Hospitalfield – Sandra Ireland

On Saturday, I had the pleasure of delivering a creative writing session as part of the annual Apple Day at Hospitalfield, Arbroath. I think it’s fair to say it wasn’t the most clement of days to wander in the beautiful gardens, but every rain cloud, as they say, has a silver lining, and my little group decided to remain snug and dry in the house itself!

Moving from room to room, we found inspiration in every hushed corner of this grand old house, imagining those who had passed this way before us, perhaps dining by candlelight, or scribbling at one of the many sumptuous writing desks. Every painting and object contains a story to be retold by the curious writer…

While we had to deviate from our original plan- to write about the apples, trees and plants in the walled garden -we did find a stunning world of nature in the intricate ceiling of the drawing room, carved from fruitwood by David Maver in the late 1800s. The paintings too offered a wealth of creative ideas; people and their pets sprang to life once more beneath our furiously scribbling pens!

Personally, I have a fondness for the curious object, so this magical bottle of ink spoke to me, and the cherub’s head too…

And since I’ve always been fascinated by the iron ‘talbots’, or medieval hunting hounds, who guard the door of Hospitalfield. I couldn’t resist a haiku dedicated to the poor wet dog, waiting outside in the rain!

I’m delighted to have been invited to run a creative writing workshop at Hospitalfield, as part of their annual Apple Day, a delicious extravaganza of all things apple! My prep involved a lovely wee wander around the Walled Garden (I love my job!) and was totally inspired by what I saw. They have quince trees!

I don’t think I’ve ever seen a quince in reality and I immediately thought of Edward Lear’s poem’ The Owl and the Pussy Cat.’ I can remember almost every word of it, although I don’t ever recall ‘learning’ it at school or at home. Once of those childhood curiosities. Anyway- here is the ‘quince’ bit:

“They dined on mince, and slices of quince,

Which they ate with a runcible spoon;

And hand in hand, on the edge of the sand,

They danced by the light of the moon.”

Isn’t that bewitching?! One of my students spoke recently about a strange family teaspoon (we were making ‘Holy Grails’ out of mundane objects, as you do in some of my classes!) and they’d dubbed it ‘the runcible spoon’, which I think is delightful!

I managed to amass a great deal of writing prompts while strolling in the Hospitalfield gardens, so why not come along on October 7^th if you’re in the Arbroath area? Among all the apples, you’ll find me peddling plant folklore, old myths and the magic of the ‘what if?’ Simply delicious!

To register your interest, click HERE: