AGS Magazine June 1916 by AGSFP Association

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Telephone 2274.

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Prices Moderate.

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CONTENTS. PHOTO OF THE BYRON HOUSE, HONEYBRAE

THE SCHOOL. MUSTER ROM.

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BOY SCOUTS WHO HAVE EARNED THE \VAR-SERVICE BADGE _ PRO PATRIA MORTUI -

NOTES ABOUT OLD BOYS •

NVANTED : A PAVILION

THE BYRON HOUSE, HONEYBRAE

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Facing p. 160

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OF THE FINAL RECRUITING OF THE GREEKS FOR THE TROJAN WAR WITH THE 4TH GORDONS AT TIIE FRONT LETTERS FROM THE MEDITERRANEAN

•

185

WOUNDED IN ACTION THE RECREATION GROUND SCHOOL NOTES RANDOM NOTES

&Hoot, CRICKET SCHOOL OFFICIALS

THE FORMER PUPILS' CLUB

SCHOOL LITERARY AND DEBATING SOCIETY

188 191 193 195 198

199

200

137 140 141 150 159 160 162 163 164 172 176

201

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1-7-17-, A New Edition of Neil Maclean's f IIlitk* well-known work has recently been published, with Notes and Ilius.71 -ii trations, at the Popular Price of 3s. 6d. net ; post free 3s. tod. (home), 4s. rd. (abroad).

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Vol. XIX.

JUNE, 1916.

No. 3.

The "Aberdeen Grammar School Magazine" is issued in October, February, and June, under the auspices of the Former Pupils' Club. All communications regarding the CLUB should be addressed to the Secretary and Treasurer, JAMES W. MILNE, C.A., 154 Union Street, Aberdeen ; and all communications regarding the MAGAZINE should be addressed to the Editor, THEODORE WATT, M.A., 10 Moray Place, Aberdeen. Articles, letters, notes, verses, photographs, etc., intended for the October, 1916, issue of the " Magazine" should be sent to the Editor not later than 30th September.

•

The School Muster Roll. Sixth Instalment.

With this instalment, in which there are some two dozen names, the publication of the Roll in its present form is brought to a conclusion. Now that compulsory military service has come, the raison d'iltre of " The School Muster Roll " has passed . away, for, if continued, it could no longer be regarded as constituting a Roll of Honour in the same sense as formerly. With regard to its compilation, it would probably be a simpler matter now to bring together the names of those Former Pupils of military age who are not serving than of those who are ! In connection with the Muster Roll a few words may be said about

The Roll of Pupils, 1813-1913. As previously announced, the publication of this Roll has been postponed until after the War; and in view of the notable part which Former Pupils of the School have taken and are taking in defending the Country, it will probably be

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Aberdeen Grammar School Magazine.

considered advisable to modify the original plan of the volume, adding to it as complete a record as possible of F.P. service in the War, and at the same time including the names of those who have left the School between 1913 and the date of publication. Any information which may assist in making the annotations in the Roll full and accurate will be welcomed by the compiler, Theodore Watt, 10 Moray Place, Aberdeen.

The Army. REGULAR FORCES. Royal Regiment of Artillery.

ROYAL FIELD ARTILLERY— StOtt, 2nd Lieutenant William Bethune (1903-14). Corps of Royal Engineers. Wilson, Motor Cyclist Reginald John George (1905-11)--

Signal Section. Foot Guards.

SCOTS GUARDS— Nicol, Private John Alexander (1895-99). Wilson, Private James (1903-08). Army Service Corps. Donaldson,' William Jamie (1909-11)--Motor Transport. Royal Army Medical Corps.

Lieutenant (temporary) Francis William (1898-99). Finlayson, Lieutenant (temporary) Harold Turner (18951907). Rae, Lieutenant (temporary) James Burnett (1886-97).

Davidson,

Army Veterinary Corps.

Cooper, John (1909-12). Army Chaplains' Department. Nicol, Rev. D.

Bruce (1900-02)-4th Class Chaplain.

Aberdeen Grammar School Maya:in e. TERRITORIAL

139

FORCE.

Yeomanry. SCOTTISH HORSE—

Wileoit, Trooper Eric Blackett-3/2nd Regiment. Royal Engineers.

SIGNAL SERVICE. HIGHLAND DIVISIONAL SIGNAL COMPANY— Ledingham, 2nd Lieutenant John Francis (1901-11). Infantry.

