FROM NORTH OF TWEED.

Otago Witness, Issue 3594, 30 January 1923, Page 23

FROM NORTH OF TWEED.

A LETTER TO SCOTTISH EXILES. By Robert S. Angus. EDINBURGH, November 30. To-day is Saint Andrew’s Day. Scotsmen abroad are in no danger of forgetting it, for next to St. Burn’s Day it is the favourite occasion for national reunions. But, here at home, I am afraid we pay little attention to the anniversary of our patron saint. The Saint Andrew Society of Glasgow, which exists for the purpose (among others) of mending our ways in that respect issues an annual appeal to take advantage of “the one day when we have the opportunity of manifesting the love and the pride of our country which we all hold in our hearts.” That is putting the matter rather high. There are at least 364 other days, which may be lawfully used for the same purpose. The secretary of the society, starting from the assumption that “by tne rest of mankind the Scot is frankly accepted as an enigma,” declares that “abroad he is the perfervid patriot fluanting in the face of the world his nationality and his pride therein. At home it seems often to be his ambition to scoff at all patriotism, or at least at its •• display.” The writer s closing limitation of h;s more sweeping indictment is worth nothing, for it suggests the explanation of the whole matter. The Scot is much like other races. At home he sees no point in making a fuss about a qualification which is shared by 95 per cent, of those round about him, but when he goes abroad and is one of a small minority he naturally welcomes any occasion to consort with his fellow-country-men and to join with them in singing the glories of his native land. In recent years Englishmen have been trying to galvanise an observance of St. George’s Day, but I doubt if most people could even tell the day without referring to the calendar. ROYAL SCOTS CORPORATION. Tho oldest and most worthy celebration of St. Andrew’s Day is that by the Royal Scottish Corporation, which held its 268th annual festival in London last night, on behalf of natives who have fallen into distress in the south. The late Lord Balfour of Burleigh’s place as Treasurer has been taken by that worthy Scot. Viscount Finlay, who presided over the dinner. Ihe Fund does its work quietly and efficiently, a friend indeed to the Scot genuinely and undeservedly down in his luck, but a terror to the mere mendicant. Indeed, my London friends tell me that when in doubt as to an application for assistance from some plausible story, they can always settle the matter by referring the applicant to the Corporation. If lie is a fraud, he will not face Mr Monerieff’s kindly but searching interview. Another regular celebration of St. Andrew’s Day is at St. Columba’s Church, Pont street, where Dr Archibald Fleming always has a special afternoon service, attended by the Scottish associations in London. This year the lessons are to be read by Lord Novar, the new Scottish Secretary. OUR SCOTTISH M.P.’s. Mr Leng Sturrock, who secured re-elec-tion for Montrose Burghs while he was lying dangerously ill, is now well enough to restme his duties. lie has written an article in which he suggests that Scoltish members should, as during last Parliament, co-operate in matters affecting the country, regardless of party. To this Mr Patrick J. Ford (whose name is the only Irish part of him) proposes that the moderate Labour members should be included. This will be more difficult for Labour discipline is stringent. But one or two of the new members from the West of Scotland are so evidently bent on playing the fool that their more rational colleagues may be glad of an opportunity of dissociating themselves from the wild men. When the Church leaders next address themselves, as they do with great frequency to the lack of candidates for the ministry, they would do well to consider the conditions offered them. The occupant of a

