1930's  At the front door of Bandirran House

Monty on the far right, next is Commander Heathcote of The Den Earlsferry,

center is Stanley Norrie-Miller of Perth. Two Cripps brothers on the left.

Gerard Alexander Moncrieff (Monty) who was born on the 23rd. of August 1878 and who I often caddied for was the second son of Sir Alexander Moncrieff of Culfargie in Perthshire. He was educated at Winchester, Eton and Cambridge. He told me that after he completed his education his father, Sir Alexander, loaned him two thousand pounds which he was to pay back as soon as possible. This he said he did in nine months. Monty had two sisters, four brothers ( Maud, Gladys, Malcolm, Alaric, Roger, Duncan ) several nephews and lady friends but he never married. The Moncrieff family home was the mansion house on the Estate of Bandirran near the village of Balbeggie.  Monty was more than just a man I caddied for. Monty was a very good friend of our family and I admired the man. Like wise he took an interest in me and in time he became my very good friend and mentor.  Often on his walks around the village of Earlsferry he would drop by our house and spend an hour or so while he joined us for a cup of tea. He was two years older than my father and was a man who had a smile and a welcome for everyone.

1942  Seaforth, Elie.   Monty at 64. I'm 16.

This beautiful soft suede leather coat with black astrakhan collar and cuffs  is exquisitely adorned with gold embroidery and is fashioned from the hides of Tibetan Yak, fur side in. The coat was gifted to Monty by the Dalai Lama at his palace at Lhasa  in Tibet. Monty was one of very few Westerners who had ever been invited to visit and stay at the palace, high in the Himalayan mountains.  This photo was taken and developed by my brother Noel using his home made, cigar box, cut film camera. The cigar box had contained Havana Corona cigars that were sent anonymously to Monty on a regular basis from someone in Cuba.  One of Monty's projects had been  the building of a railroad in Cuba to transport sugar cane and tobacco leaf from the Cuban outback to warehouses that Monty  had built in Havana. (United Railways of the Havana and Regla Warehouses) Another interesting anonymous present that was sent to Monty every year from someone in China was a two foot cube size box of Chinese tea.

In the world of merchant banking and world wide corporate finance, Monty was a man of great accomplishment. He was on the board of numerous world wide corporations and his endeavors, which stretched from GAFLAC in Perth, Scotland to sheep estates in Perth, Australia (Australian Estates), took him to the far reaches of the globe. He maintained an office and staff at 56 Gresham Street, London EC2  which is the heart of London's financial district. He conducted his business by daily telephone instructions from his Elie home, Seaforth, that overlooks the harbour. An Edinburgh Law firm carried out his legal work. Monty's daily morning routine was to read the Financial Times and The Scotsman newspapers. From these he got information for his next game play in the market. His modus operandi was to search for the best known  corporate name in the most depressed and ailing industry. He and his friends then bought shares on the open market until they had the controlling interest in the company. After this was accomplished they went on site with  a team of analysts and specialists to determine what it would take to bring the company  back to profitability and to be the leader of the industry such that others who at a later time would buy in  would know that they had made a wise investment.  Usually it meant new management and a huge infusion of new money which Monty and his friends could round up. After he had transacted his business for the morning Monty did The Scotsman's crossword puzzle.

Monty was the most modest and humble man that I have ever known. He did his best to convince me to join his business and go to his London office to learn what went on there and I made one trip with him to London. To transition from Earlsferry to London was just more than I was prepared for so I had to say, No. My future lay elsewhere.

I don’t know what Monty did to acquire it but he had the green uniform and regalia and held the ancient title of Royal Scottish Archer which gave him the right and the expectation to be in the presence of any of the Royal family whenever they should be in Scotland.  

Monty was a practical man. He knew that I was mechanically inclined and he gave me my first lessons in mechanics. He taught me how to drive and take care of his car (first a Daimler then a Rover) including religiously doing periodic oil changes. Now at 83 years of age I still religiously change my own oil and maintain my vehicles and mechanical devices that in past years have included boats and airplanes to the extent that I never have had a mechanical breakdown of any kind nor the need to employ the services of a commercial mechanic. 

