the time, Domitian, may just have decided that the cost of occupying Britannia was too high for very little economic return. Whatever the reason, the legionaries would have marched south along Dere Street, a route which may have led them across the River Earn at Innerpeffray. The depression in the land we see today on our heritage trail is believed to be the remains of a Roman road. Our own little section of Dere Street?
Images via Google images and courtesy of Library of Innerpeffray volunteer (SW). Alan Montgomery’s book ‘The Road to Mons Graupius‘ is available for purchase from the Library of Innerpeffray gift shop.
The 2026 Winter Olympics have now ended and the UK’s four-yearly cycle of falling in love with the sport of curling has faded into the background yet again. But have you ever wondered how the spectacle of teams of people throwing huge granite stones across a sheet of ice came about? Answers can be found on Innerpeffray’s shelves in a book titled ‘The History of Curling, Scotland’s Ain Game’ which was published in Edinburgh in 1890. Written by the Rev. John Kerr (who was known as the sporting padre) the book was intended to be read both as a history of the sport itself and an account of the development of the Royal Caledonian Curling Club which was celebrating its fiftieth anniversary in the year of publication.
Kerr wrote at length in his book about the possibility that curling was imported into Scotland by artisans and refugees from Flanders. As early as the 1400s, Scottish monarchs had welcomed Flemish artisans and employed them to plug gaps in the workforce and improve the country’s infrastructure after long periods of war and destruction. Those Flemings brought their culture and language with them and it had long been debated in curling circles, Kerr stated, whether imported European and Scandinavian ‘ice games’ and their related language in fact led to the development of the sport and the vocabulary of curling. Kerr noted that there were as many arguments to discount a Flemish origin of curling as there were in support of the notion.
The History of Curling, 1890
Firstly, there had always been ice in Scotland and so it was natural to suppose that games had been played on it. Secondly, the etymology of curling language included words rooted in Doric and so a Scottish origin of the game was more likely. Thirdly, Flemings had settled in England and Wales as well as Scotland and there was very little evidence of ice games like curling in those countries. Finally, Kerr outlined the theory that curling had developed in Scotland through the enforced idleness of rural workers in winter; land and lochs were frozen so workers got together to amuse themselves with games played on ice. The Scots diaspora then spread the game to many parts of the world – mostly to countries in the British Empire such as Canada and New Zealand but also to Russia, Scandinavia and the USA.
Rev John Kerr
Kerr wrote at length about the development of curling societies in the 1700s, their strict adherence to the principle of brotherhood and their possible links to freemasonry. There were several leading curling clubs/societies in the general vicinity of Innerpeffray eg Ardoch, Bridge of Allan, Strathallan, Doune and Muthill which held the oldest records. Clubs played matches against each other outdoors on frozen ponds/lochs or on artificially created ice rinks. They strove to uphold the reputation of the game by playing in the right spirit, by sticking to the rules as they existed at the time and by prohibiting any wagers. The Statistical Account of Scotland (1790-99) gave accounts of the good-natured spirit of competition during matches and of post-match friendliness. Different ranks of society played together on the same rinks and ate together – lunch and a post-match dinner of ‘… beef, greens and toddy.’ In those days, the players were usually male and the food was provided and served by wives and other women. There were fines for infractions and infringements of club rules.
Each curling society held administrative meetings and minutes were kept from which Kerr was able to deduce links to freemasonry eg initiation ceremonies, the importance of brotherhood, the use of passwords, a prescribed grip and selection for membership based on agreed criteria. Intemperance was strongly discouraged, rules of behaviour and play were enforced and charitable activities were encouraged. Membership fees were often charged by societies and over time this affected the societal mix of players.
Curling was, Kerr proposed, associated with the Stuart monarchs but he acknowledged a lack of written evidence for this. Literature, however, did confirm it was a game played by cottars, working men, the clergy and the gentry. Numerous examples can be found of commentary, songs and poems written by established authors in celebration of the game eg Allan Ramsay, Sir Walter Scott, Robert Burns, Thomas Pennant (see poem in the above illustration.)
Any cursory examination of the modern game on TV reveals how the modern sport is played eg; how players are dressed and shod; the standardisation of indoor ice sheets (size and markings) and the position of footholds (hack); the standardisation of stones, team numbers, number of ends to be played, conduct, equipment used and rules for play. But what did Kerr have to say about how the game was played in the early days of curling clubs? In the past there was more variation between districts, that is until the rules were formalised by The Royal Caledonian Club which was formed in 1838 to bring together representatives of as many Scottish curling clubs as possible – and eventually some English and overseas clubs – to standardise the sport under one governing umbrella. A Grand Lodge was also convened to promote and extend the aims of brotherhood in the sport, but today there is no evidence of freemasonry in the modern game of curling.
Curling stones were originally known as Kuting Stanes or Channel Stanes (which were sourced from riverbeds) and were used from around 1500 until 1650 to play a game on ice that resembled quoits. From 1650 until about 1800 stones were rough blocks – heavier, bulkier and gathered from fields, dykes, mountainsides etc- with handles inserted into them so that players could hurl the stone onto the ice with more force. Brushes looked more like brooms of twigs (see illustrations above and below) and players wore their everyday shoes covered in crampits to allow a firm foothold on the ice. As time went on the crampits were inserted into the ice and acted as a fixed starting point; or a hole (the hack) could be dug out of the ice to form a foothold. The curling stones themselves could vary in size, shape and weight but today they are all made from granite quarried on Ailsa Craig and manufactured to an internationally agreed format.
And a final note on the sporting padre, Rev. Kerr himself. He was chosen for the task of writing ‘A History of Curling’ by the literary committee of the Royal Caledonian Curling Club. He studied Divinity at Glasgow University and graduated with an MA. In later life he was elected as a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh. As well as being minister of Dirleton Parish in East Lothian for most of his ministry he was a keen amateur sportsman (golf, curling and skating) and wrote books on all three sports.