1 ,1TH (County of London) LONDON REGIMENT (London Scottish)— Duncan, Private David G. Cyril (1901-09). McLaren, Private Ian Malcolm (1896-1901). LUTISTS RIFLES OFFICERS TRAINING CORPS— Fraser, Cadet George Theodore (1903-08). Carvie, Cadet Hamilton Alexander (1893-96). Tonnochy, Cadet Alexander Bain (1897-1902). A SSAM—

COLONIAL AND OTHER TROOPS.

Lieutenant William H. G. (1889-96)—Assam Valley Light Horse.

H ally,

CANADA— Harper, Lance-Corporal Douglas (1888-98)-138th Over-

seas Battalion, C.E.F. Private John (1896-1900)-196th Overseas Battalion, C.E.F. Wallace, Sergeant Frederick Charles (1901-04)--100th Overseas Battalion, Winnipeg Grenadiers.

Sangster,

CEYLON— H ally,

Lieutenant Samuel John (1893-1901)—Ceylon Planters' Corps.

INDIA— Hector,

Private George Pittendrigh (1889-97)—Eastern Bengal Mounted Rifles. Hector, Trooper Kenneth Stuart (1893-1901)—Southern Provinces Mounted Rifles.

STRAITS SETTLEMENTS AND MALAY STATES— Danson, Chaplain Ernest Logic (1892-94)—Malay States

Rifle Volunteers.

140

.I hr

Gioiii /mir School Magazin( .

Boy Scouts who have earned the War= Service Badge. Lr. =Lower. Cl. = Classical. Mod. = Modern. The following list gives the school class, name, and troop of over 50 Boy Scouts who have qualified for the coveted warbadge at the Coastguard Stations, Military Hospitals, Y.M.C.A., Fire Station, etc., by service for the requisite number of attendances or continuous period on duty. Lr.V.B., G. Anderson, 12th; C1.1I.A., Charles W. G. Bodie, 23rd; Mod.IV., Ernest Brown, 9th; Cl.II.A., A. Cowie, 1st; Cl.I.A., James R. L. Cruickshank, 11th; C1.1.A., Douglas W. Duthie, 23rd ; Mod.II.B., A. W. Edward, 21st ; Cl.I.B., Alfred G. M. Edwards, 9th; Mod.II.A., John L. Fiddes, 1st; Lr.V.A., Kenneth Finlayson, 1st: Mod.I.A., George Gordon, 1st : Stanley Gaiter, 23rd ; Lr.IV.B., Alfred Grafton, 9th; Cl.II.A., Patrol Leader Walter Graham, 1st: Mod.I.A., Robert Gray, 21st; Cl.V., Patrol Leader Charles Kennaway, 9th; Mod. IV., James A. Kennaway, 9th; Cl.I.B., Donald Lamb, 23rd; Cl.III.A., Patrol Leader J. Leith, 9th; Mod.I.A., R. D. Lindsay, 1st; CLINT., Hugh Lister, 1st; Cl.I.A., Richard Lister, 9th ; Cl.I.A., James Macdonald, 1st; Cl.IV., Patrol Leader Ranald R. Macdonald, 1st; Mod.I.A., Ruari Macdonald, 1st; Lr.IV.B., Thos, K. Macdonald, 1st; Lr.V.B., D. McHardy, 23rd; Lr.V.A., H. McPherson, 9th; O1.III.A., Patrol Leader John A. Marr, 1st; Cl.II.A., J. W. S. Marr, 1st; Mod.III., Cornelius Mearns, 1st; Cl.III.B., Albert Minty, 23rd; Mod.II.B., Hugh Morgan, 1st; Cl.I.B., Hamish A. Munro, 9th; Lr.V.A., Alex. Paterson, 9th; Mod.II.A., Douglas Ross, 23rd; Mod.II.A., Percy Shirreffs, 11th : Lr.IV.A., Lionel Stewart, 1st Banchory ; Mod.II.A., William N. Stewart, 8th; Cl.III.B., R. Stott, 8th; Lr.IV.A., Alex. Taylor, 9th; Lr.IV.A., Alex. M. Thom, 1st Banchory : Cl.II.A., Wm. D. Symons, 1st; Cl.IV., Patrol Leader Alex. A. Walker, 9th; Mod.III., Alex. Moir Walker, 9th: Lr.V.A., C. G. Walker, 9th; Cl.II.B., George Walker, 1st; Mod.II.B., Wm. Welch, 1st; Cl.V., Patrol Leader Arch. M. Williamson, 9th; Cl.III.B., R. Bertram Williamson, 1st.

