Puffin's Club

Puffin's is a private members' luncheon club, established in the 1960s by the historian Sir Iain Moncreiffe of That Ilk. Named after his first wife, Diana Hay, 23rd Countess of Erroll (whose nickname was 'Puffin'), it started as an informal social gathering of Scots clan chiefs and aristocrats at Edinburgh.[1]

History

Originally, Puffin's met weekly on Tuesdays or Wednesdays in Edinburgh. It now convenes monthly on a Thursday, both in Edinburgh and London.[2] Membership is strictly by invitation and open only to those whose families fought at the Battle of Flodden or "would have had they been there".[3]

It is believed that Puffin's throughout the 1960s and 1970s counted half the crowned heads of Europe in its circle,[1] being variously described as distinguished and eccentric. In addition to former King Zog of Albania, Prince Juan of the Asturias and Archduke Otto von Habsburg (the last Austro-Hungarian Imperial Crown Prince), among other notable members were Prince Giulio Rospigliosi, Don Fernando Fitz-James Stuart, the actor Terence Stamp, Sir Patrick Leigh Fermor, Sir Nicholas Fairbairn, Sir Donald Cameron, Sir David Stirling, baronets Sir Fitzroy Maclean and Sir George Dick-Lauder, the Duke of Atholl, the Marquess of Ailsa, ex-British PM Lord Home of The Hirsel, the Earl of Selkirk, Lord Burton, Lord Dacre, Lord Lovat and Lord Strange, who attended from time to time.[1]

Nowadays among its membership are the founder's two sons, the Earl of Erroll and the Hon. Peregrine Moncreiffe of that Ilk,[4] David Campbell Bannerman MEP and former MPs Michael Ancram, Major Narindar Saroop, Viscount Thurso and Lord James Douglas-Hamilton, authors Roddy Martine and Donald Adamson, and clan chiefs including the Earl of Crawford and the Earl of Lauderdale, as well as businessmen.[5]

See also

References
  1. ""The Puffin of That Ilk", The Spectator". The Spectator.
  2. "Our top 10 of some of Scotland's strangest clubs". Scottish Field. 13 December 2019.
  3. Custom byline text:  From the archive (25 July 1992). "Luncheon, the most civilised clan gathering". Herald Scotland. Retrieved 12 March 2014.
  4. "The Hon Peregrine Moncreiffe of that Ilk Authorised Biography | Debrett's People of Today". Archived from the original on 5 May 2014. Retrieved 5 May 2014.
  5. "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 14 December 2013. Retrieved 16 August 2013.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
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