She was the daughter of Sir James Bruce Wilkie-Dalyell of the Binns, 9th Baronet.
[5] Dalyell was a filmmaker with her partner Gordon Loch and travelled extensively in modern-day India and Pakistan.
[7] In 1936/1937 she hosted Joachim von Ribbentrop at the House of Binns, presenting the German ambassador with an historic photograph of the Forth Bridge which would be later be used in propaganda during the Second World War.
[8] In 1944, she decided to will the House of the Binns, its parkland, its contents, and an endowment for its upkeep to the National Trust for Scotland.
The charter she granted states that the "history, legend and memory of the family of Dalyell of the Binns, shall be preserved ..." for the benefit and enjoyment of the nation.