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BON RECORD. RECORDS AND REMINISCENCES OF ABERDEEN GRAMMAR SCHOOL FROM THE EARLIEST TIMES

BY MANY WRITERS. EDITED BY

H. F. MORLAND SIMPSON, M.A., F.S.A. (Scot.), RECTOR. THIS volume is the first attempt to collect many scattered notices from the Records of the Burgh, as well as from other sources, along with articles on the School's remote past, some of them here first published, and an account of the Mortifications made in favour of the School. A more vivid picture of its life and of the personality of some of its teachers will be found in the remarkable series of Reminiscences, written by thirteen distinguished former pupils, and covering most of last century down to the "seventies."

The following are some of the contents :— The Earliest Notices of the School, 1256, 1262, etc.

Extracts from the Burgh Registers, etc., 1398-1747.

On the Leges et Statuta Johannis Vausii, (?) 1553. By the Editor.

Mortifications to the School, 1613-1869.

On the Archery Medals, 1664-1699. By the Editor.

On his Schooldays in Aberdeen. By Lord Byron (1795-1798).

The School in Byron's Days. By the Editor.

Reminiscences. By John Ramsay, Journalist (1807.1813).

A " Visitation." By John Ramsay.

Melvin (1805-18°9). By Dr. John Hill Burton, Historian (1819-1823).

James Melvin. By Professor David M. Masson, Historiographer-Royal (18321835).

The School in the "Thirties." By Rev. James Sutherland, D.D. (1833-1837).

Discipline in the Olden Days. By Father William Humphrey, S. J. (185o-1853).

"When We Were Boys." By John Forbes White, LL.D. (1839-1844); John Johnston, M.A., President, University of Wisconsin O848-185O ; Sir William Bisset-Berry, M.A., Speaker of the Cape Assembly (1849-1853); Sir James Westland, K.C.S.I. (1853-1858); Sir George Reid, P.R.S.A. (1854); Rev. P. T. Forsyth, D.D., Principal of Hackney College (186o1864); William Keith Leask, M.A. (1869-1873).

Some Famous Former Pupils. By Dr. James Moir, Rector, 1881-1893.

ILLUSTRATIONS. Dr. Patrick Dun, Benefactor (Frontispiece). By Geo. Jamesone ; photogravure.

Robert Fergusone's Bell, 1625.

The Archery Medals.

Dr. James Dun, Master, 1732 ; Rector, 1744-1998.

Byron, aet. 7. From a Miniature at Harrow.

Facsimile of the Register, with Last Entry of Byron's Name.

The School Buildings, 1757-1863.

Dr. James Melvin, Rector, 1826-1853. From Cassie's Painting; photogravure.

Price

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12s. 6d.

To be had on afrfilication to the Rector at the Grammar School.

PIANOS AND "ORGANS. 1847 Established Telephone 903.

HIRE PURCHASE SYSTEM. R. BRowN adopts his Deferred Payment System to the requirements of his Customers.

TO LOGAN5 Yr MUS/C54LOON

SEE THE BEST MAKERS ARE REPRESENTED

IN OUR CAREFULLY SELECTED STOCK, AND THE PRICES ARE RIGHT. We make a Special Feature of Nearly New and Second. . . Hand. . . .

=fi 00 00 !._!!

MUSIC—Finest Selected Stork in Aberdeen.

ROBERT BROWN, LOGAN S MUSIC SALOON,

349 UNION STREET.

OUR enormous Hiring Trade puts us in possession of a very large ❑ umber of Pianos and Organs, by the Best Makers, which have been used. but which are In a great many cases quite as good as New. We also take in exchange a large number of Instruments which, after being thoroughly renotated, we offer at very low Prices.

F. B. KELLY, 10 St. Nicholas Street, TAILOR AND OUTFITTER AM.

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THE ABERDEEN

Orammar School Maga3ine.

Vol. XI.

FEBRUARY, 1908.

No. 2.

The Former Pupils' Club.

President—Dr. J. SCOTT RIDDELL, M.V.O. Vice-President—CHARLES DAVIDSON, M.A. Secretary and Treasurer—JAMES W. MILNE, C.A., 46A Union Street.

Secretary of Musical Section—J. C. LYON, to Carden Place.

Secretary of Football Section—R. J. A. DuNN, 5 Queen's Road.

Secretary of Dramatic Section—L. F. 11/1ERRYLEES, IO Belgrave Terrace.

Ties, hatbands, scarves, etc., of the Club colours may be obtained from R. K. Smith, 113-119 Union Street, and W. J. Milne, 251 Union Street, on presentation of the membership card.

The Magazine Committee will be pleased to receive any notes that may be of interest to the members, and, more particularly, they hope to receive articles from members both abroad and at home. Such articles, notes, etc., should be sent to the Honorary Secretary of the Club, 46A Union Street, Aberdeen.

Aberdeen Grammar School Magazine.

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OUR best wishes for the New Year to all our readers, though somewhat long of coming, are none the less sincere.

Last year it took three different editors to bring out the three numbers of the Magazine. Our readers this year will be glad to know—on second thoughts, it is most probable that they will be the reverse—that the editor has survived the labours of the first issue, and has now entered on his duties afresh, renewed in mind and body by the invigorating Christmas holidays. *

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During these holidays hockey reigned supreme. There was no football or skating, but hockey every day. " What's the match to-morrow?" was the question at the end of every match. Both the F.P.'s and the School team, we believe, were victorious in nearly every match—a most ungallant course of action, since their opponents, as was the case' ast year, were generally not " masculini generis." At present we are in hopes of a few skating half-holidays (but may they not be given on Wednesdays !). sr

Work is again in full swing, in view of that " hardy annual," the Bursary Competition. Once more the " callow fledglings " of the Sixth rack their brains to see a difference between a p.4 and Ail a, while the more advanced Seventh are once more deep in the mysteries of the rearrangement of Iambic trimeters.

Both the Sixth and Seventh are bigger this year than last, and we hope that their successes in the " Comp." will be proportionately greater. There are half a dozen or so who ought to take good places, but alas! there is usually one subject—we regret to say that it is often Mathematics —which proves a stumbling-block in the way of absolute success.

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It is with great regret that we record the illness of our much-esteemed Classical master, Mr. Middleton. It will indeed be a loss to us if he is unable to resume his duties before Easter. We sincerely hope that he will be speedily restored to his usual state of robust health.

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By his illness there has been a temporary lull in the Saturday classes, which were started immediately after the holidays. Mr. Knox has, however, kindly consented to carry on this most helpful class. By the way, it seems rather an effort for some to be down—perhaps even up— by nine o'clock on a Saturday morning.

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On Monday, the 25th of November, a lecture on " Peace " was delivered in the Hall by Mr. Aitken, agent for the Peace Society in Scotland. Mr. Aitken kindly gave his lecture twice—to the Lower and Middle Schools from two to three o'clock, and to the Upper School from three to four. In the course of his interesting address he showed a number of lantern slides, many of which illustrated the horrors of war. Since that time, he has written a letter to the Rector, in which he says that he has been enabled, through the kindness of Mr. Carnegie, to offer a small prize to the writer of the best essay on " Peace " in every class in the School, the essay to be founded on the " Peace " lecture.

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The Attendance Flag is causing keen rivalry, especially in the junior classes. The percentages of attendance every four weeks have been very close, and usually very good.

For one period of four weeks, the Fourth Classical had too per cent. for attendance. We heard a curious story the other day. A certain youth of this same class had had an encounter at home with his brother, and was found unconscious in the dining-room. He remained in that state for two days ; on recovering consciousness, the first thing he exclaimed was : " We've lost the flag! " `Si

ay"

Since Christmas we have received the Review Magazine, from Texas, with the following written on the outside of the cover :—" We have heard of you as a splendid paper, and would like the honor of exchanging with you. If you

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Aberdeen Grammar School Magazine.

will send us one of your old issues we will be pleased, and know that you will send us your next issue when it comes out." Truly, we did not know that we had such a worldwide reputation.

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The Football XV. has been upholding nobly the traditions of the School. They are at present at the top of the League of Junior Rugby Football in Aberdeen, and in that capacity are due to play the 2nd City. This, we may mention, is the first time for a number of years that the School has held the honour of Junior champions.

The Library is still in want of members. It is a great pity that such a small number of boys take an interest in this department of School life. The Library is very well stocked, and we look for a large increase in the number of members. We have to thank Douglas Scott (Classical IV.) for presenting " Kobo." If any F.P.'s are generously inclined, donations of money or books will be very gratefully received.

J. P. Cameron, librarian and clerk to the Rector, is resigning his duties at Easter. He has held these posts since he finished his school course at the Grammar, nearly seven years ago. He has always been useful and obliging, and we will miss him going his rounds with the register-books under his arm.

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The annual Physical Registration is being diligently carried on these weeks. In the Seventh there seems to be great competition as to who is the heaviest, while we hear that in the Sixth rivalry is keen over the different measurements of the cranium. Remember, Sixth, the old proverb, " Muckle heid, little wit."

0 The Debater "Sing-Song" went off with the usual eclat, the songsters all acquitting themselves in the customary high-class fashion, although they were unaccompanied—at least by a piano. We believe that a certain member of the Seventh handed round free drinks. There was nothing stronger than " kola," however.

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In order that this record may be made as complete as possible, all readers are invited to send to the Editor any information they may gather concerning former pupils of the School.

IT is with sincere regret that we record the death of Admiral Sir Arthur Farquhar, K.C.B., at the age of ninetythree. Son of an admiral and father of another, he had a distinguished career in the service of his country. Since the formation of the F.P. Club, he took a warm interest in the School. Year after year generous subscriptions came from him, quite unasked, and therefore the more highly valued. Especially did he take an interest in this Magazine, to the funds of which he sent handsome contributions.

He also wrote his biography for the Magazine, and we note that the newspapers borrow from our pages their account of his life. He presented a splendid edition de luxe of Scott's works to our library. Charming little notes of encouragement used to come from him to various School societies, and always with a cheque enclosed. We remember the last occasion when he appeared on our School platform at the prize distribution. Various civic and academic dignitaries filed in procession to their places, amidst the usual applause, but when the venerable figure of the Admiral appeared, such a shout went up as thrilled the audience through and through and deeply affected the recipient. His portrait, presented by himself, adorns our hall, and will always serve to remind us of one whose memory will long be cherished within our walls.

Although Admiral Farquhar was in his ninety-fourth year, we have an F.P. more than two years his senior—Mr. James Wallace, late inspector of poor. Could our editors not persuade him to give in our Magazine his recollections of bygone days?

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Aberdeen Grammar School Magazine.

The Marquis of Lansdowne presided at a meeting in Wiltshire the other day, when it was resolved to erect a memorial to the late Canon Duncan of Salisbury Cathedral and Vicar of Caine for forty-three years. The memorial is to be a stained glass window in the Church of Calne.

A baptistery is also to be erected, and the font is to be renovated.

Another dignitary of the English Church writes us, enclosing a Church newspaper with a portrait of himself as supplement. This is the Rev. Canon Reith, M.A., of Watford, near London, who left school in 1858. Before being promoted to Watford, Mr. Reith was for seventeen years vicar of Christ Church, Greenwich. He has three curates and a Scripture-reader to help him in his work at Watford, and seems to be a great favourite in his parish. We are always pleased to hear from new " Old Boys," and hope that many others will follow the example of Canon Reith.

George K. Fleming, Aberdeen, who was Dux and Gold Medallist in 1871, has become a life member of the Club.

