CALEDONIAN SOCIETY'S ANNUAL BALL.

Oamaru Mail, Volume IV, Issue 1179, 27 January 1880, Page 2

CALEDONIAN SOCIETY'S ANNUAL BALL.

The annual ball held under the auspices of the Oamaru Caledonian Society has for several years ranked amongst the events of the year, and very great regret was expressed when the Directors decided not to hold the usual'ball on New Year's night, as they very correctly considered that it would greatly interfere with the second day's sports. Still a majority felt that the year's transactions of the Society would be incomplete without the customary ball. They therefore decided that one should bo given, anjl what better night could be cb.oaan than the anniversary of the birth of Saotiofji greaiest bard, IJobert Burns 1 The suggested celebration was at once agreed to, and thus it oame that the 121 st anniversary of the-birth of Scotland's bard was celebrated ]as6. night by a'ball, under, the auspices of-theG&ledoriian Society. Th 6 V< Hall had.been tastefully deco-

that the ball would in consequence be a partial failui'e. This fear was not realised, for despite the steady downpour of rain, about forty couples attended, and the hall, gaily dressed with bunting, evergreens, and four deer's heads, lent for the occasion b/Mr. D. Sutherland (President, of the Soeiety), with-the elegant costumes.: of the ladies, presented at once a pleasing, and animated scene. {Dancing was commenced shortly after nine, o'clock, to the music supplied by; Messrs. Cook "and Clifford (violins), Powell (cornet), and Fitzroy (piano), Sir. T. Kennedy acting as M.C. Afoer a portion of the programme had been gone through, an adjournment' was; cmade- for supper?; .tjie? catering for which was. under the directionof the Committee. The chair was taken by Mr. D. Sutherland, President of the Society, supported- on his right by Mr. John M'Lean. The toast of-" The Queen and Royal Family" was duly honored. The Chairman then said .that in addition to meeting to. enjoy themselves, they had met to do honor to an illustrious fellow countryman—Robert Burns. He concluded by calling upon Mr. John M'Lean to deliver the address of the evening. Mr. M'Lean said—l have been asked — and indeed I may say, in self-justification, I have been constrained —to address you j this evening. There are two reasons, I stated to the directors, and must repeat here, why 1 should not have done so. The first and principal reason is-, that to address you upon an occasion like this falls properly, bv virtue of his office, within the functions of the President of the Caledonian Society for the time being. The Presidency of the Caledonian Society is, or ought to be, a laudable object of ambition, as evincing the respect and confidence of one's fellow-citizens, and every member of the Society is supposed to be fit for the position. It should therefore be made annual, so as to give every member of the Society an opportunity of occupying the position, and during his tenure of office, to him should belong the privilege and honor of delivering all addresses, ordering and regulating all meetings and undertakings, and generally acting as master of all ceremonies connected with the Society. The other reason is more personal to myself. Not belonging to the part of the country where the poet was born and passed all his years until after he became famous, I have not the advantage of kuowing the unwritten part of his history as preserved in local anecdotes and traditions. I consequently feel incapable of doing any sort of justice to the subject. You do well to commemorate the event with a dance, for the subject of it was fond of the pasti.ne, for he tells us that at a time of life when most young people have finished their dancing school instructions, he—doubtless, feeling within him that inspiration which foretold him that he was destined to occupy a higher position in society than he had hitherto, and aware of the advantage of a knowiedge of the proper etiquette and graceful manners and movements of the ball-room to qualify him for such a position —at the age of 17 entered a country dancing school. To his acquaintance shortly after this time with one whom he has made famous in song, and who afterwards became his partner in life, and indeed influenced its destiny—his Bonnie Jean"—the world owes more than to any other circumstance, at anyrate at so