Things from our attic (1)

I was up in the attic over the Easter holidayss, trying to sort out the jumble of boxes and stuff. Here are 4 bowls which belonged originally to one of my ancestors - one of the many James or John Robertsons - not sure which one. Probably an uncle rather than a direct ancestor - my grandfather's brother was James Robertson, and he also had uncles James and John. The bowls are made of ebony with engraved ivory inserts; they live in little bags, one of leather, and one tough brown cloth with a leather handle.

The leather bag was lined with a piece of hessian sacking, and although I've often taken the bowls out to look at them, I've never examined the sacking before. It's quite interesting, as you can see from the 3rd photo. I don't think there's any particular connection with the bowls - I think my granny (Allison Robina Robertson), to whom it's addressed probably just used it to line the bag for whoever was using the bowls at the time. Can't help wondering what was sent from Melbourne to Edinburgh, wrapped in hessian sackcloth. I recognise the name "Newcombe" - I think she was a friend of my granny's, and of course Granny's twin sister Hellen had married an Australian and moved to the antipodes with him, so there's a connection.

My Perthshire Robertson ancestors (the male ones, anyway) were keen curlers in winter, in those long lost days when the lochs used to freeze solid in winter; in summer they'd take to the bowling greens.