2110-1-15-2

High Commissioner's Office, Johannesburg.

June: 26: 1903

My dear old Nan

Many thanks for your last letter & to Mother for hers. I am so sorry that she was troubled with her head at Broughton. What is that head trouble that she has? It is not malaria; I think it must be a thing called

"neuritis", which people get here when they are overworked, or perhaps "neurasthenia", which the saintly John Edgar is suffering from at present.

Your news was very interesting. I sincerely hope C.H.D. is going to Coldstream. It is just the place for him, and he will lead a very happy and

in a small way, useful life. My Uncle Ebenezer's matrimonial proposals stagger me. The Lord bless us and keep us! What is he to do wi' a muckle wast-country woman? If it is true, I win a bet, but he won't pay me. I am very glad about Car Douglas' engagement. She is a nice fresh girl, with pretty towzy red hair and sings like a mavis. Paddy Balfour is a very good fellow

of the "society entertainer" type. I always hoped Tom Nelson would marry Miss Car; I am sure he would have been more suitable. I think she is older than Miss Nin, but I am not sure. Sandy Gillon always used to say he thought her the best of the family. More by token, Sandy's performance in the Amateur Golf Championship seems to have raised him to a pinnacle of glory in the eyes of the sporting

papers. It will quite reconcile him to his inability to come out here.

You seem very much put out by my financial future. Believe it or not, I am good at finance of the higher order, and I have H.E.'s word for saying so. However you need not trouble yourself for nothing will be settled for some time, and I shall