Menornima; Duff Data

No, not 'false news', but more about Duff House! Last Thursday, I shared the first-floor main rooms and a little bit of the history. Before showing more photos, a bit more about the general history of the house, which was almost abandoned. William's first wife, Ann, died before they had even been married for one year. It took three years for him to remarry, this time to Jean Grant, who, as mentioned last week, proved to be remarkably fecund. Despite the toll that must have taken on her, she outlived him by 25 years! It was about ten years after their marriage that he commissioned Duff House. Sometime after the fiasco with the architect, there was an addition made to the east side of the building, much smaller than the original planned wing, to provide a walking gallery and some extra rooms. The family retained the house until 1906, when they gifted it to Banff Burgh. For a little while, it was used as a hotel, but then it was turned into a sanatorium for respiratory disease (think tuberculosis and the like). It remained thus until 1923, when it once again became a hotel.

The hotel closed in 1928, and the building was unused until the onset of WW2, at which point it became the holding camp of German submariners who had been caught off the coast of Ireland. It was thought they had been carrying an Enigma Machine and incarceration at Duff House may have been a ploy to 'soften' them up; they would undoubtedly have enjoyed a relatively comfortable time whilst there... until the bombing that is.... But we'll get to that. Later, it served as the base for the Free Norwegian Forces as well as Polish exiles who were serving in the military.

After the war, the house returned to the State. Following extensive restoration, the house was re-opened in 1995 as a five-star country house and gallery, run in partnership with Aberdeenshire Council, Historic Scotland and the National Galleries of Scotland. 

On the second floor, the two main rooms to view were the entertainment hall and the 'lounge' hall. The former, as you see, was light and airy and quite a delight (and the piano could be played if one felt moved to do so). The latter was dark and of little interest beyond the many portraits by Gainsborough and other notables. The two rooms were connected by the upper stair gallery...

...which I found rather restful and had a safe feeling. On either side of the grand stair, the two minor spaces (ex bedrooms) are now display spaces for art, and oh my word, did I find some delight in there! I shall be holding back all but the following shot for the Artvibe posts, but let there be a teaser. The artist was a local fellow from Cullen, and these small pieces were exquisite. You will learn more when they eventually turn up on that Monday spot. I had a little difficulty capturing this without light reflection, so forgive the angle. The write-up is for the nearest of these paintings.

I also photographed a few of the larger and older paintings on the walls, but they did not have the usual info cards with them, so I will need to do some research prior to sharing those.

On up to level three. This is more the administrative level for the Historic Scotland crowd, but also a display space for the local historical society. For a few months, they are focusing on the war history, which I touched upon above. I spent a good forty minutes absorbing all the information they had put together. For an amateur presentation, it was excellent! I timed my arrival nicely to meet one of the wardens and asked about the hidden flag...

When the Norwegians were billeted here, they wanted to do something a bit special for the visit of King Haakon VII. The doors were put on to preserve the painted flag and can only be opened for short periods. (You'll see the full thing in an upcoming Views post, although it's also in the image below.)

Now some reading for you to show the effort made by the volunteers...

There were lots of panels like this, and very even-handed. There was a remarkably generous poster made for the captain of the captured U-Boat crew, who seems to have impressed everyone with his gentlemanly ways. The item on this link about U-26 seems to think Scheringer wasn't at Banff, but the display here showed a photo of him there, so a little confusion on that one.

I was taken by the panels regarding land army efforts and nutrition...

After this absorbing and thoroughly enjoyable visit, I went outside to the little monument which has been created utilising a remaining corner of the conservatory wing, which was destroyed by a bomb in 1940, killing six of the German POWs and two British servicemen. The official statement was that the bomber had been aiming for Aberdeen. Only fifty miles off course, then. Absolute fluke that their bombs landed on the very place where military personnel were housed, and that, too, the very wing in which their own men who may or may not have held state secrets were billeted...