FROM NORTH OF TWEED

Otago Daily Times, Issue 19198, 14 June 1924, Page 11

FROM NORTH OF TWEED

A LETTER TO OVERSEAS SCOTS. Written for the Otago Daily Times. By Robert 8. Angus. EDINBURGH, May 1. Monday was the spring holiday in Edinburgh, and its spirit still pervades both public and business life. There is a growing tendency among both professional and commercial men to follow the English practice of getting tho family away for a week or a fortnight at this time of year, and the more fortunate, who own houses at the seaside or in the country open them for the season, the breadwinner travelling backwards and forwards daily. I say nothing of the universities, which are still in vacation, or of the Court of Session, which, to the astonishment of the lay world, has a six weeks recess at this time of year. Unfortunately, the weather, after the bright spell at Easter, has been atrocious, and the bold cricketers who began their operations last Saturday were promptly driven to shelter from torrential showers. The farmers, however, are not sorry to sec the rain, for though tho season is backward, the land is still short of moisture, but a spell of strong sunshine is now much needed to make up arrears. THE CHURCH ASSEMBLIES. I believe that Mr James Brown, M P the miner who is _ the King’s Lord High Commissioner designate to tho approaching General Assembly of the Church of Scotland, has been in Edinburgh this week, in consultation with the tailor who is constructing his Deputy-Lieutenant’s uniform, and with other important functionaries. He is iooking forward with great interest and undisguised pleasure to his fortnight s reign as the Royal representative, and laughs at tho suggestion" of a boycott of the social gatherings at Holyrood, even if the festivities are to be “dry. Evidently the overshadowing question at tho Assemblies is to be that of Church Union. Judging from tho meetings of the Presbyteries there is great difference of opinion on the Bill which deals with the temporalities of the Church, and a consequent danger that the Government will oecnne to proceed further with legislation winch promises to bo controversial. ie Assembly’s handling of the problem will show whether the movement is to go forward now, or to be indefinitely delayed Tho average layman has little patience with tho squabbles between landowners and ministers as to the loaves and SCOTTISH HOME RULE. Next Friday tho House of Commons will discuss the second reading of tie Scottish Home Rule Bill, introduced by Mr George Buchanan, one of the youngest and moat turbulent of the Clydeside group. That legislation will bo passed this year no one expects. Tho most the promoters hope is to secure the appointment ot a Koval Commission or other body to consider the subject and draft a scheme. That is the difficulty. Most people are ready to pay lip-service to self-detemma-tion, —even such orthodox Unionists as the Marquis of Graham —but it remains to be seen whether they all mean anything like the same thing, and whether they have sufficient driving power of public opinion behind them. On that point i am doubtful. Mr David Kirkwood talks of “turning the English bag and baggage out. of Scotland,” but the main effect of the Bill as it now stands would be to turn the Scots out of England, so far as the legislative sphere is concerned. 1 have always thought that the claim for Home Rule for England was at least as strong as any similar ciaim by Scotland. At present the movement is mainly under Socialist auspices, but a few of the Liberals have tacked themselves on to the rear of the procession. CRUISER ORDERS FOR THE CLYDE. The Clyde lias seidoru had better news than tho announcement that one of he new cruisers for the .Navy is to oe built at, Fairiicld, and that Dalmuir has obtained the order for the machinery ot one of the cruisers to be ouilt in the naval dockyards. These contracts, with the largo amount of incidental work m auxiliaries, will give a much needed stimulus to employment. Revival in mer- • .antiio budding cannot be looked for in tho near tuturo. It is estimated by a Scottish owner that the available tonnage is about 15 million tons in excess of the pre-war amount, while the amount of carrying to be done is substantially LxiiGilATlON FROM THE HEBRIDES. During Luo lasi wcea-oua about IM o persons leit ocotnuiU ior oanaua, and cue Bureaux is UKoiy to continue ior sumo weeus. Ul Uio number meauouea were cmbaruecl at Stornoway, under tuo bcliemo oi me Ontario uovernmeut, whicu naa nomes and worn ready ior tuemi One interesting mature is me numuei or young women gomg as domestic servants, most ot mem untrained, but all of mem strong, wining, and mitopinsticated by hie in the towns. 1 oKEoTKY TRAININ' G. Some uneasiness nas been caused by the announcement mat uxiord university is to open next uctooer a forestry institute, at which ah prooatiouers lor mu oo»emment service \c.vcept in India) will have to spend a year heiore demote appointment. Tins scueme is .eit to oe unjust to Edinburgh university, whiui was the pioneer in me smentmc teachins! of lorestry and already provides a post-graduate course, • well equipped lor bota laboratory and practical study. Jt is regarded as uinair mat one university, especially one which was late in taKmg up me subject, snould be given a virtual monopoly of training government candium.es: and that Scottish candidates, most of them ill able to ahord the expense, suorna no lOquired to spend at least a year at Oxford. PEEWIT’S EGGS. Having been able as a boy to gather plovers eggs (or as we called tliem peesie s eggs), literally by the hatful, I have never been able to understand why frourmets in London should bo willing to pay about a shilling apiece for them Personaly I have never spent, a penny on them", nor am I finely to do so. But recent correspondence as to the value of the peewit as the farmer’s friend, and the danger of its extinction, liave given me some belated prickings of conscience as to these youthful exploits of mine. 1 am consoled, however, by the assurance of an expert naturalist that most of tho damage is due, not to poachers like myself but to the improvident habits ot the* female “peesic.” As often as not, she lays her eggs on arable land at a time when their destniction by the harrow or the roller is inevitable. But it is an illuminating commentary on |our rural education that a country-bred boy like myself should have been allowed to grow up without tho least idea that the plover is one of the most valuable friends of agriculture. We had no notion that it was other than a useless bird, except for the excellent eggs it provided. Incidentally, I may say that no small proportion of the eggs for which the foolish people of the south pay fancy prices are provided bv the seagull, which are as near the plover’s as the duck’s are to tho hen's. MARIE CORELLI’S ROMANCE. Though she was Scottish only by adoption, Marie Corelli, known in her youthful days as Minnie Mackay, was exceedingly fond of Scotland, and some of her happiest days were spent at her cottage at Killiecrankie, or at Lraemar. I am indebted to a correspondent for the information that she narrowly escaped being Scottish by marriage. As a girl of 16 living at. Oban, she formed an attachment with a young man who, being regarded as beneath her in social standing, was frowned upon by her relatives. The young couple, however, arranged to “put in the cries” with the local registrar, a schoolmaster, hut ho happened to bo absent, and before his return, the plot was discovered, and the young lady was deported to a place of safety. | A HISTORIC FIRM. | The death of Mr John William Waterloo, head of the firm of Messrs George

