The Duchess of Gordon's Sim City

The Duchess of Gordon was known as being the quintessential Tory political hostess in fashionable London society.  However, like many politicians today, she had a soft spot that didn't get exposed in the public area as much.  The duchess was an economic stimulator! 

The little highland estates of Badenoch and Strathspey didn't have much going on in terms of economy but when Jane Gordon looked across those rolling fields she saw an opportunity to roll in the pounds.  Either that or this was how eighteenth century aristocrats played Sim City.  She hired instructors to teach the locals how to raise crops of flaxen and linen (to make all those fashionable gualle gowns Marie Antoinette had popularized!).  The duchess then pulled some threads to get supplies to the area. 

There was only one problem, Badenoch and Strathspey weren't actual towns and therefore couldn't sustain this new influx of economy.  So what did Jane do?  She damn-well built a village.  Because she was a duchess and duchesses have money to build their own villages if it suits their fancy.

Jane seems to have been very good at establishing and tending to villages for Kingussie (look you can have a pretty wedding there and eat haggis in the pubs and other fun things!) is still alive and well today thanks to the Duchess of Gordon.