Sacha writes
On 2010-01-07 21:58:07 +0000, K said:

The Countess was very involved in the Girl Guides Association, and
let the Guides hold their jamboree in the grounds, and run wild
through the maze. In return, we had to provide a group to sing carols
from the minstrel gallery for their Christmas dinner - very feudal ;-)

LOL! Sounds like a fair return to me. ;-) I bet you had more fun
than they did!

Oh absolutely! We weren't very good (and we certainly didn't rehearse).
Afterwards, we were allowed to see the Christmas tree in the hall, with
all the presents under it, and drink a glass of ultra-dilute orange
squash.

It was the Countess who provided the Christmas Tree for the town. The
town wasn't very grateful - being of Scandinavian origin, it always had
white lights, and the taste in those days was for bright colours. Well,
of course, everything was relatively drab in those days, and white
didn't look tasteful, it just looked boring.
--
Kay