S.A. Williams
March 2026
All images are reproduced by kind permission of the Trustees of the Library of Innerpeffray
This blog started as a brief history of Innerpeffray Castle, however I came across a more intriguing story relating to the possibility that Mary Queen of Scots may have visited Innerpeffray at a particularly key time within her turbulent reign, 460 years ago this month. I thought I would explore this and try to chase the evidence and understand why she may have done so, if indeed she did visit. If you wish to trace her journey, I have provided references.
Innerpeffray Castle history background
Innerpeffray Castle was developed by James Drummond, 1st Lord Maderty in 1610, probably in place of an earlier castle previously owned by the Inchaffray Abbey. The now ruinous Castle, lying south of the Library standing on the bank of the River Earn, is a typical early 17th century tower house, on the corner of a former Roman marching camp. The design is typical of the period in Scotland with a grander, less-defensive outlook, surrounded by extensive outer courtyards and gardens.
Today the castle stands to its full height but with no roof and some collapsed walls. Getting too close or even entering the ruin would be risky.
EM Furgol (1988) described Mary’s journeys across Scotland 1542-8 and 1561-8, and in 1565 he records that she stayed the night at Innerpeffray Castle on the 2nd June 1565.Furgol states that the host for the night was James Drummond of Innerpeffray, though a ‘?’ sits next to the name suggesting some uncertainty. The visit followed Mary visiting Holyrood House, Stirling Castle, Perth, then back to Stirling prior to the Innerpeffray Castle visit on the 2nd June. This suggests she reached Innerpeffray from the west, and may have crossed the River Earn at the ford below the Library. She then left Innerpeffray to return to Perth on the 3rd June, before returning to Holyrood, via Huntingtower and Dunkeld.
DH Fleming (1898) in ‘Mary Queen of Scots – From her birth to her flight into England’ [1] includes the following itinerary:
There is no mention of Innerpeffray though the date of the 2nd June is blank. This might be because Innerpeffray was not deemed important, compared with the other places listed. The evidence for the itinerary is the Register of Privy Seal list of letters signed by the Privy Council, however Fleming states that any reliance on their accuracy cannot be assumed as the ‘royal clerks were not always immaculate in their dates’. If Mary did visit Innerpeffray on the 2nd, Fleming suggests she came from Perth and left for Stirling, the opposite direction to that stated by Fugol.
The Marie Stuart Society website lists Mary’s progress through her kingdom and lists the following:
One wonders what ‘Innerpeffray Abbey’ is. Should Castle have been stated, rather than Abbey?
An alternative explanation is it refers to the Innerpeffray Chapel next to the library. Innerpeffray Chapel, built by the Drummonds as a private chapel in 1502, had become a collegiate community by 1542, with non-monastic clergy living on site. However, by 1565 was it a place of residence where a Queen would stay the night? It might be unlikely as the earlier castle was just down the road.
Maybe the record should have referred to Inchaffray Abbey. In medieval times, the abbey was an important religious house, however by 1561, its fortunes had declined. With the Reformation under way, Inchaffray had been turned into a secular lordship for a member of the Drummond family in 1556 and on 2 August 1565, James Drummond was given the ‘abbacy for life, i.e. possession of ‘the monastery, with its rights, fruits, tithes, lands, etc’ . James VI visited in 1601, suggesting the building, which no longer stands, could still receive significant visitors. Therefore, it could be construed that the Marie Stuart Society record points to Inchaffray Abbey, rather than Innerpeffray Abbey.
The 1565 historical context
In considering why Mary may have visited Innerpeffray, the historical context is relevant. A ‘Life and Deathline’ provided by the National Museums of Scotland sets out key activities in Mary’s life :
The visit to Innerpeffray falls between meeting Darnley in February 1565 and then marrying him in July 1565. Henry, Lord Darnley was a Catholic and was descended from both James II of Scotland and Henry VII of England.
Artist Unknown, Title:Henry Stuart, Lord Darnley, 1545 – 1567. Consort of Mary, Queen of Scots, Date:About 1564, ‘National Galleries of Scotland’ https://www.nationalgalleries.org/art-and-artists/2256
When Mary met him for the first time she thought him ‘the lustiest and best proportioned lang (tall) man she had seen’. Mary subsequently married him at Holyrood and proclaimed him King of Scots without the consent of Parliament. Opposition to Mary’s marriage arose very quickly. Her half-brother, the Protestant Earl of Moray, feared that Mary’s marriage to a Catholic threatened the Reformation, so he led an attempt to overthrow both Mary and her King Consort. The episode was more of an armed chase than an outright rebellion. The 1898 book by DH Fleming sets out the politics at the time, the part played by Queen Elizabeth of England and her agents and Mary’s decision to make Darnley her husband.
Mary’s travels around Scotland Mary was a very busy lady during her time as Queen of Scotland, and travelled extensively through her realm. She traversed the country in order to appear at state occasions, hold judicial courts, hunt, rest from the formal atmosphere of Holyrood house, attend social events, and seek a husband. However, transportation in Scotland in the mid-16th century was underdeveloped and the absence of roads prevented coach use. Mary had to be a reasonable horsewoman to make her many cross-country journeys.
In 1565, after falling in love with and becoming engaged to Darnley, Mary undertook several journeys through the period February-July to gather support for the marriage. Such visits generally influenced her hosts in a favourable manner, as she was known to be charming. It was quite likely that Darnley was with Mary on these journeys, with the intriguing possibility that he was with her at Innerpeffray.
Why she may have visited Innerpeffray
Mary travelled across Perthshire numerous times between February and July 1565 to gather support, and the support of the Drummonds and their adherents would have been key. David Drummond, 2nd Lord Drummond was a supporter of Mary Queen of Scots, known to be a Queens Man. It is noteworthy that his kinsman, John Drummond of Innerpeffray, acted as his tutor during his minority.
