When the Military Mission had finished I had a difference of opinion with the War Office, and resigned my commission. . . .
My last Polish A.D.C. had been Prince Charles Radziwill, and whilst he was with me he had inherited a property from an uncle, who had been killed by the Bolsheviks.
Prince Charles told me that the property was some 500,000 acres situated in the Prypet Marshes on the borders of Russia, and he kindly asked me to go down and inspect it with him. We went by train to Lubiniec , where we were met by country carts which bumped us the thirty miles to his new property of Mankiewicze. The land was just beginning to recover from the years of incessant conflict, and although
we found the house of Mankiewicze standing, it was only a shell. Although not destroyed by gunfire, it had been left in a dilapidated condition by occupying troops, neglect and the general toll of war.
The country had a wild flat beauty all its own, with limitless forests, lakes and rivers stretching into the distance. It was the home of every variety of wildfowl, and obviously a sportsman's idea of paradise, and I fell in love with it at once. Casually I remarked to Prince Charles that if there was every any place suitable, I would love to take it.
A few months later he sent me word that he had found something which might suit me, and I wasted no time in going to look at it.
This time it was no country cart that met me, but a carriage drawn by four or five Lippizana Greys. These Lippizanas had been bred only by the Emperor of Austria before the 1914-18 War, and they were of part-Arab blood. Occasionally, as an imperial gesture, the Emperor had given one to a most favoured relative ; Prince Charles's brother-in-law had been one of the lucky ones and had received some. It was interesting to me to see how little fuss the coachman made about driving a four- or five-in-hand. Horses were put straight into harness, and off they went, and though possibly not conforming to our more orthodox ideas it was most effective.
Mankiewicze was in the process of being transformed into a lovely house of perfect comfort, and meanwhile we stayed in the agent's charming little wooden house in the Park.
When Prince Charles told me that my proposed estate was forty miles away, and could be approached only by water, I was already fascinated by the sound of it. It took us nearly a whole day to get there, with four men paddling the boat, and we arrived to find another little wooden house sitting
\quite alone on a small island, surrounded by water and forest.
My mind was made up at once. I knew it was exactly what I wanted, and I asked Prince Charles what rent he was asking. He seemed very hurt by my question, and said that if I liked the place it was mine . p. . for nothing. He refused to listen to any argument, and there and then I became the tenant of Prostyn, and knew that destiny was playing on my side. To ease my mind under my burden of gratitude, I made as many improvements as I could think of, and built on another house for the servants.
The Polish landlords still lived in feudal splendour, in a luxury unsuspected by western Europeans, and quite unaffected by the [. . . ] of their eastern neighbours. There were no staff difficulties, ; servants came with the hope of serving their lifetime in the great houses, and were not concerned with their evenings off and labour-saving gadgets. Instead of Frigidaires, great blocks of ice were cut from the frozen rivers in winter and placed in the ice house, which would then be flooded and the door left open. The whole mass would freeze into one block of solid ice which lasted a whole year.
Polish culture is French by adoption, and in all the great houses one found French furniture, French pictures and tapestries, but with all their beautiful ornateness mixed with a delightful feeling of comfort, so rarely found in France. The Poles understand warmth, and guests are never found huddling round the one inadequate fire, which makes a visit to a English country house like a trip to Sparta. They are great gourmets, the food excellent, and the chef a most honoured and important member of the household. Mankiewicze had a particularly charming custom : every evening, after dinner, the chef used to appear in full regalia to receive
compliments on his cooking, and each guest had a say in ordering the meals for the next day.
The Poles are among the most hospitable people in the world, and the bit houses are nearly always afflicted with a species of permanent guest, or less politely known as a hanger-on. He may be a relation, a friend, or merely an acquaintance, and he comes to stay for a night or a weekend and proceeds to settle himself down for the rest of his life. Once, when I was staying with some friends, they received a wire from an acquaintance asking for a bed, and with their usual open-armed hospitality they wired back 'Delighted'. The guest arrived, stayed seven or eight years. After the second year he came to his host, very worried s he had the feeling that people thought he was sponging. His solution was very simple : it was that if his host would give him a salary, the world would then assume he was earning his keep. is host gave it to him. Most other permanent guests were less ambitious, and seemed politely satisfied with mere board and lodging. Luckily the houses were generally built on a palatial scale, and it was possible to lose people, so the institution of the permanent guest was not as painful as it might have been in a smaller setting.
( pages 122 - 125 )
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When Prince Charles had inherited the property in 1921 it was estimated to contain eight elk (moos), but by careful preservation and keeping the terrain which attracts them very quiet, elk came in from all other parts of the country, and by 1939 the Prince's estate had eight hundred head on it. The elk were shot in autumn, and only in the rutting season. The heads were the finest in Europe and won most of the prizes at the big Sports Exhibition held in Berlin before the war. The exhibition was sponsored by Goering who, if he had no other qualities, was an enthusiastic shot and hunter, complete in fancy dress.
( page 149 )