R. S. Troup, of the Imperial Forest Service, India, is expected home about the end of March. He has been in India for seven years, and has, we understand, made a wonderful collection of butterflies. We are hopeful that he will be so kind as to present them to the School.

W. Watson Cheyn.e, M.B., F.R.S., LL.D., F.R.C.P., one of our most distinguished " Old Boys," has joined the Club.

Dr. Cheyne was the guest of the Aberdeen University Club at the recent half-yearly London dinner. In proposing the toast of " The University," he mentioned that he had spent five years at the Grammar School, and never regretted going to it. His chief recollection of school days was the enormous number of times he suffered corporal punishment at the hands of the rector, Alexander Martin, who, in addition to his great dexterity with the tawse, often got his pupils into trouble at home by saying they could do a great deal better if they would work harder. Dr. Cheyne did not like Martin, but later on he entirely changed his opinion, for, on meeting Martin accidentally, years afterwards, at Aberdeen pier, the rector recognized him, shook hands with him cordially, and by his conversation showed that he knew all he had gone through since leaving School. This little incident showed that the rector, whom he had always

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associated with hard work and punishment, took an active interest in the careers of the boys who had passed through his hands.

We have had a letter from A. D. Leith Napier, M.D., who was at School in 1872, and is now resident in Adelaide, Southern Australia.

Cecil B. Simpson, M.A., has been awarded the Fullerton Scholarship in Mental Philosophy at Aberdeen University.

He graduated last year with first-class Honours in Mental Philosophy and second-class Honours in Classics, and also carried off the Hutton Prize and the Bain Gold Medal.

R. L. Grime Ritchie, M.A., recently received the degree of D.Litt. from the University of Paris "with highest honours." He graduated at Aberdeen University in 1904, with double first-class Honours—in Classics and in Modern Languages. He has been studying in Paris as a Carnegie Research Scholar.

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Henry J. Watt; M.A., who graduated at Aberdeen University in 'goo, with first-class Honours in Mental Philosophy, and later took the Ph.D. degree at Wiirzburg University " magna cum laude," has been appointed lecturer in Psychology (General and Experimental) in Glasgow University, as well as instructor in Psychology under the Glasgow Provincial Committee for the Training of Teachers. Mr. Watt was assistant to another " Old Boy," Professor W. L. Davidson, for the session 1901-2, and a year ago was appointed lecturer in Psycho-Physiology in Liverpool University.

Lieut. J. W. F. Cruden, znd Black Watch, has carried off the second prize for shooting at Boo yards in the annual Rifle Association Meeting in the Pun jaub.

This corresponds to our Bisley Meeting.

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Rev. Professor Alexander R. Gordon, D.Litt., of the Presbyterian College, Montreal, has joined the Club. He is one of the three—the late Dr. James Moir being another —who have received the D.Litt. degree of Aberdeen University, and was capped in July last year.

His thesis, " Early Hebrew Traditions : a Critical Study of Genesis i. to xi.," was published by Messrs. T. & T. Clark. Dr. Gordon was Dux and Gold Medallist and First Bursar in 1888. He hopes in the future to have sufficient leisure

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Aberdeen Grammar School Magazine.

" to send a little news for the dear old Magazine, the first number of which I much enjoyed. I trust that the Club may go on prospering and to prosper."

Colonel J. N. Young, Eastbourne, who was at School from 1831 to 1835, has become a member of the Club. He writes us that " all of those whom I remember as boys at the School in my time have passed away—my brother, my cousin, four Morices, John Ross, and others. There were two Farquhars—one an Indian Army surgeon, the other possibly the Admiral, but I cannot say as to this." Colonel Young, Mr. James Wallace, and Mr. George Allan, advocate, are, so far as we have been able to ascertain, our oldest former pupils.

G. Elder Levie, C.A., Bradford, writes regarding the Magazine:—" I think you will find the new arrangements add fresh life to the Club, and awaken in former pupils a greater interest in the old School." Mr. Levie has also sent us the names of two " Old Boys " who are not members of the Club. If every member did likewise, we would soon trace many who have been lost sight of and have never heard of the Club.

George Nicol, Durham, who was at School almost forty years ago, says : —" I have read the Magazine with much interest. My recollections of the school life at the ' Grammar' were in connection with one whom at the Club dinner Dr. Nicolson designated ' a charming man, the late Rev. J. W. Legge, M.A.,' and I was much pleased to hear him so eulogized."

Dr. Alistair S. Garden has, we understand, sailed for the East Coast of Africa. We had a letter from him some time ago, in which he mentioned that he had been doing " locums " all summer, and now thought of settling down, but he has evidently changed his mind. At that time he was staying with his brother William, who is on the medical staff of the West Riding Asylum, Menston, near Leeds.

He says : -" I was very glad indeed to receive the Grammar School Magazine, and hope you will always manage to let me know of the Club and its doings."

Dr. R. Lindsay (1848-52), The Oaks, Botley, Hampshire, in joining the Club, asked us to obtain, if possible, a copy of Melvin's Latin Grammar (the last edition), the disappearance of which from his own old books he has regretted for many years. We have only, so far, been

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able to get a copy of an early edition, and if any of our members have a copy of the third edition which they can spare, or know where one may be obtained, we should be obliged if they would communicate either with Dr. Lindsay direct or through our Secretary.

We had a letter, or rather letters, recently from Charles H. Walker (1902), who is in the service of the Hudson Bay Company. He is stationed at Wabasca Post, via Athabasca Landing, Alberta. He says, in his first letter : —" I am ' stoney broke,' or might forward the dollars per return..

To tell you the truth, it would be hard to get a money order, as there are no post offices within 300 miles, so you see I am far from civilization. I hope to be home about July, when I'll allow you to have a tug at me—but, remember, I am Aberdeen." In his second letter, which we received the same day as his first one, he says that, after having thought it over, he encloses the dollars necessary to become a life member. We hope a few more of our foreign members will do likewise. It is greatly to their advantage, and saves the Secretary considerable trouble.

J. B. Wingate (189o), I.C.S., is stationed at Maymyo, Upper Burmah. " Pipes " was a great favourite' amongst his classfellows.

J. A. Simpson (1902) has received an appointment (by competitive examination, in which he obtained the first place) on the permanent staff of the Royal Observatory, Cape Town.

Angus M. Legge, H. J. Rae, and H. Ross Souper were,. at the beginning of the present session, successful in gaining by competition three of the eight bursaries at Aberdeen University open to first and second years' medical students..

Robert G. Combe is prospecting in Saskatchewan. One of his classfellows informs us that a letter he received from him was written out in the prairie, 300 miles from any store. His brother is in the Consular Service in China, and is at present in Aberdeen.

M. J. Williamson, J. Ellis, and L. J. Smith, three of the Rugby XV., along with H. Milne (captain of the 'Varsity XV.), who is also an " Old Boy," were the only Aberdeen representatives chosen for the combined North and SouthWest of Scotland XV. v. the South. As a result of that match, Williamson, Smith, and Milne were chosen to play

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Aberdeen Grammar School Magazine.

for the North, South, and South-West XV. v. the AngloScots, and, as a result of that game, Williamson and Milne have both been chosen to play in the final international trial, Rest of Scotland v. Cities. Is our School to have a representative in the National XV. at last? Scotland will have a very hot side this year, but there is more than an outside chance that one or other will get his cap.

J. Murray Easton has got a prize of 5s. from the Town Council for the excellence of his drawing in a recent competition. The subject was the Aberdeen Market Cross.

Dr. R. J. Collie (1877), who is the senior Secretary of the Aberdeen University Club in London—by the way, it is a curious coincidence that the junior Secretary, J. Hall Barron (r 888), barrister-at-law, is also an " Old Boy "—has, on the recommendation of the Lord-Lieutenant, the Duke of Fife, been appointed by the Lord-Chancellor a Justice of the Peace for the County of London. He is in practice in the West-End of the capital, and his brothers, James Younger Collie and George D. Collie, are advocates in Aberdeen.

Sir Alexander J. Forsyth Reid, K.C.B., LL.D. (1861), has been appointed Chairman of the County of the City of Aberdeen Association under the new Army Scheme.

He is one of our most famous " Old Boys," and his military career was exceedingly brilliant and successful. Under his chairmanship, we have no fear of the new scheme being carried to a successful completion in the city.

J. Buyers Scott (rgoo), who was in an architect's office in London, has been assumed as a partner in the firm.

Lieut. A. D. Fraser, R.A.M.C., has been appointed for duty in Uganda.

Alaistair Cumming, who left us from the Middle School, is now a cadet at the Royal Naval College, Osborne. He is in the same dormitory as Prince George of Wales, and, if all tales are true, his and our future King is not treated with any undue deference. Quite the reverse. The present Prince of Wales used to be held down by force when he was a cadet on the " Britannia," and pricked with pins to see if his blood was really blue.

We met Arthur Robertson (Peterhead) at Christmas.

He is at home on leave from the Indian Army. His brother Randall, who is in the Chinese Customs Service, is

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also at home. Both were pillars of strength in our Football XV. in the early " Nineties."• Harvey J. Wilson has received the important appointment of Chief Inspector of Factories for Scotland. He got his experience of such work mainly in the North of England.

We note the weddings of Marcus Thomson to Miss Carmen Hill ; James Brown, manager of Caledonian Railway Hotel, Edinburgh, to Miss Spence, Arbroath ; W. G. Melvin, Public Works Department, Bengal, to Miss Campbell, Edinburgh ; Stewart Robertson to Miss Robertson, Dufftown.

We record the death, at the age of seventy-six, of James Auldjo Jamieson, W.S., one of the best-known lawyers in Scotland. He was Crown Agent for Scotland for twelve years.

We met lately Lieut C. F. G. Crawford, Worcestershire Regiment. He is stationed in Dublin at present, and has his full share in all the Vice-regal entertainments at Dublin Castle.

He enjoys life in Ireland very much indeed.

The post of Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland was offered to Professor Robertson, D.D., late of Glasgow University, but he declined the honour on account of advancing age.

The Rev. W. W. Gauld, M.A., has been appointed minister of the. U.F. Church of Fairlie. He was Cunningham Scholar at New College, Edinburgh, and also studied at Halle, Germany.

We are pleased to hear about William R. Myers, of the 'Chinese Customs, who is stationed at Mengtsz, via Tonkin.

He is getting on well out there, and has much snipeshooting in his spare time.

F. Downie Leslie has secured a commission in the Indian Army, having passed eighth out of Sandhurst. He was at the F.P. Ball, where we also met his eldest brother, Willie, who is engaged in tea-planting in Ceylon. Willie is to be married this month.

Henry Alexander, Jun., went in the " Mauretania " for her opening cruise from the Tyne to the Mersey. The -directors of the Cunard Line invited him along with many -other journalists, and treated their guests in quite a princely manner.

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Aberdeen Grammar School Magazine.

Alfred A. Prosser has been elected Chairman of the Aberdeen Parish Council, As usual, most of the officials of the Students' Representative Council are F.P.'s. W. W. Jameson is President ; W. A. Lothian is Vice-President ; H. E. Smith is Secretary; E. W. H. Brander is Sub-Secretary; and R. N..

And W. A. Gilchrist, Treasurer. A remarkable list.

Lothian is President of the Literary Society. This shows. the value of the work of our numerous School clubs and societies, for all these gentlemen took an active part in them when they were at school. The line of F.P. editors. of the University• magazine is also being continued unbroken. R. N. Gilchrist is the present editor-in-chief.

