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With the passing on February 24 , 1995 of Captain Patrick Munro of Foulis , TD, DL, another
link with Ross-shire and the Highland's historical past has been severed , and the North has lost one of
nature's true gentlemen and one of the last of the old style Highland Chieftains and an epitome of all
that is best in that title.
No absentee , no grandee he , but a man who throughout his lifetime genuinely cared deeply for
the well being of the land and the people of the Highlands.
Born Patrick Gascoigne , on August 30 , 1912 , eldest son of Colonel Cecil Gascoigne [Seaforth
Highlanders], and Eva Marion nee Munro of Foulis , eldest daughter of Sir Hector Munro of Foulis ,
11th Baronet . Pat spent much of his childhood in both Blairowrie in central Scotland and Leatherhead
in southern England , where his father had various business interests , but came to Foulis regularly for
holidays and on the death of his father in 1927 , the whole family moved north taking a lease of
Calrossie Mains from Captain McGillivary , where they lived happily for many years .
Educated at the Imperial Service College and the Royal Military College , Sandhurst , he was
commissioned into the family regiment , the Seaforth Highlanders , but shortly after the death of his
maternal grandfather in 1935 he left the army to take up the management of Foulis Estate.
As a condition of his grandfather's will he changed his name to Munro of Foulis and was official
recognized by the Court of Lord Lyon as traditional 33rd Laird of Foulis and Chief of the Clan Munro .
This together with the fact that the Munros have charters dating from 1299 , rediscovered in the 1930's
[ one of which provided the first documentary evidence of the Brahan Seer's existence ] showing them
to have been well established at Foulis by the middle of the 1300's and historically linked with the place
since 1039 ment an enormous amount to Pat and gave him a life long interest in history.
Prior to the outbreak of World War II , Pat rejoined the army to take command of 'C' Company
4th Seaforths and with his old regiment formed part of the British Expeditionary Force sent to fight
alongside the French as the Germans swept across Europe . With the rest of the 51st [Highland]
Division he and his late brother Hector were captured at St.. Valery by Rommel's forces and spent the
next five years as POW's , forging friendships which were to last his lifetime , before being liberated
early in 1945 by American Forces under General George Patton [ who himself had Munro forebears ]
and repatriated later that year .
Pat returned to resume the running of Foulis and in January 1946 married Eleanor Mary
[Timmy] daughter of Captain The Hon William and Mrs.. French of Roscommon , Eire , who had been
serving in the WRNS at HMS Owl near Fearn in Easter Ross . Later that year they commenced
farming initially as P. and E. M. Munro later to become Foulis Farms and made their family home at
Ardullie Lodge where they brought up their four children.
Probably , Pat and Timmy's most lasting memorial will be the restoration of their historic home
Foulis Castle , starting with the renewal of the roof in the 1950's when it was the first house in
Ross-shire to receive assistance from the Historic Buildings Council for Scotland [now Historic
Scotland] . It was a sizable project and half a lifetime's work , phase IV being completed only last
summer .
Not content with easy retiral , on the death of his mother in 1976 Pat and Timmy set about the
main program of restoration at Foulis , which was not only to save it but turn its impossibly inconvenient
Victorian interior into the comfortable family home and garden it is today . To achieve this they sold
their home of 30 years , Ardullie Lodge which for the previous 350 years had acted as the dower
house to Foulis and moved into two cottages nearer the castle to oversee the work .
Pat took his position as Chief of the Clan and owner of Foulis seriously and often reiterated that
" Foulis was the home of all Munros" a statement he backed up by showing a constant stream of
several hundred visitors a year round the castle , many of whom over the years became great friends ,
returning again and again .
He greatly enjoyed the odd occasion when dressed in boiler suit and busying himself around the
castle an unsuspecting tourist mistook him for a gardener and asked him where they might find the
Laird!
The Clan Munro [Association] of which he was president was founded in 1937 and built over
the years into a successful organization with several overseas branches . Clan Gatherings and meetings
were often held and all who attended were warmly welcomed and treated to the same almost
legendary hospitality that he and Timmy provided , apparently without effort for all comers.
They together regularly supported local charities by making Foulis available for diverse fund
raising events such as daffodil teas and concerts .
Pat was never happier than when surrounded by his many friends and especially his own family
of whom he was immensely proud as they equally were of him . A fund of knowledge on his diverse
and distant relatives , whenever the opportunity arose or an excuse could be found they would be
summonsed to Foulis for a gathering which was guaranteed success thanks to Timmy's immense talent
, and it is a lasting tribute to him , that the admiration and respect with which he was held has made the
Munros and their wider clan such a close and happy unit .
Always smartly dressed and fit , he bore his final illness with great strength and patience ,
although it clearly frustrated such an active man who had so much he wanted ti do . One of the last of
his generation , he summed it up only a few days before he died in a jocular conversation with his
eldest son with a quotation he said his grandfather often used " Wha's like us , darn few and they're a'
died", a great man honored by so many.
He is survived by his wife Timmy , his four Children , Charlotte , Hector , Harry ,John and
thirteen grandchildren . He will sadly be missed .
Patrick Munro is succeeded as Clan Chief of the Munro Clan by his son Hector Munro.
Permission granted by Mrs. Eleanor Munro to use the information she herself has supplied for
reprint.
Information not to be used for profit.
[ By courtesy of The Ross- shire Journal ]
FAMILY HEAD STONE READS
To the Memory of
Colonel Sir Hector Munro
3rd Battalion Seaforth Highlanders
11th Baronet and 29th Baron of Foulis
Lord Lieutenant of Rosss and Cromarty
A. D. C. To Their Majesties
King Edward VII and King George V
Born Setember 13th 1848
Died December 15th 1935
AND OF HIS WIFE
MARGARET VIOLET STIRLING
29 Feb.1856 - 20th Feb. 1946
Who is interred at the Grage Edinburgh
Also of Their Eldest Daughter
EVA MARION GASCOIGNE D.S.O.
Who was Born 28th April 1881
And Died at Foulis 24th Nov. 1976
Wife of Lt. Col. C.C.H.O. Gascoigne D.S.O.
Seaforth Highlanders , 1877 - 1929
Interred Fletcham
And in Memory of their Eldest Son
Captain Patrick Gascoigne Munro
Seaforth Highlanders , 30th Baron of Foulis
30th August 1912 - 24th February 1996
Posted by Norman Wood, January 1, 1998.
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