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Page 209 from Ethel Moir Diary, Vol 1

Moir, Ethel, 1916, Document
Page 209 from Ethel Moir Diary, Vol 1
Page 209 from Ethel Moir Diary, Vol 1
Page 209 from Ethel Moir Diary, Vol 1
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Item no
25237
Title
Page 209 from Ethel Moir Diary, Vol 1
Description
it & is most uninteresting. The people, the scenery & the language are, once over the border, totally different. A great part of Finland is regarded as the "play ground" of Petrograd. Almost every inhabitant of Petrograd buys or rents a little country house - "dáchcha" [dacha]" - in Finland, where his family lives during the summer - & where he betakes himself daily or each week-end.
In Finland the peasants are healthy, intelligent & sober, they are a tall, well made & strong with fair hair & blue eyes. Hardy in body & hard in temperament, very obstinate & given to silence, laborious & conscientious with many virtues & few graces! Within it's [its] hard shell however, there is a tender kernel of romance & playfulness & song. The scenery varies, there are pine clad hills, heathery moor- land & large valleys with quiet lakes & rushing rivers. In spring - we are told - when the sun hardly ever sets, Finland, with it's [its] everlasting contrasts of light & shade is one of the most picturesque corners of Europe & is commonly known as "The Land of Wood & Lakes".
We spent the first night - not very comfortably as we were all rather "huddled" together & the train rocked & shook like "nothing on earth" - the result being we were all v. train sick.
Artist / maker
Date
1916
Size
20.4 x 16.0 cm
Type
Location
Edinburgh and Scottish Collection