Rev. Alfred A. Cooper, M.A., till recently superintendent of the British and Foreign Bible Society in Egypt,. has been called to be minister in the U.F. High Church, Inverness.

We note the death, at Bushey, Herts, of Andrew Gordon, manager of the London branch of the Union Bank of Scotland.

George H. Bower of Pitmurchie has returned from an He visited Sao interesting voyage to South America.

Paulo, Rio de Janeiro, and Buenos Aires, and has many interesting anecdotes to relate.

Robert Munro, LL.B., has been appointed Junior Counsel to the Inland Revenue Department in Scotland.

He was called to the Bar in 1893, and has held the post of extra Advocate-Depute. His friends predict a high future• for him.

F. P. Rennet, of Laffan's News Agency, was in town at Christmas. He was in Irkutsk, Siberia, for a long time, and furnished his agency with their news during the RussoJapanese War. He is now in St Petersburg.

We observe that a new edition of " Lays and Legends. of the North, and other Poems," by David Grant, has been issued. Most of them are in the broad Aberdeenshire Doric. " A Short History of the Church in Scotland " has also been written by Canon Anthony Mitchell, B.D., Principal of Edinburgh (Episcopal) Theological College.

We record the death of William Hall, shipbuilder, at the age of sixty-three, and of Hugh M'Lennan of Springhill, advocate, at the age of sixty-one.

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W. Norman Leslie, M.A., B.L., is now on his way to Australia to take up a post on the staff of the Governor of Queensland.

A. A. Morrison, M.D. (1874), who is resident at Alexandria, Egypt, has become a life member of the Club.

Rev. Wm. Milne (1847), who was a pupil of Dr. Melvin, writes us from Montreux wishing the Club all prosperity.

Herbert G. M. Wilson, M.A., B.L., who went out to Canada last year, is now stationed at Fernie, British Columbia. He is in the service of the Canadian Bank of Commerce, and writes that he is having far too good a time out there to think of coming home just yet. " British Columbia," he says, " has been first-class so far, but last year the thermometer registered 38 deg. below zero, and I am getting a little scared already." He carried off most of the first prizes at the last athletic sports at Fernie.

Rev. George C. Watt, B.D., The Manse, Edinkillie, Dunphail, in sending us his subscription, writes : —" I was a pupil at the Grammar School in the Schoolhill from 1852 to 1856, and when the new Grammar School was opened in 1863, I went there with Rev. Robert A. Gray, whom I had assisted in the Town's Mathematical School, as assistant master in the Mathematical Department. I am, I believe, the one survivor of the original staff of the new Grammar School. Dr. Barrack, Dr. Beverly, Mr. (afterwards Professor) Macdonald, Mr. Gray, and Mr. Legge, who was only a few years older than myself, are all away.

I have very pleasant memories of the School both as pupil and as teacher, and I am, as I have already said, delighted to join the Club."

A. F. Vere Stephenson, C.E., is on the staff of the Leeds Corporation.

Hugh F. Mackenzie is in the employment of the Electrical Department of the Glasgow Corporation. He thinks the idea of sending the Magazine to all Former Pupils a splendid one.

Roy F. H. Bayspoole is also in the employment of the Glasgow Corporation Electrical Department, and has become a member of the Club.

A. R. Yeoman, M.A. (186o), is on the staff of the Inland Revenue at Nottingham.

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Aberdeen Grammar School Magazine.

W. Cassie, M.A. (18i7), is on the staff of the Royal" Holloway College, Brantwood, Surrey.

Frank W. Michie (1890), one of His Majesty's Inspectors of Schools, has become a life member of the Club..

He is resident in Edinburgh.

• R. Lester Shinnie, M.A., B.L, is now practising his. profession at Kingussie. He is Procurator-Fiscal there.

Gordon Stuart M'Combie has been in business in Calcutta since 1904, and last year entered the service of the Alliance Bank of Simla, Ltd. He says that the climate in Calcutta is bad, but it is the best place as regards life in India. He has become a life member of the Club.

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R. R. Hynd, manager of the Hong-Kong and Shanghai Banking Corporation, Hong-Kong, has become a life member of the Club.

Rev. James Shepherd, M.A., D.D. (1864), who is a medical missionary at Udaipur, Rajputana, India, and Rev_ C. Gordon Mackenzie (1892), The Manse, Methlick, have also become life members of the Club R. D. Fenton (1889) is a rubber-planter, Thuckalay,.

South Travancore, Southern India. He is to give us somedetails of life in Southern India in a future number.

Cecil V. Robertson (1904) is in a South American merchant's office in London. They trade with Monte Video, Buenos Aires, etc. Cecil plays three-quarter for Wimbledon, and James Giles as full back. Fred. Robertson, his. brother, is in the service of Liebig's, of " Lemco " fame_ Rev. Alex. Ironside (1864) is Presbyterian chaplain to, H.M. Forces at Hythe and Shorncliffe.

A. G. Donald (Cults) has been appointed headmaster of Ardrishaig Senior Public School. .

Douglas Watson (one of the four Norwich brothers. who were educated at the " Grammar ") holds an important post in a large boot factory in Brooklyn, U.S.A. John Merson, M.D. (1863), is medical superintendent at the City Asylum, Willerby, Hull.

James Strachan, M.A., The Royal College, Osborne, Isle of Wight, writes saying that he is sure the plan of making the Magazine an essential part of the activities of the Club is an excellent one.

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Notes about Old Boys.

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J. I. Dawson is in the service of Messrs. Guthrie & Co., Ltd., Singapore, Straits Settlements.

Gordon A. Duncan, 6 Old Jewry, London, has also become a member of the Club.

W. A. Henderson, C.A., is a partner in the firm of James Meston & Co., C.A., Aberdeen and London.

He has control of the London branch.

Surgeon-General George Bidie, C.I.E. (1868), who spent thirty-five years in India, and is now resident at Bridge of Allan, was a pupil of Dr. Melvin. He is one of several of our " Old Boys " who have done good service for the nation in the Indian Medical Service. The famous boys of his class were John Leslie, who was washed overboard whilst landing in Australia, Principal Sir James Donaldson, and the Rev. Dr. Gray. We are hopeful that Surgeon-General Bidie will at no distant date give us an account of life in India at the time he went out. He wishes the Club every success.

Sheriff Thomas Mackenzie, M.A. (1845), entered the second class of the School, of which Mr. Ogilvie was the teacher, in February, 1842. He sat under Mr. J. Dunn in the third class, and under Dr. Melvin in the fourth and fifth classes, and, after being successful in the Bursary Competition, entered Marischal College, graduating in 1849. Sheriff Mackenzie says that he has every reason to regard with deep gratitude his connection with the old School, and shall continue always to cherish happy recollections of the educational benefits obtained within its walls. He hopes the success of the Club is assured, and has kindly offered to do anything he can to further its existence and aims. Lieutenant-Colonel Thomas Ligertwood, M.D., and the Rev. Charles Bruce, Dufftown, were classfellows of his.

John Hay Lobban, formerly assistant editor of Blackwood's Magazine, who at present holds the same position on the Bookman, has been appointed lecturer in English Literature at the Birkbeck College, London.

The death occurred, in the last week of January, at Ilford, Essex, of Alexander Brown Cruickshank, M.B., C.M., at the age of thirty-nine.

Dr. Joseph Ogilvie, who for thirty-three years has been rector of the Aberdeen Church of Scotland Training College, was recently presented with his portrait by former

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Aberdeen Grammar School Magazine.

pupils and other friends, in recognition of fifty years' distinguished service to education. The portrait, which is in oils, is the work of another Former Pupil of the Grammar School—Sir George Reid, R.S.A.—and is regarded as one of the artist's finest achievements.

Harry M. Will, M.A., B.Sc.(Agr.), has received an appointment from the Potash Syndicate, Strassfurt, Germany, with a view to his being trained to take up work in connection with the Syndicate's propaganda in Englishspeaking countries.

The Lyman Beecher Lectures on Preaching delivered at Yale University in 1907 by Principal P. T. Forsyth, D.D., have been published in book form, under the title of " Positive Preaching and Modern Mind," by Messrs.

Hodder & Stoughton.

J. J. R. Macleod (1893), who graduated M.B., Ch.B., with ,Honours, in 1898, is now professor of Physiology at the Western Reserve Medical College, Cleveland, Ohio, U.S.A. J. C. H. Macbeth, who is now in Penang, tells us of an amusing experience he had in Colombo on the way out.

On landing there, he hired a ricksha for a run round the town, and on settling with the runner he thought that he was asked an exorbitant price. Appealing to a coloured policeman, he was told that the price was quite right.

Suspecting, from the glances between his coolie and the man of law that there was some arrangement between the two, he promptly ran the policeman in ! He made him walk along to the nearest police office, where he confronted him with the white superintendent, who said that the fare was just half what had been demanded. Tableau!

John Murray, Glenburnie Park, is to start soon for the West Indies on a prolonged holiday. He is to make St. Lucia his headquarters, and will visit, among other places, Barbadoes, Tobago, where he will meet R. A. Henderson, who will be landing about this time ; Trinidad, where he is sure to meet the Stewarts from Bangor House, Murtle ; and other islands. Let us hope he may find the El Dorado he is in search of.

Gavin E. A. Gillespie is now in the Standard Bank of South Africa, Maf eking, from which he sends us a welcome Xmas card.

Armand B. Christen, who studied at Charlottenburg, Germany, is now engaged in engineering in Newcastle. He speaks French, German, and Italian quite fluently.

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D. Bruce Nicol, M.A., has been appointed assistant at St. Andrew's Church, Buenos Aires.

Rev. John Greenlaw, M.A., who left in 1893, has been appointed minister at Buckie.

Lawrence Oxford is assistant stage-manager in Mr. Mollison's Repertoire Company. He takes some of the singing parts in the Shakespearean plays.

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Our Letter-Box. PERHAPS the most interesting letter we have received for this number is the one from Ronald Davies, from Alness, Ross-shire. We hope that he will continue to write us from his lonely outpost on the White Nile. It's a far cry from there to Lochaber. The last time we met him was in the railway station at Inverness, about six years ago : — " SUDAN PUBLIC WORKS, KHARTOUM, " SUDAN, December 12th, 1907.

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" You will, no doubt, be surprised to get a letter from this part of the world. I have been out here some time, being in the Government service. I am at present stationed at El Dawa, 1 so miles south of Khartoum, on the White Nile. I am making a survey of the place, and have plenty Sudanese soldiers working under me. I am the only white man here. I like the life Ai. There is grand shooting— any amount of crocs., deer, geese, ibex, and, farther in, lions. It is a bit hot at times, but very cool in the evenings.

The mail-boat calls here once a week, and I can assure you it's the happiest day of the week for me. I read the newspapers several times over, the only thing I miss here being reading material. I think there is a great future for this country, especially when the irrigation scheme is further advanced. Khartoum is a fine town, and wonderfully modern. I have seen Omdurman, where the battle was fought, and also the place where Gordon was killed. I only wish we had a few trees here, or some weeds even, but where I am, nothing but sand, sand, as far as the eye can see. I have spoken to several dervishes who fought at Omdurman. It's very interesting to listen to their version of the battle. How is the old School? I hope it is flour-

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ishing as usual. I must now conclude, wishing you many happy returns. I shall spend my Christmas by myself.— Yours, RONALD 1VPKENZIE DAVIES. " P.S.—The above address finds me. I expect Winston Churchill to pass here in a week or so—not that I uphold his views, but, still, he's a Britisher, and if he glances up at my little abode he will see the good old flag flying."