The Moncrieff family home of Bandirran House when I began to know it in the 30’s was fully and lavishly furnished but it had not been lived in on a regular basis since 1920. At that time the 1911 Rolls-Royce Silver Ghost Cabriolet with but 20,000 miles on the clock was put up on blocks and there it remained for 20 years until the Military, including a detachment of Polish soldiers, occupied the mansion house during the years of World War II. However, while up on blocks this great old car wasn’t neglected.  It's engine was run once a week and it’s oil was changed on a regular schedule for all of these years. What a wonderful machine it was for it’s day. It left the Rolls-Royce factory at Derby in England in June of 1911. During that particular month Rolls-Royce produced only two cars.  Rolls-Royce made only the engine, the running gear and the chassis. The coach building firm of Hooper and Hooper in London made the body. Prior to the occupancy of Bandirran House by the military for the years of World War II the contents of the house were removed to Perth for storage and the Rolls-Royce was taken to Dunfermline in Fife for the duration of the war. (It was later acquired by David Wemyss of Wemyss who had a July 1911 sister model.)

The Estate of Bandirran as I knew it comprised many square miles and encompassed terrain of every description from  sheltered fertile farmlands to timbered hillsides and wild  heather covered  moors.  

The high walled garden produced an abundance of every kind of vegetable. Bandirran strawberries and black currants were out of this world. Espaliered on the walls were many varieties of apples, pears and plums. It was the gardeners job to take care of the bee hives in the garden but Monty and I both liked to work with the bees so the gardener indulged us by letting us help. The hives produced several hundred pounds of comb honey. Starting in May the hives were moved from the garden to the clover fields, to the lime trees, to the epilobium (fireweed) and the wild flowers in the woods to finally, in late July, ending up high on the heather covered moors. Dark heather honey was my favorite. The greenhouse in the garden furnished tomatoes and grapes.

People who live on estates while they may not make a lot of money actually live quite well. Most all have gardens that provide for their needs for vegetables, berries and fruits and estate people know how to live off the land. Local farms provide farm crops on a low cost basis. I don't know how it is today in Scotland but in my early days most every man who lived in the country had one or more shotguns and knew how to use it to provide for the needs of family and in many cases also to provide for others who weren't gun oriented. The country had a prolific supply of very good rabbits that made for an  an excellent source of low cost meat. Monty taught me gun safety and gave me my first shotgun that was a BSA single shot .410 with which I became quite proficient. Years later he gave me a beautifully hand engraved 16 gauge double barrel that was made in France then later a very nice Belgian made 12 gauge side by side double barrel. He also had a beautiful matched pair of 12 gauge Holland and Holland's that were a delight to carry and use.  Monty also gave similar guns to Noel my brother and the three of us had many great days as with game bags on our shoulders we walked the fields, the woods and the moors. There were other times that Monty invited groups of his friends to come for a day's shooting. What great days these were. On these days Noel and I elected to be beaters  as we had the run of the estate at all other times. When  a big shoot was held and lunch time was called and blankets were spread on the ground and goodies of every kind appeared these events did indeed make for memorable and unforgettable times of joie de vivre.

One day I had been out shooting in the fields to the south of the cottage. As I walked I spotted a large bull coming at me at a gallop. There was one tree nearby that had low hanging branches which I hastily climbed up into. Before doing so I propped the 12 gauge shot gun that I was carrying against the tree. Both barrels were loaded and cocked ready to fire. In my haste I had neglected to put the gun on "safe". As the bull snorted and stamped its hooves at the foot of the tree I could see that the barrels were pointing straight at me. The bull spotted the gun and licked it which caused it to fall over. Some one was looking after me that day as had the gun fired I would have received it's full blast. Another day I returned to this place and found a single cylinder head that had come off  an airplane's radial engine.  I surmised that the airplane that had shed it was of American manufacture as the precision machined overhead valve cylinder head had Hoover roller bearing activated tappets which to me, was a very advanced design.  

