THE CHATELAINE of the Meikleour estate, north of Perth, is an irrepressible force of nature. She’s a woman of nature too and has just been pushing my rental car out of a rut and found herself dripping Tayside mud as a result, laughing all the while. Claire Mercer Nairne has an immense appetite for life but what’s obvious is that she’s happiest outdoors.
She grew up in the Gironde region of south-west France. “I spent all my holidays in an oyster village on the coast,” she says. “I filled my days fishing for mullet and bass along with my grandfather, a true
