R's rue

Mrs Trellis repeated this apparent old Greek Quote only yesterday,  She was less serious than when we met last “ Happiness is when old men plant trees the Shade of which they know they will never sit in “   I think the second lockdown has made me a little low. Would I called it a bit depressed? I’m not sure . I always hate, with a vengeance when people bandy around self diagnosing here and using the very serious descriptions of depression where something like despondency would be more appropriate.  But I concede, I’ve felt low enough to be tearful almost daily and flat enough to react in an exaggerated manner when the church laburnum was felled. I also found myself mulling over a recent contact by my ex husband who messaged me wanting a more friendly communication .Alas it’s very easy to be magnanimous when you have moved on and you are happy and perhaps all you want are things  to be neat and tidy and filed neatly and away, guilt free.  I found my...

This is Rachel Chiesley. She married James Erskine, son of the noble Earl of Mar in Edinburgh - probably in 1707. Later Erskine was ennobled becoming Lord Grange so on that day Rachel Chiesley became Lady Grange. They belonged to Scotland's  ruling elite and lived in comfort as Lord Grange  climbed the ladder of success in the legal profession, later becoming a Member of Parliament in London. Lady Grange bore nine children during a marriage that lasted for twenty five years but then things seemed to fall apart. Not only was Lord Grange a womanising drinker he was also strongly  suspected of being in league with The Jacobites who sought to restore The House of Stuart to the British throne. Lady Grange may have been witness to some of her husband's clandestine meetings. Undoubtedly, Lady Grange was not a shrinking violet. She spoke her mind and was not prepared to stand silently by as her husband committed his various misdemeanours - both private and political. She had ...