Several times in the 30's Monty took me to the small church that he occasionally went to that was but a few miles from Bandirran.  I've forgotten it's name and just where it was or is located and if anyone who reads this recognizes which one it was I'd very much like to hear from you. The only way I can describe the church is that, beside others, it had two very beautiful stained glass windows that were alongside of the Moncrieff pew.  One window depicted Jesus knocking on a door as he held a lantern and had the wording, " Behold I stand at the door and knock."  The other window had Jesus the sheperd with his flock of sheep and the wording,  " Lo, I am with you alway even unto the end of the world."

In one of Bandirran's woods, near a pond we called the Curling Pond, for the reason that it was always the first on the estate to freeze, is an ancient Druid Stone Circle and close by that is Dunsinane Hill that Shakespeare tells of in his play Macbeth.   Imagine walking amid a Druid  stone circle and thinking of the rituals that went on in this place by the ancients that inhabited the region, then scrambling to the top of Dunsinane Hill and tracing the outline of where Macbeth's castle had stood, then looking to the north-west to Dunkeld and Birnam Woods in the distance and thinking of the battle at which Siward, MacDuff or Malcolm Canmore slew Macbeth and Malcolm was proclaimed the new King of Scotland. With all of this your home is in the village of Earlsferry and your playground is MacDuff's cave at the Earlsferry cliffs where MacDuff sheltered as he was waiting for a boat to take him to the other side of the Firth of Forth to evade his pursuers. Such were the places of my childhood. 

One day in what must have been April or May I filled a back pack with supplies for a possible over night campout and  hiked for several miles to the southeast of Bandirran House and up on to the high heather covered moors until I had almost come to Kinnaird Castle and the valley of the River Tay. ( In late August and September when the wind is calm and the sun is shining it's a wonderful sight  to see  coveys of grouse as when startled they skim low over the curves of the high moorlands. At that time of year it's a very special  experience to see and smell the heather when it's in full bloom  and to  hear the whirring of the wings of the  grouse when  in rapid succession they call to each other,  go-back, go-back, go-back., go-back. ) On that spring day afternoon as I was thinking of turning around to head back I was approached by a  girl of about my own age, the only person I'd seen all day. She just appeared from nowhere. She came towards me and looked me straight in the eye.  Without the glimmer of a smile she was the first to speak and in a very English  and authoritative voice she asked, “Ah you  away that you  ah on Fingaaask ?"  It was obvious that she was oblivious as to the difference between Scottish and English law as to a walkers right of passageway over land.  I think she thought I was a poacher so I responded in my best Scottish brogue,  “No, but I think you may be on Bandirrrrrrran---not that it matters."  We both let down our guards as laughter prevailed and the ice was broken.  (People who are natives of the land to the south of Scotland draw out the letter  "a" and don't burr the letter "R" like a person from further to the north does.) She said that once a year in the spring she came north to visit her relatives at Fingask. The purpose of her visit was to see her special place high in the heather hills that was a moorland marsh. In the springtime her marsh was home to hundreds of black headed gulls, ducks and snipe. She volunteered, ”I’ll show it to you but you must tell no one that you know of it."  I promised not to tell. When we got to her place we took off our shoes and waded amongst the nesting birds. What an experience that was. I was sorry when she had to leave and head homewards.  I later found out that where we met I was on Fingask---not that it mattered. One other day near this place that I called the seagull pond, I found a shattered wooden propeller that must have come off a Tiger Moth trainer. Nearby on the ground was all the evidence of a crash site but no sign of the airplane which no doubt had been carted away. Not very far away was Scone airport which at that time was in use as a wartime training airfield.

