The Dowager Marchioness of Salisbury
John Somerville writes: It is not surprising that Mollie Salisbury (obituary, Dec 17) and her sisters were so lovely as not only was their mother a great beauty but their father, Val Wyndham-Quinn, was one of the most handsome men of his generation. Their maternal grandfather Ernest Pretyman was very good looking too and his wife, Lady Beatrice, was the most beautiful of the Bridgeman sisters. I first met Mollie in the late 1970s at the home of her aunt Ida Meynell. Almost every meal there was English partridge in some guise or disguise, which prompted talk of the Pretyman shoot at Orwell Park, Suffolk, when thousands of birds were shot.
Mollie recalled the grandeur of the place. She related how aged eight, when rain prevented her riding a new bicycle outdoors, she set off at high speed down a corridor only to crash into a valuable Ming vase. While Lady Beatrice reprimanded her, grandfather Ernest stood behind her winking at a tearful Mollie. Lady Beatrice then took to her bed for a whole day to recover.
When well into her eighties she was still immensely elegant and wistfully beautiful, her hair as thick as ever but no longer the naturally glorious red gold it once was.
Lord Prior
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Stephen Claypole writes: As your obituary (Dec 13) noted, Jim Prior had a difficult start as Northern Ireland secretary. With typical good nature he laid on a buffet for a “round table discussion” with fellow parliamentarians and local politicians about the way ahead The buffet lasted about ten minutes and the discussions a further few minutes. Soon afterwards Prior told me at BBC Belfast, where I was editor: “It was unbelievable. They cleaned out my buffet, denounced me and cleared off.” David Gilliland, his adviser, broke in: “Secretary of State, you will come to realise that Ulster folk do nothing until they’ve had their tea.”
Leo Harrison
David Finlay writes:A feature of Leo Harrison’s career record was that one in seven of his dismissals as Hampshire’s wicketkeeper was a stumping. Contrast this with England’s current wicketkeeper Jonny Bairstow for whom stumpings are much rarer, just one in 22 of his victims. Harrison (obituary, Dec 15) played in an era when spinners played a much greater part, but he also stood up to the wicket for the medium-paced opening bowler Derek Shackleton so that “stumped Harrison bowled Shackleton” was a regular appearance on the scorecard.