Craigends of the 20th Century a Renfrewshire estate remembered

Alec recalls a family story from when his two aunts were school children at Paisley Grammar School... The girls walked through Craigends Estate on their way to-and-from the (no longer existant) Houston train station . There was a strict understanding, however that no one should pass in sight of the Mansion House (this was strictly the domain of the gentry). Unfortunately for the girls this meant taking a long detour via Crosslee.

Guessing that the ladies were unlikely to be awake at the early hour they were leaving for school, at some point the two girls decided it safe to take the more direct path past the Mansion House in the morning. It is thought that the young girls happily kept this routine for some time.

One day, though, their mother (Alec's grandmother) was invited to the Mansion House for afternoon tea with Mrs Cuninghame. During conversation Mrs Cuninghame mentioned: "We don't see the wee Scotts in the afternoon." This short phrase said it all. Obviously the girls had not escaped the attention of Mrs Cuninghame and her sister in the mornings. A stern reprimand awaited the girls, from their mother!