To "Sandy."

Otago Witness, Issue 1682, 16 February 1884, Page 23

To "Sandy."

JIAiSTF/i Editor,— Sir, -I ha'e been eae took on wi* the iecter-1 o' my Jcotch frien' "Sandy" ti tie after time in the pages o' tho dauibrod column o' tne Ocago Witnuts i hit; my auld mithoir tongue ia comiti' bach: tats mo agaiu, jasfc as I used to hear it amangmy vativo brae-i an' glens, waddlin' ainang my dear cronici ii* au!d lang syne. And noo wheu I'm exiled awa' across the s>e.i far frae the laud an* language o* my youth hoo my hoar h fires up when I ccc my auld wittier tongue bio bontiily set forth in print by ana whi ca.'d hiuwel' "Saudy." J thocht there were naa pure Scutchmen cam' trae ony ither place than tha heathery hilH whaur I mysel' win born, an' whaur I u=ed tae chase the bumblebees an' watch tho whaupa gao intae their nests, an' listen tae tho muircocks cojio' on ane anither, an' the big corbies that wad be watohin' on the tocks for the wee lambs tae dee, eae that thevio'ild get; pickin' oot t'lcreen, D<;arrae! when coiil'J line forget the daya o' their youth ; when could ane tak' tao New Zealand s.ie muckle as ne'er tae look bacjc \vi' some warm remembrance o' their native hills an' «lons, or, forsooth, on their auld ■friou'a wnoin they forjyitheisd \vi' at burnie sides, jumping, running, aa' huuting ane anifher wi' oor hearts fou' o' innocent joy, hoartn whaur naething but innocc cc in a' its purity c juld dwell. But aa ane woifcs up thu brae o' life they flnd tbat they cauiia, jjailop ntvol; ai they used l ao dae when they ran aboov • wanting the bonnet an' the Bhune, sac they ha's lao betaV thtmsei's lac amusements o' a niair cauti jii3 nature, aa oor intellects begin tao grapple aooot for b»ine higher object in life 'than merely chaMnjj bumblebees an' pouin' wee llowers aboot the djko hides These happy day a I ha'e been sorry tae pa\rt wt\ but accordin* tae a' the teachin' o' human experience we are bound tao sail alang wi' ths changes of life. There is rae staunin' time. Wo are ushered on fiiio ac fithtep o' life tie anittier, that we scarcely ci'» obEcrve the changes c nniu' ower us, evon frao tho wee callant rirmiu' at the schulo vp tae ripe auld ne,o l.ifc ii apo'petuvl chansre. lYe proceeded sac far, a i' huena tiuld yo a word aboot what 1 intended tae speik, nao inair than yell maybe be interested in mo bein' sao muck c ta'eu on wi' " Sandy "—but tao !#vs back tao my sobuSe days : I mind weol, an 1 can ne'er forget the tirst lessons "that were taujbVi me in tho science of draughts. I used to frequent the shop o' a bhocrnaker o' tho i ame o' Prancte Anderson, but wo a> c caVd 1 ma Frank, for that shortened ai weel aamade his name" mail" hamely, an' I'm aften sorry when I Jieuv folk blawiu' about what they can dae on the ttauibrjd thar. Frank is no here tae tak' the wiud oot o' them. He was use friend o* Andrew Anderson wha. pit o S the book on the dainbrod, thY he aent some variation* for Andrew's book, which can ba seen tae thia day at the Hi o' the " Laird and Lady " game. Lho book has been altered since, an Frank's name stolon aw&' frao tho tail o' the game, Ano M'G'allocb, wha could neither play Andrew nor Frank, has thocht; fit tao (jet it borcod up. fao please soms- -i suppose — whi wanted tao tak' new roads through the "Auld Fourteenth,' the "Whilter" an' some o' the quid auld garnet. Folk may get up noo when auld " Andrew " Is deid an' awa' aa' find fau't wi' his book, but nanc dam- say a word wheu he wia leuvin' anoot his pUy. Ye cm see they wad flso at the B.b'.e tao alter the pieaious words o't, but I'm giad to,o s-.ay that I think there wis nae dambrod j pUjer ong.iged iv that pby. But T dinna kon hoo (ar I'm ricnt tao ta)k tae you, Mai j ter Editor, in