Lady Helen Stewart-Murray was a daughter of the 7th Duke of Atholl. She married a sculptor named David Alexander Tod and in 1929 the philanthropic couple created the Tod Endowment Trust. This established a Home for Rest and Change of Air. It was located at Tirinie House, an isolated mansion in a 60 acre estate in the Perthshire hills about two miles from Blair Atholl. A contemporary postcard shows the dining room, library, drawing room and billiards room. The establishment was designed to benefit and refresh members of four professions, namely doctors, ministers, lawyers and, rather more colourfully, artists. It is unclear whether the guests mingled or kept themselves amongst their own kind to discuss fascinating ailments, sermons, ex facie absolute dispositions, alfresco sketching and the like.

In any event, Tirinie House closed in 1995. It was sold three years later, yielding proceeds of around half a million pounds. In 2006 the trustees applied to the Court of Session for approval of a scheme for the variation of the trust purposes. They considered that “it would best accord with the spirit of the original trust that the trustees continue to hold the trust funds…. In order that they might distribute the net annual income to several charities who assisted these four professions in order that the distributed income may be used for the purpose of providing holidays in Scotland” and that “in this way, the assets of the Trust will continue to be used for the purpose of providing rest and change of air”. The proposal was that “the purpose of the grant be for taking rest and recuperation in Scotland”. The scheme for variation was approved by the court that same year.

As regards the legal profession, funds from the Tod Endowment Fund are channelled through the Scottish Solicitors’ Benevolent Fund and it is to the latter that applications must be made. Holidays in Scotland were forbidden or curtailed during Covid lockdown, but now we are back to normality. The trustees will next meet in April 2023. Anyone seeking to apply should contact Andrew Stevenson, secretary of the Scottish Law Agents Society for further information: scottishlawagentssociety@gmail.com.