I was born at No - The MAN & Other Families

6me with a sense of awe. It is so grim and forbidding. There was an Echo there, whichAggie, who always accompanied us, and I used to sample.As a sample of my retentive memory, when we passed through Bridge of Allan on a visitto the old country in 1937; from a charabang on the way balk from the Trossachs toEdinburgh I was able to distinguish the very house we lodged in, though I had not seen itfor over seventy years.When I was six years old we were told our parents were coming home and we werecoached by Aunt Galloway and Cousin Anna as to our behaviour on their arrival. Forinstance I remember Aunt Galloway telling us we must not call her "Aunt Galloway" (inour broad Glasgow accent), but "A’nt Galloway."At last the great day came. Our parents arrived early in the morning. I was having mybreakfast in bed as usual and continued stolidly eating my porridge whilst our Motherwas weeping with joy and she and my Father vainly trying to get some response ofaffection.Our parents immediately set out to look for a house and very soon fixed upon No. 9Claremont Gardens, a large and luxurious mansion in the fashionable part of the town.Frank was sent to a boarding school called "Blair Lodge" where he was very homesickand unhappy and wrote very melancholy letters, so he only remained there a few monthsI think, and then went to the Glasgow Academy on Elmbank Street. Mary, Aggie and Iwere taught by governesses. We didn't see much of our parents in these days as we onlymet them at lunch. The rest of the time we spent in the schoolroom or nursery. Aggie andI were allowed to come down to the dining-room for dessert after late dinner and ourfather used to give us a sip of his hot toddy of brandy and water and sugar, which healways had after dinner. Our mother used to go up to the drawing-room after dinner and Iremained downstairs with our father till bed time. We used to sit on his lap and have allsorts of fun. I remember once we persuaded him to go head-over-heels on the floor. Hewas a big heavy man and I remember we were quite awe-struck and frightened when hecame down with a crash.The house was a very large one, four stories I think. There was a glass copula on the roofand galleries around each landing, and I remember it looked an awful distance lookingdown from the top storey where our nurseries were situated, to the large entrance hall onthe ground floor.When there were dinner parties Aggie and I used to look down in our nighties at theguests arriving. We did not keep a butler but when there was a big dinner party used tohire the “beadle” (verger) of St. Silas Church, who on week-days hired himself out as abutler.There were very nice enclosed gardens in front of the terrace in which we lived and inwhich we used to play.