Edinburgh History - Old Town - Recollections

Recollections
1.	Maurice Wilkins Oban, Argyll, Scotland	- The House - The Palace Grounds
2.	Kate Hull Devon, England	- Other Residents - My Father - School - At Play - Easter Road - Leaving Edinburgh
3.	Peter Stubbs Edinburgh	- Message for Maurice Wilkins + Kate Hull
4.	Bob Crawford Southrey, near Lincoln, Lincolnshire, England	- The Duthie Family - Dunfermline
5.	Yvonne Cain Sydney, New South Wales, Australia	- Gardeners
6.	Bob Crawford Southrey, near Lincoln, Lincolnshire, England	- Gardener - Message for Kate Hull
7.	Paul Sutherland Glasgow, Scotland	Question - Pub near Croft-an-Righ
7. Reply 1	Andy Hall Newcastle-upon-Tyne, Northumberland, England	Reply - Pub - Cairns Bar
7. Reply 2	Stuart Lyon Blackhall, Edinburgh	Reply - Pub - Cairns Bar
7. Reply 3	Derek Sutherland Edinburgh	Reply - Pub - Cairns Bar
7. Reply 4	Gordon Lyon Edinburgh	Reply - Cairns Bar - The Pub - The Breweries
8.	Anne Ainslie (née Duthie)	- My Grandfather and Father - My Father - Lower Floors - Upper Floors
9.	Moira Grant	- Cairns Bar
10.	Pam Thompson (née JONES) Buderim, Queensland, Australia	- Croft-an-Righ
11.	Allan McTernan Edinburgh	- Cairns Bar then Stanton's
12.	Allan McTernan Edinburgh	- Cairns Bar and Shop and Tenements
13.	Allan McTernan Edinburgh	- Cairns Bar then Stanton
14.	Pam Thompson (née JONES) Buderim, Queensland, Australia	- Croft-an-Righ

Recollections

Maurice Wilkins

Oban, Argyll, Scotland

Thank you to Maurice Wilkins, Oban, Argyll, Scotland for sending me these recollections of Croft-an-Righ, a 16th century house at Abbey Hill, a short distance to the north of Holyrood Palace and Abbey.

Maurice wrote:

The House

"I lived for a few years in the old house of Croft-an-Righ, off Abbeyhill, while working as a gardener at Holyrood Palace, from 1973-76.

I visited it again last year on Open Doors day, 2003, Having a resurgence of interest in old Edinburgh. The house is said to have been built originally for Regent Moray in 1588.

I'm sure it's the most interesting house I shall ever live in! I remember the difficulty I had in drilling holes to take the curtain rails! Solid rock!

The engraving (above, published 1890) is amazing! The house is so similar to its state today.

We occupied the two top floors. The number of times I have walked down the front steps and back in through the small door beyond the turret, to climb a set of wooden steps to enter the Palace gardens!

Mr Duthie the Chargehand, my boss, lived with his family in the two lower floors and entered through the door just this side of the steps."

The Palace Grounds

"Looking back it was interesting working in the Palace grounds too - I'll always remember going down the garden one morning to find a huge hole in the lawn exposing a wonderful stone-built culvert with the section of an egg in shape, about 4-5ft high. Shining a torch along it showed it to be intact as far as the beam would reach in both directions - from the old town area towards Portobello.

As far as I remember, it was just filled in without ceremony. I suppose it was just a drain.

I also remember someone digging in the frame yard to lay pipes and uncovering a mass of yellowing bones. The police were called as a formality but they were a few hundred years too late, probably being a plague graveyard.

The other thing that stands out in my mind is creeping across the lawn and daring to go into the abbey ruins at midnight, for some reason. That was before the surveillance equipment went in, of course!"

Maurice Wilkins, Oban, Argyll, Scotland: October 5 to 17, 2003

Recollections

Kate Hull

Devon, England

Thank you to Kate Hull who wrote:

Other Residents

"My family lived at Croft -an-Righ between 1958 and 1960, also occupying the top two floors as did Maurice Wilkins.

We knew the Duthies who occupied the ground and first floors, and their daughter Anne was just a little older than me. Unfortunately we have lost touch with her."

