THE HOME LAND

Otago Witness, Issue 3861, 13 March 1928, Page 6

THE HOME LAND

(From Our Special Correspondent.) SCOTLAND, January 25. We have had another terrific deluge that poured mercilessly over most parts of Scotland on Saturday, resulting in serious flooding in many districts of the country. Perthshire, as is usual on such occasions, suffered badly. At Connie the River Earn overflowed its banks, entering houses and flooding streets. Roads were rendered impassable for long stretches, the Comrie-Crieff road, about six miles long, being almost entirely covered, while a considerable area of the surrounding country was similarly affected. The east end of the village of Comrie suffered badly. The rise in the level of the water is stated to have been the greatest for many years. It lapped the lines on a railway bridge which spans the river, and entered the grounds and garden of the Episcopal Church rectory. An Episcopal church and Roman Catholic church, which ate separated from the river by only a few yards, were also surrounded. The river came down, tumbling in unrestricted fury from the heights above, and battered against a stout concrete wall which had been built to protect the little Catholic church and an adjoining dwelling. But, substantial though it was, the wall gave way, and the water went rushing into the church. Large stretches of farm land were flooded at various places. The mighty Tay was higher than for 14 years. It burst its banks in several places on the upper reaches, and the water poured into the adjoining Helds, flooding many houses in its course. Its tributaries, too, added to the confusion. The Blairgowrie district was badly hit, and the highway at Meikleour was impassable. At Easter Drumatherty some exciting hours were spent. Some 300 sheep were being wintered in the fields near the river, and men wading to the waist managed to save 250 of them, the rest being drowned. At the city of Perth the lower parts of the North and South Inches were vast inland lakes, while many cellars were flooded. A great amount of damage was done in Aberdeenshire. The angry torrents of the Dee burst its banks, and at Ballater, between 40 and 50 houses were inundated to the depth of several feet. The alarmed inhabitants had to flee for safety with the onrushing flood literally at their heels. At Aboyne the river rose to a height of 16ft above normal. A large number of salmon came up the Dee from the sea, and strayed into fields covered by water. When the water diminished in volume the fish were imprisoned. On Sunday water bailiffs were busy dragging the fields with nets for salmon. Some of the fish weighed 61b, 81b, and- 101 b, and the men returned them to the river.

To-night's the night. All over Scotland, and in every other part of the world where Scots assemble together, there will lie celebrated the 169th anniversary of the birth of our national poet—Robert Burns. Ties of fellowship, patriotism, and literature will be strengthened by the time-honoured dinner, oratory, and song of January 25. Men of the highest talent esteem it an honour to be invited to propose “ The Immortal Memory ” of the ploughman bard. At the dinner of the Burns Club of London this duty is to be performed by the Right Hon. J. Ramsay Macdonald, M.P., and Sir John C. W. Reith, director of the British Broadcasting Corporation, will submit the toast to the Cardiff Caledonia Society. In Scotland the speakers will include Professor A. A. Bowman, Glasgow University; the Very Rev. Dr John White, of the barony, Glasgow; Mr Geo. A. Montgomery, LL.D., advocate; the Rev. Dr Arthur 0. Hill, Glasgow; the Hon. Lord Anderson, LL.D. • the Rev. Professor W. Fulton, D.D.; Dr T. Drummond Shiels, M.P.; the Hon. Lord Fleming, and the Rev. Dr A. Boyd Scott, Glasgow, who speaks to the Gieenock Club, the oldest of all Burns societies.