• Aberdeen Grammar School Magazine.

I41

Pro Patria )flortui. * Indicates Member of the Former Pupils' Club.

1Rubolf Center (1883-85), M.B., Fleet-Surgeon, Royal Navy, died at the Naval Hospital, Malta, on 28th April, aged 45. He was serving on H.M.S. Russell when she .struck a mine in the Mediterranean on 27th April and sank. He was very seriously injured by the explosions, and survived only for a day. On leaving the Grammar School he went to Charterhouse and thereafter studied at University College, London, and at the Universities of Aberdeen, Edinburgh, Strassburg, and Berlin. He took the M.B. and C.M. with honours at Edinburgh in 1893, and the M.R.C.S. and L.R.C.P., Lond., in 1896. In the latter year he entered the Navy, and his appointments abroad included the Fox, on the Cape Station, in 1898 ; the Ramillies, in the Mediterranean, in 1901 ; and the Cambrian, in Australian waters, in 1905 ; while at home he had served both in the hospital and the depot at Chatham, and at the Shotley training establishment. He was promoted Fleet. Surgeon in 1912, and qualified as a German interpreter in the previous year.

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Aberdeen Grammar School Magazine.

3obtt Drag* (1894-96), Captain, Indian Infantry, was killed in action in Mesopotamia on 11th April, aged 34 years. On leaving the Grammar School he was from 1896 to 1901 at Merchiston Castle School, Edinburgh. In the latter year he was captain of the school and of the Rugby football XV., when it was victorious in every match of the season, with a score of 341 points to nothing. From Merchiston he passed into the Royal Military School, Sandhurst, and was early appointed under-officer of the cadets. On leaving he was presented by Lord Roberts with the Sword of Honour as the most deserving cadet of the senior division. In January 1903 he joined the Somerset Light Infantry at Peshawar, Punjab, India, and in the following year he was gazetted to the Indian Army, serving with the 47th Sikhs until April, 1905, when he was transferred to the 36th Sikhs. He was promoted Captain in 1911, and in 1913 he officiated as General Staff Captain for the 8th Lucknow Division at Lucknow and Darjeeling. At the outbreak of the War he was stationed

Aberdeen Grammar School Magazine.

143

at Tientsin, China and when action was taken against the Germans he was Ant with his regiment to Tsingtau. In the subsequent operations he acted as Staff Captain and Transport Officer, and for his services was mentioned in dispatches. After the fall of Tsingtau, Captain Gray went with his regiment to Peshawar and took part in considerable fighting with the frontier tribes, who were very troublesome in this part of India in the autumn of last year. From Peshawar he was transferred to Mesopotamia, where he met his death in one of the attempts that were made to relieve Rut. " He was one of the sunniest, most unselfish natures it has ever been my lot to know," writes one who knew him intimately. " He was full of quiet power, and yet altogether lovable. For all his successes at School, at Sandhurst, and since, I don't believe he ever made an enemy in the world. I believe he was an extraordinary favourite with his Sikhs, and had a wonderful power over them."

freberich !Percival 1Robertson (1902-06), Lieutenant, 20th (4th Salford) Lancashire Fusiliers, was killed in France on 3rd March, aged 23 years. Before the War he was in the London office of the Liebig Company. He was a member of the London Scottish from 1909 onwards, and served with them in France from September 1914 to May 1915, when he was gazetted to the Lancashire Fusiliers. He had been only a short time at the Front with his Battalion when he was sent with a patrol to find out if the Germans were repairing some works that had been damaged by gun fire. This he did quite successfully, but while returning the party was noticed, and the enemy opened rapid fire. Lieutenant Robertson fell hit in the head and body, and was pluckily carried in by the two men who went out with him. He died about ten minutes later without having regained consciousness.

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Aberdeen Grammar School Magazine.

George Mitchell 3ohnston* (1898-1907), Captain, Royal Militia of Jersey, attached Royal Irish Rifles, was killed in action on 3rd April, aged 25 years. After 'leaving the School he studied at the Aberdeen and North of Scotland College of Agriculture and graduated B.Sc. (Agr.) in 1911. Thereafter he spent some months in Canada gaining agricultural experience, and on returning to this country acted for a time as assistant county organiser in the North of Scotland. In the spring of 1913 he was appointed to take charge of the State Experimental Farm, Jersey, his duties including lecturing and advisory work. Shortly after the outbreak of the War he received a commission in the Jersey Militia for home service, and in February 1915 he was transferred, along with a company of the Militia, to the Royal Irish Fusiliers for service abroad, and was at once promoted to be Captain. He crossed with his Battalion to France in the middle of December last, and was home in Aberdeen on furlough only a few days before he was killed.