My brother Noel and I were very fortunate in that Monty took us along with him on day and sometimes week long trips where we camped out in the spotlessly clean but unoccupied old mansion house. (in the years before the gardeners cottage was added on to) While there we hiked over the hills and the moors and hunted and fished to our heart’s content. What glorious days these were. Monty told Noel and I to come to Bandirran and to use the house and the estate just like we owned the place, any time we wanted to, even when he wasn’t there which we did on many occasions.  The estate of Bandirran abounds in a wealth of game animals, rabbits, hare and some deer, game birds such as wood pigeons, partridge, pheasant, woodcock, blackcock, grouse, mallard and other ducks, snipe, geese and a few capercaillie. In the winter time when the snow was on the ground, great flocks of geese descended on to the harvested stubble fields. Sometimes late summer winds and rains flattened the grain in the fields to make it difficult to harvest. When this happened it was just left for the geese to feed on. At other times the farmers of the fields just left several acres unharvested for the geese. In such fields I used to make a blind out of corn stooks in which I would conceal myself just as it was beginning to get dark when the geese would descend in their hundreds to within inches of me.  The pond by the gardener’s cottage and the two hillside burns that fed it was home to numerous speckled brook trout. Unlike the burns that were great places to dangle a worm in the deeper of the pools, the pond by the house was a great place to fly fish. My fly of choice was a Malloch tied Greenwell's Glory in an either wet or dry fly pattern. In the winter time the pond would freeze over with clear black ice and it was a great place to skate. There were occasions when we put Aladdin lamps out on to the frozen  pond and we skated till almost midnight.

Added-on-to gardener's cottage.

My brother John designed and built the lapstrake copper rivet and rove fastened boat from Bandirran lumber. I was John's helper to buck the rivets.

Monty and I both laid some of the masonry that surrounds the two windows of the lower level living room.

As Bandirran mansion house was way too big to be kept staffed for only the occasional visitor, Monty got the great idea of adding on a living room and bedroom extension wing to the gardener’s home by the pond. This was highly successful. Part of the original gardener’s cottage house was combined with the new addition which became the dining room and an upstairs bedroom. The overall result was that instead of being only the gardeners cottage there were now two separate but connected homes. All of the downstairs addition became a great south facing living room that overlooked the pond. The upstairs, over the new addition, became two new bedrooms and a bathroom to give the addition three in all bedrooms upstairs. The cottage had no electricity but what a snug, cozy house it was when Aladdin mantle lamps and a big flickering wood fire were lit in the evenings and the rooks and the knights were set up on the chess board. At the time of the make-over Monty had the kitchen of the gardener and his wife’s part of the original house completely remodeled and a wonderful new AGA heating and cooking stove was added. The gardener became the caretaker of all and his wife became Monty’s cook and housekeeper. It was a great arrangement.

1937 Yews made an arched focal viewpoint in Bandirran's garden.

I took this photo with a very old but still functional Kodak bellows camera.

Shortly after the remodel of the cottage the pond to the front that over the years had become silted up was drained and dredged. In a way I was sorry to see this happen. The material that silted up the pond was mostly leaf material that over the years had washed down the burn. By slightly agitating the ooze layer I successfully collected marsh gas (methane) that I did manage to ignite.  I had visions that with sufficient ingenuity the entire house could have been lit and maybe even heated by the collected fuel. To prevent future silting  we decided that a bypass burn could be created by the making of a burn diverting sluice gate that would be operated when at times of heavy water flow the burn ran full. The engineering of the bypass sluice and the diversion of the burn became my project. My method of finding the new watercourse of the bypass was to go upstream where, with a stick, I made a scratch on the ground alongside of the flowing water. The bypass watercourse would have to flow through the woods that were above the level of the pond so it was essential to maintain as much elevation for the new bypass burn as possible.  If a lot of water flowed into my scratch then my scratch was heading too much downhill and if no water flowed into my scratch then my scratch was going too much uphill.   A primitive method but highly functional, even better than using an expensive theodolite transit level. While the pond was drained I also oversaw the installation of the new draw-down pipe line, the  "Ismailia" (no hinge pin) drain valve and the connecting chain to the lever operated valve opening mechanism. I got the honor of closing the valve to fill the pond.

My brother Noel and I treasured Monty’s companionship and it was obvious that Monty valued our youthful exuberance for his Bandirran property.  Bandirran House comprised three stories above ground level and one complete basement level, which when the house was occupied was the domain of the household staff.

There were several things that intrigued me  about Bandirran House.  On the second floor above ground level if you counted the windows of the house on the outside then went inside to do the same thing there was one less window on the inside. A part of the house was sealed off such that it’s existence was undetectable.

