THE HOME LAND

Otago Witness, Issue 3823, 21 June 1927, Page 8

THE HOME LAND

(From Our. Special Correspondent.) SCOTLAND, May 5. The month of April has boon one of the most inclement' for the period of the year during the last three or four decades. Up to the very end it was so. and the opening days of May have been very little better. In the Highlands especially there have been heavy falls of snow, and very often these were accompanied by biting winds. As an instance of the severity of the weather it may be mentioned that on the evening of April 29. near Forres, a motor bus was proceeding to the Inverness Musical Festival with the members of the Forres Castlehill United Free Church choir when it collided with a trap occupied by Mr Gordon Munro, The Square, Kintessack, and his wife. The former was killed outright, and Mi's Munro succumbed some time later. The trap ami motor bus were proceeding in the same direction in face of a blinding snowstorm, and the'driver of the bus, in endeavouring to avoid an oncoming steam roller, failed to observe the trap, so dense was the falling flakes. Extraordinary weather was experienced all over Scotland during the week-end. A terrific hurricane, with blinding snow, burst upon the northern isles. The wind reached a velocity of over 100 rhiles per hour, and a steamer and a drifter were blown ashore at Lerwiek, while much damage was done to property. The telephone wires were practically all blown down. Sudden darkness preceded a violent storm of thunder and lightning on the Lammermoor Hills, and this was followed by snow. So keen was the frost that curling was indulged in at Stranraer. Flockmasters are suffering severely in consequence of the weather. The lambing season among hill flocks has been going on for some time, and shepherds are having anxious nights. The young sheep can stand almost any amount of cold as long as the atmosphere is clear, but when it is wet as well as cold, and when the ground has a-heavy coating of snow, the results are disastrous. So severe has been the weather in some parts of Scotland that farmers have not yet got any of their oats sown. Potato planting and the preparing of the ground for turnip sowing will in consequence be very late. After such a severe spring we will hope for a fim- r ' nv be

, i .. i A .. . V .0., one of the foremost business men of the age, and a great public benefactor, died suddenly at Dunecht House. Aberdeenshire, on Sunday. May 1, in his seventy-first year. He was head of the great contracting firm of S. Pearson and Son, Limited. As Lord and Lady Cowdray were to have received the freedom of the city of Aberdeen on May 3 the news of hi-s lordship s death in his sleep came as a great shock to the community. From 1918 to 1921 Lord Cowdray was Lord Hector of Aberdeen University. I.ord Cowdray purchased. with Lady Cowdray in 1910. the state of Dunecht from the Earl of Crawford. Tn more recent years Lord and Lady Cowdray made extensive purchases of other lands in Aberdeenshire and Kincardineshire. and they, with their family and the Cowdray Trust, now own, besides Dunecht, the Forest of Birse, Dunnottar Castle. Castle Fraser. Raemoir, Cnmpfield. Hill of Cairnie. Kirkville, and Easter Skene. The total area of their estates in A’ decnshire and Kincardineshire is close upon 31.000 acres, with approximately 500 tenants. Tn England Lord Cowdray also owned about 25.000 acres. Since Lord and Lady Cowdray purchased the estate of Dunecht _ works of improvement have been, and still are, proceeding on a very large scale. Unlike many other incomers who have bought lands Lord and Lady Cowdray have been intent upon doing their utmost to make their estates worth living upon. Large alterations have been carried out on the house and grounds. The farm buildings, have been renewed, and the tenants have the great advantage of fair rents and fixity of tenure. When unemployment became rife after the war Lord and Lady Cowdray formulated a huge scheme to provide work for many years upon the estate itself and the amenities of Dunecht and Echt villages. Four miles of solidly-built dykes were built around Dunecht. When the improvement scheme was at its height as much as £lOO,OOO was spent in a year, that huge outlay tapering down in subsequent years to £BO.OOO, then to £50,000, and last year to about £35,000. A considerable part of the original plans still remain to be carried out.

The city of Aberdeen has profited largely by the generosity of Lord and Lady Cowdray since they settled at Dunecht. The Cowdray Hall, the most Tecent of their public gifts, was a princely token of goodwill to the city. Lord Coydray’s share of the cost of the Cowdray Hall and Art Museum was £20,000, and a fine organ was installed as a gift from Lady Cowdray at a cost of about £3OOO. Many more instances of the generosity of the late Vicount and his lady could be given,, but it is enough for the preBent to state that a few weeks ago Lord and Lady Cowdray opened the Lord Provost’s appeal for £400.000 for the Aberdeen Joint Hospitals Scheme with donations of £25,000 each. The heir to the Viscountcy is Major the pon. Harold Pearson, who was born in 1882 and who married a daughter of the late Lord Edward Spencer-Churchill.

Lord Cowdray was buried ijent, Aberdeenshire, on Wednesday, May 4. * * * It required 10 days of organised huntng to lay low a collie dog with a propensity for killing sheep. The collie I’onflncd his operations to the S'ra l h"-'rn of Perthshire, and the destruction of lambs night alter night was no g.vat that farmers, gamekeepers, and others, armed with rifles, formed parties with a view to putting an end to his depredations. The best part of 200 lambs were destroyed. On one farm 69 lambs were lost, and on another 34. The dog never ate the careases, but killed wantonly, seizing the lambs by the back of the neck. He seemed to be very cute, and was frequently 7 able to give his pursuers the slip. On one occasion during the night, it is said, he destroyed 13 lambs within 30 yards of a man who was supposed to be guarding the flock, 'the animal was seen on several occasions ami peppered with shot, but made good his escape, until he was- finally disposed of on the farm of Dalcberla, near Muthcl, tenanted by Mr Melrose. He fell to the rifle of a gamekeeper.