Aberdeen Grammar School Magazine.

145

3obn Campbell Sangster* (1903-04 and 1906-10), 2nd Lieutenant, 4th Battalion Gordon Highlanders, was killed in action at Hooge, Flanders, on 25th September 1915, aged 20 years. At first he was reported missing, but official intimation of his death was received at the beginning of He March. graduated in Arts (in absentia) at Aberdeen University in October 1914, and had completed his first year as a student of Medicine before the War broke While atout. tending the University he joined L the Officers Training Corps, and received a commission in the 2/4th Gordon Highlanders on 3rd October 1914. being After trained with his Battalion successively in Aberd e e n, Bedford, Llawick, and Scone, and after a course of special training at Aldershot, he was sent to the Front in June 1915, and joined the 1/4th Gordon Highlanders, being posted to " D " Company. On the morning of the fateful 25th September he, was detailed with his platoon to capture a portion of German trenches, which he did successfully, and with great courage he and his men held on to the position through fearful shelling. About noon the Germans made a very determined counter-attack and recaptured the trenches they had lost in the morning. Lieutenant Sangster is reported to have been struck by a bomb and instantaneously killed. All his men speak very highly of him, and remark on his fearlessness in the moments of the hottest fighting and greatest danger.

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Aberdeen Grammar School Magazine.

•

(navies allarbpce 3opp (thambersdbunter*

(1911-14), 2nd Lieutenant, Gordon Highlanders, was killed in action on 1st April, aged 21. After leaving the School he went out in November 1914 to Ceylon, where he engaged in tea planting. He came home in March 1915, and received a commission in the Gordon Highlanders, being posted at first to the 3rd Battalion. On going out to the Front at the end of last October he was transferred to the 1st Battalion. With this Battalion he went on the night of 31st March to hold and consolidate a line of trenches which had been captured from the enemy. On the afternoon of 1st April there was an attempt made by the enemy to recover the lost ground. In the course of this action Lieutenant ChambersHunter was sniped through the head and instantaneously killed. Many letters received by his father bear testimony to his frank and sunny disposition, and his capacity as an officer.

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Aberdeen Grammar School Magazine.

U01119011 Scott (1897-1900), Private, Seaforth Highlanders, was killed in action in France on 4th June, while on sentry duty, aged 33. He served an apprenticeship with Mr. J. B. Rennett, C.A., Aberdeen, qualifying as a chartered accountant in 1906. Prior to the War he was in the service of Messrs. Guthrie & Co., Ltd., East India merchants, London. At the Front he acted as accountant of his company.

Eltitorevo %Mitt)* (1907 -12), Private, 1st Battalion London Scottish, has been missing since October 1914, and is now regarded as lost. On leaving the School in 1912 he entered the office of Messrs Steele Brothers, East India merchants, London, with the intention of going later to Rangoon. Immediately he went to London he joined the London Scottish, and was called up with the regiment at the commencement of the War. They were sent to France in September 1914, and for a time assisted with R.A.M.C. work. He took part in the battle at Messines, when the London Scottish distinguished themselves in their charge on 31st October 1914, and from that date there has been no trace of him. At first he was reported to be wounded and a prisoner in Germany, but six months later the authorities in Berlin intimated that they had made a mistake, and that the man referred to was another of the same name belonging to an Irish regiment. All the While at School he was a universal favourite. masters agree that his was one of the most engaging personalities possible to meet.

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Aberdeen Grammar School Magazine.

William tarnish Chalmers (1901-03), 2nd Lieutenant, 19th Punjabis, Indian Army, was killed in action at Seistan, Persia, on 13th April, aged 26. Although he was a pupil of the School for only a short period, he was well known to many Former Pupils both at home and in the East. After leaving the Grammar School he went to a preparatory school at Windermere, and then to St. Edward's School at Oxford. When his school days were over, he entered the West-End branch in Aberdeen of the North of Scotland and Town and County Bank, Ltd. In the summer of 1910 he went to Ceylon, and for a year was a " creeper " on a tea and rubber plantation. He was then appointed as an estate manager of the Poonmudi Tea and Rubber Company in Travancore, South India. His work in this company was highly appreciated and recognised by the directors. When the War broke out he felt the call of his motherland, and in the words of the manager of his company, " he would not rest till he obtained permission to join " the Indian Army Reserve of Officers. He was stationed principally at Quetta, and was _ • attached to the 19th Punjabis. His letter:, home were full of the joy of life at an Indian hill station. In the autumn of last year his regiment was ordered to Kacha, in Persia, close to the frontier of Baluchistan. In a letter to his brother, 2nd Lieutenant J. L. Chalmers, of the Irish Fusiliers, dated Kacha, 16th January this year, writing of his life in the frontier station, he said :—" Nobody nearer than a month's trek across the desert. We have plenty to keep us busy. I am acting adjutant at present, and will be for some time to come. In addition to this I am doing P.M.C., so I have plenty to do, and time does not seem so heavy as it would if one hadn't anything to do. Up to date there has been nothing doing,

