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SUMMER
2013
5
It was then that he saw it: a grand
100-room baronial castle with imposing
towers, turrets and battlements set in the
midst of 20,000 acres of gardens, rolling
lawns, herbaceous borders, orchards,
woodland walks, greenhouses, ponds
and a waterfall. It was for Carnegie, his
“heaven on earth.”
The exhausted reverend was welcomed
quite cordially to the castle and even
invited to stay for a fortnight if he so
wished. Guests at Skibo were treated
like royalty.They fished for salmon in
Carnegie’s streams, swam in his pool, and
played golf on the course that Carnegie
had carved down by the sea. And each
morning at 8:00am, a kilted piper woke
everyone up by playing bagpipes under
the bedroom windows.The morning meal
was served in the breakfast room off the
main entrance hall, accompanied by Bach
and Haydn pieces played on the huge pipe
organ. On the first visit, each guest would
be given a spoon embossed with “Skibo”
in silver lettering – after finishing their
breakfast. Visitors included King Ed-
ward VII, British Prime Minister LLoyd
George, Booker T. Washington, Kipling,
Polish Prime Minister Paderewski, the
Rockefellers, and even Helen Keller.
But the Protestant minister had no inten-
tion of reveling in this luxurious castle
with its silk walls and velvet sofas. His
beloved school back home needed him
and the funds he had set out for.
On his second day at Skibo, he was ac-
corded an interview with Carnegie. It was
apparently a long interview (unfortunate-
ly, MacLachlan never revealed the details)
but the end result was that MacLachlan
was refused any financial help.
“My visit was barren of any financial gain
to the College,” he wrote in his memoires
in an obviously sad tone.
Deeply disappointed, MacLachlan imme-
diately set off on foot back on the dusty
road leading him to the train station.
It was a “fool’s errand” – as he called it.
Still, he did manage to get something out
of it: the story of his long, lone journey
stirred the heart of a Scottish Christian
philanthropist who ended up sending the
school a generous check of a few hundred
dollars.
To be continued ….
Historical information based on: an in-
terview with Dr. Howard Reed (summer
2011); Potpourri of Sidelights and Shadows
from Turkey, by Alexander MacLachlan,
1937; Carnegie’s summer home returns to
glory days, Sunday July 14 2002, (David
Bear) Travel magazine.
Smyrna
(Part V)
MacLachlan would do anything to keep the school going for these boys
TheBlackberryalarmclock.com
Andrew Carnegie
at SkiBo