this I s&rftt!', iw I observed that ye had sjmeuew dambrod bookb for s-a'e, by one Spayth, as yo ca 1 him. Whaur in the wail' doeß he belang tae? an' is he a Scotchman ? I demand that information Jrac you, for if he's no a Scotchman what can he ken aboot the game Blcs^ me ! if 1 had thocht that ye wautcd new books on the game 1 wad hae sent word name tae Frank tao hae written ye oot now bookfi for your bettor instruction. ~i± it tae return back tao ooy auld tutor on tho dambr«.d, Frank Anderson. I mind weel the iustrucI tivo lessons 1 used tao >eceive at the end o' his seat, ! he workin' awa mending lho tae o' my b'jot an' playiu mo wi' uleven men, au' hoo prood I wid when I succeeded in makm' a draw. Ye may bo sure I diclna want tae keep id ony secret, for makin' a draw wi' Frank wis something- great, an' therefore I couldna be blamed for aprosiu' a w.!e aboot it. I began tao be sjc' fascinated baith wi' Frank an' the game, that I often ci'd in when there wis nao hole in my boots tae mend, an' he s6on began tat» discover that I had ta'en a real iikin' for the game an' paid great attention tae the training o' his pupil, an' what tkili I pos-esi I'm i-reatly indebted tae Frank for, for he lost mony precious oors instructing me, sue that I should be able tae tak' his plat c at the Drod should he happen tao flip awa after his auU namesake, Andrew; but I'm happy tae say my auld tutor U hale an' hearty jet, aa' writes tao me that he is still working awa' at the boots an' the board, in tho same auld shop whaur I left him twenty years ago. What a lot o' games we hau biuth played syne thai time, o' draws, wine, and losses ! It went sair against Frank tae lose a game, but of course I had tae pit up wi' 10-aes, having wandered mair aboot tho war), an' I've got wbuppinps whiles when I least expected them. In fac, in Sandy'u bstlettor in tho VVuness I wis just readu g aboot a cbiel wl.a thocht hiuisel 1 a peifect don at the brod, who got all but whupped by tome omoigency man aboos Chribtciiurch. Noo, if Sandy is richt. aboot that fallow (as he is aure to be) folk should ntj'er get ower the ptumo in ony thing ah' fancy thetnnfil's invincible. Ne'er siaco I left the auld couutry ha'e I been sac ta'en up w/ onythmg a* thofe. letters o' Sandy's in the \\ iMiess aboot Frank'o an' my favourite game. When 1 cam' awa' Frank said that I neeilna, 1 fetch awa' my brod amaiig the Maoris. But ho little dreams, like niyeei', until I teat him hamo some o' Sandy's letters, that the d tmbrod ia jiat spoken aboot as mude'e he:e (if no man-) than what it wia epak aboot at harae, au is equally htld in estimation. Keally I'm bo^innin* tue think, whfn I look owt-r the piayed by Wiboa ait' Boswell, Miller an' Sii'pbcns, llaesidc, M'llv/ricU a\' Lindsay, an' twa chiels ower in bydney, J. C. Mackay ah' Tamniasßeid, forbye a lot mair, that it mak's me think sometimes that even Frank an' me couldna' ha'e played tht m muckle bottor. Still, tho auld attachment tae Frank an' my youthf v' opinion o' hia powers an' knowledge o' the game leads me Ue gi'e my verdict tae him, ower an' abune ony ither, mortal man nt the game. I read S*nd\'s sketches aboot a' the dambrod matches in the Witness, an' than I se^d them home tae Fiank ; but what iv the wlile warl' will he cay wheu he sees me takin' up iVandy'a t]n':e, an' spnilin' tho Witness wi' my havers ? Bug I'll tiy an' H?ak him a' richt on that pcore,*an' tell him that! got liberty frae the Editor for a wee bit simple ch*t abooi hoo an' whaur 1 first started tao p!t.y at the dambioJ: au' wi' ,that be^innin' o'my history the Witness mirhf let me pit in some reair at Dome ither time when Svndywis awa' fraohaaic— l am, &c , TAiUUs. Realhor Bjrnio Park, Fob. 7, l&Si.