FROM NORTH OF TWEED

Otago Daily Times, Issue 21649, 20 May 1932, Page 14

FROM NORTH OF TWEED

'-q»- ■ • A LETTER TO OVERSEAS SCOTS Written for; the Otago Daily Times By Robert S. Angus. EDINBURGH, March 17. On the whole, this has been an uneventful week. The weather —to choosfc the topic which comes uppermost in these circumstances—suggests that such winter as we have had is already over. Walkins along Princes street on Sunday morning one might have imagined that the date was May rather than March. The country is already showing the first signs of spring. Work on the farms is as far ahead as ever I remember it at this season, and the farmers are in improved spirits, mainly as the result of the better prices prevailing for oats and potatoes. On the other hand, cattle, which have done comparatively well during the general depression, are cheaper, but the higher rates for imported supplies is an indication that the' bottom has been reached. In the industrial sphere the outlook shows little change. Textiles are not so b.ad, but the other heavy trades are still in a deplorable state. Disappointment rather than surprise has been excited by the refusal of the Government to subsidise the building of the Cunard liner at Clydebank, but it is hoped that with the further fall in the bank rate it may be possible to finance the enterprise without State assistance. HYDRO-ELECTRIC DEVELOPMENT.

An important step in the hydro-elec-tric scheme for the South West of Scotland has been taken by the letting of the first contract —for the construction of a five-mile tunnel between Clatteringshaws and Glenlee, near Dairy. The work, which is to be undertaken by Mr A. M. Carmichael, Edinburgh, will cost £300,000 and give work for two years and a-half to about 500 men, who, it is hoped, will be recruited locally, and not by immigration from Ireland, as is too often done. The work is eminently suitable for miners, and our coal areas can provide them. It is only fair that they should have the first claim, seeing that the development of water power will reduce the demand for coal. Whether these hydro-electric schemes will be a commercial success lias still to be proved; many of the experts hold that in this country coal remains the cheapest means of raising power. , TEACHING THE VERNACULAR. . I admire without altogether sharing the enthusiasm of my friend, Mr William Will, for the teaching of the Scottish vernacular in the elementary schools. Addressing the members of the Burns Club of London on the subject, he complained that the teachers, pleading lack of time, pay so little attention to the subject. I suspect that lack of demand has -Iso somehing to do with it. Some one said recently that a Scottish accent is a commercial asset, and in that respect Mr Will* himself is well equipped. When I knew him first he was a printer’s reader in the offices of the Aberdeen Journal; he is now one of the chief figures in a great newspaper syndicate in London, but I am sure that if he were to address the shareholders in his native vernacular they would think he was sneaking a foreign language. The truth is that, rightly or wrongly, Scottish parents regard the time their children spend in school as a preparation for earning their livelihood, and, as the vernacular does not help in that direction, they pay little regard to it. Youngsters can learn all the vernacular they need either at the fireside or in the playground. If Scots is a Jiving language, as Mr Will believes, and not a patois, it does not need the oxygen which he seeks to administer.

MANUSCRIPT TREASURES. Edinburgh University has come into possession of a valuauble series of letters, forming an overlooked part of the famous collection of Dr David Laing, which was bequeathed to the University of 1878. They include letters written by Scott, Hogg, Carlyle, Lockhart, Wordsworth, Southey, Macaulay, and Froude. The Scott letters refer chiefly to the works he edited for the Banuatyne Club, of which Laing was secretary, and Carlyle wrote frequently to him for guidance on points of Scottish history. The letters seem to set at rest a point which has been much disputed—whether Scott saw Burns more than once. Referring to tile Horsburgh engraving of the Taylor portrait Sir Walter says:—“l saw that distinguished poet only once, and that many years since, but he was so remarkable a man that his features remain impressed on my mind as if I had seen him only yesterday, and I could not hesitate to recognise the portrait as a /striking resemblance.” It has been supposed that the two great men met also in Sibbald’s book shop, but Scott’s statement seems to be conclusive. TAM O’ SHANTER INN. A movement is on foot to preserve the Tam o’ Shauter Inn in the High street of Ayr for the sake of its Burns associations. It is threatened with demolition or: conversion to commercial purposes. Thp Town Council has decided to contribute £ISOO to save the building, and there is talk of a contribution from some unnamed “ London body.” I do not see why it should be necessary to appeal for outside help. The Burns clubs which spout so freely every January 25, should be able to buy the inn many times over, and convert it into a museum for Burns relics. MORE YOUTH HOSTELS.