In the troubled years of Mary’s reign, Drummond declared for the Queen, and was an attached member of her party. His name, however, does not occur prominently in the events of the time and four years after Mary’s abdication, he died, in 1571. Whilst not a prominent adherent, it seems possible that Mary stopped overnight at Innerpeffray on the 2nd June 1565 on her way to Perth to seek Drummond’s continued support. The possibility is that Mary and Darnley met Lord Drummond and key members of his family and clan on the 2nd June to confirm their continued backing. If she had then it would be highly likely she, Darnley and her retinue would have passed the Innerpeffray Library site, up the Roman cutting below the Library and most probably entered the Drummond family chapel.
The Library of Innerpeffray, a one-stop shop for all your reading and visitor attraction needs! And, potentially… romantic connections?
In last year’s exhibition, we focused on historical visitors to the library and where and when they had travelled from. One of our featured visitors, Alexander Thom junior, visited the library three times, and on his visit of the 23rd July 1879, he was accompanied by nine other individuals, whose signatures were all entered under the initialism of C.B.F.C. These members were: Mary Dee Wells, Caroline McLaren, Margaret H. Pagan, Jane C. Campbell, Miss Gibson, F. D. Ferguson, J. Wemyss Stewart, and Dr. Alexander Thom, from Crieff; Mrs A. D. Macnair, from Allarton, Partick; and Mrs Alexander Scott, from Kirkcowan, Dumfries and Galloway.
Innerpeffray Library Visitors’ Book Volume 1, f.43r, 23rd July 1879
A complete mystery for many years of my research, as none of the members elaborated on the meaning of C.B.F.C., it was a very exciting moment when I finally discovered what it signified. While researching Alexander Thom in local newspapers, I came across an article in The Crieff Journal entitled ‘Crieff Botanical Field Club’.[1] Dated just a month after the club’s visit to Innerpeffray, the article lays out their latest “botanising expedition” to Glenturret and Ben Chonzie.
The Crieff Journal, 22nd August 1879, p.3: ‘Crieff Botanical Field Club’
Alexander Porteous, writer of a very informative chronicle of Crieff, tells us that “[i]n the summer of 1879, Dr Alexander Thom, junr., got a number of ladies and gentlemen interested in the pursuit of botany, and under his guidance a Botanical Club was formed. The members made several interesting excursions, chief among them being the ascents of Benchonzie and Ben Vorlich, on the slopes of which many interesting and rare plants were found.”[2]
In addition to Alexander Thom, several other members of the C.B.F.C. were also repeat visitors, who frequented the library on more than one occasion. Caroline, or Carrie, McLaren, for example, visited at least four times between 1872 and 1879, often accompanied by other members of her family.
Innerpeffray Library Visitors’ Book Volume 1, f.8v, 30th July 1862
Innerpeffray Visitors’ Book Volume 1, f.18r, 25th June 1870
The particular focus of this blog is to highlight two additional repeat visitors: Fergus David Ferguson and Margaret Helen Pagan. Fergus David Ferguson, born in India in 1858, first visited the library at just three years old, accompanied by his uncle John and aunt Annie. He visited again, aged 11, once more with his uncle, and was able to sign the visitors’ book himself, in what is clearly a child’s handwriting, misspelling his home residence as ‘Culcatta’ rather than Calcutta (since 2001, Kolkata).[3]
Innerpeffray Library Visitors’ Book Volume 1, f.28v, 31st August 1874
Margaret Helen Pagan was born in 1859 in Durisdeer, Dumfries and Galloway, and first visited Innerpeffray, aged 15, in August 1874. In July 1879, the couple visited Innerpeffray together with the C.B.F.C., and two years later, they got married!
Reported in both the Dundee Courier and Stirling Reporter, the two were married by the Reverend John Cunningham (himself a borrower at Innerpeffray) in Crieff on the 27th April 1881. Ferguson’s address was listed at the time as 7 Seton Place, Edinburgh, and Pagan’s as Rockclyffe, Crieff. I have to hope that there were many fellow members of the Crieff Botanical Field Club at the ceremony!
‘Falkirk’, Linlithgowshire Gazette, 2nd January 1897, p.6
The newspaper article above, from the Linlithgow Gazette, gives more detail about Fergus David Ferguson in 1897 – his work as a bank agent, and an “enthusiastic volunteer” and member of the local corps, Falkirk Parish Church and Falkirk Lawn Tennis Club. By the 1901 census, the couple were living in Falkirk with their two sons, David and Allan, and three daughters, Jean, Christina, and Margaret.
Whether the two met while living in Crieff, or were brought together by Alexander Thom and the Crieff Botanical Field Club, it is wonderful to have evidence of them being in the same place at the same time before they were married. More ways in which the visitors’ books add to our knowledge of social history and people’s lives.
[1] ‘Crieff Botanical Field Club’, Crieff Journal, 22 August 1879, Friday Evening edition, p. 3.
[2] Alexander Porteous, The History of Crieff From the Earliest Times to the Dawn of the Twentieth Century (Oliphant, Anderson and Ferrier, 1912), pp. 378–79.
[3] Innerpeffray Library Visitors’ Book Volume 1, f.18r.
There cannot be many homes or organisations in the UK where work is not interrupted for a hot drink and often the beverage of choice is tea. The word tea permeates our language – teatime, tea break, afternoon tea, teacup, tealeaves etc – and our supermarket shelves are filled with umpteen varieties of tea from many different countries. In short, tea is an accepted part of everyday life in Britain and we think nothing of it. Perhaps we might switch to a decaffeinated version of our favourite cuppa in order to improve sleep or other health problem; but not many of us stop to ask ourselves whether we should be drinking it at all.
But this was not always the case.
Our exhibition for 2024 is titled Travellers’ Tales and on display is a book published in 1756, written by Jonas Hanway, a London-based businessman, traveller and philanthropist (and supposed to be the first man in London to carry an umbrella.) The book takes the form of a journal in which Hanway described a journey made over eight days between Portsmouth and Kingston-upon Thames. He added to this an Essay on tea in which, over the course of twenty- five letters addressed to either Mrs D or Mrs O (whose identities are unclear) he set out the reasons for his staunch opposition to the use of tea brought to Britain from China.