early a period, the publication of his poems, which will be read with interest wherever the English language is read or spoken. It was from circumstances arising from that intimacy that he decided to leave his country, and in order to raise the sum necessary to pay his passage, which was not large—only L9—he determined to publish what poems he had written up to that time. The success of the venture proved beyond his expectation, but he found that the ship by which he intended to sail was bound for a port distant from the place of his destination ; and to take him there from the place of debarkation would require a larger sum of money than he could command. He therefore had to await a ship that was soon to sail direct for the place he wanted to go to, and whilst thus waiting for the ship to get ready he found himself daily becoming famous. The first edition, called the Kilmarnock Edition, was soon also .bed, and he now tried to get a second edition out, but his Kilmarnock publisher declined to venture unless Burns could advance the cost of the paper for a thousand copies, amounting to L 27, and the printing would amount to LIS more, which he was wiilin to risk. Burns being unable to find that sum, the idea of a second edition had to be given up for the time. This will give you an idea of the value set upon literary talent and poetical genius at that time. Times have changed since. Meantime, and while the ship that was to take him away from his country was getting ready, he was daily growing more famous. His poems were so v.vll received that letters came to him from the most eminent men in the country urging him to publish a second edition of his poems, offering assistance and advising him to remove to Edinburgh for that purpose. This at once accorded with his feelings, and the intention of going abroad wa3 abandoned, and he prepared to remove to Edinburgh, v.-he re lie was received in the first social and literary circles, fascinating all who came in contact with him with his brilliant conversation and sparkling wit, and comporting 'himself as though to the manner born, showing his strong manly sppse, for many in his place would have lost self-possession by so extreme and sudden a transition, in life. Ho was an attentive student and close observer of human nature and individual character, and some of his best pisces were inspired by the idiosyncracies and grofosqueness of some of his fellowmen. Tha conceited assumptions of a schoolmaster prompted " Death and Dr. Hornbrook," and the extravagance of two clergymen "The twa herds." His perception of the ridiculous was so keen that when he detected himself to be the object of it under the torturing pain of toothache he could not resist the opportunity it afforded him for the exercise of his poetical talent to-the enjoyment of others, winding up with that love of country ever present to his mind with the reflection that he could wish no greater punishment to her foes than twelve months of the same torture. Another incident, trivial in itself, which probably would escape a lesspiercing eye than that of Burns, and indeed from which most eyes would have been turned away, offered him another opportunity of showing his sense of the ridiculous, and feeling that , he himself might unconsciously be the object of a similar display of an equally brilliant intellect, called forth the most profound philosophical moral reflection ever uttered, and which will remain applicable to mankind as long as-the world lasts, and which all of us would do well to remember and apply to ourselves' oftener than we do—. 0 ! wad some power the giftie gie us To see oursels as itliei's see us. To give an idea of his manly mind as a boy we need only know, as mentioned Ly himself, the books he principally read and studied the Life of Hannibal, History of Wallace, Homer, Shakespeare, the Spectator, the Works of Allan ..Ramsay. For moral instruction ho was supplied with Ray's Wisdom of God, and Stackhosse's History of the Bible. The study of these works in early years left lasting effects on his after and mature life. The Life of Wallace had such an effect upon him that he would go on a sunday—the only day ha could spare rropi jjj? worldly toil—a distance of six miles to tlie Leglin snoods, to which Wallace was said to have frequently resorted for safety, and there explore every..

