Notes from the Isles

This issue, our friend in the north learns the story behind a prized piece of jewellery and tentatively indulges her passion for foraging

KATE FRANCIS

When I got engaged 66 years ago, my husband’s grandmother gave me a Douglas Heart: a multi-faceted, heart-shaped amethyst about the size of a large walnut, with a pearl-studded gold crown on top, to be worn as a necklace on a gold chain. She considered it to be a suitable present for the fiancée of someone called Douglas. It’s a treasured possession and I wear it as often as possible, but it wasn’t until about 13 years ago, when I was commissioned to write an article about Drumlanrig Castle, that I realised what an incredibly serendipitous gift it was. Somewhat reluctantly, because I wasn’t feeling 100-per-cent fit, with my head swathed in a turban to hide chemotherapy baldness, I made my way down to Dumfriesshire, expecting yet another grim old…

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Scotland (Digital) - 1 Issue, January - February 2024

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