Image: copyright The Library of Innerpeffray
With regards to health he opined that tea was ‘intoxicating’ people and turning their brains. Specifically, Hanway believed that tea was slowly poisoning people with copper, a substance used in the process of drying tealeaves.
He noted that the Chinese tended not to drink tea themselves, preferring to drink cold water where the supply was clean and safe. When they did drink it was normally unsweetened, a practice which Hanway applauded since he believed sugar to be harmful to health and to teeth in particular. Other effects on health set out in the essay included flatulence, bad breath, poor digestion, bowel complaints, fevers, poor sleep, paralytic disorders, trembling hands, hypochondria and an increased desire for gin. Hanway was not a doctor but he did not shy away from making medical statements. For instance he stated that in succumbing to the ‘tyrannical custom’ of daily tea drinking people were risking their health for ‘so low a gratification. His advice to ladies who suffered with ‘nervous complaints’ was to desist from drinking tea altogether since it provided no benefit to health or nutrition.
One of Hanway’s main arguments against the import of tea was that the absurd expense and the excessive time spent on tea ‘sipping’ was affecting the nation’s commerce, industry and agriculture. As a governor of the Foundling hospital in London he was particularly concerned about increases in infant mortality, which he believed were directly related to tea sipping (and gin consumption) in people he termed the working poor. He urged the richer members of society to set a good example – if they spent less time and money drinking tea, more opportunities for permanent employment of poor workers could be found. That would lead to better productivity and a reliable income would lead workers to better feed and care for their children, thus leading to an improvement in infant mortality. This would then benefit agriculture and commerce, would lessen the dependence on workhouses and foundling hospitals and increase the population available to man ships and fight in wars.
Hanway’s third main objection to tea concerned his belief that the import and smuggling of tea impoverished the nation. He believed that Britain spent far too much of its income on a single commodity and that this endangered the nation’s safety and ability to wage war. He came from a family with links to the navy and was interested in how it could be better manned, clothed and provisioned. The Essay on Tea was written at a time when another war with France was looming and so the ability for people to be able to work, pay taxes and be physically able to fight was paramount. Britain, Hanway thought, would benefit far more from following the example of the French when it came to tea- import better quality tea from China then sell it onto other countries at a large profit, thus retaining capital and monetary control in Britain. Again he urged the rich to set an example, as an act of patriotism – to give up tea willingly, to desist from dissipation and turn instead to more natural herbal infusions.
For more information on how to purchase one of these mugs from our online shop please follow the following link.
Back in 2022, Innerpeffray’s annual exhibition focused on Innovation and Invention, and we featured the signatures of two incredible women who had visited the library and signed its visitors’ books. Elsie Inglis (1864-1917) and Isabel Emslie Hutton (1887-1960) were both key members of the Scottish Women’s Hospitals, working throughout Europe during World War I.
L: Dr Eliza Maud “Elsie” Inglis (1864-1917); R: Lady Isabel Emslie Hutton (1887-1960)
Dr Elsie Inglis, suffragist, doctor, and architect of the first world war Scottish Women’s Hospitals for Foreign Service, visited Innerpeffray with her family in the summer of 1887. And twenty years later, in August 1907, the visitors’ books record the signature of Lady Isabel ‘Bell’ Galloway Emslie Hutton, who served in the Scottish Women’s Hospitals from 1915-20. Both women were honoured with international medals for their service, including the Serbian Order of the White Eagle, the highest honour available in Serbia, of which Inglis was the first female recipient.
Elsie Inglis
Eliza Maud “Elsie” Inglis was born on 16th August 1864 in the Himalayan city of Naini Tal to mother, Harriet Thompson, and father, John Forbes David Inglis, magistrate in the East India Company. Around 1876-1879, the Inglis family returned to Scotland from India, via South Africa and Australia, and settled in Bruntsfield, Edinburgh. In October 1886, Inglis enrolled in the Edinburgh School of Medicine for Women, newly established by Sophia Jex-Blake (1840-1913; Scotland’s first female doctor).[1]
William Arthur Chase, Sophia Jex-Blake(1840-1912) (after Samuel Lawrence); Royal Free Hospital, London
The following year, Inglis visited the Library of Innerpeffray! There are some signatures within the visitors’ books that make me gasp with delight when I read them for the first time. Elsie Inglis’ signature was one of those.
Innerpeffray Library Visitors’ Book Volume 1, f.73v
On Tuesday 23rd August 1887, just after her 23rd birthday, Inglis visited Innerpeffray accompanied by family members from both Edinburgh and Crieff: her father John and sister Eva Helen, and her cousins Ellin Runcorn, Teresa, Grace Rivers, Mary Christine and Lawrence McKenzie McLaurin Monteath. The first signature of the travelling party reads, “Messr. Monteath, Mitchell & Co”, which may indicate that the following men were also present: Alexander McLaurin Monteath, Elsie’s uncle; and perhaps Dr. Richard Ashmore Mitchell (1856-1926), who married Ellin Runcorn the following year, in 1888; and/or Ellin’s future father-in-law, Henry Mitchell (1823-1901). According to Alexander Porteous’ History of Crieff (1912), Alexander McLaurin Monteath was the Director-General of the Post Office in India.[2] While visiting Crieff, the Inglis family would likely have been staying with the McLaurin Monteath family at Broich Cottage.
Inglis-McLaurin Monteath Family Tree
Just a couple of days later, on Thursday 25th August, the signature “J. Inglis & party” from Edinburgh is entered in the visitors’ book, along with the number 8 in brackets. I think we can infer from this that the entire Inglis-McLaurin Monteath clan were so charmed with Innerpeffray that they came back for a second visit!