Aberdeen Grammar Se/tool Magazine.

149

but things are not so quiet as they were a little time ago. The Russians have been doing very well in their sphere, and in consequence the Germans have left off troubling the north, and have started on the tribes round here." An official letter from Quetta states :—" It is common knowledge that the Germans have left no stone unturned in order to create disturbances in Persia, and one of their main objects was to get some sort of armed forces across the border from Persia into Afghanistan with a view to impressing the Amir with their power, and in the hopes that the Amir would then join them against us. To prevent this, troops were sent to guard the Persian-Afghan border and [Chalmers] was posted to a place not far from Robat, the place where India, Persia,. and Afghanistan meet. As a result of the situation described, some of the Baluch tribes in, but near the border of, Persia were bought by the Germans into hostility to us. It was with a band of these people that [Chalmers] came in contact. . . . He was doing really valuable work for the Empire; he was a public example in a desolate spot of how an English officer should behave : he recovered a lot of property which had been robbed from the poor and defenceless; and he helped to rid the world of a number of marauding ruffians who have been a terror to the country-side for years."

litonal0 Macteit3ie Eenton (1902-05), 2nd Lieutenant, Indian Army, was killed in the Persian Gulf on 7th June, aged 21. He entered Sandhurst in the autumn of 1913, and on the declaration of war was gazetted to the Indian • Army and attached to the Durham Light Infantry. He went to France with a draft in March 1915, but was invalided home in May. Rejoining in July he sailed for India early in October, and in April 1916 he went in command of a large draft to the Persian Gulf. lRfcbarb Gavin lerown (1897-98), M.B., Lieutenant, Royal Army Medical Corps, died at the 5th Southern General Hospital, Portsmouth, on 14th February, in his 34th year. A son of Deputy Inspector-General R. Gavin Brown* (185961), R.N., he attended the School for only a few weeks before proceeding to study medicine at Aberdeen University. He served at Suvla Bay for three months with the 14th Casualty Clearing Station.

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The dates given in parentheses after names indicate the sessions of attendance at the School. Military Honours and Rewards. COMPANIONS OF THE DISTINGUISHED SERVICE ORDER. Major Patrick B. Sangster (1884-88), 2nd Lancers, Indian Army, received the D.S.O. on the occasion of the King's birthday. He has been acting as a member of the General Headquarters Staff in France, and was mentioned in FieldMarshal French's Dispatch of 31st May 1915. Major (temporary Lieut.-Colonel) George Alexander Smith

(1888-91) also received the D.S.O. on the King's birthday. He is temporarily in command of a Service Battalion of the Royal Lancaster Regiment, and holds the rank of Major in He was the 4th Battalion Gordon Highlanders (T.F.). second in command of this Battalion when it went to the " Last Front, and was wounded in France in June 1915. summer," says a writer in Alma Mater, " his pocket-book stopped a too penetrating shrapnel bullet which sought to end his usefulness at the Y. Wood near the Hooge chateau; and he quitted the City Battalion to lead a battalion of Kitchener boys from one of the Counties of the Roses. In unison with one battalion of the Line from Midlothian on the right, and on the left with a second from Aberdeenshire, he led and consolidated the advance between the Comines Canal and Railway at the end of February. And in early April his battalion acting alone has rounded off some of the outstanding features remaining, by capturing a crater and trench in that delectable locality." THE MILITARY CROSS. Captain George William Johnstone Chree (1900-08), 2nd Royal Scots, was in May awarded the Military Cross " for conspicuous gallantry under heavy shell fire, notably when he went out at great personal risk to fetch stretchers and remained until all the wounded had been removed to a dressing