My Father

"My father was Basil Fox. He was one of the Assistant Curators of the Botanical Gardens. There were four of us children, and the youngest was born in the house."

School

"I was the oldest and went to Sciennes School with one of my brothers. The reason for that being that when we arrived in Edinburgh the top floors of the house were being renovated and we had to lodge in Warrender Park Road until it was ready.

I had already been to a number of schools and so my parents did not want to move us again. I remember having to take two bus journeys, changing on George IV Bridge each day."

At Play

"I remember being able to view the Palace Garden Parties from our kitchen turret and St James Park was my playground. We used to get quite black - the city has certainly been cleaned up since those days!"

Easter Road

"I read some of the comments on your site and I also remember the Cinema and the shops in Easter Road as I used to go shopping there for my mother at times. I was 9-11 years old whilst there. My mother was busy with the two youngest children."

The top of Easter Road was close to Croft-an-Righ at Abbey Hill

Leaving Edinburgh

"I loved Edinburgh, although we were only there for a short time, and did not want to leave! We moved to Wales and since then I have visited Edinburgh briefly only a few times but never stayed."

Kate Hull, Devon, England: August 9, 2009

Recollections

Peter Stubbs

Edinburgh

Request for Help

Thank you to Maurice Wilkins and Kate Hull for your comments above.

I recently received a message from a student, Vicky, who is researching Croft-an-Righ. She'd like to contact you both by email, if possible, to ask a few questions about the house

Unfortunately, I believe that you have both changed your email addresses over the years since you contacted me. So, if you read this, Maurice and Kate, and would be happy to reply to a few questions from Vicky, please email me and let me know your current email address.

If anybody else would like to help this research, I'm sure that would be welcomed by Vicky. Please email me if you'd like to contact Vicky.

Peter Stubbs, Edinburgh: April 9, 2012

Offers of Help

Update 1

Thank you to Bob Crawford, who wrote recollections 4 below, for offering to help Vicky, above. I've passed on Bob's message to Vicky.

Update 2

John Crae tells me that he has gathered some useful information from his research into Croft-an-Righ. He has offered to pass on details to Vicky, and also to anybody else who gets in touch with him.

If you'd like to get in touch with John, please email me, then I'll pass on his email address to you.

Peter Stubbs, Edinburgh: August 19, 2012

Recollections

Bob Crawford

Southrey, near Lincoln, Lincolnshire

Thank you to Bob Crawford, now living in Southrey, near Lincoln, Lincolnshire for responding to Kate Hull's comments about the Duthie family in Recollections 2 above.

Bob wrote:

The Duthie Family

"The Duthies were my mother's side of the family. Anne (who Kate remembers) is my mother's cousin.

Anne's father, my Great Uncle Tosh, my grandfather's brother, was a lovely gent."

My great grandfather, Alex Duthie was also a gardener at Croft-an-Righ. I have a copy of the letter dated October 1915 offering him the job there.

Dunfermline

"Most of the Duthie clan now live in and around Dunfermline. My grandfather, James Duthie was also a gardener. He worked at Pittencrieff Park, Dunfermline."

Bob Crawford, Southrey, near Lincoln, Lincolnshire: June 14, 2012

Recollections

Bob Crawford

Southrey, near Lincoln, Lincolnshire

Thank you to Bob Crawford (who sent Recollections 4 above) for writing again and letting me know how to contact his relative, Anne Ainslie. That's the Anne that Kate Hull mentions (2 above).

Bob added:

Head Gardener

"Anne's father Tosh Duthie lived in Croft-an-Righ from 1920 until 1976, and became head gardener, taking over from his father Alex Duthie. Anne lived at Croft-an-Righ from birth."

Bob Crawford, Southrey, near Lincoln, Lincolnshire: June 15, 2012

Message for Kate Hull

Unfortunately, you appear to have changed your email address since you last contacted me in August 2009, so I cannot pass Anne's contact details to you at the moment.

If you read this message, please email me, then I'll know your latest email address and will be able to let you have the details. Thank you.

Peter Stubbs, Edinburgh: June 17, 2012

Recollections

Paul Sutherland

Glasgow, Scotland

Paul Sutherland wrote:

Question

Pub near Croft-an-Righ

"I used to work at Scottish & Newcastle Breweries’ Abbey Offices, before they became the site of the Scottish Parliament building.