In 1889, Inglis left Jex-Blake’s school, partially due to the expulsion of two fellow students, Grace and Martha Georgina Cadell, who went on to successfully sue Jex-Blake and the school. Then in 1890, Inglis and her father established the Medical College for Women on Chambers Street in Edinburgh, in direct competition with Jex-Blake. The Cadell sisters and Inglis all finished their medical education at the new Medical College for Women, and later that year, Inglis joined the National Society for Women’s Suffrage. In 1906, Inglis co-founded the Scottish Women’s Suffragette Federation, where she acted as Honorary Secretary until 1914.
Elsie Inglis (Edinburgh Central Library), Between the Lines: Letters and Diaries from Elsie Inglis’s Russian Unit (1999)
After passing her exams in 1892 and becoming Licentiate of the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons, Edinburgh and Glasgow, Inglis worked in Edinburgh, London and Dublin, specialising in midwifery and maternity and focusing on improving conditions for impoverished women.
In 1914, shortly after the outbreak of World War One, Inglis, aged 50, a respected consultant, physician and surgeon, offered her services to the Royal Army Medical Corp. She was told,
“My good lady, go home and sit still.”
Isabel Galloway Emslie Hutton
Nineteen days after Elsie Inglis’ first visit to Innerpeffray Library, on 11th September 1887, Isabel Galloway Emslie (later Hutton) was born in Edinburgh to Janet Tod Emslie and James Emslie, Advocate and Substitute Keeper of the Privy Seal of Scotland.
Innerpeffray Library Visitors’ Book Volume 3, f.22r
Aged 19, on 10th August 1907, Emslie visited the Library of Innerpeffray with her parents, signing the visitors’ book as “Bell”. Only after looking into her father, James Emslie, did I discover the link to his eminent daughter and the career she was just beginning. From 1910 to 1912, Emslie graduated from the University of Edinburgh and gained her M.D., specialising in pathology and psychiatry. Between 1912 and 1915, she worked at the Stirling District Asylum, the Royal Hospital for Sick Children in Edinburgh and the Royal Edinburgh Hospital.
Isabel Emslie Hutton (1887-1960), With a Woman’s Unit in Serbia, Salonika and Sebastopol (1928)
It was 1915 when Emslie went to the War Office in Edinburgh, where she was rejected by the Royal Army Medical Corp. A young policeman stopped her as she watched young recruits and said,
“Ye’d be better at hame knittin’ socks for the lads.”[4]
Scottish Women’s Hospitals
Not in any way deterred by these statements, both Inglis and Emslie went on to do extraordinary work during the First World War.
After having her services refused by the British Government, Inglis offered help to the French Government, who accepted. Inglis founded the Scottish Women’s Hospitals for Home and Foreign Service (soon shortened to SWH) – women-staffed field hospitals welcomed by the Allies and established initially in France, Greece and Serbia.
Elsie Inglis, Great Tapestry of Scotland
In October 1914, Inglis wrote a letter to a fellow suffrage campaigner, Millicent Fawcett, in which she said,
“I cannot think of anything more calculated to bring home to men the fact that women can help intelligently in any kind of work. So much of our work is done where they cannot see it. They’ll see every bit of this.”[5]
Throughout 1915, Inglis acted as Chief Medical Officer in charge of the First Serbian Unit of the SWH in Kragujevac. In October, Serbia was invaded on two fronts and SWH staff were ordered to accompany the soldiers retreating over the Albanian border. Inglis refused to leave her seriously ill patients and, accompanied by fellow medical staff, was taken as a Prisoner of War by Germany. As Prisoners of War the women were allowed to keep working until their patients were well, at which point they were repatriated, via Belgrade, Vienna and Zurich, reaching Britain in February 1916. Inglis immediately took off for Odesa, establishing a SWH team in what was then Russia. In April of that year, the Crown Prince of Serbia awarded Inglis with the Order of the White Eagle – the highest medal in Serbia’s power to bestow. Inglis was the first ever female recipient.
On 26th November 1917, just days before returning home to Edinburgh from the Russian front, Inglis died in Newcastle. Despite never meeting in person, Emslie wrote in her diary,
“Dr. Elsie Inglis had gone, however, to her rest; tired out, but valiant in the end, she had slipped away the day after arriving from Russia, whence she had brought the Jugo-Slavs so that they might go to the help of their brothers in Serbia. But she lived in others, and her inspiration kept us all going and ever striving to higher things.”[6]
Inglis was honoured with a full military funeral in St. Giles Cathedral and was buried in Dean Cemetery, Edinburgh. In July 1925, ‘The Elsie Inglis Memorial Maternity Hospital’ was built in Edinburgh using surplus funds from the SWH. Children born there were known as “Elsie’s Babies”.
Medals awarded to Elsie Inglis, Surgeon’s Hall Museums, Edinburgh
Inglis’ medals are now stored at the Surgeon’s Hall Museums in Edinburgh. From left to right, these medals are described as follows: “Given by the Russian Government under the late Czar”, “The Great International War Medal”, “Order of the White Eagle”, “Medal struck to commemorate the work of the Scottish Women’s Hospitals”, “From the British Committee of the French Red Cross.”
Emslie had signed up to the SWH in August 1915 and was working as an Assistant Medical Officer and Pathologist in Champagne, France. In November 1915, her unit reached Salonika, Greece, accompanied by Flora Sandes, who would go on to become a sergeant in the Serbian Army. In 1918, after three years on the staff of the SWH, Emslie was promoted to command the hospital at Ostrovo, Serbia. Before leaving Serbia, Emslie was awarded with the Order of the White Eagle, the Order of Saint Sava, the French War Cross and the Russian Order of St. Anna.
After the war, Emslie worked with Lady Muriel Paget’s Child Welfare Scheme and housed almost 140,000 Crimean refugees and orphaned children. Throughout the rest of her life, Emslie worked in hospitals for the poor and served as the Director of the Indian Red Cross during the Second World War. She died at home in London in January 1960 and was buried with her parents in Grange Cemetery, Edinburgh.
