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trained. I think it well to record what a friend
Lady MacGregor wrote to me this morning of
their experience. “Just before war broke out an avalanche
of the very worst Glasgow slum-children descended upon
us. We had about 130 in Lochearnhead and 16
here. Only 3 out of the 130 were not crawling with
vermin. They had impetigo, and every sort of
horror. They stoned the cows; pulled down the
haystacks; swung the gates off their hinges;
and finally burnt the whole of Mr [?] Cameron’s
hay crop. I am thankful to say only seven
now remain, practically the whole ‘boiling’
having returned to Glasgow.”

21st Jany. 1940
We have no war experiences since I last wrote
The elevation of balloon barrage around the
Forth Bridge & basin appears to have been a
complete deterrent The clash of arms which
we have expected week in and week out since
the war commenced, has not yet taken place
So far the war is confined to the sea and
to the air: From time to time we have to face
some misfortune; the sinking of ship of the navy
by torpedo or mine, but slowly but surely the
seas are being cleared of all enemy ships and
our airmen and the French seem to have es:
:tablished a superiority, not least in aircraft

over those of the enemy. Though we have no
personal experiences of the war to record,
the wintry weather, which we are enduring is so
exceptional as to be worth mentioning. Those of us
who are old enough, have cause to remember the
winter of 1895-6. Since the New Year came
in we have had almost continuous frost.
At the beginning of this week we had a snow
storm which left a few inches of snow on
the ground. On Thursday we had a renewal
of it and the afternoon of that day was one
of the most unpleasant of the century. It was
bitterly cold, and heavy snow scurried past
the windows, driven on by a strong north
west wind. On Thursday night there were 18°
of frost here in the garden, and last night
21°. At 11. o’clock this; Sunday forenoon,
though the sun was shining, the thermometer
registered 12°. At 6. p.m. there were 17° of frost.

30th. Jany. 1940
What a severe winter we are having! Since
I last wrote my journal we have much severe
frost, (21.° on several nights) and snow lying to a
depth of six inches or so. On Saturday (three
days ago) we had a fresh fall. but very slight.
However over the country generally that
fall with drifting has produced the
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