The Munros of Pinetown

IF STONES COULD SPEAK

A black granite obelisk, quite near to the Blackhall memorial bears the inscription:-

In affectionate remembrance
of
ALEXANDER DIACK
THORPVILLE KEMNAY
WHO DIED 15th FEB 1907
AGED 69
HIS SONS,
JOHN RANDOLPH
DIED 7th AUG 1887 AGED 18
BENJAMIN EMSLIE
DIED 10th MAY 1904 AGED 28
HIS DAUGHTERS,
MARY,
DIED 2nd APRIL 1880 AGED 6,
ISABELLA ANN,
DIED 9th NOV 1883 AGED 11.
AND HIS WIFE ISABELLA ADAM,
DIED 24th SEP 1911 AGED 74.
"UNTIL THE DAY BREAK"
DIACK.

Alexander Diack was among the first of the Diack family who travelled from Rayne to work in the quarries in the Kemnay area, being firstly employed in the quarries on Leschangie hills before moving to the quarries on Paradise Hill.
In common with many other quarriers, he was soon to acquire a plot of land in the village on a 99 year building lease. This plot of land lay at the foot of the right hand side of High Street and extended along it for 170 feet (51.82m), 65 feet (19.81m) along Aquithie Road, 170 feet along the boundary with the Village Hall and 105 feet (32 m) along the east boundary. On this plot he initially erected a building (facing on to Aquithie Road) which could accommodate three commercial units with domestic accommodation above. The unit next to the Village Hall was leased by a shoemaker and the area between the new building and the boundary was filled in with a building which became the shoemaker's workshop. Another extension was built at the High Street end and this latterly housed what was Lingard the butcher's business.
Around the beginning of the 20th century a building was erected which housed a tailor's business ran by a son of Alexander Diack, James Adam Diack, now occupied by the Hair Shop. The building was further extended in the 1970s, to its present size, by Bill Gauld who was at that time running a newsagents business there. This portion is now home to Coco's.
Another small building was erected on the boundary next the village hall which for many years housed the village chip shop. The original purpose of this building was as a meeting place for the Plymouth Brethren, of which religious persuasion the Diack family were members.