IT WAS A SCOTCH ECHO

New Zealand Tablet, 13 September 1906, Page 37

IT WAS A SCOTCH ECHO

The. late Sims Reeves was fond of telling- a . story" that related to an early- engagement in Glasgow, which . was arranged • through a metropolitan agency. One of the l.terns on the programme was < Hail, smiling morn ' and Reeves was put down for the solo portion. The chorus consists of an echo, and the agent assured the soloist that a satisfactory choir\ had been engaged.

- The concert was a success, and in due course ' Hail, smiling morn,' was called for. When the soloist came -to the lines' requiring an echo -he delivered them in hds best mawner— ; At whose bright presence darkness . flies * away.' Imagine his horror when the" echo repeated his words in . the broadest Scotch :. " ' Flees awa\ flees" awa' ! ' . Yet Reeyes averred^ that not a person in the audience smiled or appeared to see anything incongruous. \ When. he talked over the matter with a bailie after the concert, the good man assured him : -_-,'' ' That's just nothing atr all. You were - a little ~ wrong in your pronunciation and the" echo was correct. You see, it was a Scottish- echo.i- - - ' ■ J