Trip from Trinidad - 3

Out in the Atlantic

May 10^th

Dear Phoebe and Philip,

I decided that it was fairer that I write my letters from now on to both of you, and I will try to include something that will interest each of you in your own way.

As you probably will have noticed from the date, I haven’t written for last two days. That is because I had terrible seasickness and I couldn’t even get out of bed on most days. I certainly didn’t feel up to writing, and it only has gradually got better where I felt I could go and have a bit of breakfast this morning. The dining room was only 2/3 full, so I expect some of the others are suffering even worse than I did. Your grandpa didn’t seem to suffer at all, so spent most of the day on his own. I asked him if he had met any interesting people, and he said yes. But when I asked him to tell me about them, he said he couldn’t really remember. Really! How rude of him not to take more note of the people he meets.

Anyway, we didn’t meet any new people at breakfast - sat with people we had met before and the conversation was almost entirely on the difficulties of dealing with seasickness. It wasn’t a very pleasant conversation as Annie Aikman went into way too much detail in how she had been affected by it all.

They decided not to show the films on the last two evenings, as so many people were ill, so we didn’t miss anything. But the film that is scheduled for tonight, I am really looking forward. Although there are more men than women on this ship, they have stated that they will alternate with having “Men’s” films one night and “Ladies’” films the next, so as to try to please everyone. I think they do a children’s film in a smaller room mid afternoon on some days, but as we have only seven children on board, and two of them are babies, I hardly think it matters.

Anyway, the film tonight is about the Great War and it is called Wings. I will tell you more about it after we have seen it. But the reason that I am so excited about it is that we have met the most remarkable people. Captain Roderick Gooden-Chisholm and his wife Margaret are going home on a visit. Their son, is in the police force stationed in Trinidad, but it is one of their daughters that has had such an interesting life, but isn’t very well, so they are going home to help her get better.

I really can’t say that I remember reading about it at the time, but it was their daughter, Mairi Chisholm (she’s doesn’t use the double barrelled name like they do) who was only 18 in 1917 when the war began, who, with her good friend, Elsie, won numerous medals and acclaim for being so important in the war effort.

I suppose I must start at the beginning for it to make any sense. Since I was so interested in them, Margaret and I sat together by the pool after lunch and she filled me in on the details of their family. She let me take notes.

They are of the aristocracy, and have their stately home in Scotland at Chisholm. The name Chisholm is from a Norman French word "chese" meaning "to choose" and the Saxon word "holm" meaning "meadow."  They became established first in the county of Roxburgh in the Border area of Scotland and the earliest record of the name is John de Chesehelme who is mentioned in a letter from Pope Alexander IV in 1254. John de Chesolm from Berwick and Richard de Chesolm from Roxburgh both signed the Ragman Rolls of King Edward I in 1296 and were two of 2,000 landowners and clergy to do so. The seal used by Richard shows the head of a boar which is part of the family coat of arms to this day.

According to legend, two Chesolm brothers saved the life of one of the Scottish kings in the 14th century and were granted land in Inverness-shire. Certainly, Sir Robert Chisholm was appointed constable of Urquhart castle  in 1359 but that was in succession to his maternal grandfather. His younger son remained as chief of the Chisholms in the Borders. A son of the Borders line established the Chisholms of Cromlix in Perthshire.

Alexander, Sir Robert Chisholm's eldest son, married Mary of Erchless and Comar. Erchless Castle became the seat of the Chisholm's and remained so for 500 years until the early 19th century.

Following the church Reformation in the 16th century, the Chisholms remained firmly Catholic and indeed the Perthshire Chisholms supplied three successive Bishops of Dunblane. When the Spanish Armada sailed to attack England in 1588, there were concerns about plots against Scotland and Sir James Chisholm of Cromlix was summoned to appear before the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland. Although no charges were brought, Sir James was later denounced in 1592 for "treason against the true Religion".

In the following century the clan chiefs became Protestant, although tolerant of the Catholic faith amongst their followers. Despite their religious conversion, the Chisholms rose in support of the Catholic "Old Pretender" in the Jacobite Uprising of 1715. They rose again in 1745 and 30 were killed at Culloden, including one of the chief's sons. After the defeat, Bonnie Prince Charlie trusted his life to eight of his followers, of whom three were Chisholms. When the Prince left from the west coast towards the Hebrides and exile, Hugh Chisholm shook hands in farewell. He vowed never to shake hands again and is said to have kept his vow to his death at a ripe old age.

After the 1745 Uprising, many clansmen emigrated, some voluntarily, others helped by periods of increased rents and forced clearances. In 1887 the chieftainship passed via an heiress to a James Gooden-Chisholm in Surrey.

The Chisholm clan motto is "Feros ferio" which means "I am fierce with the fierce".

So now you know the background of the family, I will move to this particular family. Capt. Roderick was with the Seaforth Highlanders in the War, but since has retired to Trinidad. They have three children, Uailean Hamish McUistean Chisholm, their son and heir was born on 1894. He married Claire Cecile Lang  in 1919. He is Captain in the Trinidad Constabulary. Hamish fought in the First World War between 1915 and 1918, in Palestine and Egypt. They have three children, Alastair who is 8, Ruari who is 7 and Lilias who is 5.

Mairi Lambert Chisholm was born on in 1896. She was decorated with the award of Order of Leopold II of Belgium (with bar) and was decorated with the award of 1914 Star in 1914 and the Military Medal and the award of Order of Queen Elisabeth of Belgium and was an Officer, in the Most Venerable Order of the Hospital of St. John of Jerusalem (O.St.J.). Margaret showed me lots of pictures about her, and I will go into more details later, but just wanted to put these facts down before I lose my notes.

There is another daughter, ten years younger, called Lucy, I think, but Margaret didn’t say much about her.

I’ll write again tomorrow but now I must get ready for dinner and the film. We have arranged to sit with the Gooden-Chisholms again.

Love

Grandma Louise