Then William Rae writes us from the South Vancouver Bank, British Columbia, that he wishes to join the F.P. Club. Let him send his half-crown to the Secretary.

He goes on to say that " this plan of sending the Magazine to every member is the best thing that could be done to keep the F.P.'s in touch with the School and with one another. In your notes in the last issue I came across the names of many fellows whom I used to know, including some of whom I had heard nothing since leaving School.

I have only been here two months, as I was in Portland, Oregon, all summer. I met another F.P. down there— Andrew Chrystall, of Bucksburn. Portland is a nice town to live in, and the surrounding country is very pretty ; but I am glad to be under the British flag once more. I was amazed to discover the real, deep-seated dislike which the ordinary Americans I met seemed to entertain towards Britain and everything British.

By the Canadians, of course, this feeling is most heartily returned."

Stewart Robertson, from Calgary, also tells us that he has secured an important Government appointment in the Dominion Government Lands Office. He got the pleasant surprise the other day of having his salary raised by 6oo dollars per annum. Lucky man! " We have to do with the granting of homesteads, etc., and the amount of homesteads taken up at this Calgary office in one month would surprise you. In November there were 170 entries, and there will be more in December, from the look of things.

The work is very congenial. I have also taken unto myself a wife since I wrote last. On November 3o I married Miss Bessie Robertson, of Dufftown, so she had not to change her name. I see by the Mag. that the F.P.'s have changed their colours, but I did not exactly understand the combination. Is it a narrow or a broad stripe? I was greatly interested to read about some of my old schoolfellows."

F. W. Galloway, of the Indian Police Service, writes us from Cawnpore, where he is spending a short holiday

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before taking up duty at Moradabad, a rather out-of-theway place. " There's nothing but famine here just now.

I hope it won't interfere with the leave next year, as I want to officiate in charge of some district. I had a giddy time .on board ship. I ran all the concerts and dances, won the ." Limerick " competition and pillow-fighting on a pole, and did very well at Bridge. I've taken to writing to the Field, and I believe I appeared in the December Scottish Field."

James W.. Walker, from Georgetown, British Guiana, says how proud he feels to read his letter in our last Magazine. "I am in charge of the distillery at Plantation Diamond, and as we make about 2,ooo to 3,000 gallons of rum per day, I am kept pretty busy accounting for this quantity both to the Customs and to Sandbach, Irvine, & Co., Liverpool. You will be pleased to hear that I intend to become a life member of the F.P. Club, and I can assure you it will give me great pleasure to try to get others to do likewise. Please thank the Secretary for having sent me a copy of the Magazine. I thoroughly enjoyed reading it, especially the accounts of ' Old Boys' and their doings."

John C. Gray, British Consul, Cartagena, Spain, in wishing us a happy New Year, gives us some sound advice as to how to choose a good wife ; but although we do not write his maxims here, we shall be pleased to quote them privately to anyone who may apply. He tells us that his son Alfred, who left Modern IV. two years ago, has had a serious illness, but is now keeping better. The College of Agriculture in Madrid, where he is studying, seems hedged in by all sorts of difficult examinations and vexatious con•ditions so as to make it almost impossible of entry to an outsider. " Alfred, however, went in for two subjects— French and Topographical Drawing—and passed both well.

So he has got a footing, and three years yet to pass in the other subjects—i.e., for entry into the Agricultural School.

The weather is beautiful—temperature 65 deg. Fahrenheit.

Thank goodness, about three weeks before Christmas we got something like rain—three days of good, steady, penetrating rain—none previously since February."

Evidently Cartagena would have been the ideal place to spend last year in, for all the rest of Europe was under weeping skies from January to December.

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Random Notes.

AT last it has come. Even at the beginning of this session, diminutive fledglings were to be seen playing diabolo in the grounds, but now nearly everybody in the School has caught the craze. It is pretty bad when fellows of the Fifth and Sixth start playing in the intervals, but when, in the middle of a football practice, one of the players takes a sudden fit of the fever, and commandeers a set from a kid in order to work it off, things have, indeed, come to a diabolo of a pitch. Perhaps a club, with practices in the Big Field every Tuesday and Thursday, would meet the requirements. What price a diabolo cap?

The ignorance of some people is astonishing. Just fancy being a teacher in the Grammar School of Aberdeen for eight years, and not knowing who the " Wasps " are.

And yet this same teacher is surprised when his class is unable to tell him the name of Lot's wife or the date of the battle of Sphacteria.

A certain writer of Hockey Notes—he is an F.P., and was here when the School used to give every team in town about 3o points to o—published his opinion that the School should play Rugby before and hockey after Christmas.

Hockey, forsooth ! It is a game for vacations, for keeping one in training when recovering from some injury, and serves its purpose well enough. But to think of playing hockey when there is so much hardy exercise and glory and The thing is excitement to be got out of " rugger"! absurd, and the idea is unworthy of an F.P., although he himself stands high in the world of sport. No, no ; it cannot was !

A certain master hinted lately to the Seventh that dark rumours had come to his ears of nightly standing at streetcorners, instead of being at home working, as all good boys should. Half of the Seventh are now going about labouring under the burden of a guilty conscience, each fully convinced that he is the guilty one. The other half have no conscience.

Middle I. had a lesson in grammar last week, and the teacher wrote a sentence on the blackboard for correction. " Now, John," she said, " what is wrong with this sentence that Willie wrote yesterday ? " " Please, m'm," replied John,

Random Notes.

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the bright star of the class, " he's putten putten where he should have putten put."

The keen perception of a joke is not at all an unmixed blessing. There are some jokes so bad that only an expert can see them, and when the deep and awful vileness of the humour strikes him, he utters curses not loud but deep, and wishes he had no sense of humour at all. An example of this turned up in the Seventh not long ago. The master was explaining something, and made a bad joke. He made several bad jokes, indeed, but this one was of an extraordinary badness. One solitary member of the class groaned (they usually groan when this particular master makes jokes), and was about to explain the joke to his fellows, when the master wisely motioned him to silence.

We say wisely, because if the awfulness of the joke had been made clear to the whole class, they would have risen up as one man and cast him out, with many blows.

The Late Admiral Sir Arthur Farquhar, K.C.B. To everyone connected with the School the death of Sir Arthur Farquhar is an occasion for real regret. Of course, his advanced age precluded its being an altogether unexpected occurrence, and yet, now that it has really come, everyone who knew him at all must feel that a genuine, honest, manly soul has entered into rest. Not only has the School lost one of its oldest " Boys," but it has lost one whose unswerving loyalty, unfailing interest, and unabated affection were given to her to the very last. The School Magazine, in particular, mourns not only a regular and generous subscriber, but also an esteemed contributor, one whose service to his country and wide experience of life made him revered and beloved by every " Grammar " boy.

In 1899 it was decided that the editorial work of the Magazine should again be entrusted to some of the pupils of the School, and the then editor was thus brought into contact with some of our most distinguished " Old Boys," and among them Sir Arthur Farquhar. Not only did the Admiral put his name down for a generous annual subscription to the funds, but, on being asked somewhat timidly to write an article, he complied most willingly, and

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the result was the excellent description of the Yosemite Valley and the mammoth trees of California in the second number of that volume. Sir Arthur's handwriting was, to put it mildly, somewhat illegible, and so he invited the editor to meet him at the Northern Club and read through the article before publication. Not being very expert at it, there was a good deal of laughter over the mistakes that the amateur journalist made, and no one could have enjoyed the fun more than did Sir Arthur. In his own home the Admiral was the same cheery, hospitable man : as he described the way in which certain naval manoeuvres ought to have been conducted, and the apparent neglect by the authorities of the defences of Aberdeen, which he thought ought to be much more strongly fortified.

At all School functions Sir Arthur was an honoured guest, and came as frequently as his great age would allow The little boys regarded him with great awe and veneration, there being a story current that this courtly old gentleman had once in his earlier life, while in command of the China station, been a terror to the pirates that infested those seas, and legend even went so far as to add that he landed at Plymouth—or was it Portsmouth ?—with two barrels of pirates' heads in pickle ! What Sir Arthur could have done with these trophies it is not very easy to see, but readers of Captain Kidd's exploits found in a man credited with such doughty deeds an " Old Boy" of whom they might be proud indeed.

Sir Arthur Farquhar came of a family which seems to. regard the battleship or the tented field as the only possible sphere of service for them. His father was also Admiral Sir Arthur Farquhar, K.C.B., K.C.H. He himself served George IV., William IV., and Queen Victoria, while he lived to see the seventh year of the reign of Edward VII. His sons and grandsons have followed nobly in his footsteps, and are either in the army or the navy. He was a sailor of the old school, a link with " England's wooden walls," which now have given place to her mighty floating batteries of steel. What progress and revolutions he has seen—political, naval, inventive !

A hero has entered into rest, and we would lay our wreaths of homage on his bier. He did a long day's work, and did it well. His country and his School can only pray that others may arise who shall worthily follow in his steps, for of such men the greatness of nations is made.

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I'll made thee glorious by my ten, And famous by my sword.

" IT is safe to say that ' Hazell's Annual ' is consulted half a dozen times a night in every daily newspaper office."

So says the advertisement on a fly-leaf of that well-known book of reference, and it is equally, if not more, safe to say that the Grammar School has produced a pupil whose work is consulted daily, and many times daily, all over the world ; and, indeed, wherever the language is spoken his name is familiar.

No one thinks of him except in one connection, and yet those that consult him never think of his birthplace and much less of his school.

He is the Cruden who wrote the Concordance to the Bible.

Alexander Cruden, son of Baillie Cruden, was born in Aberdeen, May 31, 170o, and was educated at the Grammar School and Marischal College. He settled in London in 1932 as a corrector of the press, and became a bookseller in a shop under the Royal Exchange.

He revisited his native city in 1769, and died at Islington, Nov. I, 177o, having left money for a bursary at Marischal College. His sister Mary died in Aberdeen, Nov. 7, 1789, at a very advanced age. From the date of its appearance—the first edition dedicated to Queen Caroline, wife of George II., and the second to George III.—the Concordance has gone through innumerable editions in many languages, and still retains the form in which it left the compiler's hand, a wonderful memorial of accurate and single-handed labour.

Probably no work of reference is better known: the name of the author has become associated with the very idea underlying the book ; yet, household as his name is in this country and America, I question if half a dozen could have told his native city and two his school.

Cruden had as a schoolfellow one who, if not more familiarly known, is, at least in European history, one of the most illustrious names. This is Field-Marshal Keith.

Joseph Robertson, the well-known Aberdeen antiquary, in a manuscript work on eminent Aberdonians, has transcribed the following passage from the life of Cruden, by Alexander Chalmers, in the "Biographia Britannica," London, 1789, iv., 619 : —" Alexander Cruden received his education in the Grammar School of Aberdeen, and was a schoolfellow with the late George, Earl Marischal, and James, afterwards the celebrated Field-Marshal Keith, who

Aberdeen Grammar School Magazine. in the School catalogue were distinguished by ' Dominus Georgius Keith' and ' Magister Jacobus Keith.'" The original School catalogue has perished, but the fullest confidence can be placed on the statement of Alexander Chalmers, the distinguished antiquary and writer, himself an Aberdonian and pupil of the School. Chalmers was born in 1758, and died in 1834, having left School for Marischal College in 1773, and his detailed assertion, endorsed by such an authority as Robertson, may be regarded as conclusive proof for the connection of the Keith brothers with the School.