Colleagues and I often used to go to a pub underneath the railway bridge which crosses over Croft-an-Righ.

It was on the left hand side not far through the vennel (There’s a ripe Edinburgh word for you!) from Abbeyhill. I'd really like to know what the pub was called.

Perhaps one of the other contributors on this page might know."

Paul Sutherland, Glasgow, Scotland

Reply to Paul?

If you know the answer to Paul's question, please email me, then I'll pass on your message to him. Thank you.

Peter Stubbs, Edinburgh: June 17, 2012

Recollections

Reply 3

Derek Sutherland

Edinburgh

Thank you to Derek Sutherland, Edinburgh, who wrote:

Cairns Bar

"My father had a few drinks at Cairns Bar with Willie Sutherland and his brother, Tam. They both lived in Beggs Buildings, as did my father and my grandfather.

Later, Pat Stanton from Hibernian FC bought Cairns Bar."

Around the Area

"I remember:

- Redden's coal yard in Rose Lane.

- Bain's fruit and veg at Spring Gardens. All the kids called him 'Baldie Bain'.

- Hendry's juice factory in Lower London Road."

Derek Sutherland, Edinburgh: July 24, 2012

Recollections

Reply 4

Gordon Lyon

Glenogil, Forfar, Angus, Scotland

Thank you to Gordon Lyon who wrote:

Cairns Bar

The Pub

"Yes, the pub under the railway bridge at the foot of Abbeymount was called Cairn's Bar. Mr Cairns was the tenant of the premises which were owned by the brewery, Robert Younger Ltd.

The Breweries

The entrance to the brewery was also under the bridge. I worked in the brewery office from 1957 until 1960 when the company was taken over by Scottish Brewers (later to become Scottish & Newcastle) and the staff were all transferred to either Willie Younger's at Holyrood (where the Scottish Parliament is now) or McEwan's in Fountainbridge.

The office was above Cairn's Bar."

Gordon Lyon, Glenogil, Forfar, Angus, Scotland

Recollections

Anne Ainslie (née Duthie)

Thank you to Anne Ainslie (née Duthie) who wrote:

My Grandfather and Father

"My grandfather moved into Croft-an-Righ in 1920. He stayed there till after WW11 when he retired and my father took over as Head Gardener till 1976 when he retired and moved with the family to Livingston in West Lothian.

My father was actually appointed as Head Gardener in 1940, but he was called up into the army so my Grandfather stayed on. "

Greenhouses and Rockery

"My grandfather and father were in charge of the greenhouses and nursery where they grew flowers and plants for decoration in the palace and other places in Scotland.

My grandfather designed and built the rockeries that can been seen from the palace windows in the grounds."

Lower Floors

"As far as I know Croft-an Righ was built in the 1550s as a town house for Mary Queen of Scots' half-brother, the Earl of Moray. It was in part of Holyroodhouse Gardens so as to be near to the queen.

Our family lived in the bottom two floors of the house.

- The first floor had beautiful plasterwork ceilings with cherubs and flowers. This is where the family had obviously lived.

- On the ground floor were the kitchens and laundry."

Upper Floors

"The top two floors (where Maurice and Kate lived with their families) were the bedrooms for family and staff.

When we left another two families were in residence and when they left, the house was eventually made into offices."

Anne Ainslie (née Duthie): July 1, 2012

Recollections

Pam Thompson (née Jones)

Buderim, Queensland, Australia

Thank you to Pam Thompson for writing again, this time telling about the time when her grandfather and his family lived at Croft-an-Righ.

Pam wrote:

Croft-an-Righ

"My grandfather, Pierce Jones, was Head Warder at Holyrood Palace in the 1930s. He and his family lived in Croft an Righ."

Jones and Duthies

"My father, Thomas Jones, often mentioned the Duthies and how they occupied one floor of the house and the Jones family the other. "

Prince of Wales

My father told the story of Mr Duthie, the Head Gardner, upon finding the Prince of Wales practicing golf on the Palace lawns, asked him to move out to the park, saying:

'Your mother (Queen Mary) wouldn't like it, Sir.' "

Pam Thompson (née Jones), Buderim, Queensland, Australia: May 6, 2014