It is a truth universally acknowledged....

A weekend of bliss and traveling back into the past. I can only describe to the best of my abilities what I take to be the most beautiful house and grounds I've been in. The Burn house was built in 1791 by French prisoners of war. It is unique because unlike most old buildings here that have been gutted and remodeled on the inside, the Burn house still has its old fashioned interior, so all the rooms look like they should in a house like that! It was fantastic! It has been privately owned all the way up to the 1940s, when the current owners', the Russell family, son was killed in Italy in WWII. After that tragedy, the house was abandoned, until it was finally given to Goodenough College, London, to use as a student retreat. Now that is it's only use. Students on holiday, retreats, or who can't get home for a holiday stay at the Burn house. 15 of us from St Andrews were lucky enough to have the entire house to ourselves for the weekend. It was a perfect way to start of spring break. We arrived at the house around half five, and settled in. As we pulled up the drive, I know I gasped, as I am sure many other girls did, for it looked right out of a Jane Austen novel. I resolved then and there to call it Longbourne. We entered the large reading room to a roaring fire, and friendly staff waiting to welcome us. As we were shown our rooms, we got to pick, and Meg got into one particular room first, and got dibs on it. I'm so glad she did for it was the sweetest, most beautiful corner room I'd ever seen. Yellows, greens, and all colors of pastel flowers covered the duvets, the curtains and the chairs. We had three large windows looking out on the grounds, and our own tea set to make morning tea, which we resolved to do.
Dinner was lovely, especially after constant hall food! The dining room was so cozy with lovely table settings, and we all had a wonderful time. Our table in particular was soon laughing quite loudly, and now I can't even remember what it was about! After dinner, the chef, who by the way is the most Scottish person I've ever seen, took us on a tour of the cellars, and dungeons :) We had a grand time making up stories about the people who'd been forced down there in the dark and we wrote our names on the walls beside many others who'd done so. We found names from 1925, which was very neat. After a very fulfilling evening, Meg and I called it a night, and went to bed. The beds by the way were soooo comfortable!
We woke up the next morning to sun streaming in all of our windows and making us nice and warm. We lazily started the day, and made ourselves some tea in our room to enjoy as we looked out onto the morning light over the grounds. We went down to breakfast, which was the best breakfast I've had since I've been here, because I got to make pigs in a blanket! Soooo good! I was very happy. The chef then informed us that in the evening, we would have an 'Address t' the Haggis' supper, so we all had to dress up in something Scottish, and we chose a clan chief who was going to cut the Haggis, and it was going to be grand. With that on our minds, we decided to walk to Edzell, the little town that can be reached by walking along the river. A journey that normally takes about a half hour-forty five minutes took us nearly two hours because we kept stopping to explore the little paths that led down to the water's edge. This river was right out of The Lord of the Rings. It had steep cliff drops and paths that led down and we had many adventures, most involving muddy clothing, climbing up and down the bank. Needless to say, we had quite a bit of fun exploring. By the time we got to Edzell, we had a bout five minutes, then we turned around and started back because of course, none of us wanted to miss lunch!
After lunch, we all went to attack the bin of random clothes they'd left for us to choose from for the night's festivities. We all looked very silly putting on everything from Scottish flags, to old lady clothes, etc. when we'd finally made our decisions, we went out to play croquet, which we all did in our outrageous clothes. The Baylor kids then went for another river walk, and Meg and I took advantage of the Putting green, and the tennis courts, both of which were interesting....needless to say it would probably have been quite humorous to have been a bystander watching us!
We then decided to take our own short walk along the river going the other way for a little bit, and I am here to tell you we found Lothlorien. Not even kidding. Long smooth trees covered in moss, and old stone steps covered in fallen leaves leading down to the water....oh yeah. After our little adventure we decided to bring it inside. We went back to the house and took advantage of the coffee and tea tray always available, which we did many times I must say. We took our tea and biscuits into the library, a beautiful old room with big windows and cozy chairs, and Meg brought something to write, and I grabbed an old, beautiful copy of Great Expectations. It was a lovely time of reading the right book in the right setting with our tea and view. I couldn't get over it! The Baylor kids got back soon after, and it was time to start preparing for our Address t' the Haggis! Meg actually ended up being the Clan chief's wife because she fit the dress provided....I ended up looking sort of like a rebel Scot, with leggings, a tartan scarf around my waist, a plaid vest, and a crazy beanie complete with long feather sticking out of it. I was a mixture of rebel and Robin Hood! Three of the guys were shown by the chef how to wrap themselves in an actual kilt, not just the kind you can rent for dances or anything. He showed them how to take a piece of tartan cloth and fold it into a kilt. It was very interesting to watch! Once we'd all donned our apparel, we sat in the beautifully decorated dining room for Robert Burns' 'Address t' the Haggis'. It was quite good. We had a decorated table with pictures or Robbie Burns, whiskey bottles, and complete with claymore. We were then served a full Scottish meal, complete with haggis and potatoes as the first course, and meat pie and vegetables as the second course. The meat pie even had a thistle, not a real one, cooked into it for decoration! It was lovely. Our desert was of course a kind of fruit and chocolate pudding flambe. It was such a fun evening. We finished off the day with a game of hide and seek in the house, and learning how to play snookers in the game room. A fun, satisfying, relaxing day all around.
The next morning the Baylor kids had to leave at 9 30 to meet their train to London. We all had breakfast and then wished them well. I felt like we were the Bennet family wishing our guests farewell because we all stood outside the door of the entryway and waved as they drove away. There were then only five of us left. We weren't leaving until 12 30. Meg and I decided to go upstairs and practice our Snookers a little more. Around noon, we went outside to get a last breath of air and enjoy the grounds before we left. I was sad to leave, but it had been a very satisfying weekend, and a perfect way to start off spring break. I will always have that image of the Burn house as Longbourne now :)

Cheers!