splendid war ode, supposed to have been addressed to his followers by the Liberator of his country previous to engaging in the eventful battle that freed, her from the oppressor— . ; . Scots wha ha'c wi' Wallace bled. The effect qf- fhis religious, training was throughout life, reverence for everything sacred. He'tells us that when travelling through the Highlands, in passing through. Glenlyon 'he came across one* of; those old; Druidical circles ntetwith in Great Britain. He could not pass it without dismounting, entering it, and .there offering up his prayers to God in his own way, as those who erected it offered up their prayers to their g6d in their way. Noble and manly traits 'of character; penned his. writings and actions so far as they are known to us. An ardent love of his country, active r sympathy with his fellow-creatures, and tenderness to dumb animals, and even objects. of .-inanimate nature. Take his verses on seeing a wounded hare limp by him, " Poor Maily Elegy," and " On turning down a mountain daisy with the plough." These, ladies and gentlemen, are the emanations of a heart big with feeling, and a tender and sympathetic mind ; but, still true to human nature, this great mind was not without some of the inconsistencies and weaknesses inherent in ordinary minds. He, himself, has left on record in his commonplace book, that whilst received in the highest circles in Edinburgh on perfect equality, in recognition of . his cranscendaht genius, and whilst his'acquaintance could make uo possible difference either socially or materially to those so generously entertaining him, still he conceived and fretted under the idea that their hospitality was accompanied with a sense of patron and dependant, and so far did he allow this feeling to get liold of him, that once when asked to breakfast with one of liis best and noblest friends, where there were only present himself, his host, and another friend of his host, he (Burns) was on the point of throwing down- the gage of contemptuous defiance because his host had shown particular attention to his other friend, whom he is pleased to characterise as only fit to make an eightpenny tailor, and whose heart was not worth three farthings. You will allow that this was a rather ungenerous criticism upon a gentleman whom he met at the table of a nobleman, and thatnobleman the only man above all others who saved him from that which he always looked to and dreaded —poverty. For it is curious that shortly after this he writes to a friend that he feels he has sufficient power of sensible and entertaining conversation to find him a living as an itinerant mendicant. The explanation of this oettishness on the part of Burns may possibly be that at this time he had realised the power of his genius as a poet, and would not brook, what he thought even an appearance of slight or neglect, and whilst thus rebelling against what he considered patronage upon sufferance, no sooner did he leave the society of those high personages than he would resort to the tavern, call for the social bowl, and gather about him a society over whom he presided with such intellectual sway as made them feel that they were there not as equals, but as dependants. It is curious, as showing the effect of early training upon the thoughts and actions of men in after life, that with his manly independence, his transcendent genius aud in the full blaze of fame, he could see no means of material independence for him beyond the tail of the plough. His mind seems to have been a sea of conflict, ever resolving, but never performing, and it is possibly owing to this that his efforts at what he best understood—farming—failed. But the truth, we suppose, is—Nature made him a poet of the first order, and in making liim so she incapacitated him for most other occupations. Nature also unfortunately made him a hypochondriac, and we find him when in his melancholy moods contemplating even absolute pauperism. The convivial habits acquired at the debating clubs, Masonic meetiugs, and dancing school in Ayrshire, and intensified during his stay in Edinburgh, remained with him, and it was the effect of this indulgence that carried him to an early grave. As a sample of how much genius and talent are valued and honored in their possessors whilst they live, we find that when this truly great man was on his death-bed a tradesman to whom he owed Lls commenced a legal process against him, fearing that by his death he would lose that sum, and the last act of the dying and great man was to write to some personal friends to send him the amount needed, to save him from the mortification of being incarcerated as a debtor. It was his misfortune to have lived half a century too soon, and before literary talent and poetical genius came to be so generally appreciated and so liberally remunerated. Had he lived in our time, it is not likely that he would have had tp apply to others for a small sum to save him from degradation. His life, socially and politically, was a struggle between duty and feelings. Hypocritical envy attended upon liim in this world, and scarcely, even now, leave him quiet in the other. He spared not hypocrisy, and has left her a legacy. He passed away as he came, poor in worldly substance. His fame cannot suffer. A useful lesson we should learn from the subject of our entertainment ; that is, not only to love and be proud of our native country—for that really is next to the moral duty of loving our parents—but to comport and demean ourselves in our various spheres and callings that our country may have reason to be proud of us ; that is, that we shall not at anyrate discredit our country or lineage. When the Directors of" the Caledonian Society did me the honor to ask me to address you here this everting, they 'never meant that T should detain you unreasonably long by my remarks from that enjoyable occupation and pastime to which the immortal Burns himself was so devotedly attached ; so I will now, with your leave, conclude, and leave.you to listen to the stirring and lively strains of the musicians ancT the enjoyment; of the mazy circle. Mr. M'Lean was frequently applauded during the delivery of liis eloquent address, while, during its progress , Mr. Fleming, at the request of Mr. M'Lean, sung " Scot 3 wha hae" in a capital manner. At. the conclusion of his/address, Mr. M'Lean called upon thoseipresent to drink to " The memory of Robert Burns," a call, that was unanimously and enthusiastically responded to. The Society's piper (Mr. W. Sutherland) then played " Roy's wife" upon the pipes in his. usual finished manner, and Mr. Fra'ser sang " 0' a' the airts the wind can blaw," receiving great applause for his capital rendering of the song, Mr. Peattie gave the next toast, The Oamaru Caledonian Society," coupled with the name of the President. Ifi the course of a neat speech he referred to the good that Caledonian Societies did all over the world. He Galled upon all present to do justice to the toast.