George Keith, tenth and last Earl Marischal, graduated at Marischal College in 1712, and died at Potsdam, May 28, 1778, in the eighty-sixth year of his age. James, who graduated in 1715, like his brother, engaged in the Rebellion of that year, and after a wandering exile's life in France, Spain, and other parts of the Continent, entered the Russian service, in which he rose to the command of the country on the Volga and the Don. To serve abroad had long been the outlet of many Scots, and Aberdonians have the discredit of Wallenstein's assassination in 1634, for, of the three involved in the deed, two—a Gordon of Gight and Walter Leslie of Balquhain, who afterwards died as Count Leslie at Vienna in i667—hailed from Aberdeerfshire. Keith entered the more promising service of Prussia under Frederick the Great, and he evidently introduced to the royal notice his friends, for the Scots Magazine of December, 1750, notices the marriage, on the i i th of the month, at Berlin, of the Chevalier Keith, son of the late Sir William Keith of Ludquharn, nephew (as it says) to Field-Marshal Keith, to the only daughter of Baron de Suhm, ambassador to the Court of Russia. The Chevalier had been before in Russian service, but had left it to be He, lieutenant-colonel and aide-de-camp to Frederick. too, was almost certainly at the School, though he cannot now be traced.

James Keith, the most distinguished military name in the annals of the School, met his death at Hochkirch on October 14, 1758. The camp was insecure, but a retreat seemed inadvisable in the face of the Austrian General Daun. Frederick despised the enemy, in spite of Keith's warning. " If the Austrians," said he, " leave us in the camp, they deserve to be hanged." As the clock struck five in the morning the Prussians were surprised and heavily beaten ; 9,000 fell, and over too guns were taken. Keith

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was severely wounded at eight, and a second shot at nine killed him. One of the leading regiments in the German army bears his name, which in the annals of Prussia is second only to that of the victor of Rossbach and Leuthen.

The statue at Peterhead was presented some years ago to that town, whose motto of " Veritas vincit " is that of the family, by the German Emperor.

One of the most familiar passages in Carlyle's " Frederick the Great " deals with the death of the Field-Marshal.

Yet, though the purple patch of Inverugie and the hoarse caverns of Dunnottar singing his requiem has been worn almost threadbare, no one has noted that it has been simply appropriated from the fine last stanza of Scott's " Rosabelle" in the Lay of the Last Minstrel "— But the sea caves rung, and the wild winds sung The dirge of lovely Rosabelle.

The tutor of the brothers was another F.P. of the School. This was William Meston, son of the blacksmith of Midmar, who left the School in 1694, in which year he and a William Leask are found on the School register as paying the usual due " on their going to the Colledge." Meston graduated in 1698, and became a master in the School in 1701, demitting office in May, 1713. He became a regent in Marischal College in November, 1715, by the interest of the Countess Marischal, and engaged wildly in the rising that year, being appointed by the family governor of Dunnottar Castle. He was deposed from his office in the College, it having been proved that he had assisted the rebels with a drawn sword in proclaiming the Pretender at the Cross in Castle Street. He skulked in the hills after the battle of Sheriffmuir, and, after a chequered and not too wise career, he died in the spring of 1745. He was buried in the Spital Churchyard, and another F.P., John Skinner, author of " Tullochgorum," wrote an inscription for a proposed memorial which was never erected, and the spot of interment is, consequently, unknown.

The portrait of the Field-Marshal is reproduced, by permission of Mr. P. J. Anderson, from the plate in the " Fasti " of Marischal College, vol. ii., p. 292. It is from the painting, in possession of the University, by Belle, and represents him as a young man.

He was born in • 1696. Another portrait, belonging to Lord Kintore, is reproduced in the window of the Mitchell Hall in the College, and shows him in much later life.

WM. KEITH LEASK.

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Christmas Day in Rome.

A BAND of wild Scotchmen in a city full of the suave and swarthy sons of the South might possibly be looked upon as a thing calculated to attract attention and call forth the comments (if not the fears) of the natives of the place. And so it might do anywhere else ; but it is. different in Rome, where nothing is unnatural or out of place, and nothing causes surprise.

All the world has. come to Rome, and in the coming has brought along with it all its various ways and manners. Frenchman, American, Japanese, and Arab all meet in Rome, and, glorying in their native tongue and native dress, swagger down the street as much at home as if in their respective " own and. native " lands. And the Scot, too, finds himself at home in Rome. He has grown more patriotic and prouder than ever of his heather and his tartan, and is eloquent on the rich delights of kale and oatcakes and haggis! It is the Romans themselves who excite any interest in Rome, and just because we are a colony from across the seas, we fail entirely to attract notice amidst the crowd of strangers. that flock here, and for the self-same reason, forming a little nation of ourselves, we neither know much of the.

Italian people nor care to fall into their ways, but turn our efforts rather to bringing Scotland into Rome and making ourselves forget our exile.

And so, when Christmas-time comes round, we fetch in evergreens and deck the house just as we do at home, and on Christmas Eve, when everything is ready, we congregate round the fire in the common-room, and in good old style spin Christmas yarns and crack time-honoured jokes and raise the never-failing Christmas ghosts, till the air grows thick with tobacco-smoke, and weird, uncanny forms hover round our heads and cling to us unpleasantly_ And now it is near midnight, and time to be preparing to welcome in the morn that is hailed throughout all Christendom as the dawn of its redemption.

Our little chapel is unsuited to large functions, but it is warm and cosy, especially to-night, lit up as it is and bright with flowers and evergreens and burning candles.

The great picture of St. Andrew above the high altar, looking down on the surpliced choir, looks beyond it on many Scotch and English faces come there to-night to be near their countrymen and join their voices to theirs.

Christmas Day in Rome.

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Here we sing our welcome to the Babe, and when we cease, as God is born in our midst again, the bell peals out overhead, and its joyous note is taken up by another and another till the whole sleeping city is awake and filled with one great cry of joy echoing and re-echoing across the night. It is a thrilling sound, raising one's thoughts above the petty cares of earth, and it all seems like an unreal dream when we look back upon it in the cold light of.

Christmas Day, when the busy world is afoot once more,. and the daily round of life goes on as usual.

The beggars are especially numerous to-day, and more importunate than usual. They pluck you by the sleeve, and follow you, persisting in their entreaties. " A soldo, Signore, for the Holy Child's sake! I am hungry, Signore —I am hungry and cold." They cling to you tenaciously, convinced that on such a day as this charity cannot be cold or dead. At the church-doors they crowd in numbers— aged, blind, and maimed--each with his own tale of sorrow to relate, and each more instant than his neighbour.

Inside the churches, what a sight! From the door inwards a great mass of people stands crowded together, whilst in the aisles a ceaseless stream keeps moving as people go out and come in. The whole building is a blaze of light, and upon wall and pillar hang banners and draperies of gold and silk and other festive decorations.

The air is filled with the smell of incense and the music of the choir, now loud and joyous as it sings the glory of the Lord, now soft and reverent as it whispers the great mystery of God made Man. And at the altar the silent ministers move to and fro, and the sacrifice proceeds, the priest's voice rising now in solemn chant, now hushed in silent prayer, till the Divine Child comes down again from Heaven, and the breathless church on bended knee pays homage to its God and its Redeemer. Outside, the clamour of the beggars ceases for a moment, and men as they pass by bare their heads. Here is the " living Church," and it is only here on such a day as this that one can see and realise the meaning of the word.

But as we turn our steps back to College, our thoughts drop from the pinnacles round which they have been soaring, as if too heavy to sustain themselves upon the thin air wafted round such heights. We remember that Christmas dinner is in front of us, and at the very thought step out quicker, in case we may be late—as if anyone were ever

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late for. Christmas dinner! That ceremony is the same the wide world over—wherever Celt or Saxon is, at anyrate—and the Scots College, Rome, is no exception to the rule. To describe it is a task reserved' for pens far loftier and more eloquent than mine, and we can fill the gap by turning over the pages of Dickens or Charles Lamb.

Christmas letters come at this time, and operations are suspended and the buzz of conversation lulled for a few minutes till each one reads his letters from home. Soon, however, we are at work again, and the talk grows louder than before. Messages from old College friends and schoolfellows are tossed down the table and back again, old times are recalled and old adventures retold with added gusto, and the day is wearing on before we rise to go.

And now the evening is before us, and how can we spend it better than in the good, approved Horatian style, with song and dance and rich Falernian, and logs piled high upon the hearth ? A concert is proposed, and a jolly concert it is that we have, when everyone is ready and willing to sing and as ready to applaud. We dispense with bay-wreaths and crowns of honour and many other details that Horace would, no doubt, have deemed essential, but we prolong the evening in our jolly way till several of us, sleepy after last night's vigil, show unmistakable signs of weariness. Then, rising all together, we join hands and rend the night air with a lusty " Auld Lang Syne "—doubtless to the serious alarm of poor old Father Tiber—and as we drop asleep, our thoughts go flying over seas and conAnd we tinents, and 'picture Christmas Day at home. think of our friends in the "land of brown heath and shaggy wood," and endorse the sentiment that somehow comes with a familiar ring upon our ear, " Excepto quod non simul essent cetera laeti."

WM. R. CLAPPERTON. Collegio Scozzese, Rome, Jan. 27, igo8.

School Football Notes.

8

ON Saturday, October 12, there was a match at School against the znd 'Shire The School kicked off, and pressed from the start. For a long time their efforts to score were fruitless, but at last Saunders scored a try, which M'Allan converted. After a time, during which the play was in midfield, the School forwards rushed, but were repulsed.

The ball was punted back, and M'Allan followed up and scored before the 'Shire back could touch the ball down.

He failed to bring out full points. At half-time the score was 8 points (i goal, i try) to o, in favour of the School.

When play was resumed, the 'Shire made a more spirited defence, but were never near scoring. Saunders was the first to score after the recommencement of the game. Soon afterwards Abbey scored by touching down a throw-in and running with it over the goal-line.

The passing of the three-quarters was better than it had been in the previous game. There was no further scoring, and for the rest of the game play was well contested. The score was 14 points (z goal, 3 tries) to o, for the School. Duncan played a good steady game, although not severely tested.

A match was played at School on 1 gth October, against 2nd Queen's Cross. Our opponents kicked off, and the School were soon in their 25. A free-kick was awarded to them, and soon afterwards a run in which there was good passing resulted in Ghee's scoring behind the posts.

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M'Allan brought out full points. Better play on the part of the Queen's almost enabled them to score, but a forward The School pressed again, and pass stopped their run. scored through M`Kenzie, to whom the ball was passed by M'Allan, when he was tackled on the goal-line. M'Allan converted the try. At the end of the first half, the score was 1o points to o. Several times in the second half the School forwards were able to stop the ball from placekicks, before it had risen. After evenly contested play, a run by the School brought them near the goal-line. Mauls at five yards resulted in Walker's scoring a try. Soon a free-kick was awarded to the School, who were not successful in it. Walker scored again in spite of a spirited defence, and Stewart converted the try. The final score was 18 points (3 goals, i try) to o, in favour of the School.

On Wednesday, October 23, a practice-game was played between the School and the 'Varsity. The 'Varsity kicked They made a off, and at once gained the upper hand. the beginafter Soon stopped. was this but xush, forward ning of the game, J. S. Stewart was disabled from play on account of a knock he received in tackling one of the 'Varsity men. At half-time the score stood at 14 points (1 goal, 3 tries) to o. During the second half the scoring was more rapid—in fact, 28 points were added to the score, making a total of 42 points to o. This score was made up of 4 goals, i dropped goal, and 6 tries. Cheyne, Mulligan, Trail, Reid, Bayne, Hogg, Stewart, Murray, and Anderson scored tries for the 'Varsity, and Stewart dropped a goal.

