Laying of the keystone

From the personal recollections of Clement Gunn:
1894-12-06: For some months past, much time and thought have gone to the designing and erection of our new house on a corner site at the head of the Old Town. Plans have been drafted, modified, and re-made; we have all been assiduous in inspecting the work as it proceeds from day to day. This afternoon, with all due formality, Winifred (aged nearly seven) and George (aged four and a half) laid the keystone of the arch over the front door of our new home.

I mounted the children on the scaffolding to perform the important rite; the workmen adjusted the stone, and the four small hands were duly laid upon it as it sank to its rest. Each child then spread a trowelful of cement over the side of the stone. Finally, with expressions of the deepest solemnity on each earnest face, they tapped the keystone thrice with a mallet, and pronounced the formula: “We declare this stone to be well and truly laid”.^[A-114]

1895-08-31: Today we moved into our new abode – as yet nameless, but probably to be christened Lindores, after the famous Fifeshire Abbey round which cluster so many personal memories. ^[A-118]