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Lady Katherine
Grant of Rothiemurchus
27th July 2000 I have been asked to write some notes about my time in Rothiemurchus and what I remember about St John’s Church and to mention the origins of the organ. I have attended the church since coming to Rothiemurchus in 1941 when
I was married to John Peter Grant, the Younger of Rothiemurchus and grandson
of J.P. Grant, the 11th Laird, the founder of St John’s. My husband’s
father was the 12th Laird and Sheriff of Inverness. He lived at Corrour
House with his wife and family. Previously he had been Sheriff in Shetland. |
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| We lived first at the Boat House.
This was during the Second World War. We were posted to Arisaig for two
years where my husband was stationed as an instructor with the Combined
Operations. Then it was on to Camberley where my husband was at the Staff
College until just prior to D-Day when he went overseas. At that point I
settled down at the Boat House. Our daughter, Jane, was born during that
time. Later on we lived at Inverdruie House and later on in Drumintoul Lodge.
My mother-in-law supported St John’s during all of those years and I attended church there. We had a heavy curtain across the aisle, cutting off the draughts and the long aisle. An oil heater was the only heating and the old harmonium was used for the music. Both our children were christened in the church by lamplight, as there
was no electricity. Jane had been born at a nursing home in Inverness
in 1943 and John at Inverdruie House in 1947. We had moved there after
the War in the very snowy winter of 1947/48. |
| But what of the Church? John Peter Grant, 1860-1927, the 11th Laird, twice married. His second wife was Lady Mary Pierpont. They laid the foundation stone of the church in 1913. Owing to the outbreak of the First World War in 1914 the church was not completed until 1930. Sadly both had died without seeing their project completed. In earlier times John Peter Grant, the 11th Laird conducted services in a little wooded church he had built on ground across the road from the existing church. He was a dedicated Lay Reader and was a member of the Scottish Episcopal Church. He conducted Sunday services there and his wife played a little harmonium which was later used at the Church. But during the summer months he invited priests from England to take the services. The church was well served by the visiting clergy and well supported by the many visitors from round about who visited during the summer. The wooden church was affectionately called the “tin tabernacle”. It amuses me to think that when it was eventually pulled down the corrugated iron from the roof was used to cover the roof of my kitchen of my little house. |
| In 1980 the Church received a legacy from Canon Fredrick Barrett-Ayres who had been Priest-in-Charge during the war years (WW2). He had been Rector at Grantown and had a previous link with Rothiemurchus during that time. The Canon was partially blind but still used a bicycle to get around. Although there was little traffic in those days and everyone knew him he still lived what to some seemed a charmed life on his bicycle in the middle of the road! He lived with his wife in Pityoulish Cottage by the loch, which was loaned to him by Henry Duckworth of Pityoulish. He is buried on the north side of the Church close to the vestry door. |
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At the Vestry meeting that followed I suggested, and it was agreed, that this money should not be spent but kept for a special project. The Priest-in-Charge at that time, the Rev Douglas Kornahrens, later suggested that the church needed an organ. This was a very ambitious scheme but it appealed to all. It was decided to start an organ fund and to use the Barrett-Ayres legacy to start it off. What followed was a very wonderful thing, perhaps even a little miracle. Douglas was going to the Church one day during the week. When he came up to the door he found a visitor walking around looking at the Church and invited him in. It turned out to be Christopher Dickens, an organ builder and enthusiast. Christopher Dickens was from York-shire and was in fact the grandson of the great writer. |
| Things were taking shape. Douglas
was so enthusiastic about the project: no stone was left unturned. He wrote
endless letters to various Church Trusts and worked very hard to promote
the project and we should appreciate it was his faith and dedication that
brought it to fruition.
The Organ Appeal was a success. I particularly remember how Mr. Bernard Abbott made a large notice board and a thermometer with the “mercury” creeping up as the fund grew. Everyone connected with the Church and also many visitors contributed. Christopher Dickens was commissioned to build the organ and it was dedicated to Canon Barrett-Ayres and the Founder’s wife Lady Mary Grant. Alexander Ludovic Grant their son contributed in their memory and thus the organ project was completed. |
| Reginald Barrett-Ayres, the Canon’s
son was a scholar and musician. He was Head of the Music Department at the
University of Aberdeen. At our request he oversaw the technical aspects
of the Project. Reg advised us that the organ should have a simple keyboard
making it possible for pianists to play when no experienced organist is
available as happens in country districts. He advised only six stops and
no pedals. The Grant family motto, “In God is all our Trust”
is carved at the top of the organ in memory of the Founders.
Reg Barrett-Ayres came and played for the Dedication Service but sadly died the following year. |
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| All photographs on this page were kindly donated by Lady Katherine Grant of Rothiemurchus. |
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