Struan Farm. "Struan" is a Scottish word for the eldest son of the Robertson clan, derived from "sruthan," a word meaning "small stream." It is also a place on the Isle of Skye. While John's grandfather, Sir Carrick Robertson, came from Glasgow, we aren't aware that his family had any connections to the Isle of Skye. And neither Maurie nor John were the eldest sons of their respective Robertson clans. So we don't really know how the farm came to be called "Struan Farm" by John's parents. It's one of those things that might be lost to the sands of time.
"Struan" is pronounced "Stroo-in" or "Strew-in." Not "Strawn" or "Stron." A Scot may beg to differ, and if so I will listen.
Old time Piopio locals can be forgiven for some confusion, since a family named Straun lived across the road from the Robertsons for many years. Perhaps they think our farm was part of theirs. In fact, it was the other way around-- Maurie sold off the block across the road to the Strauns in one of his down-sizing periods.
We get invoices with misspellings of Struan Farm all the time. It's not something that you can spell check on the computer, for those reliant on artificial intelligence. And several times a year I receive emails from frustrated people who say they've sent emails to which I have not responded. Since I respond to everything except obvious spam (particularly farmstay accommodation inquiries), my suspicion is that they've misspelled our name and thus the email address. But you can't exactly tell people that, can you? Instead I apologise and blame things on the vagaries of the internet, whatever they might be!
So just to clear the air, it's "STRUAN FARM." Pronounced "Stroo-in" or "Strew-in," with a wee Scottish lilt if you like. I know I can't do anything about those people who can't spell, but then I've been trying to deal with them most of my adult life and will do my best to continue to do so.
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