From Kilmacolm to Baghdad

Nancie did well at school. She loved helping the younger children and would have gone on to be a Teacher, herself, had she been able to. Sadly, due to her family circumstances, she could not afford further studies so, at the age of  fifteen, she left school and after completing a night school class in shorthand and book-keeping, went to work at Hurry Brothers, an electrical firm, based in Greenock. This meant she must have travelled there each day. Office-work was rather dull and boring for Nancie so when she heard about a job looking after children, which might involve travel abroad, she jumped at the chance.
Nancie was invited to go up to Arisaig to meet Mrs Holt, her prospective employer. Her husband, Major Alec H L Holt was in charge of Baghdad Railways and they needed a Governess for their two little girls, Gay and Deidre, aged five and four.
Nancie stayed in a cottage in Arisaig with some local people which had no electricity or running water. She had a candle to light her way to bed. The next day she was interviewed by Mrs Holt and said she was seventeen. Mrs Holt offered her the job and she accepted. The job involved travelling to Baghdad, in Iraq so  Nancie had to apply for a passport and had to admit that she was only sixteen. Mrs Holt didn't seem to mind at all.
A week later, in the March of 1929 Nancie left Glasgow Central Station and went to London by train. She met up with the Holt family and they spent two weeks in a service flat near St. James' Park..She claimed that each time she left home for foreign parts she cried all the way to London! She lived for the day that she could go home to her Mother. Little did she know at that time that this was the first of many such journeys abroad that she would undertake over the next twelve years. Many adventures lay ahead for this young scots girl from a little village in Renfrewshire. Luckily Nancie wrote and received a lot of letters and kept diaries, many of which still survive.
She met lots of people , from all walks of life and made many life-long friends with whom she corresponded over the years. Nancie had a strong faith and was convinced that God looked after her and protected her.She was happy to worship in any denomination's place of worship and, having been brought up as a Scottish Presbyterian, ended her life as a Roman Catholic. Her main reason for converting was so that she could take communion in the Nazareth House Nursing Home where she went to live after the death of her beloved husband, Jack.
The young sixteen-year old Nancie of 1929 did not know what the future held, as she enjoyed the luxurious life-style of the Holts, in London. The service flats had servants and a communal restaurant. Nancie had a wonderful time, exploring London and taking the two little girls for walks in the London parks.
As Chief Engineer of Baghdad Railways Major Holt was allowed special concessions on all railways so when they eventually set off for Marseilles, it was in relative luxury, with 'wagons-lits' . At night the seats were turned into beds and they also had private washing facilities. The party consisted of Major Holt, Mrs Holt, Nancie and the two little girls, Gay and Deidre.
Major Holt left them once they reached Marseilles to get to Baghdad 'the quick way' (presumably by air?).Nancie and the others spent a whole month in Marseilles, at the Hotel Terminus, by the station. Nancie was left with a free hand to entertain the girls while Mrs Holt visited friends.