It’s an interesting coincidence that while she was working in Crimea, Emslie crossed paths with the Honourable Claude Hay (1862-1920), who was related to the founding family of Innerpeffray. Claude Hay was the fifth son of George Hay-Drummond, the 12th Earl of Kinnoull (1827-1897), who was in turn the great-grandson of Robert Hay-Drummond (1711-1776), who inherited Innerpeffray from our founder, David Drummond, 3rd Lord Madertie (1611-1694).
Emslie described Hay in her 1928 book, With a Woman’s Unit in Serbia, Salonika and Sebastopol:
“Mr. Hay was always faultlessly turned out, and was dressed exactly as if he were walking down Picadilly to have lunch at his club; he often drove in an old Victoria, which, if it had not been for the bequilted and touzled isvostchik (driver), was exactly suited to his style. He worked hard and in a most business-like way, and was much respected and loved by the Russians, to whom his courtly manners and quaint ways made a great appeal.”[7]
Hay was in Crimea representing TheDaily Telegraph and apparently often told war stories of his great-uncle, Captain Hon. Robert Hay-Drummond (1831-1855), who fought in the Crimean War as part of the Coldstream Guards. Indeed, apparently Robert Hay-Drummond appointed James Christie as Librarian and Schoolmaster of Innerpeffray by letter written from the front lines in 1855.[8] It makes me wonder if Emslie and Hay ever spoke about Innerpeffray.
Innerpeffray Library Visitors’ Books Volumes 1 and 3, open to show signatures of Isabel Emslie Hutton and Elsie Inglis, displayed with Serbian Stamps, Commemorating ‘British Heroines of the First World War in Serbia’ (2015)
Serbian Stamps, Commemorating Elsie Inglis and Isabel Emslie Hutton, ‘British Heroines of the First World War in Serbia’ (2015)
By Armistice Day, 11th November 1918, 14 Scottish Women’s Hospitals, staffed by more than 1000 women, had worked in six different countries and saved countless lives. Elsie Inglis and Isabel Emslie Hutton refused to sit still or go home and knit socks, and instead made lasting contributions to medicine and the wider world.
After viewing the 2022 exhibition at Innerpeffray, Perthshire poet Jim Mackintosh was inspired to pen the following poem, which he has kindly allowed me to share here.
Jim Mackintosh, Beyond the Trench (2022)
[1] William Arthur Chase, Sophia Jex-Blake (1840-1912) (after Samuel Lawrence), Royal Free Hospital, London, B117 <https://artuk.org/discover/artworks/sophia-jex-blake-18401912-123862>.
[2] Alexander Porteous, The History of Crieff From the Earliest Times to the Dawn of the Twentieth Century (Oliphant, Anderson and Ferrier, 1912), p. 79.
[3]Between the Lines: Letters and Diaries from Elsie Inglis’s Russian Unit, ed. by Audrey Fawcett Cahill (Pentland Press, 1999).
[4] Isabel Emslie Hutton, With a Women’s Unit in Serbia, Salonika and Sebastopol (Williams and Norgate, 1928), p. 16.
[5] Elsie Inglis, ‘Letter to Millicent Fawcett’, 9 October 1914, cited in Audrey Fawcett Cahill, Between the Lines: Letters and Diaries from Elsie Inglis’ Russian Unit.
The air is brim with a refreshing pungency from sweet cicely blooms bursting along the road banks. Rattling, I race off the tarmac on my 1946 moss-green Copenhagen, past the old ford, past the farm cottage and out-buildings, down the pot-holed, plum-line Roman road. To my right I am less than a peltast’s shot from the Strageath Flavian Roman marching camp; a broccoli field one year, swathes of wheat the next. In a cloud of dry late spring dust, I arrive at the gillie’s brittle wood hut on the raised bank of the River Earn. In the lower pool there are sluggish grilse in the summer; good grayling in the winter.
Twenty metres high on the steep bank across the water perches the white gable end of Innerpeffray Library, beaming through the sycamore canopies – a pearl mounted in the ribbon sweep of Strathearn. I drag my dinghy from its stash between the bank and the field and rest my bicycle in its place. I adjust my canvas shoulder-bag, push out into the upper fast pool, and paddle to an eddy shaded by an orbed willow on the opposite bank. Ted, a past library custodian, reckoned I was the first person to row across the rapids for a read since 1939, when the ferry service a few yards up stream from Cobblehaugh Cottage was stopped.
Why this antiquated route? The longer road from my home in Muthill, though very beautiful, dips and winds through oilseed rape and battery hen barracks. I object to both; most of all, their odours are similarly rancid and stifling, only too intense when cycling. And besides, my less conventional route, if not eccentric, is the more poetic approach.
Why did I come? Books: the sweet must-smell of leather binding; brittle pages with contents that leave me feeling richly satiated. Specifically, antiquarian works relating to the matter of food: recipes, incidental literary references, fantastic monastic pseudo-scientific treatises on herbs, beasties and fowls, agricultural practices, and quack medical innovations.
Cookery and Pastry as Practiced by Mrs MacIver, A New Edition by Susanna MacIver (Edinburgh, London: 1789), looks promising for its range, from apothecary madness, to charming turns of phrase:
Take a pound of hartshorn shavings, nine ounces of eringo root, three ounces of isinglass, of chopin of bruised snails, …two vipers, or four ounces of the powder of them, …two Scotch pints of water, …a mutchkin of Rhenish wine, half a pound of brown sugar-candy, the juice of two Seville oranges, the whites of three eggs… (Jelly for a Consumption); and, potch some eggs very nicely; …earn some new milk; press the whey…
I find a recipe that catches my attention: Spices, Proper to be mixed with any kind of seasoning. I take notes. This appears to be a rather ubiquitous ingredient, being applied to soups for pigeon, hare, leek, onion, and pease; roast cod head; codling with ale and lemon zest; stewed sole; parton (crab) pies; potted eels; potted herring; beef a-la-mode; forced meet balls. Sun streams through the east window. Hot pine boards and honey-coloured book bindings mingle in aromatic melodies.
Enough for the day, I pack my pencils and emboss my notebook entry with the Innerpeffray Mortuary Society’s emblem.
