Drummond revealed little of himself to the politicians, diplomats and colleagues who were at the centre of his life and he baffled the press corps. His public image was that of a simple man, doing his duty, smoking his pipe and relaxing over fishing or a game of golf. 1 He could not be enticed to write about his ‘great experiment’ in promoting cooperation, peace and justice between nations, and failed to get past the first page of an autobiography or beyond a tantalising list of eleven proposed episodes of a book that would have spanned the years between the First World War and the Munich crisis of 1938. However, a fresh insight on his life and character is presented in this chapter, derived from new biographical sources.
His career was powerfully influenced by his origins and early life. He was raised in an era in which there was an ever-present consciousness of family honour and personal reputation, and in a household with a centuries-old clanship tradition, characterized by fierce loyalty to kin and causes. The qualities he showed in office may have had their roots, to some extent, in these values. A French reporter suggested so in a finely observed description of Drummond, concluding that he was a gallant man who put into practice the Scottish motto of his clan, Gang Warily—‘advance with caution’. 2 Family mottos were important to Drummond: while courting his future wife, he quoted another, Prius mori quam fidem fallere, which he interpreted as ‘I would rather die than break my word’. 3
He was a Scottish aristocrat, second son of Viscount Strathallan, but was not born into great wealth, rather he grew up within a relatively modest military family. His page of autobiography does not extend beyond childhood and begins by recording his birth at the White House, Fulford, near York, on 17 August 1876. His father James David Drummond was serving there as a British Army officer with the rank of Captain in a prestigious regiment, the 6th Dragoons.
His character and values were largely shaped in the imposing fifteenth century Methven Castle, and at Machany, the neighbouring Drummond family estate. His happiness as a child is evident from his recollection that
two months were regularly spent in Perthshire at Methven Castle, my mother’s old home … Our annual migration took place about the middle of July and we looked forward to it immensely … Every part of the journey had a special excitement … Methven Castle was a most fascinating home for children. My grandfather and grandmother entertained large parties during the time we were there … My birthday was always passed there and was celebrated as a giant excursion, if the weather was fine. A picnic at the loch, the catching of numerous fish out of a boat … I do not think that a child’s birthday could have been more happy. 4
He was educated entirely in England, first at home where the Drummond children had a German governess, Emilie Winkopp. 5 He went on to a small boarding school kept by two maiden ladies. The reserve that he displayed as Secretary-General has been attributed to his early instruction at home and to his being raised within a small social circle. 6 He then attended St. John’s Royal Latin School in Buckingham, during which he avidly read books of every kind, secured several prizes and became well-grounded in French. 7 In 1891, he entered Eton College where in 1895, his final year, he won the Prince Consort’s French prize. Proficiency in French was clearly a factor in his selection as Secretary-General and there was early evidence of Drummond’s leadership ; at Eton he was head of ‘Oppidans’, one of the two most senior students. He was also selected for Eton’s prestigious debating society, but, alas, never demonstrated oral presentation skills in his subsequent career. 8
His family on both sides were strong Tories: the Smythe dog was taught to bay and bark for Disraeli and to growl for Gladstone. In an early display of independence of mind, young Master Drummond declared himself an ardent Liberal, which was received with horror and amusement by all the family. 9 In his later years, he sat in the House of Lords as a representative peer of Scotland (having succeeded to the Earldom of Perth in 1937) and served there as Deputy Leader of the Liberal party from 1946. 10
Sadly, his father did not survive to witness Eric’s achievements—during the great storm of 1893 he went out to see the damage to his woods, fell ill, ‘went to bed and never rose again’. 11 A powerful influence on his life, especially after the early tragic death of his father, was that of his mother Margaret Smythe, Lady Strathallan (see Annex 1, Drummond’s family tree). In the hectic summer of 1919 when he was busy establishing the Secretariat , he sent Lady Strathallan a note saying ‘I am proud of my mother’; she died shortly after his move to Geneva, at the very moment he was holding the inaugural meeting of the League of Nations . 12
His father’s influence was felt, however. When Eric left school in 1895, the scholarly 19-year old followed his father’s career; on 30 October, he was gazetted as Second Lieutenant in the 3rd Battalion of the Black Watch, a Highland regiment that was based near the family home in Perthshire and in which his elder step-brother Viscount Strathallan and younger brother Maurice also served. 13 He resigned his commission in December 1896. 14 Drummond seems to have sustained an injury or illness affecting his leg; on New Year’s Eve 1895, he records that he ‘went to see doctor because of [his] heel’ and, in 1914, wrote saying ‘just think I might have been there [East of the Meuse] except for my leg’. A newspaper report remarks that he played tennis, ‘notwithstanding slight lameness’. 15
During the years in which he held the post of Secretary-General , a position that the first UN Secretary-General , Trygve Lie , described ‘as the most impossible job in the world’, his main relaxation was fishing; the recreation of the contemplative man and an art that provides the angler with ‘a rest to his mind, a cheerer of his spirits, a diverter of sadness, a calmer of unquiet thought, a moderator of passions, a procurer of contentedness; … [and] habits of peace and patience’. 16 Drummond wondered if his love of fly-fishing was an inherited quality or whether it was aroused by a wonderful day on a Highland river. For more than half-a-century he maintained a ‘Sportsman’s Record’ deta...