A conference of over 100 representatives of educational interests in Scotland and England has been held at the Dunblane Hydropathic, the purpose of which was to discuss ways and means to give practical form and fresh impetus in Scotland to the growing vision in all classes in the community of the value and need of a standard of culture beyond purely vocational training. Mr J. Morrison, executive officer of the county of Roxburgh Education Authority, said the adult education movement in Scotland had experienced comparative failure. The natural or induced coneeu of the Scot made him believe that he did not require further education. Fortunately 7 other countries, including England, had made up the leeway in secondary education, and the self-complacency of the Scot was fast disappearing. In discussing the future of adult education Professor A. A. Bowman, of the University 7 of Glasgow, said its first aim must be to induce a new vision of life and a new grip upon reality 7 by 7 placing the familiar handicaps in a new perspective.

Widespread regret is felt at the passing of Mrs Norman Maclean, wife of the Rev. Norman Maclean, D.D., Chaplain to the King, minister of St. Cuthbert’s Parish Church, Edinburgh, and moder-ator-designate of the General Assembly of the Established Church of Scotland. Mrs Maclean accompanied her husband to Australia last autumn, when Dr Maclean officiated in Melbourne for four months.

In his travels through the Commonwealth Dr Maclean was accompanied by his wife, and her gracious and lovable personality 7 made her a welcome visitor to people hailing from the Home Land. The memory 7 of her visit to Australia, and her intercourse with exiled Scots, were cherished by her to the end. On the homeward journey 7 Dr and Mrs Maclean visited Ceylon, where they 7 spent a fortnight with their daughter, Dr Jean Maclean, who came from India to meet

them. She is the head of a hospital in India under the Lady Dufferin Women’s Medical Service, After leaving Colombo Mrs Maclean became ill on board the Orama, and when she reached home on February 20, she was in an enfeebled condition. A daughter of the late Rev. Donald MacAulay, minister of Reay, Caithness, she shared in the work of her distinguished husband wholeheartedly in Waternish, in Glengarry, in Colinton, in the Park Church, Glasgow, and in St. Cuthbert’s. Mrs Maclean took a lively 7 interest in social problems, and in all women’s work. The sadness of her death is intensified by 7 the fact that she was looking forward with great joy to fulfilling her duties as the wife of the Moderator of the forthcoming General Assembly. Mrs Maclean is survived by 7 four daughters with whom, and with Dr Maclean, the deepest sympathy is felt.

Sir James Malcolm, ninth baronet of Balbodie and Invertiel, Fife, has died in England at the age of 65 years, and his burial took place at Brookwood. He succeeded his cousin in 1901, and is descended from the first baronet’s fourth son, who fought at KiHiecrankie. Sir James married Miss Evelyn Alberta Sandeman, daughter of the late Mr A. G. Sandeman, formerly at Presdales, Hertfordshire, and grand-daughter of the late Viscount de Montcorvo, who survives him with two sons and two daughters. The elder son, Mr Michael A. J. Malcolm, of Lynedosh place, Edinburgh, succeeds to the title. He is 29 years of age, and was formerly in the Scots Guards. The new baronet married the Hon. Geraldine Digby, daughter of the late Lord Digby, and has one son and one daughter.

Much to the regret of those who have the best interests of the country at heart is the fact that under the conditions now prevailing many of the old Scottish aristocracy are giving up their lands and retiring into private life. Taxation is weighing so heavily on them that they cannot jive on their estates. People with large moneybags whose ambition, in the majority of cases, is to become landowners, are taking their places, with the worst results for those who till the soil. Tn this connection it may be mentioned that four well-known Aberdeenshire mansion houses are at present in the hands of the house-breaker—Castle Newe, Ellon Castle, Pitfour Hnw. land the ancient and historic Stains Castle. V '•"-■■■

Edinburgh Town Council is promoting a Provisional Order under which it is proposed to take powers for the erection of a pier at Portobello at a cost of £50,000. On the pier it is intended to construct and maintain pavilions, saloons, concert rooms, shops, kiosks, shelters, and swimming baths. ** * . Mr John M’Ara, who has died at Crieff at the age of 93 years, was one of the few remaining veterans present when Queen Victoria reviewed the volunteers in Edinburgh in August, 1860. He had interesting recollections of that occasion, and he could remember when Queen Victoria and the Prince Consort visited Perthshire in September. 1842. Mr M‘Ara was a crack shot in his day, and he was a keen angler. * * * Colonel John Buchan, author, has been elected member of Parliament for the Scottish Universities in room of the late Sir Henry 7 Craik by an overwhelming majority, his opponent being Mr Hugh D. Guthrie, M.A.. schoolmaster. Port Glasgow, a Socialist. The figures were: Buchan, 16.963 ; Guthrie, 2378—majority, 14.585. Mr Guthrie having failed to poll one-eighth of the total number of rotes, forfeited his deposit of £l5O.