The following article was published by Eddie McRorie in December 2020 on the Johnstone History Facebook page and is reproduced here with his kind permission.

Johnstone Castle
Frédéric Chopin and the Stirling Sisters: Jane, Katherine, and Ann

It is fairly well known that the celebrated Polish composer Frédéric Chopin resided at the home of Laird Ludovic Houston—Johnstone Castle—during his concert tour of the UK in 1848.

The tour came about following a concert in Paris, during which a revolution erupted in the streets. The July Monarchy of King Louis Philippe was overthrown, and the French royal family fled to England. Chopin’s world was shattered. Most of his aristocratic pupils left the city, musical events came to a halt, and he found himself without a livelihood. Never one to save money and suffering from advanced tuberculosis, his situation grew desperate.

To his rescue came a devoted pupil, Jane Stirling, a single woman, and her elderly widowed sister, Mrs. Katherine Erskine, who proposed that Chopin come to the UK. They promised to find him both pupils and concert engagements.

It is believed that Jane became Chopin’s pupil in 1842. She must have been a rather talented pianist, for in 1844, he dedicated two nocturnes to her. Nearly penniless and in poor health, Chopin gratefully accepted the sisters’ offer.

After giving several public and private concerts, with his condition worsening, he traveled on September 2nd to Johnstone Castle, the home of the Houstons. Ludovic had married Anne Stirling (Houston) in 1809, who was Jane’s sister. Johnstone Castle was located approximately eleven miles from Glasgow.

Unfortunately, the weather turned miserable, and despite the kind attentions of his hosts, Chopin became increasingly dejected:

“I am cross and depressed, and people bore me with their excessive attentions. I can’t breathe, I can’t work; I feel alone, alone, alone, although I am surrounded. There are a whole lot of ladies, 70- to 80-year-old lords, but no young folk: they are all out shooting. One can’t get out of doors because it has been raining and blowing for several days.”

Chopin also endured a near-fatal accident while riding in a two-horse carriage. One of the horses reared and broke loose. The carriage hit a tree and was smashed to pieces, though Chopin managed to climb free from the wreck.

He was later taken to visit Milliken House, home of Sir William and Lady Napier (another of Jane’s sisters), and—when the weather improved—to Strachur on Loch Fyne, the home of Lady Murray, who had been his first London pupil.

On his return to Johnstone Castle on September 23rd, Chopin learned that his most gifted pupil, Princess Marcellina Czartoryska, and her husband, Prince Aleksander, had arrived in Edinburgh. Despite having a concert scheduled in Glasgow on the 27th, he rushed off to Edinburgh on the 25th to see them. It was extraordinary behavior for a dying man, but when not utterly exhausted by his illness, he remained remarkably restless.

The tour continued until he left London for Paris on November 23rd, 1848. He died a year later, on October 17th, 1849, aged 39.

Until the end, he was closely attended by the faithful Jane Stirling, who supported him financially in his final days, assisted his sister Louise after his death, and, together with Katherine, helped pay for his funeral at La Madeleine in Paris.

Jane Stirling died in 1863, aged 46, and Katherine Erskine in 1868, aged 77.

Full story of the 1848 tour here:
Chopin’s visit to Britain, 1848 – The Chopin Society UK

— Eddie McRorie