Dr James Ritchie, of the Royal Scottish Museum, Edinburgh, in addressing the Glasgow branch of the Royal Scottish Geographical Society, said the earliest Scottish forests were born long before man reached tlie shores of Scotland, for the remains of a scrubby forest of birch and willow had been found deep in the lay el's of peat bogs throughout the country This first forest must have existed not very long after the great icefields of the Glacial Period had melted, exposing a naked land surface of clays and gravels. Successive changes of climate brought about, corresponding changes in vegetation, The birch forests disappeared, and many centuries had passed before its successor, the pine forest of the upper peat, the greatest iorest Scotland had ever seen, arose. This great wood of sturdy Scots fir covered airhost half the surface of the land and climbed the mountain sides a good thousand feet above the present-day limit of forest growth. Of the later forests of prehistoric times only an occasional glimpse was got, and even in early historic times the evidences were. not always definite. There had begun, even in the twelfth century, a decay of the forest which, progressing to our own day, had reduced the present woodland of the country to about 5 per cent, of the land surface. Man had to carry a heavy responsibility in regard .to the disappearance of the woods, but it must not be forgotten that Nature also bad played a partin denuding the country of its primitive forest growth. I may add that at the

present tim e the Royal Scottish Arboricultural Society, aided by Government grants, is replanting much of the ground where the trees wer e cut down during the war, and other spaces are being taken in as well.

The death has taken place at Goodwood House, Sussex, after a few days’ illness, of the Duke of Richmond and Gordon, at the age of 82 years. There was no more popular or highly-esteemed nobleman in the country than Charles Henry Gor-don-Lennox, seventh Duke of Richmond and Lennox (in the peerage of Scotland), second Duke of Gordon, Duke of Aubigney in France, K.G., G.C.V.0., C.D., Lord-Lieutenant of the Counties of Moray and Banff, Hereditary Constable of Inverness Castle, etc. The duke was the head of a family which has long held a distinguished position in the State, and whose connection with Scotland has been actively maintained by the ownership of extensive estates and the occupancy of Gordon Castle, Fochabers, Banffshire. He was a very popular landlord. Gentle and simple in his nature, he was easily approached by people of all degrees in society. With a high sense of public duty he never shirked recognition of the fact that property had its duties as well as its rights. A considerable section of the ducal estates had to be parted with some time ago in consequence of the incidence of death duties and heavy land taxation. But, in spite of these things, there was no excessive renting on the Gordon Castle estates, and whenever improvements were required the proprietor paid his full share. Educated at Eton, the duke entered the Grenadier Guards in 1865, and served in the South African war in 1901-1902, being mentioned in despatches. He was for a number of years a member of Parliament, and he acted as A.D.C. to Queen Victoria, King Edward, and King George. It was in 1903 that he succeeded his father in the titles and estates. The duke vras twice married, both his wives having predeceased him. H e is survived by the new duke, Lord Esme Gordon-Lennox, and Lady Violet Brassey, children of his first wife, and the Duchess of Northumberland and Lady Muriel Beckwith, daughters of his second 7i ’ e new du ‘ <e w * d worthily uphold tne best traditions of his illustrious bTe* l a<dler w ere insepar-

In Scotland it is regarded as a duty incumbent upon every citizen to apprehend a, person found a crime ami hand him over to the police 3 . The members of the Paisley Burgh police force have recognised such actions in the most handsome manner by presenting gold watches to Mr Andrew Reid, trainer of the St. Mirren Football Club, and Mr Chai les G. Callaby, jun., gardener, the Nursery, Ibrox, who were responsible for bringing burglars to justice. Chief Constable Duncan, in handing over the <nfts, said that nt must be unique to have 3 two men, acting independently, displaying in such a manner two outstanding requirements of the police service—namely, acute observation and physique and stamina. Mr Reid and Mr Callaby had done their duty as citizens. The chief constable, having recounted the circumstances in which the two recipients had served the police, handed over the gifts, which were suitably inscribed, with the best wishes of the members of the force.

The students of Glasgow University have become famous as the gathe.ers of funds for city charities. Their annual Charities Day was held on Saturday. Unfortunately the weather was of the most unfavourable character. Torrents of rain, accompanied by a boisterous wind, greatly prejudiced the spectacle of the students’ pageant, and thinned the pedestrian traffic on the streets, a circumstance which, of course, left the young people fewer eonstitutents to canvass. The students turned out in an infinite variety of costumes, and some 50 decorated vehicles were employed. As the day wore on most of the fantastically clothed revellers presented a bedraggled appearance, but they persisted in their labour of love. And to some purpose, lo°- Even under such unfavourable conditions they exceeded very considerably their collection of last year. The sum accounted for up to the present is over £16,000, as against £14,700 in 1927. About 20 tons of coppers were accounted for by the collectors on Saturday, the proportion of pence in the pile having a monetary value of £7685. Last year the coppers collected exceeded this amount by over £2OO. . There was, however, an advance in silver and notes which must more than make up the decline in the collection of coppers. The following shows the results of Charity Day collections in Glasgow since they were inaugurated seven years ago: 1921, £4000; 1922, £4600; 1923, £7000; 1924, £5600; 1925, £7400; 1926, £10,000;’ 1927, £14,700; and 1928, £16,000.

