Lady Evelyn Cobbold (nee Murray) with daughters Winifred (at top) and Pamela, c.1902
Today, The Pineapple in Stirlingshire is affectionately considered one of Scotland’s most bizarre buildings. It was built in 1761 by John Murray, 4th earl of Dunmore, whose great-great-granddaughter, Lady Evelyn Cobbold (née Murray) was the first known British-born woman to make the pilgrimage to Mecca. She died 60 years ago, on 25 January 1963. Although she felt more at home in Muslim countries than in Britain, Lady Evelyn’s roots were firmly Scottish, inextricably bound up with the country’s history. She is buried on a hillside at Glencarron, for she never lost her love of the highlands; it was one of the rare things she had in common with her English husband, John Dupuis Cobbold, head of the Suffolk brewing dynasty.