On the afternoon of Saturday, October 26, there was a match between teams representing the School and 1 st Some of the 1st Queen's players were Queen's Cross. playing the trial for the North. As there had been a good deal of rain, the teams lined up to play on a damp and Mr. Milne refereed during the game. slippery ground.

The School kicked off, but had to defend almost immediately, which they did well. It was easier for them to run on the slippery ground. As the game proceeded it seemed likely that there would be no scoring : none took place in The School were feeling the need of the first half. in what might have been turned into assistance Stewart's the attack, if he had been able to play. The School played well, Duncan at back more than once keeping the Queen's from scoring. Towards the end of the game a " carriedover " was awarded against the School, and R. Johnstone

School Football Notes.

8.7

scored a try for the Queen's. The School tried hard to equalize, but before they could do so Mackintosh scored a try, which Johnstone converted.

After some difficulty, Saunders got over the line for the School. The final score was 8 points (I goal, I try) to 3 points (I try), in favour of i st Queen's Cross.

A match was played against the 2nd F.P.'s at Mannofield on November 2. The School played without Duncan, whose place at full back was filled by J. S. Stewart. Cheyne took Stewart's place at three-quarters. The School kicked off against the wind, and for a while they had to defend.

At length they brightened up and played well. After getting the ball in the mauls, they nearly scored several times, but the would-be scorers were brought down just on the goal-line. In the middle of the first half Jenkyns scored for the F.P.'s, and the School held their own till half-time. After that the F.P.'s pressed, but no scoring resulted, and the School soon regained their confidence.

Thanks to the three-quarters, the F.P.'s were not often allowed to get away. At one time the School seemed very likely to score. Towards the end of the game the F.P.'s pressed, and, just before the whistle blew for time, Williamson scored for them. The match thus ended in a win for the F.P.'s by 6 points (2 tries) to o.

On November 9 a match was played at King's College, before a good gathering of spectators, against Gordon's College. Gordon's kicked off, but gained no opening. The School defence was pretty sound. The forwards succeeded in getting the ball in the " scrums," but no advantage was taken of the opportunities thus offered. After a lot of play in midfield, the School pack worked its way near the goal-line, but a free-kick to Gordon's brought the ball back again. There was no scoring in the first half of the game.

In the second half, as a result of steadier and more pushing play, Gordon's gained several openings, though for a time their efforts to score were fruitless. At length, from a maul at five yards, Grubb scored for Gordon's. The kick failed. Soon there was a free-kick to Gordon's, but Johnston again failed with the kick. Cowie broke away, but was tackled by Duncan, and laid out by Adam before he had got up speed again. Gordon's thus won by 3 points (I try) to o.

On Wednesday, November 20, a match was played between teams representing the Classical and Modern sides

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of the School. The result was a foregone conclusion, the question being the amount of scoring which would take place. The Classical side had by far the better team, and won easily, but the Moderns played up pluckily in spite of the fact that they were getting beaten from first to last.

Their opponents pressed from the outset, but for a while they were repulsed. Tomory succeeded in scoring for the Classicals owing to a misunderstanding on the Modern side as to who shculd take the ball. Soon afterwards M'Allan and then Stewart each scored a try. At half-time the score was ig points to o. During the second half the Moderns scored once by means of Ferguson, while the Classical score rose from ig points (2 goals, 3 tries) to 5o points (7 goals, 5 tries). Stewart, Sorley, and M'Allan scored for them during the second half. Stewart did so five times.

The final result was so points to 3.

School v. 2nd Gordon's College F.P.'s, on November 18..

School v. 2nd Queen's Cross, on November 23. Both the above matches, which were to have been played at School, had to be declared off on account of the weather.

On Saturday morning, November 3o, a match was played at King's College against the 'Varsity A. They kicked off, and pressed, but were repulsed. The School kept well within their opponents' territory. The game was well contested, but the School gradually lost ground, and Findlay succeeded in scoring for the 'Varsity. The School played up after this reverse, and soon Sorley scored a try, which M'Allan converted. The School continued in their opponents' half of the field. Several times they would have been over the line but for the splendid efforts of Murdoch Murray. At last Stewart scored for the School, and M'Allan brought out full points. At half-time the score was to points (2 goals) to 3 points (I try), in favour of the School. In the second half several good attempts at scoring were made by the 'Varsity, but none were successful. Tothe wards the end of the game a free-kick was awarded towith School, and Stewart dropped a goal. The School won the final score at 13 points (2 goals, t dropped goal) to 3 points (i try). znd G.C.F.P.'s v. School.—The match was played pitch_ at the School on December 7, on a frostbound F.P.'s the and team, School the from absent M'Allan was also started with fourteen men. Gordon's kicked off, and play settled down in the School 25. A free-kick, however,

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brought relief, and soon after this Stewart almost landed a penalty goal. The resultant drop-out brought no relief to Gordon's, and a fine rush by the School forwards caused Cockburn to touch down. Almost immediately Stewart got the ball, after a round of passing, and scored, but the kick failed. Some uninteresting play in midfield ensued, and Adam got the ball from a throw-out. The School forwards, breaking away, swept down the field, the opposing backs being powerless to stop them, and Walker capped a magnificent rush by getting over near the corner. The try was not converted. At this point Sorley, who had been playing well, had to go off owing to a twisted foot, and Walker was taken out of the pack, leaving the School with six forwards. Gordon's took the ball up the field, and Farquharson went over rather flukily. Half-time score— F.P.'s, 3 points ; School, 6 points. On resuming, the School were•pressed back to their line, but a free-kick brought some relief. The School got up the field, and forced Gordon's to touch down twice in rapid succession. Gordon's used their feet well, and for the next five minutes all the play was on the School line. Then Farquharson spoiled a .certain try for Gordon's by fumbling with the ball, and then throwing it wildly into touch, high over his three-quarters' head. A minute later, Adam got off at full speed from a '" scrum," but Cockburn managed to bring him down in time. From now the School forwards were entirely outplayed, and only good kicking by the backs kept the School line safe. H. Adam and Anderson were conspicuous at touch. The School were gradually pressed back, and Macandrew scored for Gordon's after a scramble on the line.

Farquharson failed with the kick. The F.P.'s now pressed harder than ever, in their efforts to wipe out the defeat sustained by them at the hands of the 2nd School on the previous Saturday. Walker was finding touch well by neat kicks, but Gordon's still pressed. The game ended thus, in semi-darkness. Score : —F.P.'s, 2 tries (6 points) ; School, 2 tries (6 points). Good football was impossible on the icy ground, and the School did not do themselves justice.

Adam, Walker, Stewart, and Gordon were the best of the backs ; and .Anderson, Fenton, and H. Adam the best of -the forwards, the first-named leading every rush in grand style. Mr. C. R. Macleod refereed, to the satisfaction of both sides.

On December 14 the School played the return match

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with 2nd Queen's Cross on their ground at SummerhilL Queen's Cross kicked off, and rushed, but the ball was returned well within their half of the field, and kept there for most of the time. Towards the end of the first half, a fine run by A. Adam from the half-way line resulted in a try for the School. Walker failed to bring out full points.

In the second half, the Queen's, who had the heavier team, began to press, and several times they almost succeeded in scoring, but Duncan found touch up the field, and the pressure was relieved. Then the School team worked its way right up the field, and a run on the part of the threequarters resulted in the scoring of a try by Stewart, which was disallowed by the referee on account of a forward pass. They did not succeed in getting over the line again, and the score at the end of the game was 3 points (i try) to o, in favour of the School.

School v. 'Varsity.—On Wednesday, January 15, 19O8,. there was a match between teams representing the 'Varsity and the School. As the School team had been improving since the first match with the 'Varsity, it was to-. be hoped that the score would not be so high as before.

The School kicked off, and played up well. During the first half there were three tries—two for the School, scored

by J. S. Stewart, and one for the 'Varsity by Cheyne. In the second half the 'Varsity scored three times by means of Mulligan, Reid, and Anderson. Anderson's try was converted by Falconer. The game ended in a win for the 'Varsity by 14 points to 6.

On Saturday, January 18, there was a match against Gordon's College, played at the School. Gordon's, winning the toss, played up the field against the sun. The School kicked off, and played well within the Gordon's half ; for a great part of the game the ball was kept there. It was some time before the School could score ; several times they almost succeeded, but at length Walker scored for them, and M'Allan converted. Later on, J. S. Stewart was tackled near the goal-line, and passed to M'Allan, who scored, and brought out full points.

At half-time the score was io—o in favour of the School, but we could not be sure of winning. Gordon's came away with a will, and the weight of their forwards told in their favour. They were very nearly successful in scoring several times, but Awing to the efforts of the School three-quarters, who-

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played a splendid game, they were prevented from breakingaway. A few minutes before time, Moir scored for Gordon's, but Johnstone failed to convert the try. The School won by 1 o points (2 goals) to 3 points (I try).

2ND XV. MATCH. On the afternoon of Saturday, November 3o, there was a game between 2nd School and znd Gordon's College F.P.'s, played at Summerhill. The game was fast and well contested. The F.P.'s seemed to have the better of the School in the mauls, and were in their half for a long time..

However, the pressure was relieved, and a run by some of the School team almost resulted in a try being scored by them. A fine run ended in the scoring of a try for the F.P.'s. It was not, however, converted. At half-time the scoring was 3 points (i try) to o, in favour of 2nd Gordon's College F.P.'s. In the second half the School maintained the upper hand, and, after several had attempted in vain,, Walker succeeded in scoring a try, which was not converted. A little while before"time, Walker kicked a goal from a free-kick awarded to the School. Thus the match ended in a win for the 2nd School—for whom Walker, M'Allan, and Saunders were playing—by 6 points (1 penalty goal, i try) to 3 points (I try).

The School XV.----loo7=8.

IN GENERAL. The XV. have a greatly improved side since the commencement of the season, but capable of doing much better than they have done so far. With one or two exceptions, are bad scorers, and do not grasp their opportunities.

Lacking in combination behind the scrum, the result of not taking and giving passes whilst on the run. Both threequarters and halves tackle well. Forwards, though light, have played a. plucky game, but should practise heeling out at once, pushing all at the same time, and jumping for the ball at touch.

FULL BACK. C. Duncan.—Played well at the beginning of the season, but has fallen off considerably. Hesitation in a full back is fatal ; should put more dash into his play.

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THREE-QUARTERS. J. Ritchie.—Might use his speed and dodging power to greater advanage. Would be good in attack if he took his pass on the run.

B. Saunders.—Very light for a centre three-quarters, Plays to his wing but has improved in stopping rushes. most unselfishly.

J. Stewart.—Strong in defence, brilliant in attack, and knows when to kick (and kick well) to advantage. Ought to assert his authority more than he does.

W. Walker.—As good a three-quarter as a forward, and a good kick. Has improved immensely, and is a very useful man.

HALVES. Adam.—Defends well, and has improved in getting the ball out quickly to his " threes."

Gordon.—Sound in defence, but weak in attack.

Both should try to combine much more than they do.

FORWARDS. M'Allan.—Fast, and works well, though inclined at times to wing in the open. A good kick.

Law.—A very hard-working forward; possessed of considerable weight, which he uses to the best advantage.

Should develop his speed.

Anderson.—Good with his feet in the loose, and has improved greatly.

