In the Entrance Hall various antiquarian and artistic treasures
decorate the walls or are preserved in glass cases,—the colours of
the local volunteer regiment that was raised at the time of the French
Invasion scare, full-sized marble copies of various antique statues,
excellent old china, several fine missals, the fan and necklace of
Mary Queen of Scots, said to have come into the Clerk family from Mary
Gray, wife of the first John Clerk of Penicuik, through her mother,
Mary Gillies, to whom it was given before the execution at Fotheringay,
and the gold snuff-box presented by the Scottish Widows’ Fund to Lord
Eldin, in 1825, in recognition of his services at the time of the
foundation of the company.