There has for some years past been a paucity of entrants for the ministry of the Church of Scotland. Speaking in the university chapel at St. Andrew’s, the Right Rev. Dr Norman MacLeari, moderator of the General Assembly, made an appeal to the students for recruits for tliis high office. When he was a student there were preparing for the ministry in St. Andrew’s from 30 to 40 men; now there were 13. When he entered the Divinity Hall in Edinburgh there were about 120 students; now there were 22. In Aberdeen there were 16, and in Glasgow 30—a total of 81. The ministry, he said, offered the noblest of all spheres. The witness of history was that wherever religion decayed the nation also decayed. To make Mainmon

their god was that vulgarity on which the manger and the cross poured the contempt of heaven. * * * In the corn se of his presidential address to the Gaelic Society of London Mr John MacLeod said the question of teaching Gaelic in public schools was one of primary importance to their movement. “In my view,” he went on, “ the struggle for our language is not yet over, and will not be over until the provisions of the Education Act of 1918 are put into force by every education authority in the north.” A point which has not hitherto been well known is the fact that the acceptance of the Gaelic clause in the Act by the Secretary for Scotland of the day, when perused by Mr lan Macpherson and other Scottish members, was against the advice and wishes of the permanent chiefs of the Education Department. “In that connection,” said Mr MacLeod, “ due credit should be given to Mr Robert Munro (now Lord Alness) for his courage in accepting the clause. It must be heartening to many natives of the north of Scotland now resident in our most distant dominions to know that at no period during the last threequarters of a century has there been such activity in fostering the native tongue of the Gael or in preserving the traditions of the Highland people.

The Central Fund Committee of the United Free Church of Scotland has declared the minimum stipend for the year 1927 at £3OO. They were enabled to reach this sum by receiving aid from the Semi-jubilee Thanksgiving Fund. For the year 1927 the income was £1596 less than that of the previous year. This, however, was balanced by a reduction in expenditure of £1643, -so that the amount of aid required from the Semijubilee Thanksgiving Fund to provide a stipend of £3OO was practically the same as last year. £3OO is by no means an extravagant salary for a capable minister of the Gospel. Some specially favoured ministers in Scotland have three and four times this amount. * * * Miss Ross-Hume, of Ninewells, Chirnside, Berwickshire, in the course of a lecture delivered in the Employment Exchange, Glasgow, said she went out to Australia in 1900 to see the country. For a time she heard complaints by girls who had taken household work, and, in order to investigate domestic conditions for herself, she took service in 12 or 14 different places. She came to the conclusion that there was no real reason for any complaint. There was, to her mind, a great feeling of comradeship between mistress and maid. * «- * So popular is the Rev. Dr J. Montgomery’ Campbell, St. Michael's Church, Dumfries, that the Town Council has resolved to present him with the freedom of the burgh in view of his being chosen as Moderator-designate of the Church of Scotland. It has also been decided to inaugurate and carry out a movement for a presentation to the doctor in view of the personal regard in which he is held by the whole community. * * * The Rev. Dr John MacLeod, minister of the Free North Church, Inverness, and principal of the Free Church College, Edinburgh, who is leaving shortly for Australia to recuperate his health, has bean presented with a cheque for £250 by members of his congregation and friends. * * * Whatever may be the case in other departments of trade, the sweetie ” concerns all over the country continue to flourish. A Glasgow firm of confectioners is establishing a new factory at Johnstone, in Renfrewshire, which will give employment to between 200 and 300 girls.