Craigends of the 20th Century a Renfrewshire estate remembered

Our parents always told us that we must never walk in sight of the mansion house, for fear of upsetting the ladies of the house.

However, there was a family story from when my aunts were school girls... At that time the girls would take the train to school in Paisley. Walking from North Mains this meant a long detour - around Craigends House - to Houston and Crosslee Station (now demolished). Well, at some point the girls must have reasoned that when they were setting out early in the morning the ladies of the house wouldn't yet be awake so they started taking the road that ran behind the mansion. However, in the afternoons, when they were more likely to be caught, they were always careful to take the long route home.

They must have been doing this for some time until one Sunday my grandmother was invited up to Craigends House for afternoon tea with Mrs Cuninghame. During conversation Mrs Cuninghame remarked simply "We don't see the young Scotts in the afternoon". The comment said it all! I'm sure that night the girls received a painful lesson from their mother!!