Lady Katharine, Viscountess Tredegar

Myths About Lady Tredegar: Giant Bird's Nests

Myths About the Morgans of Tredegar House, Newport

KATHARINE, VISCOUNTESS TREDEGAR MALIGNED

VILE STORIES OF GIANT BIRD'S NESTS

The National Trust Website for Tredegar House records the following:

"Mention Tredegar House to some of our local residents and you're sure to hear ...[of] ...............giant bird's nests...................."

This assertion underlines a monstrous myth.

There were NO giant bird nests at Tredegar House created by any member of the Morgan family.

The same phrase " giant bird's nests" appears in the National Trust Guide Book.

Stories of the 'giant bird's nests' are told to the public by the Tredegar House guides – but these tales are all poppycock - malicious, contrived and vile .

Any evidence to support the actual reference has been fitted -up.

" Ah, yes, but we remember the giant bird's nest in Tredegar House".

"Really!"

The Author of this article was informed that some years ago for an exhibition at the House a large polystyrene - based bird's nest was constructed by the estate gardeners of the adjoining Home Farm : this was obviously to coax visitors into believing the nest was a Morgan family relic.

At best the nest stories are anecdotal, they stem from dubious sources. The worst tales quoted come from Robin Bryans ( a lover of Evan, the last Viscount Tredegar). Bryans cites inaccurate, far- fetched, disturbing remarks in his hard to get volumes of memoir, written in the late 1990s. None of it comes from corroborated evidence, and has also been embellished.

The nest stories usually relate to Evan's mother Lady Katharine Carnegie ( 1867-1949), wife of Courtenay, the 3rd Lord Tredegar, who was made a Viscount in 1926.

Katharine never lived at Tredegar House or Wales, except for a small part of her early married years. Katharine hated Wales and loathed her clumsy, adulterous husband Courtenay. Since Katherine parted from her husband and lived in London and Surrey, local residents of Newport in Katharine's lifetime had no idea who she was, what she looked like or were ever aware of anything to do with her life style. That challenges the monstrous myth too.

Repeating tales of 'giant bird's nests' maligns the memory of Katharine, Viscountess Tredegar. Her surviving high ranked family certainly would not be amused knowing that such lies are given out to visitors going to Tredegar House. Several members of Katharine's Carnegie family are visiting the House this summer ( 2016). The head of the Carnegie family is a cousin of H M Queen. The National Trust ought to ensure they get their Katharine stories right. The Carnegies know the truth and expect respect for Katharine's memory.

Another Carnegie cousin, Prince Charles is a patron of the National Trust for places of Historic Interest. Perhaps he would be interested in a copy of this article?

THE TRUTH

Katharine Carnegie, Viscountess Tredegar was a complex figure, she did have foibles, she could be crotchety and sensitive to noise – she is best described by contemporary accounts from the writer Alan Pryce Jones, and the diaries of Aldous Huxley and Frances Stevenson.