• The toast was 'drttiife .• -witli ipusipal honors. Mr. Sutherland said; Mr. Peattie, and Grentlerjian,—l haye to thq,nk you. niosfc sincerely for the ..kind roanper my naniehas been oonnected with the toast of " Success to the Caledonian Society,", and for the hearty reception the toast lias received. I am aware that there are some folks who criticise, or rather quiz, any-remarks made by your President. But it is not my duty, and I am not here to sound the praises;of the rose, or to sing of the charms of the shamrock. I an\ here, a Highlander, to stajid by the lion and to maintainthe glory of the thistle.

native land is still dear to them—that they like to practise the games and sports of their boyhood, and I have no doubt but it is the love of his native land that has spurred many a young man in these colonies to push his way to competency, so that he could return to the scenes of his youth ; arid if this dream could not be realised, that the good news of his success in life going home would gladden the hearts of the old folks at the clachan fireside. And lam also sure that this feeling has kept many a young Scotchman in the right way when tempted to turn to the right or left. An instance of love of home, county, and country came under my notice while at home last year. Meetingan old she was asked what became of her son, who was a schoolfellow. A tear came into her eye as she answered, " Poor Davie went to the South and listed." Then her face brightened as she continued, "But I should be thankful that since lie did list lie joined a good regiment." Her son joined the 93rd Highlanders. Well might the poor widow feel proud of her boy, for he stood beside Sir Colin in that thin red line, and he was one of the gallant band by whose perfect discipline and unflinching courage our Indian Empire was saved, and whose brilliant achievement is one of the brightest pages hi Britain's history, and will be read with pride while tke English language will be read or written. Well did that handful of heroes earn the distinction of being called Havelock's Highlanders—the bravest of the brave. We have every reason to be proud of the race from which we have sprung, and proud of" our native land. Let us then wear its tartan, sing its songs, dance its flings and reels ; let us cherish every thing that reminds us of our Highland nationality by doing all in our power for the success of the Oamaru Caledonian Society. Mr. Sutherland was frequently applauded during his speech. At. its conclusion Mrs. W. Eraser favored the company with the song, " Where has Scotland found her glory?" and was loudly applauded. Mr. Fleming, in proposing a vote of thanks to Mr. M'Lean, remarked that although the speech was an admirable piece of composition, it was not delivered with the power and fervor generally displayed by the proposer. Mr. Fleming went 011 to say that nothing but the Caledonian Society could raise _ Mr. M'Lean to the proper pitch of enthusiasm, he therefore expressed a hope that the Society would unanimously elect Mr. M'Lean to the office of President for the coming year. The proposal met with demonstrations of approval. Mr. Fleming then called for three hearty cheers for Mr. M'Lean, which were given with rightgood will. Mr. M'Lean thanked the audience for the compliment, and said that men at his age took more pains to be correct than enthusiastic. (Applause.) The subject was one that had been written about and spoken about for a hundred and twenty years, and he would be more than man were he to produce anything new. His friend Mr. Fleming, no doubt, would have been very fluent and rhapsodical if the toast had been allotted to him, but he questioned if even Mr. Fleming could have brought out anything new. (Great applause.). However he thanked them for the cordial manner they had accepted of his endeavors. This part of Mr. M'Lean's remarks took remarkably well with the audience, and when he sat down there was loud and prolonged applause. Dancing was then resumed and kept up unfla/gingly until an early hour in the morning, all present having apparently thoroughly enjoyed themselves.