No 7 Aerlemno Terrace
Dundee
23/8/1915.
Dear Everybody,
Here I am, like a bird of passage that has found a resting place, resting amongs among the hills of bonnie Scotland, & a right rare & bonnie place it is too. Of Dundee itself I am afraid I cannot say that, but of the surrounding country it really is rare. In fact the country all the way from Kings Cross station is just a glory. Perhaps it is that I am seeing it at its best, if such is the case, no matter, we will say it is my good fortune. I left Kings Cross station at 10 A.M. on Sat 21st after having spent 5 days with the Hoopers of Blackheath. By the time this reaches you, you will have had several letters from Mrs Hooper, she is a rare old lady, & so is Mr Hooper too, they really can not do enough for one, they seem to think it is their duty to throw their house open to we Colonials, despite the fact that they are doing as much for their countries cause as it is possible for a mother & father to do. They have two sons fighting in France, & of course are very proud of them, one of them is a captain & the other a Lieut. Mrs Hooper reminds me very much of you Kate; you can pleas yourself whether after what I have said is a compliment or not.
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While I was there they took us round as as far as we were able to go, & among the various places we went, to was a place called Jackwood, a fine old English home, & really I do not think one could get a finer sight for a home if he travelled the world over. The house is a very old one, but is built of solid Oak & as a consequence is none the worse, but rather better for it long years of standing. The inside is simply a picture, the walls are all suitably carved, & the architecture is such that catches the eye at once. The garden next was our hunting ground, & afforded us a great deal of pleasure, it is beautifully laid off, & from almost any part of it you get a splendid view of the surrounding country, on one side you overlook Woolich Greenich & on to London, while on the other you look over miles of beautiful agriculture country, which at this time of year is a rare picture. The people who own the place are a Mr & Mrs Saunders by name, very rich & quite some of the biggest guns round that part of London, & that is saying a good bit, for it is quite one of the most fashionable residential portions of London. They also have a son fighting out in France he is an officer too & is a great friend of the Hooper boys. We also had a night at a Theatre up in London, nothing to wright home about, but quite a decent little play, Peg by title. It is something like what we saw Allen Doone play in Dunedin Lot, very funny. I have had a run through all the principal streets in motor cars, but have not managed to walk very far along many of them, that is reserved for when I go back, for you see I am not done with London yet, far from it indeed.
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For me to speak of St. Pauls, Westminster Abbey, London Tower & Parliment Buildings etc would be a fallacy for I have only yet had a fleeting glance at of any of them, but am looking forward to the days when a good walk will be a pleasure rather than a labour, & I will be able to roam at large amongst these places. That is one good thing about being a colonial in uniform, it will gain admittance to many a place that would otherwise be barred to me. Amongst some the place we had motor runs through were Richmond Park, Regent Park, St James Park, Hyde Park & Hampstead Heath etc, to say nothing of the runs we had amongst the London traffic, along Piccadilly Circus, Fleet St, the Strand, Regent St, & past into Trafalgar Square, & past the Royal exchange, the hub of the worlds traffic. This spot is simply awful you get into the run of the traffic, & you just have to “bide your time”, for it is absolutely useless to attempt hurry, in nine cases out of ten you will be held up for ten minutes at a time. It takes three policemen to control the traffic here, & they certainly have to keep their eyes open. Enough of London for the present, sufficient to say that when I go back I have to be sure & go back to Hoopers & they will guarantee to show me all there is to see in the city. I had a splendid trip up on the train, they certainly are miles ahead of the expresses we have in N.Z. It is something over 600 miles up to Dundee & we were just 10 hrs & 20 mins over it, not bad going it was. I had not much trouble in picking up
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Mr Smith, or he me, so far as that goes. He has a weeks holiday just now, & as a consequence I am seeing pretty well all there is to see in Dundee. It is not a very big town, nor is it striking in appearance, rather it is a little depressing right in Dundee itself, but it is very nice when you get out into the suburbs. There is not much of historical interest in the town & none of the buildings are what you would call very old. It is noted I think for the number of churches it can boast, there being as many here as there is in the whole of Otago & Southland put together, but I am afraid the old adage the “nearer the church the further from Grace” would be very applicable. I had the extreme pleasure of seeing through Watsons No 10 whisky stores today. This is their head blending stores, & really it was very interesting in its way, the amount of whisky I saw today was simply appalling, enough to make all the people in N.Z. drunk for a month, & amongst the lot I noticed some cases labelled for Wellington & Bluff. From here I am going by the river on to Perth en route for Aberfeldy on Wed. We leave here at 12.15 P.M. arriving at Perth about 2.30 P.M., there we are going to call on an old lady Rae by name, who Mr Smith thinks used to know Dad. He is pretty sure that if anyone knows anything about Dad’s people she will. We are only stopping there for a few hours & are to Aberfeldy in the evening. Of course at Aberfeldy we are going to Mr Smiths mother, & brother. How long
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I will stay there I am not very sure, but will in all probability stay over Sunday. In all probability I will dig up a little fresh family history befor I get away from Perth & Aberfeldy, but whether it will be anything new remains to be seen. From Aberfeldy I am going on to Inverness, of course it is needless for me to say what I will do when I get there. Just where Rothiemurchus lies from Inverness I have not yet been able to find out, however I am not leaving Inverness until I do. I have been fortunate enough to get the addresses of some people there also. From Inverness I am going across to Aberdeen, & then back to Dundee, & down to Edinburgh. I have addresse of people in Aberdeen also. At Edinburgh I expect to have a very interesting time, here I have a letter of introduction to a Mrs Montgomerie who wrote to the N.Z. War Conting. Assoc. stating that she was anxious to have convalescent N.Z. officers for as long as they liked to say. She is supposed to be a real somebody, & how I will get on remains to be seen. I think I have developed a good bit of cheek since I left. Of my general health, I think I am getting on like a house on fire. The only thing that is lacking now is the wherewith to move my old legs, however that is coming back fast, & I think will be fully restored in a week or two. Now time is running on & I must put the peg in. You will all be following with interest the latest developments at Gallipoli & the other frontiers as well, so it is needless for me to say anything.
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It is about 2 months now since I received any mail from home. Am expecting to get some any day now, & am looking forward to it I can tell you. We have been reading of late with a certain amount anxiety the severe Russia reverses. However their retreats have been so orderly that it makes one think that there is more behind it than appears on the surface, especially as we are making practically no effort on the Western Frontier. You will probably be surprised to hear that I was no very great distance from the scene from the recent air raid in London. We were going home from the theatre in one of the trains when we were suddenly plunged into darkness. Of course we immediately drew our own conclusions. Well now I am putting the peg in. Hoping everything is as it ought to be.
I am
You sincere Brother
E.S. McI.
P.S. I am enclosing the photos I spoke of in my last letter, hope they will prove satisfactory.
E.S.