Adam.—Works well, and has a good knowledge of the game.

Smith.—Plays a useful, if not brilliant, game.

Fenton.—Very light, but packs well in the scrum.

Weak in tackling and in the loose.

M`Kenzie.—An in-and-out player. Tackles far too high, and inclined to be off-sides. Is improving.

Ghee.—Kicks far too hard in the loose, and does not like stopping forward rushes. A sturdy player who, with a little care, might be a very good forward.

" Debater" Notes.

93

General Meeting, October 2, 1907.—On the above date. the Society met in Room I., at 4 p.m.—Mr. Murison in thechair. The patrons and honorary office-bearers were reelected. The following were elected acting office-bearers : —President, J. M'Allan ; Vice-Presidents, E. Main and A. L. Thomson; Secretary and Treasurer, W. G..

Walker ; Committee—C. Buchan, W. Inkster, I. G. Innes, R. Forgan, and B. T. Saunders. A committee meeting was. afterwards held to arrange the programme for the coming, session.

October r1.—On this evening the Society met in' Room I.—Mr. M'Allan in the chair. The programme was impromptu, and a " Hat-Night " was proposed and/ adopted.. Several good debates, notably " Should we have a press censor ? ", were engaged in. There were 26 present, and the meeting lasted till 9.3o.

October 18.—On this evening Mr. Murison, our Honorary President, delivered a paper on " Queer People and Queer Stories." Mr. M'Allan presided.

Mr. Murison began by confessing that his paper was an old one, the only new thing about it being the title. He then went on to describe different kinds of fools, such as court and, town fools, and to give historical examples of each kind.

His paper was full of splendid anecdotes connected with each different fool, and those present enjoyed them very much. At the close of the lecture, Mr. M'Allan called fora vote of thanks to Mr. Murison, and this was heartily accorded. In replying, Mr. Murison stated he had been President of the Society for fifteen years. A vote of thanks was awarded to Mr. M'Allan. A " Hat-Night" was held afterwards, and lasted till 9.3o. The attendanceat the lecture was almost 5o.

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October 25.—On this evening the Society met in Room I. to criticise the Magazine, which had just appeared. The chief object of adverse criticism were the "Athletic Notes," the writer of which was absent from the meeting.

Mr. J. D. Smith spoke in flattering terms of the new •design for the cover. Several members, chiefly raw recruits, wasted their breath and the time of the Society in criticising the advertisements. The placing of " Random Notes " next to an " In Memoriam " was commented upon

by Mr. Thomson. When the criticisms were all stated, the editors replied, in most cases satisfactorily.

November z.—On this evening the annual " Heckling Night" was held in Room I. The candidates were—for Rosemount, Messrs. Lyon, Innes, and Walker; for St. Machar, Messrs. Clarke and Thomson.

Mr. Thomson began, and, after his oration, was submitted to a vigorous heckling, which left his politics in rather a dilapidated condition.

Mr. Clarke followed, and after his speech and heckling were finished, the candidates for the other ward " came on." Mr. Lyon came first, but did not show such erudition upon municipal matters as might have been expected. Mr. Walker was next, and had a rather lively time of it over the Harbour Improvements Scheme. Mr. Innes was the last to orate, but he was the best. In the vote which followed, Mr. Clarke was returned for St. Machar and Mr. Innes for Rosemount.

November 8.—On this evening the Society met in Room V. to hear a lecture by Mr. J. B. Philip, M.A., upon " A Tour in Sweden." Mr. Middleton presided over a large attendance.

Mr. Philip dealt with the remoter part of Sweden, describing especially peasant life there. A large number of excellent photographic views were shown, giving pictures of the mountains, lakes, and woods of the district, as well as of the peasants and their houses. Mr. Philip told many amusing incidents which happened while he was staying at hotels, or travelling over the country in a farm-cart. The lecture was very able and instructive all through, and well merited the applause which it received at the end. Mr. Middleton proposed a vote of thanks to the lecturer. The lantern was in the capable hands of Mr. J. P. Cameron. After the lecture, an ordinary meeting was held, and a " Hat-Night " lasted until the usual time for closing.

" Debater" Notes.

95

Noy ember rs.—On this evening the Society met in Room I., at 7 p.m. The business for the evening was a debate--" Should we abolish trial by jury? " A ff., Mr. A. L. Thomson; Neg., Mr. R. Forgan.

Mr. Thomson started, and was followed by Mr. Forgan.

Then the debate was made open to the meeting, and a fairly brisk -discussion ensued. The vote resulted in favour of Mr. Forgan by nine votes.

A " Hat-Night " was held after the debate.

November 22.—On this evening the programme arranged was " Readings," but Mr. Main proposed a " SingSong." A counter motion by Messrs. Edward and Sorley was defeated. The " Sing-Song" was a failure, and its backers left the meeting. A " Hat-Night " was then held, with Mr. Thomson in the chair.

November 29.—The business for this evening was a debate—" Are we too fond of sport ? " A ff., Mr. E. Main ; Neg., Mr. J. M'Allan. Mr. Main, commencing, said he was a sportsman himself.

He said one reason for foreign •commercial superiority was our fondness for sport.

In athletic sports, the spectators were the chief evil.

He ,described in humorous terms the Saturday of a football enthusiast. Mr. Main also referred to the evils of betting, fox-hunting, and rabbit-coursing. Mr. M'Allan said the love of sport was inherent in all Britons, and that sport and liberty went hand in hand. The volunteers benefited by sport, and foreign nations were copying our games.

He spoke of the way in which sport broke down social barriers, as was seen especially at the Derby.

When a vote was taken, Mr. M'Allan had a majority of two votes in thirty-two.

December 6.—" Judicial Night " was held this evening, and was a great success. Mr. Jameson was judge, and the 'counsel were Messrs. Thomson, Forgan, M'Allan, and Saunders. Mr. Walker was usher. The witnesses were all comic characters, although the case was one of murder, Mr. Innes being the accused.

December r3.—There was no meeting held this evening, owing to the University Choral Concert.

December 20.--This evening the Society had the pleasure of listening to an F.P. of the School, now a mining engineer in China. Mr. A. J. Reid was introduced to the Society by the Rector, who referred to the large

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number of valuable exhibits presented to the Museum by Mr. Reid. The lecture began with several views taken on the voyage to China, which was the subject of the lecture.

He gave vivid descriptions of life in China, telling several of his own adventures with Boxers. His slides showing buildings were specially interesting. Mr. Reid delivered his lecture in a very racy and humorous style, speaking very lightly of the dangers he had come through. At the end of the lecture, Mr. Simpson proposed a vote of thanks. to Mr. Reid, who, in replying, showed several interesting mementoes of his life in China, including an old banking account, an opium pipe, and a lady's shoe about three inches long. Mr. Reid said he was very glad to come back among his " school-fellows," and returned thanks for the A vote of thanks to Mr. attention he had received.

Simpson was proposed, and the meeting dispersed. After the lecture, the " Sing-Song " was held. The programme included songs by Messrs. Ritchie, Will, Watson, and Reid.

The committee had a rousing reception with " Clementine."

Readings were given by Messrs. Main, Fenton, and Edwards. An excellent evening, prolonged by the kindness of the Janitor until 10 p.m., was brought to a. close by singing " Auld Lang Syne." Refreshments were provided

by Mr. Forgan in his usual style.

January zo.—The programme arranged for this evening was a debate—" Wallace v. Tell," but as one of the principals had not his paper ready, Mr. Main volunteered to give a lecture on " Mark Twain." The paper was an amusing one, and interspersed by well-chosen selections from various books of Mark Twain's. Mr. Main concluded his lecture with several anecdotes about the famous.

After the paper was read, a " Hathumorous author. and lasted till the hour for breakcommenced, Night" was ing up.

January 17.—There was no meeting on this evening,. as Mr. Middleton was unable to give his lecture upon " America."

January 241.—On this evening the Society met in Room V. to hear a lecture by the Rector on " Viking Ships." Mr. Simpson began by saying that his subject was interesting because of the close connection it had with British history.

He said the development of the world was divided into three ages—stone, bronze, and iron—and the ships that he was to treat of belonged to the later iron age. The pictures

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97

shown upon the screen were very interesting, and included several views of the Viking ships as they had been when they sailed the seas, and also several photographs of the remains of Viking ships, one of which had been used to bury a king in. There were also shown pictures of various parts of armour, such as swords and axes. Mr. Main presided, and called for a vote of thanks to Mr. Simpson, which was heartily given.

January 3r.—On this evening Rev. D. Ritchie Key delivered his lecture upon " Mountain Memories." There was a very disappointing turn-out, much smaller than would have been expected from Mr. Key's reputation in the School as a lecturer. The lecture took the form of a tour through the Alps, and Mr. Key took us over all the parts of Switzerland he himself had visited. The photographic views shown were mostly taken by Mr. Key himself, and included several really wonderful views of waterfalls and mountains. The small audience listened attentively to the lecture, which was brightened by various humorous touches, and, at the end, all showed by their hearty vote of thanks that Mr. Key had fully upheld the dignity of his position as Geographer-in-Chief to the " Debater."

W. G. WALKER, Secretary.

Natural History Society's Notes.

October 18, 1907.—On this date the Society met in Room I.—A. L. Thomson in the chair. The business for the evening was two papers—one by A. R. Fraser (F.P.) on " Thomas Edward," and the other by E. W. Fenton on " British Orchids." However, before these papers were read, the Rector's proposal that Archaeology be included among the subjects recognised by the Society, was considered, and it was resolved to include it—the vote resulting 24 in favour and 9 against. The election of a committee member in the place of A. R. Fraser was then held, and W. R. Tennant was elected by a majority of 6 over R. S. Snowie. The two papers were then read, A. R. Fraser reading his first. They were both exceedingly interesting and instructive. I. G. Innes proposed a vote of thanks to the speakers, and the meeting broke up at 7 p.m.

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November 1, 1907.-Mr. Alfred W. Gibb, B.Sc., delivered on this date a lecture on " Underground Palaces."

Mr. Chas. Davidson presided, and introduced the lecturer in a few words. At the outset, Mr. Gibb said that the primary cause of underground palaces or dungeons was that little stalactite which can be seen hanging down from the arch of any railway bridge. By means of a slide he showed us that stalactites and stalagmites were formed by water oozing through a limestone surface. He showed on the screen, and described to us as he proceeded, the following famous grottoes : —St. Canzain, in France ; the Adelsberg Grotto, in Austria—which, by the way, he said was now all lighted by electricity ; and, lastly, the great Mammoth Cave of U.S.A. He said there was quite a number of limestone caves in Scotland and England, such as the Smu Cave, near Cape Wrath ; a cave in the island of Eig, where a band of Macdonalds were once smothered ; the cave near the Peak, in Derbyshire ; and the famous Cave of St. Cuthbert, in the Fame Islands. He concluded by describing some of the animals which inhabit these caves, all of which he said were blind. J. Ewing (F.P.) proposed a vote of thanks to Mr. Gibb, and the meeting broke up at 7.15 p.m.

November 8, 1907.—On this date the Society met in Room I., the business for the evening being " Impromptu Discussions." A. L. Thomson presided, and there was a fair attendance, composed mostly of members of Classical III. and IV. The lack of older members consequently spoiled the meeting, as those that were present either could not or would not give their opinions as to interesting questions in natural history Whether the black-headed gull should be protected or not was keenly discussed ; also, the question as to the very varied colour of guillemot's eggs aroused a little interest, but the Society as a whole seemed to be restless and not at all desirous to listen to the discussion of interesting questions. Many subjects of minor importance were also discussed, the chief speakers being E. Main, A. R. Fraser (F.P.), E. W. Fenton, A. L. Thomson, and H. Shand. This rather unsuccessful meeting broke up at 7 o'clock.