On my way back to the boat, I munch on a ramson flower head. This wild garlic blooms in profusion around the library grounds. White crowns in green grounds. I pick more to make my ramson fritters in tempura batter when I get home – if they survive the scramble down the bank and the boat journey in my pockets. I gather some sweet cicely leaves, too. This sweet herb is reasonably thought to have been introduced by the Romans to the Romano-British kitchen garden. Its profusion in proximity to an area historically defined by a profound Roman presence perhaps bears testimony to this. A tomato salad with fronds of sweet cicely haloing a crown of ramsom flowers, drizzled with a light olive oil is heavenly.
Cycling back through the green fields and hedgerows to my rural pile, I wonder how I might apply this spice mix myself. I’ve tested other ‘kitchen pepper’ recipes – similarly from 18th and 19th century cookery books – but they seem a bit harsh on the palate. I don’t see any reason to doubt that these ubiquitous kitchen peppers owe their genesis to some formulæ of fifteenth century cookery manuscripts: poudyr Lumbard, or poudyr fort. Mrs MacIver, however, proves to have struck the perfect balance. Can it be adapted beyond providing her recipes with the MacIver idiosyncrasy? I remember Christiane Dabdoub Nasser’s Classic Palestinian Cookery, and a rather splendid recipe she gives for a very simple and hearty meat and pea stew, Yakhnet bazela, made with either beef or lamb. Back in the kitchen, I try the culinary cultural cross over. …It works perfectly, and as a species of adaptation it is a completely outstanding dish served with either mashed potatoes with a pinch of dried sage, or parsnip pureed with lashings of butter. Mistresses MacIver and Nasser, shake hands.
RECIPES
Mrs MacIver’s Spices, Proper to be mixed with any kind of seasoning
(Metric equivalent inserted)
Take an ounce [25g] of black and an ounce [25g] of Jamaica pepper [allspice berries], two drop of cloves, and two or three nutmegs; beat them into a powder, and mix them all together, and put them in a box or bottle, so as they catch no air; and then you have them ready for seasoning any kind of sauce.
Place all the spices together in an electric grinder and process them to a fine powder. I take two drop of cloves to mean two cloves; I add three. I use two nutmegs; though it is an idea to partially crush them before processing with the other ingredients. Jarring the spice is as good as any box or bottle.
TWO RECIPES ADAPTED FROM CHRISTIANE DABDOUB NASSER’S CLASSIC PALESTINIAN COOKERY USING MRS MACIVER’S SPICES
MRS MACIVER’S SPICES WITH YAKHNET BAZELA
Serves 4
1lb lamb or beef, diced1 large onion
2 tsp MacIver Spice1lb fresh or frozen peas (thawed)
In a stewing-pot, brown the meat in 1 tablespoon of vegetable oil; reserve on a plate. Thinly slice the onion and brown for 3–4 minutes in another tablespoon of oil. Return the meat. Add the MacIver Spice and enough water to cover the contents of the pot. Bring to simmering point and place the lid over the stew. Simmer for just over an hour, or until the meat is sufficiently tender. Add the peas and simmer for a further 15 minutes, uncovered. Season with salt.
This fair is normally served with a variety of rice, but potato mashed with lots of butter and a good pinch of dried sage I think is an excellent accompaniment. It is also very hearty if served with parsnip pureed with lots of butter.
SPICY GRILLED TOMATOES
This recipe makes splendid use of the MacIver Spice; and it seems perfectly natural to combine the spice mix with tomato, since it shares the inclusion of spice similar to another Palestinian recipe offered by Dabdoub Nasser, Kallayet banadoura – tomato and garlic with pepper and allspice.
Simply hew the tomatoes in half and place on some tin foil, cut-side up. Drizzle a little olive oil over each tomato, and season each with salt and a generous pinch of MacIver Spice – about ¼ teaspoon. Place under a hot grill for five minutes. Remove from the grill and allow the tomatoes to cool 2 minutes. This is a splendid breakfast option for its substance, and the spice mix is surprisingly subtle.
TWO RECIPES ADAPTED FROM COOKERY AND PASTRY, AS TAUGHT AND PRACTISED BY MRS MACIVER
TO MAKE FORCED-MEAT BALLS
Mrs MacIver offers a simple recipe for forced-meat balls using her spice mix, which is diverse in its adaptation for beef, pork, veal or mutton. Mix the minced meat with egg and season with salt and the spice mix. Roll into balls, dust with flour, and fry until browned.
However, a serious omission with many cookery writers of yore is their vagueness in the context of quantity; it seems to be something of a tradition, or authors relied on readers’ kitchen a priori. And though Mrs MacIver was fastidious enough to preface her book with a weights and measures conversion table to make her volume universal, she is no exception to the omission of quantities in the main body of many of her recipes. Ever your kitchen aide, I recommend the following ratios for serving four people:
400g Aberdeen Angus beef, minced½ tsp chilli flakes (optional for extra bight)a small handful of parsley, finely chopped
4 tsp MacIver Spice½ tsp sea saltflour for dusting
Place the minced meat with the MacIver Spice, optional chilli, parsley and salt in a bowl and mix thoroughly. Using a teaspoon, scoop enough of the mix to roll into small balls between the palms of your hands. Roll in flour to give a light dusting and fry in two tablespoons of olive oil for 6 minutes, turning occasionally, until golden brown.
SPICED SALMON FILLET
Mrs MacIver’s To roast Salmon method requires a whole silvery beast, buttered and seasoned with salt and powdered with her mixed spice. But adapting this recipe to elegantly spice salmon fillet is a good idea.
1x150g salmon fillets per personMacIver Spice
1 tbsp groundnut oil
Dust the salmon fillets with a generous amount of MacIver Spice, and season with sea salt. Add the groundnut oil to a large frying pan and cook the fish, flesh-side down, 3–4 minutes. Turn the fillets, and repeat the cooking on the skin-side. Rest the fish pieces on a tray in a warm oven for 5 minutes. Dust with finely chopped parsley and serve.
