TWO SCOTTISH FESTIVALS.

Otago Witness, Issue 2087, 22 February 1894, Page 42

TWO SCOTTISH FESTIVALS.

The 30th of November and the 25th of January, dates which possess no special significance to others, hold a high place in the calendar of every loyal Scot. St. Andrew, the patron saint of Scotland, is worshipped on the former date, and on the latter " St. Robin."

It-, strikes one as carious (says a writer in an English paper) that beyond the Tweed comparatively little fu3S should be made about St. Andrew. A dinner in Glasgow every year, and another held not quite so regularly in Edinburgh, appear to exhaust the outward and visible signs of rejoicing on Scottish soil.

In England and in Ireland and in lands beyond the seas it is very different. Absence seems to make the heart grow fonder of the national &aint, and in whatever part of the world two or three Scotchmen are to be found, there may also be found a society to do honour to his memory. I have seen it stated that in Australia alone then are as many as 13 St. Andrew's societies,

At the annual dinner held to commemorate the patron saint — a dinner is the orthodox form of the celebration — an interesting feature is the procession into the banqueting hall. The procession is headed by a piper playing some popular Scottish air, such as "The Campbells are coming," this year specially appropriate for Manchester, where the Marquis of Lome is presiding. The " skirling " of the bagpipes always has the effect of drawing out into the corridors everybody who is in the hotel, and they look on with interest not unmixed with awe as the procession passes along. The menu is always specially prepared for the occasion, and includes such dishes as cookie leekie, Bheep's head kail, Glasgow magistrates (by which is meant salt herrings), haggis, haunch of venison a la Braemar, ice a la St. Andrew, and other fearful and wonderful things unfamiliar on the dinner table of the poor Sassenach. Cbief amongst all, however, is the haggis, " chieftain o' the puddin' race," as the poet has described it. This is brought into the room with a great flourish of trumpets— or, to be literally correct, of bagpipes. Steaming hot, it is carried in shoulder high by one of the waiters, while the other waiters walk in Indian file behind. In front of the baggis-bearer walks the piper hard at work, followed by a small boy holding aloft a bottle of whisky as large as himself. So they go marching along, always once and sometimes twice round the dining hall, the company standing the while to show proper respect to the "great chieftain." For the Manchester dinner, and also for a great many of the other dinners in England, the haggis is specially made by a firm in Edinburgh, who have a 'great reputation for its manufacture. And what, it may be asked, is this wonderful haggis 1 A lady friend informs me that it is composed of " oatmeal,, suet, onions, and things." That it is very toothsome I can personally testify, but I should judge that a little of it goes a long way. The after-dinner speeches are generally brimful of patriotism, and, despite the tradition to the contrary, show not seldom that Scotchmen can joke without " deefeculty." The Earl of Wemyss, then Lord Elcho, made on one of these eccasions a fine speech, one passage in which I recall. " There is much cry nowadays," he said, " about Home Rule. On an occasion like this, gentlemen, our cry is not that. We do not ask for Scotland for the Scotch. Our cry is :" ' England for the Scotch.' " It is needless to say that " loud applause " followed. Another interesting item is the exchange of greetings with kindred societies up and down the country, with a message perhaps to some out-of-the-way place, such as the observatory on Ben Nevis. The telegrams sent and the replies received, nearly always couched in rhyme, are read amidst much hilarity, varied with an occasional ironical shout as a prosy little message is read such as : " Kind regards from Glasgow, hoping that you are having a pleasant evening." And so the night wears on, with speeches and songs and telegrams, and finishes with " Auld lang syne." The Burns anniversary dinners have much in common with the St. Andrew's dinners, except that the speeches and the songs are almost exclusively devoted to the praises of the great ploughman-poet. For grace before dinner Burns's words are often used : Some ha'e meat that canna eat, And some would eat that want it ; But we ha'e meat, and we can eat, - Sac let the Lord be thankit. The entrance of the haggis is often greeted with the recitation of Burns's " Address to the Haggis." Judged by the number of clubs called by his name, the Scottish national poet is more popular to-day than ever he was.