Geraldine Simpson, last member of Pringle dynasty

GERALDINE Simpson, who was born into the Pringle knitwear dynasty, had a passion for castles that led not only to her marriage, but also to a lifelong friendship with author Nigel Tranter.

Her love of country houses also brought her fame as a prolific amateur photographer of historic Scottish homes.

And she had the joy of living in two of them, Fetteresso and Muchalls Castles in Aberdeenshire, where, as chatelaine, she delighted in being surrounded by family and guests, developing a habit of collecting friends who could arrive for a couple of days and stay for months.

The great-great-granddaughter of Pringle founder Robert Pringle, she was brought up for part of her childhood by his grandson in his beautiful Hawick mansion.

Born in Edinburgh to James Muir and Frances Pringle, she was sent to Hawick while her father recuperated from the effects of the First World War. Brought up by her maternal grandfather, Robert Pringle, and his wife, she was educated by a governess in Hawick and later became a weekly boarder at Albyn School for Girls in Aberdeen when her family lived in Alford.

Her father, who was known by his middle name, Chrystal, was minister of Alford's Tullynessle Church and during the Second World War his daughter was a land girl in the north-east village, carrying out many of her duties on horseback.

Her daughter, Maureen Gibson recalled: "She loved horses all of her life and always rode about the village. She collected people from the station on her horse. She knew the area like the back of her hand and rode everywhere."

From Alford she moved to Fetteresso Castle, Stonehaven, which she and her mother ran as a temperance hotel. It was there she met her husband, Maurice Simpson, who shared her love of Scottish castles. He was a member of the Deeside Field club, which visited Fetteresso as it toured Aberdeenshire's places of historical interest.

They married in Fetteresso Parish Church in September 1950 and had one daughter before moving to Muchalls Castle, north of Stonehaven, around 1954.

It was a much smaller castle than Fetteresso, and the couple totally restored the building, including its important ornate plaster ceilings, some of the finest in Scotland. The Simpsons also completely rewired and cleaned the building, and put on a new roof.

"It was years of work, love and labour," said their daughter. "They got a grant for it but as a result of that they had to open it to the public a couple of days a week for several years."

One visitor was Scots author Nigel Tranter, who had been writing books on castles. A lifelong friendship developed and whenever he and his wife were in the area, Simpson would accompany them on their visits to various castles, photographing the buildings as she went.

She built up a huge collection of photographs and had many of her pictures published in books.

A loyal and generous friend, she enjoyed company and loved having her family and friends around her.

The sole surviving member of the Pringle dynasty, she was widowed 31 years ago but remained at Muchalls Castle for another few years before moving to nearby Bridge of Muchalls.

Her grandfather was the last Pringle to be associated with the company but she was always proud of her heritage as a member of the family, though saddened latterly by the firm's change of direction when the business was taken over by large corporate organisations and she felt it had lost its personal touch.

Ten years ago she returned to Hawick to present the town's museum with the family bible, containing invaluable family records relating to her great-great grandfather, who founded Pringle in 1815. The bible dated back to 1678 but had been lost during the Hawick Spate of 1767, when it was swept away from the family home by the swollen waters of the River Teviot. Amazingly, it turned up six weeks later floating in the Tweed at Kelso.

Simpson retained her love of historic buildings with membership of the local Scottish Georgian Society and the Architectural Heritage Society of Scotland, which she helped found. Her other interests included country dancing and carriage driving and she had been a member of the Ury Players, Stonehaven's amateur dramatic group.

Foxes and horses were her other passions. She kept two foxes as house pets at Muchalls, which were taken out on a lead. And although she had given up driving she was still riding two or three times a week and spent her 88th birthday on horseback.

ALISON SHAW