Bibliography
Susanna MacIver, Cookery and Pastry, As Taught and Practised by Mrs MacIver: teacher of those arts in Edinburgh. A New Edition (London: C. Elliot & T. Kay; Edinburgh: C. Eliot, 1789).
This article first appeared in Petits Propos Culinaire: PPC96 (June 2012), pp. 66-71, many thanks to the author and to Prospect Books for the permission to reproduce it here.
NLS Acc.13951(iii) Photograph of ‘Grandfather Hugh Aird, D.D., Brechin’
We started thinking about this year’s exhibition by considering who visited Innerpeffray 150 years ago, in 1874. With 181 visitors to the library that year, we could not focus on them all, and one interesting gentleman we did not manage to highlight in the main exhibition was the Reverend Hugh Aird, M.A., D.D. (1824-1895).
Innerpeffray Library Visitors’ Book Volume 1, f.28v
On Saturday 5th September 1874, ‘Hugh Aird, M.A.’ wrote his signature in the Innerpeffray visitors’ book, indicating that he had come from Brechin, Angus, perhaps accompanied by ‘William Stevenson, M.A.’, from Madras, India (what is now Chennai), who visited on the same date.[1]
Born in Glasgow in November 1824 and educated at Glasgow University, Aird was ordained by the United Presbyterian Church in Arbroath in January 1854 and received his doctorate from Glasgow in April 1889 (15 years after his visit to Innerpeffray). A much esteemed and respected member of the community, Aird preached at the City Road United Presbyterian Church in Brechin for forty years. He died after a brief illness, aged 70, in July 1895, and is buried in Brechin Cemetery.
While doing some initial research into Hugh Aird in case we decided to feature him in the 2024 exhibition, I came across some related items held by the National Library of Scotland: a photograph, printed by Glasgow company MacLure, MacDonald & Co. taken at some point between 1889 and Aird’s death in 1895; a printed obituary, featuring an excerpt from The United Presbyterian Magazine, 2nd September 1895; and a handwritten hymnal filled with around 80 tunes of the United Presbyterian Church.[2]
The obituary is finely printed and tells much about the man and his legacy, in addition to details of his funeral, which was presided over by the Reverend R. C. Cameron of Cambridge Street United Presbyterian Church, Glasgow. Aird was a member of the Mechanics’ Institution, the Parochial Board, chairman of the Brechin Savings’ Bank and Burgh School Board, and a “popular speaker at temperance meetings and at the annual gatherings of Young Men’s and Young Women’s Christian Associations.” [3] What the obituary does not include, however, is any details on Aird’s involvement with music, which leads me to perhaps the most interesting item of this manuscript collection: Aird’s personal hymnbook.
NLS Acc.13951(i) Bookplate, ‘Hugh Aird 1839’
NLS Acc.13951(i) ‘Book of United Presbyterian hymn tunes of the Rev. Dr Hugh Aird’
This lovely little book features Aird’s bookplate on the inside front cover and almost 100 tunes for Presbyterian hymns, handwritten on hand-drawn staves, with an alphabetical contents page. The tunes are written with four-part harmonies and mostly titled with names of locations, such as Derby, Eastgate, Glasgow, Hamilton, New Portugal, and St. Lawrence. Other titles include Comfort, Creation, Invocation, Refuge and Tranquility [sic]. Almost all the tunes are followed by the initials C.M., L.M. or S.M., indicating each tune’s metre – either Common, Long, or Short Metre. The book seems to have been a work in progress, as Aird has started copying ‘Sicilian Hymn’ into the book but it is left unfinished, and it does not appear in the contents page.
NLS Acc.13951(i) ‘Book of United Presbyterian hymn tunes of the Rev. Dr Hugh Aird’
These may have been some of the most well-known or most popular tunes commonly sung in Aird’s locality, all gathered into one place as an easy reference for a choir, or, indeed, Aird himself.
The Psalmes of David in Metre, with Divers Notes, and Tunes Augmented to Them. (Middelburgh: Richard Schilders, 1594).
In the majority of cases, we do not know how historical visitors spent their time at Innerpeffray. Did they have a guided tour, much like visitors today? Were they able to peruse the collection and sit and read or examine books? Although we do not know for sure, we can guess at some books which might have been of interest to certain visitors. One such book which may have interested Hugh Aird is a sixteenth-century collection of psalms set to metre, “with Tunes augmented to them”.[4]
The Psalmes of David in Metre, with Divers Notes, and Tunes Augmented to Them. (Middelburgh: Richard Schilders, 1594).
Many of the tunes within are credited to Thomas Sternhold and John Hopkins, whose arrangements of psalms set to metre had a wide readership and were frequently bound with copies of the Bible. It would be interesting to know if any of the tunes laid out in this book from 1594 were still in use in 1874, when Hugh Aird visited Innerpeffray. Perhaps Aird even transcribed some of these old tunes into his personal hymnal.
To learn more about other historical visitors to Innerpeffray and the books that they might have read, come along to the 2024 exhibition, Travelling Tales, which will be open until the end of October. This year’s Festival of Reading, A Way with Words, will be taking place from Thursday 5th to Sunday 8th September, with a wide range of workshops, talks and performances to celebrate books and reading. And if you would like to hear even more about Innerpeffray’s visitors’ books and my PhD research, I will be giving the FOIL Ted Powell Memorial lecture this year on 23rd October.
Isla Macfarlane, PhD Candidate
Footnotes:
[1]William Stevenson may have been a student of the Madras Christian College, which was originally founded by Church of Scotland missionaries. A nineteenth-century article about the Madras Christian College, in the magazine Harvest Field, is featured in this year’s exhibition.
[2] National Library of Scotland Archives and Manuscripts Division, ‘Book of United Presbyterian Hymn Tunes of the Rev. Dr Hugh Aird, Brechin, with Associated Material.’, NLS Archives and Manuscript Catalogue <https://manuscripts.nls.uk/repositories/2/resources/19078> [accessed 9 May 2023].