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station. He set a fine example." Captain Chree, who is acting adjutant of his battalion, has been at the Front since December 1914. At the outbreak of the War he was in India. He received his commission as Second Lieutenant in September 1913, was promoted Lieutenant ten months later, and Captain early this year. He was wounded in the neck in February 1915. Captain Alexander Donald Fraser (1898-1900), M.B., of the Royal Army Medical Corps, has just been awarded the Military Cross. He went to France very early in the War, and was for a time officially " missing." He was mentioned in Field-Marshal French's Dispatch of 14th January 1915. Prior to the War he served for some years in sleeping sickness camps and laboratories in Uganda, under the Colonial Office. Captain Herbert Stewart Milne (1897-1901), M.D., is another Royal Army Medical Corps F.P. who has just been awarded the Military Cross. He is in the Special Reserve of Officers, and before the War was on the staff of the Royal Lunatic Asylum, Aberdeen. Captain William Samuel Trail (1896-1901), 57th Wilde's Rifles (Frontier Force), Indian Army, received the Military Cross on the King's birthday. He joined the Indian Army in 1905, and went through the Mohmand Expedition, May 1907. He was mentioned in Field-Marshal French's Dispatch of 31st May 1915. Mentioned in Dispatches. Major James Henry Morison Davie (1881-85), 34th Prince Albert Victor's Own Poona Horse, was mentioned in General Sir John Nixon's Dispatch of 1st January 1916 (issued 5th April 1916), as a member of the General Headquarters Staff in connection with the operations at Amara, 31st May to 4th June 1915. He was previously mentioned as a member of the Staff in connection with the operations in Mesopotamia from 6th November 1914 up to 14th April 1915. Captain John Cray (1894-96), 36th Sikhs, Indian Infantry, was specially mentioned in Brigadier-General N. W. Barnardiston's Dispatch of 13th November 1914, published at the end of May 1916, on the operations of the Tsingtau Expeditionary Force. A half battalion of the 36th Sikhs formed part of the small British force which co-operated with the Japanese forces in the capture of Tsingtau. Atrocious weather was experienced, but in spite of all hardships and privations the Sikhs gave a splendid account of themselves. Captain Gray was attached to the General Staff of the Expedition. He was subsequently sent to Mesopotamia, where amid more rain and mud, he met his death (see p. 142).

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Lieutenant WILLIAM RODGER MACKINTOSH (1900-02), R.N.R., was in command of the patrol vessel Olivine, which rescued the crew of the Zeppelin L15, wrecked in the estuary of the Thames on 1st April. The crew of the Olivine were keeping a sharp look-out when the Zeppelin was spotted at 3.30 a.m, riding on the sea, which was quite smooth. The night was very dark, and there was a slight haze. It could be seen that the Zeppelin was in a sinking condition, and the crew were on the top of the envelope. As soon as the Olivine got near enough the Germans made signs to the effect that they were willing to surrender. There were about 15 officers Knowing that. assistance was close at hand if and men. needed, in case of emergency, Lieutenant Mackintosh decided They to rescue the Germans from their perilous position. were transferred to his boat, and soon afterwards taken over by another vessel and brought ashore. Lieutenant Mackintosh served his apprenticeship in the mercantile marine, and before the outbreak of War was an officer on various vessels trading in the Far East. Among officers reported wounded in April were Major JAMES W. GARDEN (1886-95), R.F.A. (T.F.); Lieutenant A. L. H. FERGUSON (1905), Gordon Highlanders ; and Lieutenant J. M. MAcKENziE (1905-08), R.A.M.C., attached Northumberland Fusiliers. Lieutenant-Colonel THOMAS OGILVIE (1884-87), C.M.G., of the 4th Battalion Gordon Highlanders, was in March appointed Administrative Commandant at Headquarters for Embarkation Duties. DAVID G. CYRIL DUNCAN (1901-09), formerly of Demerara, and latterly of Province Wellesley, Straits Settlements, is now a private in the London Scottish. IAN M. MCLAREN (18961901) also is in the London Scottish, having come all the way from California to join. Lieutenant OLAF E. GRAY (1912-14) was wounded in Belgium last year, and has been transferred from the Gordon Highlanders to the Royal Scots Fusiliers. He is at present on military duty at Jhansi, India. Captain ARTHUR SHEPHERD (1891-1902) has just finished a pleasant five months' stay in the little-known Andaman Islands—the Indian penal settlement. In spite of being surrounded by may thousands of criminals of all types, he says that life there was very placid and uneventful. Two convicts acted as his servants. We understand, however, that he is now an expert revolver shot. CYRIL G. JOHNSTON-STUART (1904-09), who enlisted as a trooper in the Scottish Horse, has now got a- commission in the 3rd East Yorkshire Regiment, and has been acting as a musketry instructor.

