ST. ANDREW'S DAY.

Sun (Christchurch), Volume II, Issue 565, 1 December 1915, Page 9

ST. ANDREW'S DAY.

CELEBRATED BY CALEDONIAN SOCIETY.

St. Andrewte Day was celebrated by the Canterbury Caledonian Society with a well-attended smoke concert in the society's 4 hall last evening. The president, Mr C./Sy Thomas, occupied the chair. / After the .toast of "The King" had been honoured enthusiastically, Mr A. Macpherson, of the Scottish Society, gave ail address appropriate to the occasion, in which he conveyed to the Caledonian Society the fraternal greetings of the chief and the council of the Scottish Society. In the course of his remarks Mr Macpherson referred to the splendid way in which Scotsmen had come forward to the defence of the Empire. Mr Justice Denniston, vice-presi-

dent of the society, proposed the health of "Kindred Societies," in a speech which contained a good deal lof humour. His explanation of the fact that wherever one goes Scotsmen are to be found, and found, too, near the top of the tree, was that it was due to starvation. (Laughter.) Scotland was always poor and hard, especially in the 16th and 17th centuries, and the result on the national character had been that the Scottish people did not have the temptations of luxury, but were compelled to earn their living by hard work. WJhen th§) Scots got loose on the fertile plains of England they took full advantage of the opportunity and made up for.lost time, and the result was the high position Scotsmen had attained.

In responding to the toast, Mr Macpherson remarked that in the past the Caledonian Society' and the Scottish Society had been somewhat estranged, but Jhe thought that the barrier was down now, and he was

proud and pleased that this was thecase. The harmony of the evening was contributed to by Messrs E. W. Wilson, H. McLeod, R. Malcolm, J. Cade, and H. Watts. Selections on the bagpipes were played by PipeMajor Craig and Piper Erskine.