THE HOME LAND

Otago Witness, Issue 3860, 6 March 1928, Page 76

THE HOME LAND

(From Our Special Correspondent.) SCOTLAND, January 18. It has been found impossible to continue the search on the Cairngorms from the Airemore side for the missing Glasgow student, Mr Hugh Barrie, who, with Mr Thomas Baird, assistant demonstrator in geology at the University of Glasgow, went off to ascend the Cairngorms. Mr Baird was found dying in the snow on January 2. On the Aberdeenshire side the conditions were somewhat better, and a party of nine, searchers left Braemar on Sunday, They got as far as the Carrone bothy, but found no trace of the missing young man. It is reported that they remained there for a further search. There has been a partial thaw, but the snow still lies very deep on the hills, and at parts climbing is impossible.

The Old Glasgow Room in the Art Galleries at Kelvingrove now contains a letter sent in 1745 to the provost and magistrates of Glasgow by Prince Charlie demanding £15,000 sterling as the city’s contribution to his war chest. It has come to the city under the will of the late Mr Macdowall, of Garthland. The letter was written at Leckie House, then the residence of a Jacobite named Moir, who, the night before the prince’s visit, was arrested by the authorities and taken to Stirling Castle “on suspicion that he was preparing to entertain the Chevalier.” The following are the terms of the prince’s letter: “ Leckie, September 13, 1745. To the Provost, Magistrates, and Town Council of the city of Glasgow,—l need not inform you of my being come hither nor of my view in coming; that is alreadj’ sufficiently known; all those who love their country and the true interest of Britain ought to wish for my success and do what they can to promote it. It would be a needless repetition to tell you that all the privileges of your town are included in my declaration, and what I have promised I will never depart from. I hope this is your way of thinking, and, therefore, expect your compliance with my demands. A sum of money besides what is due to the Government, not exceeding fifteen thousand pounds sterling, and whatsoever arms can be found in your city is at present what I require. The terms offered you are very reasonable, and what I promise to make good. I chuse to make these demands, but if not complyd with I shall take other measures, and you must be answerable for the consequences. —Charles P. R.”

It had evidently been decided at Leckie to march upon Edinburgh instead of Glasgow, but Charlie’s followers did not forget the prosperous city of Glasgow. The Provost of Glasgow at the time was Andrew Cochrane, a native of Ayr and a gentleman of great business capacity. One of the streets of the city is named after him. The feebleness of the Government and the army resulted in Glasgow being left to its fate, and on November 13 the Provost complained that two months had elapsed without any communication from the justice clerk, and in the interval the city had been mulcted of the sum of £5,500, and the town was put “in great confusion.” In hard cash and material matters, such as “ brogues and sarks,” the city had to give Prince Charlie a large contribution towards his campaign, the amount of which is set forth in. the following lines of the famous Dougal Graham, bellman of Glasgow:—

The town they under tribute laid ; Ten thousand Stirling made it pay For being of the Georgian way. But Provost Cochrane did not allow the matter tb rest there. Taking with him one George Murdoch, au ex-baillie, he proceeded to London, and applied to Parliament to “ re-emburse the sums extorted from the town upon account of the town’s loyalty.” After a stiff fight lasting a considerable time, the provost and his companion induced Parliament to grant the sum of £lO,OOO as compensation. It will thus be seen that Glasgow has a real interest in the Leckie letter, and that there can be no more fitting place for its preservation than in the Old Glasgow Room of the Art Galleries at Kelvingrove.

The island of St. Kilda is so remote that everything said , or written about it appeals to the dweller on the mainland of Scotland. Mr John Mathieson, F.R.S.C., F.R.5.G.5.,, F.S.A. (Scot.), who spent some months on the island last year, has been telling of “The Antiquities of St. Kilda.” He says that the most important antiquity is the undeigi-ound house, which stood at the back of the present village. It was 34ft long, 3ft 6in wide at the bottom, and 2ft 6in wide at the top, and about 4ft high. The floor was laid with flat stones, and underneath it there was a drain to keep it dry. There were in olden times three churches in the village—namely, Christ’s Church, St. Columba’s, and St. Brendan’s. Close to the village is the Tobar na cille—Well of the Church. When the natives wanted to have a fair wind to take them o Harris they stood astride the water of this well, and it was believed that the wind changed into the right direction. In the Great Glen there was the Milking Stone. The St. Kildans attempted to secure the fertility of their cattle” by pouring a quantity of milk into the hollow of the stone, after which it was supposed the fairies could be heard rattling their spoons underneath. On the “Plain-of Spells ” the old St. Kildans sanctified' their _ cattle with salt, water,- and fire, by virtue of which they prevented the

malignity of elves and the vengeance of every evil genius. At the summit of the pass there was an altar dedicated to the god of the seasons, but its position cannot now be discovered. At the bottom of the Great Glen was a well known as Tobar nam Buaiah—Well of Virtue. So famous were the waters of that well for curing all manner of diseases that even the people of Harris came to partake of them. At present St. Kilda is completely cut off from the outer world, and will be so for months yet unless it be that a trawler may call in in passing.

