FROM NORTH OF TWEED

Otago Witness, Issue 4048, 13 October 1931, Page 71

FROM NORTH OF TWEED

A LETTER TO OVERSEAS SCOTS By Robert S. Angus. EDINBURGH, August 12. The date is a reminder that this is the opening of what has been called the “Festival of St. Grouse.” Its importance in the social and commercial economy of the nation is perhaps less this year than it has been for a long time. As I recently mentioned, the demand for moors has been the poorest within recent memory, and in both numbers and condition the supply of birds is indifferent. Few tears need be shed over the loss of sport; the decrease in the amount of rents and available employment is much more serious for the Highland districts. It is a little difficult to reconcile what is generally agreed to be a poor season with the fact that the railway companies have had to augment their services as much as ever. Presumably the explanation is that an increasing number of holiday-makers are coming to Scotland at the grouse period, but without any intention to shoot grouse. They are ill-advised to choose the month when the golf courses are most crowded and hotels are dearest, but, so long as all the schools have their holidays at the same time, the congestion will continue and Maj- and June, in some respects the most delightful time of the year in Scotia: 2, will be comparatively neglected. Speaking of grouse. I should mention that Professor James Ritchie, of Edinburgh, has set on foot a scheme for the marking of a certain number of birds in order to get some light on their migration. It seems that though grouse have been the subject of regulation and the object of sport for hundreds of years, next to nothing is known of their movements. It is believed that they seldom fly- far from the place where they are hatched. But that is merely a guess. PREMIER'S RECALL.

Though the fact that the Prime Minister's sudden recall to London is a matter cf national rather than Scottish importance, it. is one which has excited a good deal of attention and some anxiety. Those who knew Mr Ramsay MacDonald’s reluctance to leave Lossiemouth can best appreciate that only some serious turn in the financial outlook would have induced him to interrupt his holiday. He had been spending a few days as the guest of Mr Stimson at an Invernessshire farmhouse and had just returned to his native town when he was recalled. The newspapers are guessing that grave differences have arisen in the Cabinet regarding the proposals of the Economy Committee; my own guess—and I do not pretend that at this distance it can be more—is that the ’mportant but non-poli-tical people who are responsible for Britain's part in international finance want to make sure that the politicians will take the steps which are necessary. TRADE OUTLOOK. By no amount of optimism is it possible to convince oneself that the outlook is improving. Serious trouble has been avoided, it is true, in the coal trade, apart from some simmering agitation by the Communists in Fifeshire, but the market for the output of the miners is still stagnant. Though we had a mild heat wave last week-end the season has been so cold and wet that the harvest promises to be late; in some of the northern districts it will not begin till near the end of the month. Fruitgrowing, which at one time was hailed as the salvation of agriculture, has produced so far only about half the crop of two years ago in the Blairgowrie district, and the prices will yield little or no profit owing to the heavy importations. The only branches of farming which are really prosperous are dairying and stock breeding, and it is becoming evident that our farmers must in future devote themselves mainly- to these lines. HOSTEL MOVEMENT. An important extension of the hostel scheme was inaugurated on Saturday, when the old school at Birnam was opened as the first establishment in the Highlands. The building has been given to the association by Colonel Stcuart Fotheringham, of Murthly, for a nominal rent, and its adaptation to its new purpose has cost only £l5O. It has been suggested that as improved ineafts of locomotion make many of the small country schools superfluous, they may provide other hostels. Birnam is an excellent centre, as I know from experience. It is often called the “ gateway of the Highlands,” and it is within easy reach of some of the finest hill-walking, as distinguished from climbing, in our country. I~see that Miss Adam Smith, the daughter of the Aberdeen University principal, has been claiming that Scotland is better than Switzerland for rock-climbing. However that may be, our climbs are generally inaccessible and intended only for the experienced, whereas the greatest demand will be made for journeys which require no elaborate equipment of ropes and ice-axes and no more physical exertion that is within the power of non-athletic townsfolk. Colonel Steuart-Fotheringham’s public spirit will be warmly welcomed; it indicates a new frame of mind on the part of Highland lairds, who a generation ago were apt to look suspiciously on intruders. GLASGOW POLICE. Glasgow is still in search of a chief constable—the most lucrative as well as

the most difficult police post in Scotland. The magistrates at first decided that the appointment should be given to a present member of the force, but, after interviewing 10 of the most likely applicants, they have deemed it necessary- to have candidates from outside. It is obvious that such a selection will avoid many of the difficulties which would face a man promoted over the head of former colleagues. With its mixed population and its great area, Glasgow has problems which our other cities are spared. SECTARIAN ROWDYISM. The ordinary citizen finds it difficult to regard with patience the sectarian rowdyism which has marked recent week-ends in the west. For some years a grotto at Carphin, near Wishaw, for which miraculous properties are claimed, has been a great place of resort by Roman Catholics, who may or may not be mistaken in their veneration of it. But that seems no reason why the ultra-Protestants should organise a counter demonstration near a counter demonstration near the spot. That was asking for trouble, which duly came, although the local Roman Catholic priest had advised 'his flock to keep away from the meeting. The disorder was caused mainly by youths, who probably care little for the differences involved, and are not remarkable in the performance of their religious duties. It is intolerable that the peace of Scotland should be disturbed by a quarrel which in its disorderly clashes between “ Orange and Green” is* of Irish origin, and 1 hope the magistrate will make an example of the young hooligans whom the police have arrested. SCOTSMAN FOR PALESTINE.

Edinburgh people take a lively satisfaction in the appointment of Lieuten-ant-general Arthur Grenfell Wauehope as High Commissioner in Palestine, and in the knighthood which has been bestowed upon him. General Wauehope is the son of the late Mr David Baird Wauehope and a member of a well-known local family, which has produced manydistinguished soldiers. His militaryduties, which began in the South African War, have prevented him spending much time in his native city, but he has been a frequent visitor and is a popular member of the New Club. SCOTLAND IN FRANCE.

A large party- of Scotsmen has gone to Aubigny, in Central France, to take part in the pageant there on Saturday to celebrate the old Franco-Scottish connection. Aubigny was twice burned by- the English during the Hundred Years’ Waj-, and eventually was granted to Jean Stewart, a Scottish soldier, in recognition of his services to France. His descendants owned the chateau for 200 years, and the present proprietor, the Marquis de Vogue, is president of the Association France-Grande Bretagne, as well as chairman of the Suez Canal Company One member of the Stewart family was Robert, who was made a Marechai of France by Francois I, and I believe the force which he maintained became the nucleus of the Royal Scots Regiment, the oldest in the British Army. The pipe band of the Royal Caledonian School at Bushey is going to Saturday’s pageant, and both its costume and its instruments will be a novelty in rural France.