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JOHN WILFORD FOSTER (1911-14) recently finished his course of training as a cadet at Wellington College, South India, and has received a commission. He is attached to the 25th Indian Cavalry Regiment, stationed at Bannu, N.W. Frontier Province. Major JAMES HENRY MORISON DAVIE (1881-85), 34th Prince Albert Victor's Own Poona Horse, was recently reported as believed to have been taken prisoner by the Turks at Kut-el-Amara. JOHN DUTHIE (1871-73), of Cairnbulg, is at present acting as Assistant Director-General of Voluntary Organisations. THOMAS D. H. BROWN (1897-1900) was recently appointed Assistant Secretary of Messrs. Brotherton & Co., Ltd., ammonia and tar distillers, Leeds. This company is at present engaged in keeping the British Government and its Allies supplied with various explosives, and looks forward to developing in this country the manufacture of aniline dyes. JAMES ALEXANDER ROBERTSON (1885-88), chartered accountant in London, is at present engaged at the Ministry of Munitions, Finance Department, where he no doubt runs across our Club Secretary, JAMES W. MILNE, C.A. HENRY W. BRAZIER (1878-80) has received the " Order The following appeared in The of the Excellent Crop." London Gazette of 8th February :—" The King has been pleased to give and grant unto Henry Woodhams Brazier, Esq., late Deputy Commissioner in the Chinese Customs Service, His Majesty's Royal licence and authority to wear the Insignia of the Fourth Class of the Order of the Excellent Crop, which decoration has been conferred upon him by the President of the Republic of China in recognition of valuable He passed into the Imperial services rendered by him." Chinese Customs Service in 1881, on the nomination of the late Sir Robert Hart, then Inspector-General, and retired from the service last year. Rev. GEORGE COMPTON SMITH (1844-45), M.A., retired Congregational minister, Rhynie, is believed to be the senior alumnus and graduate of King's College. The senior alumnus and graduate of Marischal College, and the oldest graduate of Aberdeen University, is believed to be Rev. JOHN ROBERTSON (1833-38), New Brunswick. ROBERT SELBY CLARK (1894-1901), M.A., B.Sc., is a scientific member of the Shackleton Antarctic Expedition. He went away on the Endurance, and the last letter from him Sir was written from South Georgia in December 1914. Ernest Shackleton reported on 31st May last from Port Stanley, Falkland Islands, that the Endurance had sunk on 20th November 1915, and that his main party had been left

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on Elephant Island, in the South Shetlands. A trawler has been sent from the Falkland Islands to relieve the party, and we hope soon to hear that Clark has been brought safely back to civilization. Perhaps in a future issue of the Magazine he will relate some of his experiences in the Antarctic. ROBERT NIVEN GILCHRIST (1901-05), M.A., of the Indian Educational Service, has been appointed Principal of the Krishnagar Government University College, Bengal. Since 1914 he has been Professor of Political Philosophy at the Presidency College, Calcutta. He is at present home on holiday. ALFRED FORBES MILNE (1895-1900), M.A., A.R.C.M., recently received the degree of Bachelor in Music from Trinity College, University of Dublin. He is Master of Music in the High School, Dundee. ERNEST R. HORNE (1912-15), who is in the service of the Marconi Company as a wireless operator, was recently on the Leyland liner Etonian. On this and other liners he has been having an exciting time. In April he was appointed senior operator on the City of Madras, bound for India. Rev. DAVID HOBBS (1878-79) ' M.A., minister of Great Hamilton Street Congregational Church, Glasgow, has been admitted to the ministry of the United Free Church. ANDREW CAMPBELL (1902-04), M.B. (Edin.), has been appointed resident surgical officer of the Birmingham and Midland Eye Hospital. Rev. JAMES ALLAN (1843-44), M.A., D.D., minister of Marnoch, recently attained the 60th anniversary of his ordination as a minister of the Church of Scotland. He is the Father of the Synod of Moray, and there are only three names between him and the position of Father of the Church of Scotland. JAMES E. H. WATT (1881-82), who has been in the service of the P. and O. Company since 1895, was one of those saved from the Maloja when she was lost at the end of February. He holds the position of travelling inspecting purser of the Company. ARTHUR C. HAY (1901-02), M.A., has written a narrative poem of 330 lines in the style of Macaulay, entitled " Ignatius, a Lay of Modern Russia." It deals with an incident which occurred on the Russian battle-front, and which was reported in an article in the Scotsman last December headed " Guerilla Bands in the Poliesie ". Rev. GEORGE WALKER (1852-57), B.D., V.D., formerly Parish Minister of Castle-Douglas (Galloway), is the author