Waterston and Sons, manufacturing stationers, Edinburgh, recalls the fact that tho firm is one of the oldest iu the country, and has been carried on by five generations. It was founded in 1750 when William Waterston came from Dunbar to start in a close in the High street the making of sealing wax, wafers, and flambeaux, and though the demand for these commodities has relatively declined with tho invention of the adhesive envelops, it continues an important part of tho business. A FAMOUS MARKSMAN. Few Scotsmen were bettor known in the w orld of military' marksmanship than Sergeant William Proctor, of Elgin, who died this week as tho result of an accident while employed at his work as a sawrniller. He joined the Scaforth volunteers a a lad nearly 50 years ago, and long after he had passed the military age he retained his prowess with tho rifle. He was for 17 years a member of the Scottish international team, and for about 20 ho reached the final stage of the competition for the King’s prize at Bisley, on three occasions finishing third. Unless I am mistaken, ho won the Scottish championship. He was a familiar figure at Wimbledon and Bisloy, where he came in contact with fellow volunteers _ from all parts of the Empire, and, in spite of Iris taciturnity, gained their respect by his skill and keenness. His success on the ranges must have brought him a fairly steady income—an important consideration to a man who had a family of 13 children. CHESS CHAMPIONSHIP. In its semi-jubilee year the cup presented by the late Mr J. B. Richardson, of Stirling, for competition between the chess clubs of Scotland, lias been won by the Edinburgh Club after a re-play against Glasgow. Except on two occasions, these two organisations have monopolised the trophy. Tho devotees of the game in Scotland are few but enthusiastic, and I gather that in recent years there has been a marked increase in their number. Except Captain Mackenzie, in the middle of last century wo have never produced a player of the first rank, but a surprising number of men prominent in other walks of life include it among their indoor recreations, without making pretensions to great skill. A SCOTTISH A.R.A. His many Edinburgh friends are delighted at the election of Mr Russell Flint to be an Associate of the Royal Academy. He was born in this city, where his father was a well-known artist and laid the foundations of his art education here. In his early days he was a worker in black and white, but has since developed as a watcr-colourist, and in 1913 he was a silver medalist at the Paris Salon. He is a regular exhibitor at the principal galleries, and his work is included among the permanent collections at home, as Well as in Ottawa and various places in Italy and Japan.