4. The Quest for a Cultivated Mind
The Victorians lived next to their factories and mines, but the Wardlaw Ramsays preferred Tillicoultry House, on the edge of the town, with the Ochils rising steeply behind. It was a plain building, designed to be a shooting lodge, but proved a perfect family home. There, Anne Lindsay could play with her children, and have fun sketching them and their surroundings. She was a keen botanist and surveyed the local mosses. She enjoyed music and could play the piano. Guests included Sir Walter Scott, botanists, and a great many men of the cloth. Anne and her husband were both keen teetotallers, allowing no alcohol on the premises. They attended the Charlotte Church when in Edinburgh, where they had a large town house. The couple was also planning to build a large representative country house at Whitehill, and spent many evenings poring over plans by Burns. This house was not built in their lifetime.
![Autobiography by Balcarres Dalrymple Wardlaw Ramsay](https://ramsayquest.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Balcarres_Rough_Recollections.png)
Balcarres Wardlaw Ramsay
As a younger son, Balcarres (1822-1885) was given a good education and secured a commission in the army, where his amiable nature and intelligence were…
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William’s humorous sketches
The family albums contain a few such sketches by the young William, which were evidently prized. They show an eye for a humorous situation, and…
Read more...Tillicoultry house – early photo
This house was lived in by the Wardlaw Ramsays in the first half of the 19th century because Whitehill was let to relatives, and was…
Read more...![Sketch of the daughters of George Linsday](https://ramsayquest.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/lindsday_girls.png)
Lindsday girls at Tillicoultry House
George Linsday sent his daughters to stay with his sister Anne. The climate in Calcutta was affecting their health, so they sailed back to Scotland…
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Mrs Wardlaw
Robert’s mother with her grandson, William, sketched by Lady Anne. A charming scene from the early years of Anne’s marriage to Robert. She can’t have…
Read more...The Lindsay connection
Lady Anne’s father brothers and home
Read more...Lady Anne’s Sketchbook
Mrs Martin, reading When Anne Lindsay married Robert Wardlaw Ramsay, she took her sketchbook to Tillicoultry and found time to draw…
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Lady Anne’s sketchbooks
Anne Lindsay started this sketch book when she was still living in Balcarres with her sisters and extended family. These sketches show her young relatives…
Read more...![Watercolour painting by Lady Anne Ramsay](https://ramsayquest.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/DSC00119-e1712244500166-1024x1024.jpg)
Lady Anne’s album – Tillicoultry
Ann filled several albums with a miscellany of prints, drawings and humorous tales and poems. Some of the drawings were contributed by visitors, and some…
Read more...![Hypnum.](https://ramsayquest.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/mossy-page-577x1024.jpg)
Mosses of Tillicoultry
Musci tillicoultrienses Frontispiece dedication to Lady Anne Mosses collected on the estate of Tillicoultry by J.B.H [James B. Howison] during the year 1833. This delightful…
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