Four more establishments under the auspices of the Scottish Youth Hostels Association are to be opened shortly—' two of them on Saturday- One at Airochar, on ground given by the Forestry Commissioners on Loch Lomond side, is to accommodate 40 walkers, climbers, and cyclists; another, at Ballater, will provide for 32; Mr H. J. Tennant, of Eringlassie, has presented a building at Inverarnan on Donside; and the fourth is at Birness on the Buchan Coast.* All four hostels will have resident wardens and occupants will be able to buyulry groceries and so lighten their pack, while cooking facilities will be available —all for a shilling a night. Thus for the coming summer the association will have about 15 wellplaced hostels, and the applications i already received indicate that they will be fully occupied. To read of these facilities only adds to the strength of the wish that one could be young again.

MR HUGH MURNIN. I learned with keen regret of the death of my friend, Mr Hugh Murnin, formerly Socialist M.P. for Stirling and Falkirk Burghs. For some years his health has not been good, and if he had had his own way he would not have stood at last general election, in which, like so many of his colleagues, he met with defeat. I do not think he was ever at home at W estminster; he was much happier looking after the affairs of his miners’ trade uni6n, in which he was always a powerful influence on the side of peace. Unlike so many Socialists, he was a man of deep religious convictions, and one of his proudest moments was when he saw his only son admitted as a priest of the Roman Catholic Church. Mr Murnin will be greatly missed in the Stirling coalfield. EDUCATION GRANTS. What national economy means is shown by the Scottish Education Department estimates which are issued this week. The total amount of State grants is reduced by £739,000, making them £6,842,771. Glasgow alone will lose over £lll,OOO next financial year, and as it is obvious the local rates cannot find the balance, expenditure must be reduced. The burden will fall mainly on the teachers, and though there is naturally a certain amount of murmuring, the situation will be ac-. cepted. After all, they have security of tenure and an assured pension, for which workers in other spheres would give much. FISHERMEN’S UNEMPLOYMENT. That ig particularly true of a class like the fishermen of the north-east coast, who are threatened with a loss of their unemployment benefit on the ground that they are seasonal workers and not entitled to be paid during the intervals of their fishinj. The local officials of the Labour Exchange 'decided in that sense; they were upheld by the referee; and last week an appeal supported by Sir Mackenzie Wood, M.P., was heard by an umpire in London.. It is true that there are intervals in the herring season, but most of the men then devote themselves to white fishing when that is available. _ It does not seem to me that their work is seasonal in the sense in which that word was generally understood when the new regulations were drawn up. The decision of the umpire is awaited with keen anxiety. BUCKIE DEVELOPMENT.

L know of few sadder spectacles than that afforded by some of these little towns on the north-east coast. Passing along the streets of neat, bay-windowed and white-curtained villas, one gets an impression of modest comfort. These buildings weft* erected in pre-war days when fish-

ipg was more prosperous, but in most cases they have been mortgaged to meet current needs or in a vain attempt to keep in condition the vessels on which the men depend for their livelihood. In recent years an attempt has been made to fill the economic gap by developing the towns as summer resorts, for which they are admirably adapted. Buckie, for instance, has bought the estate of Strathlene, aijj, is laying it out as a golf course, without which holiday attractions arc not regarded as complete. The course overlooks the Moray Firth, and for coastal scenery the district ig unsurpassed.