A flickering candle would keep the memory of little Alice alive

WE REVISIT DEREK PARKER’S RAMBLES THROUGH RENFREWSHIRE

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It was a day of celebrations at Castle Semple House when baby Alice Elizabeth Harvey was born on June 3, 1862.

The laird, Henry Lee Harvey and his wife, Lady Elizabeth, had the heir they long desired.

Cannons boomed and blazing bonfires were lit at night on Kenmuir Hill to commemorate the happy occasion.

The future of the magnificent house on the shores of Castle Semple Loch was assured. The Harvey family line would be maintained and the jobs of the servants and estate-workers were guaranteed.

But fate decreed otherwise.

Just nine years later, on June 7, 1871, little Alice Elizabeth died and was mourned by her grief-stricken family and friends.