When the trustees of the Scottish National Library met in Parliament House, Edinburgh, under the presidency of the Right Hon. Sir Herbert Maxwell, Bart., it was set forth in the annual report submitted by the librarian (Dr W. K. Dickson), that the past year was an annus mirabilis in the history of the institution. A number of splendid donations were received. What principally made the year such a notable one was the acquisition of the collection of papers belonging to the Earl of Morton, formerly at Dalmahoy House, and the gift by the Earl of Rosebery of his collection of rare Scottish books from Barnbougie Castle, described by the librarian as the most valuable donation of printed books which the library has received during its whole history. “As a Scottish collection,’’ he says, “it is unique in the rarity and interest of its items, in their association value, and in the beauty and interest of the bindings which it contains.” Donations were also received from H.R.H. the Prince of Wales (an autographed copy of “Southward Ho! ”), Viscount Lascelles, and Mr. J. Pierpont Morgan. Among other gifts to the library were a collection of autograph letters from Robert Louis Stevenson to the late Lady Colvin (formerly Miss Sitwell) from the executors of Sir Sidney Colvin; the Glen Collection of Scottish Music, presented by Lady Dorothea Rug-gles-Brise in memory of her brother, Major Lord George Stewart-Murray, Black Watch, who was killed in action in France in 1914; and a remarkable collection of works on shorthand presented by Mr J. M. Warden. 41 Cluny drive, Edinburgh. No one visiting the Homeland should fail to see through the Scottish National Library.

The Governor-designate to South Australia, Colonel the Hon. Alexander G. A. Hore-Ruthven, V.C., C. 8., C.M.G., D. 5.0., is heir presumptive to the British barony of Ruthven of Gowrie, of which his elder brother is the second holder. It was in 1919 that the title was conferred upon their grandfather, the eighth Lord Ruthven of Freeland, in the peerage of Scotland, who died in 1921. The present lord enjoys both these privileges, but as he has daughters only (four), the heir to his Scottish barony is the eldest daughter, the Countess of Carlisle. Colonel Ruthven, heir to the British barony, married in 1908 Zara Eileen, daughter of the Hon. Mrs John Pollock, of Collinstown Park, Dublin. There is an only son, Alexander, born in 1913, who is, after his father, the only living heir to the barony of Ruthven of Gowrie. The Scottish barony of Ruthven of Freeland was conferred by Charles II in 1651 upon Sir Thomas Ruthven, whose family, Earls of Gowrie and Lords Ruthven, iiad been attainted by James VI.

At Burghead, a Moray Firth fishing port, there has been enacted the burning of the clavie, one of the customs that have come down through the ages from the time of the Norse invasion of Scotland. The clavie consists of half an Archangel tar barrel affixed to a salmon fisher’s stake by means of a nail specially made for the purpose, and supported by several wooden staves. The combustibles comprise the remaining half of the barrel and a copious supply of tar and creosote. The clavie was ignited at 6 o’clock amid ringing cheers, and was borne through the principal streets of the burgh bv the clavie carriers. Halts were called oil the route, and burning faggots were thrown into open houses and shop doors, the superstition being the warding-off of all misfortune during the ensuing year. Until some years ago all the fishing craft in the harbour were visited, but, after a Burghead vessel so favoured had sank with all hands off Rattray Head this part of the ceremony was discontinued. On the Doorie Hill, overlooking the Moray Firth, the clavie was placed on a hallowed stone altar, where a further supply of tar was added. When almost burned out, the clavie was cut down, and a scramble ensued.for the burning embers, which are cherished as relics of good fortune.

There is a determination in the North of Scotland to do everything possible to preserve the sanctity of the Sabbath day. A vigorous campaign is being arranged with the. view of putting a stop °to Sunday excursions from the cities of the south. A deputation of the clergymen of Inverness waited upon the town council the other day and asked that body to request the railway companies to cease running excursion trains to the Highland capital on Sundays. Bailie Joseph MacLeod gave notice of motion to deal with the deputation’s request at the next meeting of the town council.

Alterations are to be carried out on the Chambers'Aisle in St. Giles’s Cathedral, Edinburgh, to form a chapel of youth. ■ The idea emanated from the Girl Guide movement, and it was taken'up by other youth organisations in the City, including the Girls’ Guildry, the Boys’ Brigade, "'aiid fih'e' ■ Boy Scouts. - The

church authorities have granted the use of the aisle for the purpose. It will be fitted up as a chapel, and the four principal youth organisations will house their colours there, taking them out as occasion requires. The idea of the departure is that a common shrine for the four movements will help to stimulate and increase unity and fellowship tnong them. Included in the alterations will bo four richly-carved stalls, each bearing the badge in colour of the four organisations. The colours will be hung at each corner of the chapel. The aisle contains a memorial to Dr William Chambers, to whose generosity the restoration of the cathedral to its original form was largely due.

