In recognition of the generous benefactions of her late husband and herself and of their great and important public services; and also in testimony of the respect and esteem in which Mrs. Carnegie is held by the Magistrates and Council and the whole community.
"That the capital of Scotland should wish to commemorate the centenary of Andrew Carnegie by conferring upon his wife the highest honour in its power moves me deeply, and I thank you from my heart. Forty-eight years ago I accompanied my husband when you conferred upon him the freedom of this beautiful city and never can I forget that occasion. It was my first visit to Edinburgh, the city of my dreams. I learned to love Scotland from an early age, for the lilt of its songs lulled me to sleep in my infancy and I was brought up on Scottish poetry and history. To come to Edinburgh, not as a stranger from a foreign land, but as the wife of one of your own sons you are thus honouring, lifts me into a new world. Your kind reception even at that time thrilled me, and the bridal gift which the working men of Edinburgh presented to me on that occasion I still wear with pride and cherish as one of my most valued heirlooms. For nearly fifty years my summers have been spent among the heather hills of your beautiful land, and my love for Scotland has deepened with the years, but I never could have dreamed that after this lapse of time you would so cherish the memory of my husband that you would be moved to link my name with your illustrious roll of honour, and lift me to the proud position of a burgess of your ancient city. Surely nowhere but in Scotland could such a tender and touching tribute have been conceived, and my loyalty and devotion to this beloved land will never cease as long as I live."