The Henson Journals
Sun 2 August 1914
Volume 19, Page 245
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8th Sunday after Trinity, August 2nd, 1914. Barochan.
We motored to Paisley, & attended service in the fine Abbey Church, which is in the process of being restored by the re–building of choir & cloisters.
We were over–shadowed by the war–cloud all the time.
News arrived that Germany had declared war against Russia: that she had sent an ultimatum to France: that the British Navy had been mobilized: that Germany had seized Luxemburg. The Cabinet met in the morning, & are to meet again in the evening. The country awaits with calmness their decision, &, though the Radical Rump still clamours for an ignoble neutrality, the general sense is hostile to any desertion of our continental friends.
A great multitude of sea–gulls came into the fields adjoining the house about 9 p.m. This unusual incident occasioned much speculation as to the cause.