Chapter 2

In May 1899 Odham MacGuinness began preliminary work at Buckthorney. Eschewing the usual help of his employed labourers, Odham MacGuinness from the outset seemed determined to tackle every step of the gardens development single handedly. The first task facing him was the renovation of an ancient Roman wall at the far end of the estate. The wall had to be dismantled brick by brick, and Nod would work from dawn ‘til dusk on this arduous, monotonous task.

As the columns of bricks continued to form around him, Odham MacGuinness wrote in his personal diary: ‘I now know how MacBeth felt when he said ‘I am in blood step’d so far that should I wade no more...’ This is really starting to chaff my tits.’

Chaffed tits or not, there was no avoiding the mammoth task Odham MacGuinness had set himself, in addition to cleaning the bricks, he also decided that he would compose an ode to each and every brick as he handled them. One such ode, scribbled on the back of an old envelope reads: ‘Yellow stained block of sand; Cornerstone of England; Something something something, something; Raising blisters on my hands’.

                   An ode to just one of the 70,000 bricks

                      celebrated by N. Odham MacGuinness

This bizarre need to serenade every brick in the old Roman wall increased an already Herculean task by 6 months, and it wasn’t until the end of November that the wall was completely dismantled, and work proper could finally begin at Buckthorney.