November 15, 1907.—The Society met in Room I. on this date—A. L. Thomson in the chair. The business for the evening was two papers—one by I. G. Innes on " Bird Life in Strathdon," and the other by A. G. Davidson (F.P.) on " Cuckoo Problems."

The minutes of last meeting

Natural History Society's Notes. having been read and approved of, I. G. Innes read his paper. He described, at the outset, the parish of Strathdon, and then dwelt on the birds which are found in the parish, more minutely touching on the ptarmigan, the golden eagle, and the ring-ouzel.

His paper was not criticised by any means keenly, but A. G. Davidson's paper, which dealt with the peculiarities of the cuckoo's breeding habits, the way in which it transports its eggs, and the selfish habits of the young cuckoo, was very keenly criticised indeed, the chief critics being J. Ewing (F.P.), B. T. Saunders, E. Main, the Chairman, and I. G. Innes.

J. D. Smith proposed a vote of thanks to the speakers, and the meeting broke up at the usual hour.

November 22, 19o7.—Mr. Lewis N. G. Ramsay delivered on this date a lecture on " Wild Life in Asia Minor." The President, A. L. Thomson, presided, and introduced the lecturer, who at first described the physical features of Asia Minor, where he said he had spent two months' holidays.

He then proceeded to describe the birds he had encountered in his wanderings. He said that on the higher slopes of the hills in that country one found many of the birds which are common in Britain. He next described the birds common in Asia Minor—the little owl, the hoopoe, the chukor partridge, the robin-chat, the white-tailed eagle, and the lesser kestrel. He illustrated his statements by means of specimens of eggs, etc. He also showed several slides of the buildings, ruins, and hills of the country, and concluded by a description of several of the small mammals he had encountered, one of which belonged to a species hitherto unknown to science. His lecture was exceedingly interesting and instructive.

B. T. Saunders proposed a vote of thanks, and the meeting terminated at 7.1o.

November 29, 1907.—On this date A. L. Thomson delivered a paper on "The Migration of Birds "—E. Main, Vice-President, presiding. At the outset he dealt with the various beliefs about migration and hibernation.

He then proceeded to discuss the known facts and such minor problems as those of altitude and velocity. Next he dealt with the three main problems : --(I) The origin of the habit of migration, caused, he said, by the climatic changes of the Great Ice Age ; (2) the present stimuli of migration, which, he said, were scarcity of food in autumn and longing for their ancestral breeding haunts in spring ; (3) " How do migrants find their way ? " to which, he said,

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Aberdeen Grammar School Magazine.

there was no satisfactory solution, but he said there was apparently hereditary knowledge of route, with great natural sense of direction. J. Ewing (F.P.) proposed a hearty vote of thanks, and the meeting broke up at the usual hour.

January zo, 1908.—Dr. John Rennie delivered on this date a lecture on " Prehistoric Peeps at Animals "—Mr. Chas. Davidson presiding. With his usual good style the Chairman introduced the lecturer, who began by telling the Society why he had chosen such a peculiar title to his lecture, for, he said, his lecture must only dip into the great number of animals which had been, but now were not. In illustrating his very admirable lecture he showed about 85 slides, some of the most important of which were views of the mammoth, mastodon, pterodactyl, and other huge mammals and reptiles. J. D. Smith proposed a vote of thanks, and the meeting broke up at 7.2o.

January 17, 1908.—On this date the Society met in Room I.—E. Main in the chair. The business for the evening was two papers—one by J. D. Smith on " Unnatural History," the other by B T. Saunders on " The Travels of a Naturalist-Sportsman (A. E. Brehm)." The minutes having been read and approved of, J. D. Smith read his paper, which was, indeed, an excellent production, containing information which no one present had ever heard before. His references were mainly to Mandeville and the things he saw, or, rather, fancied he saw. His paper was illustrated by several excellent drawings by himself. B. T. Saunders then read his very interesting paper on Brehm, who, he said, had made many important discoveries in natural history through his own exertions.

He travelled to the Tundras, in the north of Siberia, at his own expense, but some of his theories had now been found to be wrong. I. G. Innes then proposed a vote of thanks to the speakers.

January 21, 1908.—On this date E. Main delivered a paper on "Lost and Vanishing British Birds "—B. T. Saunders, Vice-President, in the chair. The paper gave The evidence of very careful study of the subject. speaker said the kite was one of those birds which had lately been diminishing rapidly in this country. It was only, he said, found now in Wales, where it was rigorously protected. He laid stress on the fact that the great

Natural History Society's Notes.

101

auk, once a fairly common bird, was now totally extinct.

He mentioned the osprey as a decaying British species, and said that the golden eagle was not increasing. A. G. Davidson (F.P.) proposed a vote of thanks to the speaker.

The rest of the meeting was devoted to a discussion on likely places for summer excursions.

January 3r, 1908.—On this date Professor J. Arthur Thomson delivered, in Room V., an illustrated lecture on " Some Natural History Impressions in America "—Mr. Chas. Davidson in the chair. The lecturer, after having been introduced by the Chairman, described his voyage across to America and the objects of natural history interest which he observed en route. Probably the most interesting of these were the gulf weed and the phosphorescence. He next described very vividly the first things that struck him when he arrived on the other side—the general noise and hubbub in the woods at all times, and the vast size of the American fauna. He described to us several of his walks in the vicinity of Chicago, and several of the objects which interested him most. He then showed several slides, probably the most interesting of which was the view of a great tree, cut down in 1891, which was 1341 years old and 16 feet in diameter. Professor Thomson's description of it was undoubtedly the most striking part of his admirable lecture, towards the close of which he threw on the screen several views of bison and of the Niagara Falls. Mr. Davidson, in a very neat speech, thanked the lecturer, and asked the Society to accord him a hearty vote of thanks, and the meeting broke up at 6.55• IAN G. INNES, Secretary.

Our Contemporaries.

WE beg to acknowledge with thanks the following: — " The Scotch Collegian" (Melbourne) (2), " St. Andrew's College Magazine" (Grahamstown) (2), "St. Andrew's College Magazine" (Dublin), " The Lilliputian " (2), " The Yellow Dragon " (2), " The Forum " (2), " Arbroath High School Magazine," " The Edinburgh Academy Chronicle " (3), "The Blade," "The Mercers' School Magazine," " Kero " (2), " The Tooter " (4), " The Chronicle " (Niagara Falls), " Glasgow High School Magazine," " The Olavian " (2), " The Fettesian " (2), " The Glasgow Academy

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Aberdeen Grammar School Magazine.

Chronicle " (2), " Belfast Academical Institution," " School News," " C.A.I.," " The Madras College Magazine," " The Review," " Purple and Gold," " The Nelsonian." " The Scotch Collegian " has a very creditable " Original Column," which covers seven large pages. There are good reports of all the different sports, and the Preparatory School notes are well written. The Christmas number is a splendid production.

"St. Andrew's College Magazine" (G.) contains a charming " Life Story of a Red Jackal," as well as a very interesting article on "Experiences in Canada." The December number contains very little but football and cricket. " How Greece beat Rome" (at Rugby) is the most amusing story we have seen for a long time. " St. Andrew's College Magazine" (D.) seems to be rather slight for one that comes out only three times a year.

It contains, however, a clever story entitled " The Sorrowful Tale of a Tramp" " The Yellow Dragon," from Hong-Kong, is always welcome. " In the Flood" is a thrilling account of " Experiences of the Recent Inundations in Japan." Some of the " Sparks of Celestial Humour " in the December number are very good. " The Bowen Blade " has a good " Exchange Column."

The editorials are good, but somewhat prosy.

[Remarks on the remaining Contemporaries received have been held over owing to pressure on our space.]

The Former Pupils' Club.

Notes.

THE membership of the Club has been well maintained under the new rules. Up to the time of going to press, the number is practically the same as last year, and there is still a considerable number of members resident out of Aberdeen who have not yet paid their subscriptions for the current year. Will members kindly take the hint, so that a good report may be presented at the end of the financial year, 31st March, 1908. For this reason, it has been found advisable to delay the publication of the list of members to a future number.

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The Former Pupils' Club.

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The Executive are greatly gratified that the Magazine scheme is regarded with so much approval by the members of the Club; and, in particular, this approval is most gratifying to the Editors, who are doing all in their power to obtain suitable and interesting matter. It is well, however, to remind members that the success of the Magazine depends, to a certain extent, upon themselves. We are always very pleased to hear from old boys. Therefore, write us often : your everyday life and experiences are of great interest to our members. tf.

Our first issue is practically sold out. Twelve hundred copies were published, and copies were sent to a large number of old boys resident abroad. We have no doubt the High Schools Committee of the Aberdeen School Board are grateful for the splendid advertisement which the last issue gave, and future ones will give. .7.

The Executive had under consideration at their last meeting the formation of a branch of the Club in London.

In all probability, an informal dinner of our members resident in and around London will be held either within the next few weeks or in the early autumn, when the question will be discussed. We have a considerable number of members resident in London, but there must be a large number who are unaware of the Club, and who, if they knew, would be pleased to meet old friends at an annual dinner. Names and addresses of old boys who would be likely to attend such a function should be sent to our Honorary Secretary without delay.

The Club Evenings Committee are to be congratulated on the success of their first bridge match. Our guests were the Innocents' Club, who were defeated by a substantial majority.

The Dramatic Section gave a splendid representation of the farce " The New Boy " on 12th and i4th December last. On both occasions large audiences were present, and the play was thoroughly enjoyed. The Free Press says " the players gave a spirited and thoroughly enjoyable performance of the piece, playing smartly, and even ' closely,' and giving evidence of careful and skilful preparation"; and, " while the general standard was high, the individual

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Aberdeen Grammar School Magazine.

parts in several instances gave evidence of considerable talent." The Orchestral Section gave valuable assistance towards the success of the evenings. Both sections are greatly indebted to the ladies and gentlemen who assisted them on the occasion. :j.

The Cafe Chantant, which was held on zest December was also very successful. The Y.M.C.A. Hall was beautifully decorated, and, thanks to the ladies who so willingly presided at the tea tables, and the ladies and gentlemen who so kindly contributed to the programme, the afternoon and evening was most enjoyable.

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We are indebted to the Right Honourable Lord Strathcona and the late Admiral Sir Arthur Farquhar for handsome donations towards the funds of the Club. We have also to thank those of the members who became life members before a change was made in the subscription and who have since that time kindly sent the extra guinea necessary to bring their subscription up to the new standard: we are sure those who have not done so have unintentionally forgotten about the matter, and that they thoroughly appreciate the result of the change—i.e., the sending of the Magazine, jointly edited by the School and the Club, to all members post free.

The lecture on " Mountaineering" given by Mr. William Garden, in the Palace Hotel on 1st February was well attended. Mr. Garden showed us some magnificent slides of mountains in different ranges of the world, and we have to thank him for the enormous amount of trouble that he must have had in obtaining these. After the lecture, a short musical programme was contributed by members of the Club.

A suggestion has been made that, in the same way as we have a Football Section, we might also have a Cricket Section of the Club. In all probability, a meeting of those interested will be held at the close of the Annual Meeting in the beginning of April, and any further steps will depend upon the number present and the support likely to be given to the proposal.

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