It seemed the best thing to do. After the end of the 2nd War, I had the house made into two flats and sold it quite well. Jack, with great generosity, gave me his half of the house (Mother had left it to us two). I bought the Lodge of the Estate of Orchill (a big house on the road between Crieff and Braco), when the whole was sold by auction in Edinburgh. My cousin telephoned immediately after the sale to tell me that the house had been withdrawn, but he thought if I offered £150 more, I would have it. So I did and got it and lived there content, within ten miles of Jack's house at Comrie.
As soon as I settled in to my little Lodge, I found that it was exactly what I needed. Soon hidden comfortably by trees, it was just the right size. I could now and then put up two relations or friends and get about easily by the then-excellent bus service from Crieff, north or south.
I found that my little moor was covered with heather (one white flowered plant), a wonderful row of rhododendrons along the edge of the drive, and some fine trees on the little rise between heath and house. The garden never stimulated me to making it really useful. I had a large plot of the good daffodils and lovely blue irises that Kathleen gave me. After 30 years, the apple trees I had planted even before I got into the house produced a few little fruits for the last two years. I was no gardener! I found two good places on the roads for wild raspberries and strawberries and made much jam. The only true green vegetables worth planting were broccoli and broad beans, the beans being the only things I grew in the border (a favourite and so very expensive to buy). Birds and acrobatic mice ate all my peas, so I gave them up.
I lived 35 years alone at Orchill, very happy in my house and moor, the few odd acres of it that gave me grouse, pheasants and pigeons, so that I rarely had to buy meat. Before the rabbit disease, I had rabbit, too, but not for long. The birds I wanted most to shoot were the jackdaws, who would nest in my chimney, but their blue eyes were so quick that I never did.
I went frequently to Comrie, and even to Church at Muthill (with help from the best of friends, the Muirs of Braco Castle). They so often asked me to go back on Sunday that I soon knew all the family, including Mike Gregory, married to Jean. He was soon a delightful friend and, later on, twice escorted me to parties in his submarine.
THE HOUSE
Ashmead, 27 Graham Road, Ipswich, Suffolk, England. EV's mother had bought this house in 1901, and EV would sell it in 1949. Apparently, she continued to live here from the end of WWII until she sold out in 1949. She chose Orchill Lodge in Scotland as her new home, because she wanted to be close to her beloved nephew, Charles Eliot Jauncey.
MY LITTLE LODGE
Orchill Lodge, purchased by EV in November 1949, was part of the large Orchill Estate.
RABBIT DISEASE
Myxomatosis, a lethal condition caused by the myxoma virus, was a case of inhumane bio-warfare on the rabbit population in Australia, having been introduced into the wild in 1950. By 1953, the disease had reached England, where its spread was encouraged and aided by the intentional spreading of sick animals around the country. One online source reports that, by 1955 (less than five years after EV moved into her cottage), 95% of the rabbits in the U.K. had been killed off.
COMRIE
The beautiful village of Comrie in Perthshire, Scotland, lies on the banks of the River Earn, nestled on the edge of the Scottish Highlands, in the heart of the West Strathearn area of Perthshire, situated at the meeting of Glens Lednock and Artney, with the Scottish Highlands rising to the North.
MUTHILL CHURCH
St. James, the local Church of England parish church, of great antiquity. By the way, it's pronounced "mew-thill".
THE MUIRS OF BRACO CASTLE
Gerald Robin Muir and his wife, Doreen Margaret Watney, of Braco Castle in Braco, Muthill, Perth, Scotland, were the parents of six children: Sarah Nadejda Muir, Anne Catriona Muir, Hugh James Robin Muir, Jean Charlotte Muir, Diana Rachael Muir, and Nicholas John Muir.
MIKE GREGORY
Early in his career, Rear Admiral Alexander Michael Gregory, husband of Jean Muir, commanded submarines. Not only another Royal Navy friend for EV, but one who took her to parties in a sub. They were happy memories for her.
ILLUSTRATIONS
1) Ashmead Drawing Room — watercolour by EVJ
2) Ochill Lodge in 1950 (Jamie Jauncey on Porch)
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