Below ground in the basement, near the south-east corner of the house and also completely undetectable was what looked like a cupboard door. Far from being a cupboard door Monty showed us that it was the secret entrance to an escape tunnel that exited some hundred or more yards away in a tree and brush covered dell. At the dell the exit of the tunnel was completely camouflaged such that it’s existence was undetectable. The tunnel shaft was about five feet high and three feet wide and was completely constructed of heavy stone. The roof was arched and the floor was V shaped such that the center provided a drainage channel for seeping ground water. Twice in my years of visiting Bandirran I traversed the tunnel from the house to the dell. Spaced along the tunnel were two ventilating shafts to the surface that let in a tiny amount of light. To traverse the length of the tunnel was quite an experience.

 Bandirran House had the legend of a ghostly visitation. As Monty told it to me, each time one of the Moncrieffs died, a hearse with a team of horses was heard to clomp and clatter up the curving driveway to the front door of the house, stop for a period of time then turn around and drive away till all was again quiet. Supposedly this phenomenon had happened each time after a member of the Moncrieff family had died.

In Monty’s later years he suffered several mild heart attacks, twice at Bandirran when I was with him, for which  he carried pain killing nitro-glycerin tablets or as he called them his dynamite pills. During the last three years of his life his doctors advised him to spend his winters in a warm sunny climate. His place of choice was the Portuguese island of Madeira where he lived in the Reid Hotel in the town of Funchal. While there he kept in touch by infrequent postcards except for the last year. Since I had not heard from him for several months I went to his Elie home, Seaforth, to ask his two house keeper sisters if they had heard from him. When they answered my knock on the door it was obvious that they had been crying.  Without a word being spoken a telegram was handed to me to read.   Monty had died. 

The next day after learning this awful news an overpowering force compelled  me to go to Bandirran.  Knowing where a key to the house was hidden I entered the big house then locked myself in. The silence was total. I went into the oak lined library which was a large room. The oak paneled ceiling was completely covered with carved  Moncrieff coats of arms that traced the lineage of the family over the centuries. As I stood there in my grief as to the loss of my friend my hair raised up as I heard the rumble of wheels and noises on the driveway. The sounds came nearer then stopped. I heard voices and a rattling of the front door. The empty house echoed. Others had arrived for some reason.  For what,-- the stone of destiny ?  The big house had stood empty since the military vacated at the end of World War II.  I felt an oppressive weight descending on me. I fled to the basement to where was the entrance to the escape tunnel. By now I was in a cold sweat and my heart was thumping. I opened the entrance door to the tunnel, climbed into it, ducked my head and made a mad scramble for the other end. The exit was completely covered over in brush and thorny bramble vines. I pushed my way through and got thoroughly bloodied up in the process. In a blind panic I fled through the trees and the heavy brush. I came to a clearing in the woods where there was a downed log that I sat on to get my breath back. As I looked up at the puffy white clouds in the blue sky I was looking at the trunk of a tree on which was nailed a wooden crucifix.  In that moment I was transfixed. As I gazed in amazement at the cross, the weight that was pressing on me lifted and a voice seemed to say, “Dry your tears, I’m all right.”  It was like Monty had returned from his

   "island valley of Avilion

where falls not hail, or rain, or any snow,

nor ever wind blows loudly;

 but it lies deep-meadowed

happy, fair with orchard lawns and bowery hollows

crowned with summer seas."

.

The foliage  of the place that I stopped at showed no sign that anyone had  visited the place in years yet the wood that comprised the cross was unweathered and looked recent.  How did that crucifix come to be nailed up on that tree ? Could Monty have put it there before he left ?  Why did I find it at this time ?   To this day I still wonder.

 A few years later I made one of my compelled-to-return visits to Earlsferry.  In short time I went to Bandirran to once more wander it’s hills, retrace my steps and live in the past as I remembered my dear friend and the happy times that I'd spent there with him.

When I got to Bandirran the Moncrieff mansion house was no longer there. Vanished.

Bandirran Mansion ~ Gone but not forgotten

The square inset above the library windows was the Moncrieff coat of arms.

I never heard how Monty died. 

 I know "he" came home but I never learned as to whether his body ever did.

 I'll always remember him as my very special friend.