OLD EDINBURGH

Evening Star, Issue 23352, 23 August 1939, Page 5

OLD EDINBURGH

SIDELIGHTS ON ITS HISTORY ABDKBB BY THE REV. J. E. PENMAN In the Concert Chamber of the Town Hallvlast night, the Rev. J. E. Penman gave an illustrated address on ‘ Edinburgh.’ Those who anticipated an evening steeped in the historical lore, and the more modern associations of Dunedin’s namesake were not disappointed, for Mr Penman knows all the interesting anecdotes of the Edinburgh of the past and the Auld Reekie of to-day, and he was prodigal with them last night. Illustrated with a number of slides, his lecture conveyed to his audience—or reminded them—of the incomparable beauties of the city which is so closely associated with Dunedin.

Mrs C. Mackie Begg, who introduced the speaker, expressed the gratitude of the Y.W.C.A. to Mr Penman for the help he was affording them in their worn, the proceeds from the evening being in aid of the association. Opening his address, Mr Penman stressed his connection with Edinburgh and with Dunedin, and proclaimed the similar attraction which each of them held for himself. In many ways they were alike, each of them, however, having features of its own. The history of Edinburgh next occupied the attention of the speaker, and he delved among the more interesting of the highlights of the thrilling past to good effect.

No one is even averse from recalling the fantastic, pathetic story of Mary, with her four attendant Marys against » background of Calvinism and the stern John Knox, and Mr Penman’s retold tales lost no whit of their original interest, told in language which was music to the ears of the Scots in the audience. Bonnie Prince Charlie and other famous figures of history found a place in the lecture. , „ , • In later days our own Queen Mary haa taken a keen interest in Holyrood Palace and its redecoration, and made a point of staying there when she was in Scotland, But Edinburgh was not all palaces, and a number of views of old Edinburgh were shown. Once the homes of the aristocracy, the tall, old buildings were now the homes of the poorer classes, but they had had a moving history. At the close of the address a vote of thanks was proposed by Mrs J. E. Fairbairn. , Performers who contributed to tne success of the evening were Miss D. C. Maokay, who, accompanied by Mrs Walmsley, sang ‘ Within a Mile of Edinburgh Town ’ and There’s Nae Luck About the House,’ and Mr J. Patterson; whose two items, in which he was accompanied by Mrs Patterson, were. 'Hurrah for the Highlands ’ and i She Laird o’ : Cookpen.’