In his old age he liked to have his five
sons round him all the winter, together with their wives and
children. Accordingly, every October my three married brothers
arrived at Baron's Court with their entire families, and remained
there till January, so that the house persistently rang with
children's laughter. What with governesses, children, nurses and
servants, this meant thirty-three extra people all through the
winter, so it was fortunate that Baron's Court was a large house,
and that there was plenty of room left for other visitors. It
entailed no great hardship on the sons, for the autumn salmon-
fishing in the turbulent Mourne is excellent, there was abundance
of shooting, and M. Gouffe, the cook, was a noted artist.
Both my father and mother detested publicity, or anything in the
nature of self-advertisement, which only shows how hopelessly out
of touch they would have been with modern conditions.
My father was also old-fashioned enough to read family prayers
every morning and every Sunday evening; he was very particular,
too, about Sunday observance, now almost fallen into desuetude, so
neither the thud of lawn-tennis racquets nor the click of
billiard-balls were ever heard on that day, and no one would have
dreamed of playing cards on Sunday.
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