This painting of the Drove Loan, Falkirk, was made for Miss Margaret and Miss Marion Gillespie, sisters who lived on the fringe of the Drove Loan. Margaret Gillespie was a schoolteacher and an accomplished amateur painter herself. She met the Polish artist when he was billeted at Bantaskine Estate, on the rising ground to the south of Falkirk. Bantaskine Estate was occupied by Polish servicemen during World War II.
Unfortunately the "big house" was demolished after the war, depriving Falkirk of one of its finer buildings and of the home of Mary Georgina Wade Wilson, the Falkirk-born artist who died in 1939. It's probable that Tondziel was able to use artist's materials left in the house by Mary Wilson. After the house was demolished, only a Gothic dovecote remained, and a completely walled-in garden, beautifully tended for many years after all else was abandoned, by the old gardener MacKintosh who lived on in his small cottage on the edge of the estate.
Falkirk
In past centuries the Drove Loan was one of the main routes taken by cattle and sheep drovers bringing their animals to the Falkirk Tryst.
Falkirk Tryst
Falkirk Tryst is now just the name of a Golf Club, but in the 18th and first half of the 19th century, it was a cattle and sheep market, famous all over Britain. There was of course no rail or lorry transport in those days, so cattle and sheep had to walk their way to the market and onwards. Beef and mutton was leaner!
The whole process was slow, and the animals and their drovers needed suitable routes that would allow the animals to rest and graze, and the men to bivouac overnight. The animals came from all over Scotland; most of the dealers came up from England. In fact the Tryst developed in size and importance after the Union of the Parliaments of Scotland and England in 1707.
At its height, the fair saw about 150,000 between cattle, sheep and horses concentrating on Falkirk, as well as sellers, drovers, buyers from all Britain, and of course the stalls, purveyors and entertainments that are an integrating part of any country fair. It must have been a big event indeed for farmers and drovers from the remote parts of the Highlands, unaccustomed to crowds and confusion.
Drove Loan
This part of Drove Loan stretches from High Greenbank in Falkirk for a couple of miles, where it joins local roads to Bonnybridge and Castlecary. The Drove Loan runs between woods, moors and grazing fields; it's still un-tarred and the sandy under-foot makes it pleasant for walking and cycling. In the 1980's the whole area was ravaged by open-cast coal mining. In fact the area south of Falkirk had been extensively mined before the war, and abandoned mine-shafts were on both Bantaskine Estate and close to where this picture was painted on the Drove Loan. These mines left some of the surrounding area liable to subsidence.
The Misses Gillespie told about a lady living at Bantaskine before the War who went out to hang up her washing and was swallowed up when a mine-shaft caved in under her washing-green. The open-cast mining put an end to that risk in the Drove Loan area, and incidentally destroyed what was known as Bonnie Prince Charlie's well (a spring where Charles Edward Stuart, the Young Pretender, was supposed to have drunk before or during the Battle of Falkirk, fought in this area on January 17th, 1746 - the last Jacobite success before the final rout at Culloden.
The area is close to the upper part or arrival point of the Falkirk Wheel which can be a focal point for starting off a walk through history.
Fortunately after the opencast mining was exhausted, the surroundings of the Drove Loan are slowly returning to something like their original beauty. This will take time, and I am happy to have H. Tondziel's painting in my possession to remind me of this wonderful and historical place. The artist has painted with the same love for this place that we felt as children growing up there. Not a spectacular statement, just a photo of a well-loved corner of our world.
H. Tondziel
By the end of the war the artist had disappeared. It's possible that he returned to Poland, as did many of the servicemen stationed in Scotland, leaving broken hearts among many local women. Remember that a generation of women had lost their young men during the 1914-1918 war and more during the second war. Or he may have given his life for his country like so may others. The Polish army was virtually Scotland's main defence in the World War II, while Scotland's own soldiers fought far from home. But the Polish army also supplied soldiers for many of Britain's hardest battles and many gave their lives.
Acknowledgement and thanks to Falkirk Local History Society.
Valerie Wilson - Valerie Wilson has lived, studied and worked in Scotland, Germany and Italy; mainly employed in multi-national companies in shipping ...
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