For Whom the Bell Tolls

A moment for reflection in Kelso this afternoon. The flag is at half-mast to mark the death of the Duke of Roxburghe. 

He owned Floors Castle, the largest inhabited castle in Scotland, just outside the town - and I don't know how many thousands of acres of the local country-side. 

He must have employed a fair number of local people too. As we were driving round the Square, looking for a parking space, about a dozen men came out of the Cross Keys, all dressed in estate tweed jackets and plus-fours - the ghillies and gamekeepers presumably. I guess they'd been drinking a toast or two to his memory. I wish I'd got a shot of them. He may be dead, but feudalism survives ....

Tenuous link to today's Mono Monday theme - a reflection on John Donne's words:

'If a clod be washed away by the sea, Europe is the less, as well as if a promontory were, as well as if a manor of thy friend's or of thine own were: any man's death diminishes me, because I am involved in mankind, and therefore, never sent to know for whom the bell tolls: it tolls for thee'

I went to Kelso to a meeting of U3A with a view to joining. It was very jolly (excellent cake), but the group I wanted to join, photography, has lost most of its members. Only one other person signed up besides me, so I rather think that's that. 

Thanks to Nickimags888 for hosting the Mono Monday challenge this month.