THE FUNERAL ARRANGEMENTS.

Press, Volume LX, Issue 11546, 31 March 1903, Page 5

THE FUNERAL ARRANGEMENTS.

INDIGNATION IN SCOTLAND.

FRUITLESS APPEALS TO THE WIDOW.

DEMONSTRATION IN LONDON. (Received March 30th, 10.41 p.m.) LONDON, March 30. Tiie late Sir Hector CUacdonald's body was brought secretly to London on Sunday. A number of Scotchmen were much disappointed at not being ablo to learn the time of its arrival at the terminus. The coflin was removed quietly from London Bridge to King's Cross station. Much indignation i« expressed at the determination of General Macdonald's widow to have the remains of her husband quietlyinterred in the Dean's Cemetery, in Edinburgh, at six o'clock on Monday morning. Representatives of London Scottish Societies induced Lady Jeune to represent to the widow that Scottish feeling was that :> national hero ought to receive the last honours. Tliia appeal failing, large numbers of Scotchmen, including Sir William Allan, Mr W. J. Gallaway, and Mr J. G. W«ir, M.P.'js, and some ladies, filed past the open doors of the van containing the coffin, which was placed in the centre of the train, and saluted the dead in Gaelic fashion, throwing in loose flowers. Then the secretaries of Scottish Societies placed on the coffin wreaths of white heather and forget-me-nots, inscribed with the words, in Gaelic, "Let the dead sleep." (Received March 31st, 12.44 a.m.) LONDON, March 30. When the train left King's ('roes station with the late widow, sou, and brother, pipers played the dirge, " The Flowers of the Foreet." An impromptu meeting was held at the Great Northern Hotel, London, Mr Weir, M.P. for Ross and Cromarty, presiding. He explained that he had urgently but vainly appealed to Sir Hector Macdonald'e widow not to permit a hurried funeral, as it would be certain to cause great grief and indignation in Scotland. He said it was useless to interview the Government or Lord Roberts, an the arrangements had been left to the widow. Sir W. Allan, M.P., said it would be easy to arrange a Highland funeral if the remains were interred at the Black Isle. Some of the speakers inferred that the advice of Lord Balfour of Burleigli had decided the widow's action.Scores of telegrams were sent to the Lord Provost of Edinburgh and other influential persons,/urging that a large gathering of the clans should meet the body and make a final effort to defer the funeral until public obsequies could be arranged. The Town Council of Dingwall, Macdonald's native place, offered a grave in the cemetery overlooking his birthplace. The remains wer« buried at dawn in the Dean cemetery, Edinburgh, in the presence cf only eighty spectators.

(SPECIAL TO "THE TRESS.")

AUCKLAND, March. 50. A cable message in to-day's papers refers to a son and a widow of the late Sir Hector Macdonald. It was generally beIwvwl that the late General was unmarried, but when in Auckland he informed a countryman that he had a wife and an only son. The fact, however, was only known to a few, as Lady Macdonald and her husband were not living together.