Culloden estate in Inverness-shire, one of the most historic properties in the country on account of its association with Prince Charlie and the ’45, has been bought by Mr John G. Murray, a wellknown business man and sportsman, who belongs to Bedfordshire. Culloden House and estate, including the battlefield of Culloden, have been in the hands of the Forbes’s since the early part of the seventeenth century. Prince Charlie and the Duke of Cumberland slept in the mansion house. The pity is that so many Highland estates are passing out of the hands of their old-time owners into those of people from over the border who have little or no interest’ in maintaining the fine traditions of the country.

The Dowager Lady Sudeley, who has died in her 80th year, was in the succession to the Scottish earldom of Dysart, which has already been held by two countesses in their own right, and to which the present heir is a female. Lady Sudeley, was the only surviving issue of the late Hon. Frederick James Tollemacho, M.P., younger brother of the late Earl of Dysart and a younger son of Lord Huntingtower, who did not live to succeed to the earldom. A curious fact is that no Earl of Dysart has ever been a member of the House of Lords. The third carl was offered, but declined, an English barony on the accession of Queen Anne. His mother • us that remarkable personage the Duehess of Lauderdale (Countess of Dysart in her own right), from whom Lady Sudeley also was descended. The deceased lady married in 1868 the fourth Lord Sudeley, who died in 1922, and -who at one time was a Liberal member of Parliament, being in Mr Gladstone’s Administration as a lord-in-waiting from 1880 till 1885. The present Lord Sudeley is her son, and she had four daughters. Her eldest daughter is the Hon. Dame Ena Anstruther, whose late husband, Mr H. 2\.nstruther, M.P., was a brother of Sir Ralph Anstruther, sixth Baronet of Baleaskie, in Fife, and Watten, in Caithness, and who is Lordlieutenant of the former county.

Among other well-known people who have died during the past, week are. the followingMr A. Sinclair Henderson, a director of Messrs Alexander Henderson and Sons, Ltd., jute spinners and manufacturers, Dundee, who took a keen and practical interest in religious and philanthropic work, and who was for a term a member of the Dundee Town Council; Mr John R. Ure, Stirling, a director of the firm of Messrs Smith and Wellstood, iron founders, Bonnybridge; Mr David S. Thorburn, a prominent citizen of Peebles, and the oldest surviving son of the late Sir Walter Thorburn, M.P. for the old constituency of Peebles and Selkirkshire; Mr Alexander Sands, advocate, Aberdeen, a native of Stirling; Mr Alexander Reid, who resided at Lettre Cottage, Killearn, one of the best-known fine art dealers in Scotland, whose business premises were in Glasgow; Mr Andrew Stewart, head of the Gilcomston Dye Works, Aberdeen, one of the oldest firms in the city; Mr Harold D. Jackson, managing director of Messrs Barr and Stroud, Government instrument makers, and famous for range-finders; Major Julian Ryecroft, D. 5.0., M.C., etc., of the Black Watch, son of the late Major-general Sir William Ryecroft, K.C.8., K.C.M.G., governor of North Borneo, and son-in-law of Colonel Sir Ralph Anstruther, Bart., of Baleaskie, Fife, said Watten, Caithness, aged 35 years; and Mr R. J. Maclennan, editor of the Evening News, Glasgow.

The prosperity or otherwise of the Clyde Trust is always a fair indication of the industrial situation in the city of Glasgow. For the first six months of the present financial year the revenue was £519,471, as against £467,000 for the corresponding period of the last financial year. Sir William H. Raeburn, who presided at a meeting of the trustees, said that that was more by £284 than for the six months of the big year of 1925, so that if all things went on as they had been doing, and even without any further increase, they should be up to the highest mark of revenue the trust had ever attained when they came to the end of the financial year in June next. This is heartening for Glasgow.

Greyhound racing has become a craze in many parts of the country, and more especially in the densely populated areas. One result of this has. been, greatly to intensify the betting evil. There has now- been established the Scottish National League against betting and gambling, and arrangements are being 'made for an extensive propaganda campaign, which will cover ,the whole of the country. A special appeal is being made to congregations of churches and other 'bodies which ai e interested in the

movement to impress on the Home Secretary, by means of resolutions, the public demand for having betting on greyhound racing declared illegal.

There has been launched irom the yard of the I airfield Shipbuilding and Engineering Co., Govan, the motor ship El Argentine, for the British and Argentine Steam Navigation Company, London. The El Argentino and her sister ship, the Dunster Grange, launched some time ago, are the largest meat-carriers afloat. They are motor ships, and will carry general merchandise from this country to the Argentine, returning here with cargoes of chilled meat.

A novel excuse was offered by a motorist who was charged in the Edinburgh Sheriff Court with exceeding the speed limit. “ I was,” he said, “ hastening in order to get some water for my acetylene lamps before it became dark.” “Well, I suppose,” replied Sheriff-sub-stitute Neish, “ that you have read the story of the five foolish virgins and what happened to them. The penalty in this case will be a fine of £2.”

King George has intimated his intention of presenting a cup to the Royal T acht Club to be sailed for this year.