An Unlikely Countess: Lily Budge and the 13th Earl of Galloway

An Unlikely Countess: Lily Budge and the 13th Earl of Galloway
Louise Carpenter

A vivid and moving portrait of the inimitable Lily Budge, who overcame poverty and class to become the 13th Countess of Galloway, and one of Scotland’s most colourful eccentrics.Randolph Stewart was lobotomized as a teenager after a crude diagnosis of schizophrenia. When the operation went wrong, he was hidden away by his aristocratic parents in a mental institution and then taken in by a sect of monks. By the time Lily Budge met him in 1975, he appeared a shy and lonely tramp. In reality he was the future Earl of Galloway, heir to a fortune and a title considered to be linchpin of the Scottish establishment. Lily, an extroverted character from a working-class family, would join him in a powerful bond of love that challenged conventions, made national headlines, and led to enormous heartache.A vibrant portrait of 20th-century Scotland, ‘An Unlikely Countess’ is also a profile of two unforgettable characters, and the doomed love that they shared.

AN UNLIKELY COUNTESS

Lily Budge and the 13th Earl of Galloway

LOUISE CARPENTER

Copyright (#ulink_66489e97-cc39-51d1-b67d-ca1fe1d01f19)

HarperPerennial An imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers 1 London Bridge Street London SE1 9GF

www.harpercollins.co.uk (http://www.harpercollins.co.uk/)

This edition published by Harper Perennial 2005

First published by HarperCollinsPublishers 2004

Copyright © Louise Carpenter 2004

PS section copyright © Louise Tucker 2005

except ‘An Unlikely Countess’ by Louise Carpenter

© Louise Carpenter 2005

PS™ is a trademark of HarperCollinsPublishers Ltd

Louise Carpenter asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work

‘Small Town’ Words and Music by Lou Reed and John Cale © 1989, Screen Gems – EMI Music Inc/Metal Machine Music/John Cale Music Inc, USA Reproduced by permission of Screen Gems – EMI Music Ltd, London WC2H OQY

The publisher and the author gratefully acknowledge Randolph Galloway, the Estate of Lily Budge, The Stewart Society, Joseph Bonnar, William Mowat Thomson, Michael Thornton, and Roddy Martine for permission to reproduce photographs and press clippings from private collections.

All reasonable efforts have been made by the author and publisher to trace copyright holders. In the event that we are contacted by any of the untraceable copyright holders after publication of this book, the publisher and author will endeavour to rectify the position accordingly.

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library

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Source: ISBN 9780007108817

Ebook Edition © FEBRUARY 2013 ISBN 9780007391707

Version: 2016-08-05

Dedication (#ucf13a56e-c035-5d39-ba39-258efe8aad8f)

For Tom

and

Randolph Galloway

Epigraph (#ulink_4af9d7b7-d768-5585-a5dd-21060031b22d)

I am very fond of the good soldier Schweik … Iam convinced that you will sympathise with thismodest, unrecognised hero. He did not set fire to thetemple of the Goddess at Ephesus, like that fool of aHerostratus, merely in order to get his name intothe newspapers and the school reading books.

And that, in itself, is enough.

JAROSLAV HAŠEK, The Good Soldier Schweik

Contents

Cover (#uab45efde-9e69-5e93-b831-0d04863a3538)

Title Page (#u4ce15e9d-0b21-55bb-9f9c-d1f1f3e68884)

Dedication (#ucf13a56e-c035-5d39-ba39-258efe8aad8f)

Epigraph (#ub5d36ed5-73dd-5cd1-81ec-5f9b7f9dbcc9)

PART ONE (#uee5e850a-33b6-59ad-987f-0b862237e624)

1 The Most Caring Place in the World (#u7716b87d-7baa-54eb-bfce-ddb9f3fe820c)

2 The Beginnings (#uca9e64d2-f178-5e02-813a-ce68ee79c5ff)

3 Virescit Vulnere Virtus: Valour Grows Strong from a Wound (#u94f4d52b-b156-5f3d-a857-1deb9b691618)

4 Tea or Coffee, ma’am? (#u48c3a11e-cc6f-5bbb-9565-7c71439e55ae)

5 Happy Days are Coming (#u5ac07208-8723-5241-bc87-45692c2f5ce7)

6 Becoming Mrs Budge (#uf39d1f47-f255-5685-87a1-2ddf81f1dadd)

7 Lobotomised Patients Make Good Citizens (#litres_trial_promo)

8 Carnival of the Animals (#litres_trial_promo)

9 A Crazy House (#litres_trial_promo)

10 Anglo-Catholic with Charismatic Overtones (#litres_trial_promo)

PART TWO (#litres_trial_promo)