THE GAELLIC SOCIETY.

Evening Star, Issue 9437, 5 July 1894, Page 4

THE GAELLIC SOCIETY.

The, ordinary monthly meeAjng of the Gaelio Society was held- last .night in the Oddfellows 1 Hall,' Stuart street. There was a- large attendance, and Mr' Dugald M'Lauhlun (president) occupied the chair.

In view of the desirability of having the position -of chief of the society filled before the annual gathering, Mr D. Munro moved that the Holi. John M'Kenzie, Minister of Lands, bo elected to tho position. Mr J. F. M. Fraser seconded the motion. He described what the chief of such a society should be—a man of ability, unblemished reputation, with an unbroken strain of Highland blood in Mb veins, and posseßsing a knowledge of the Gaelio language. Mr M'Kenzie was endowed with all these qualifications. On being put to the meeting the motion was unanimously carried, and the Hon. John M'Kenzie declared duly elected to the office of chief of the society. Mr Donald Henderson having sung, with the chorus, ' I'll drink a health to Scotland yet wi' a' the honors three,' the question naturally came up What was meant by "a' the honors three" ? Mr John M'Kenzie being asked his opinion, said the three honors of Scotland were " Loyalty, bravery, and gentility," and enforced his contention by a number of well-selected instances from Scottish history. Mr J. B. Thomson (of the Bums Club) being, called upon to state his views, stuck to his colors, and maintained that the three honors referred to were "The King, the Kirk, and the Covenant," and gave Robert Chambers as his authority. The secretary would tell the meeting what he had been himself told was tlie true solution of the question. His informant was a member of the Gaelio Society, and also a member of the Burns Club. If the solution were found to be the correct one he expected his hearers to remember it was obtained through a member of the Gaelic Society, but if it turned out otherwise they were to say they had been told it on the authority of a member of the Burns Club, who of course could not be expected to know everything. The three honors were: That Scotland was never conquered; that •Scotland gave a king to England; and that the crown of Scotland was a complete circle. Mr D. Munro corroborated this version, with the exceptiqn that the third honor of Scotland, or more particularly of the Highlands of Scotland, was that notwithstanding the high price set on the head of Prince Charles it had no temptation for the Celts to betray him. Dr Stenhouse being now called upon as a final authority, explained, in a speech replete with humor and instruction, that there was no such thing as a recognised set of three honors for Scotland, as might be proved by the varying statements made by previous speakers. Kingdoms had their honorable traits of character and honorable chapters in their history, and Scotland had more of these than most countries, but the song which was the occasion of these queries had no reference to any such. They all knew what drinking with " a' the honors three" meant, and none could do it more enthusiastically than Highlanders. The guests, having filled their glasses, stood with one foot on their chairs, the other on the table, knee to knee, breast to breast, and glass to glass, and, with a " Hip, hip, hurrah !" three times, drained their glasses and flung the latter to the ground (if the toast were " The King " or other great personage), so that no meaner toast could ever be drunk from the same glasses. The song referred to this custom, and nothing more. The various speakers were warmly applauded, and the audience were evidently pleased with all the efforts made for their enlightenment.

A humorous Scotch story, as told by Mr J. B. Thomson, was also well received. Mrs Campbell sang an original Gaelic aond of welcome to the president (Mr M'Lachlan) on his return from his recent northern trip, and the rest of the concert was well sustained by Messrs Harry Dickinson, R. Clark, A. Paterson, and Colin M'Kenzie. Pipe music was played by Pipe-major M'Kcehnie, Messrs John Murray, John M'Lellan, and J. M'Kechnie, jun. Mr William Hunter was elected a member of the society.