country parish the other day mentioned that, inducted to his parish in the early days of March, he received not a penny of Stipend till 13 months, later, and even then for only half a year. Under the law of Anne the proceeds of the tiends up to May 15 went to the widow of his predecessor. To a young man fresh from college, with a house to furnish and all the other incidental expenses, the first two years are a trying tune. A friend of mine who went through it was forced in desperation to have resort to money-lenders, and then to even more doubtful ways of finding money, and in the end lost his good name and his parish. For tile ruin of (hat career the unbusiness-like methods of the Ohurch of Scotland were a tgelv to blame. It is to be hoped that, when union takes place matters will be placed on a better basis. RESTORATION OF CHURCH PROPERTY. Lord Rosebery has done a characteristic act in restoring to the parish of Monifieth one of a pair of communion cups, which Were presented to the parish church in 1633 by John Durham and his wife, Jean Auchterlonie of the Grange. The latter was the Lady Grange who made the unsuccessful attempt to rescue the Marquis of Montrose from the Covenanters in 1650. 1 he cups had to be hidden for 30 years during the troublous times of the seventeenth century, but indifference to their interest and value was responsible for their alienation from their proper purpose. The minister of about a hundred years ago “swopped” the pair for four new cups presented by Lord Panmure (the local laird), who wanted the cups for the Duke, of Sussex, a collector of old silver. The cups were then lost sight of until Lord Rosebery obtained possession of one of them; the fate of the other is still doubtful. Such a transaction as I have described would be impossible nowadays,, for it is not only illegal, but repugrfant to modern ideas. Besides, the Church of Scotland has a committee, with my old friend the Rev. Dr Thomas Burns, of Edinburgh, as convener, whose business it is to see that Church property is safeguarded, and that old documents communion plate. Church tokens, and other interesting relics which have been alienated are recovered. In many cases it has been sufficient to point cut to the holders of such things that they were receivers of stolen property. LORD BALFOUR AS GIFFORD LECTURER. Nearly ten years after the due date, Lord Balfour is giving his second series of Gifford lectures at Glasgow University. The first was finished just before the war, and the preparation and delivery of the second wore inevitably postponed. If all the lecturers were of the eminence and interest of Lord Balfour there would be fewer doubts as to the wisdom of Lord Gifford’s foundation. Lord Balfour attracts huge gatherings, and though it would be too much to say that all his hearers understand all he says, they are fascinated by his charm of style, and by the ease with which he threads his way through a philosophical tangle with no more assistance to his memory than a few r jottings on the back of a foolscap envelope. STOWAWAY TRAFFIC. It is a sad sign of the times that the police and the .shipowners of Glasgow' have set on foot a campaign for the suppression of a traffic in stowaways. The other day they found no few’er than 16 men hidden on board a ship bound for the L T nited States They were in the forepeak, with, it ig suspected, ihe connivance of the crew, some of whom are alleged to have been paid as much as £5 for their assistance. Most of the men seemed decent artisans, who had been reduced by poverty to this means of seeking a fresh start on the other side of the Atlantic. They had provided themselves with food for the voyage, but they had little money—one of them, in fact, only a penny. It shows how hard the times are that not only have men given up hope in their own country, but that they have not enough money left to emigrate through the ordinary channels. Therp is a steady growth in the feeling that the tide of trade has turned —Sir William Raeburn spoke quite hopefully at the Clyde Trust meeting the other day—but it would he rash to expect that the recovery will be other than slow. THREE JUDGES FROM LEITH. Mr 0. D. Murray took his seat on the Court of Session bench as Lord Murray the other day A night or two later he was entertained at dinner by the staff of Messrs Boyd, Jameson, and Kelly, W.S., Leith, in whose office the new judge served his apprenticeship as a law cleric He had with him as fellow cguests Lord Salvesen and Lord Hunter, who also started their legal career in the same office. It is a remarkable fact that one comparatively small establishment should have produced no fewer than three of the Senators of the College of Justice. ROMAN LAW FOR BANFF. Familiar though we are with the fact that Scottish law is founded on the Roman, it was rather a surprise to find a modern litigation decided on the strength of a Roman Praetor’s edict dated 367 A.D. A Banffshire farmer under an annual contract with the owner of a livery stables left his horse on market day with the ostler. It was put into a stall, was injured, and died, and the owner sued for value £69 Os 6d (note the saxpence) The Court of Session has held that the liveryman was a “stabularius” in the sense of the edict I have mentioned, and that the word is not limited to innkeepers, and accordingly that tho farmer is entitled to recover. A GIRL GRADUATE. As president of their union the students of Aberdeen University have elected Miss Mary K. Esslemont. M.A., B.Sc., now a student of medicine. 9 bat is, I believe, the first time that a woman has been appointed to such a post. Miss Esslemont has been one cf the leaders of academic life in the Granite City for some years. I have not had the pleasure of meeting her personally, but. I knew well her father, the late G. 15. Esslemont, M.P..and was slightly acquainted with her grandfather, Mr Peter Esslemont, also an M.P Her mother is a woman of great activity in public affairs, so that the daughter should do well if heredity goes for anything. AN OLD TYPE OF MINISTER. I was sorry to read the other day of the sudden death of the Rev. Dr Hugh George Watt, for over 40 years minister of St. Enoch’s Parish, Dundee. He was appointed to that church when he was only 24, an early success which was perhaps not in his ultimate interest, for he did little to add to the brilliant promise of his college career. Dr Watt was a man of great candour and courage, and missed no opportui ity of op-

posing the puritan or teetotal school. He liked and conducted a dignified service, preached a good sermon, enjoyed a glass and was not ashamed of it, and was beloved by a large congregation. “Huge” Watt was his nickname, partly as a play on his name, seeing that iLs bearer was a dapper, wellgroomed little man, with a pleasant word tor everybody.