|
|
Minishant is a bonnie wee place. Portrait of a Village by Henrietta and Hugh Douglas. Line drawings by Michael Ellis. Strathprint, 146 Broadway Peterborough. First Published 1982. Copyright © Permission for display on this site granted by Hugh Douglas. You may view and download chapters of this book for personal research purposes only. No other distribution of this text is authorized. Click here for other books by Hugh Douglas. Cover: Mrs. Margaret Limond, was Minishant postmistress until she died aged 94. |
HENRIETTA DOUGLAS was born at Dalgarven Farm, Kilwinning, on 6th December 1899. Her father, Robert Orr, was the son of Robert and Harriet Orr who had moved to Monkwood Mains Farm, Minishant, from Dalry in 1874. She lived in Kent from 1904 until 1910 when she came to Monkwood Mains permanently. In 1923 she married William Douglas of Droystone, Tarbolton, whose grandfather had farmed Blackbyres at Minishant, and whose grandmother's family were blacksmiths at Culroy. With her husband, Mrs. Douglas took over Monkwood Mains in 1924, and farmed it until they retired in 1963. They had two daughters, Amelia and Margaret, and one son, Hugh. Mrs. Douglas took a keen interest in the life of the village, particularly the local branch of the Scottish Women's Rural Institute of which she was President for six years. She attended Minishant Church and the "Rural" regularly. Her husband died in 1969 and she died in 1988.
HUGH DOUGLAS was born at Monkwood Mains, Minishant, on 15th February, 1928. He grew up in the village until he went to school in Edinburgh in 1942. From Edinburgh he moved on to Aberdeen University where he graduated M.A. He became a journalist in Glasgow and later worked in Fleet Street. He is now in public relations in London. Hugh Douglas is author of eight books, including Portrait of the Burns Country, Robert Burns: A Life, and Johnnie Walker's Burns Supper Companion, and has written and presented a number of radio features. He is married and has a son Jake, and a daughter Eithne. He lives at 146 Broadway, Peterborough.