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of a recently-published book entitled " For the Great Cause : Some Bits of Spiritual Munition Work ". The volume consists of war and parochial sermons and patriotic addresses, and throughout it shows the stamp of a cultured and scholarly mind. Professor J. WIGHT DUFF (1877-82), D.Litt., has been from the beginning of the War an active member of the Newcastle Committee recognised by the War Office for raising the Tyneside Scottish Brigade, and its reserve battalions. He visited the four battalions ready for service some time ago on Salisbury Plain. The Tyneside Scottish are now at the Front. Professor Wight Duff has recently been invited to accept election on the Council of the Society for the Promotion of Roman Studies, London. He has served for the last three years on the Council of the Classical Association of England and Wales, and is a frequent contributor to The Classical Review. CHIN So LAU (1911-13), who is now married, is official interpreter to the Dutch Government at Medan, Sumatra. Rev. JAMES HARVEY (1870-75), M.A., of Lady Glenorchy's U.F. Church, Edinburgh, was at the recent U.F. Assembly unanimously elected junior principal clerk. WILLIAM A. MACKENZIE (1886-87) is the author of a recently-published story entitled " The Flower o' the Peach." Mr. J. C. KNox (of the School Staff) at present undergoing training somewhere across the Border, has promised to He enjoys the life write an article for the Magazine. He has become a devotee of rugby, and has thoroughly. more than once scored for his side. To prove how the School let us quote him. " The place shows up in the camp at Hyslop is at the piano as I swarms with Grammarians. over mess accounts; Rose poring is Peterkin Captain write. and Valentine are discussing golf close by, and in the offing are Slessor, Saunders, Kelly, Williamson, etc." At the Spring Graduation of Aberdeen University degrees were conferred on the following Old Boys:— Master of Arts (M.A.)— EDMUND BLAIKIE BOYD (1900-12), with First Class Honours in Classics. ALEXANDER RITCHIE DOUGHTY M`KENZIE (1905-12), with First Class Honours in Classics. RITCIIIE DOUGHTY LYON (1907-13). JAMES WALLACE MANN (1908-12). JOHN WILLIAM TAYLOR (1906-11).

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Bachelor of Medicine (M.B.), and Bachelor of Surgery (Ch.B.)ROBERT DANIEL LAWRENCE (1900-09), M.A., with Second

Class Honours. ARTHUR JOSEPH HAWES (1899-1900). THOMAS OGILVIE ROBSON (1902-11).

Diploma in Agriculture— ORMONDE LOWELL KILGOUR (1911-12). In the Faculty of Arts EDMUND B. BOYD and ALEXANDER D. WKENZIE shared the Dr. Black Prize in Latin of

R. £28, and the former also was awarded the Liddel Prize. In the Faculty of Medicine DOUGLAS S. SCOTT (1907-11) won the Shepherd Memorial Gold Medal for Systematic and Practical Surgery. • MARRIAGES. (1881-87).—At St. Mary's Chapel, Aberdeen, on 1st March, GEORGE HADDON BOWER, advocate in Aberdeen, Lieut.-Colonel 7th Gordon Highlanders, to Amy, daughter of Robert D. Garden, New York City. DONALD (1882-86).-At 120 Broomhill Road, Aberdeen, on 18th April, D. M. C. DONALD, solicitor, Aberdeen, to Bella, eldest daughter of the late William Craib, stationmaster, Murtle, and Mrs. Craib, 120 Broomhill Road. DILLING (1882-89).—At St. Judes, Hampstead Garden Suburb, N.W., on 23rd March, WILLIAM DILLING (The Star Assurance Society, London), to Jessie Agnes, elder daughter of the late Alfred John Thompson, Tufnell Park, N. FERRIES (1883-85).—At Aberdeen, on 8th March, PETER FERRIES, to Isabella A. F. MacMillan, youngest daughter of Angus Nicolson, Glasgow. JOHNSTONE (1886-94).—At St. Mary's Cathedral, Aberdeen, on 8th June, ROBERT MELDRUM JOHNSTONE, Colonial Government Service, third son of Charles Johnstone, Aberdeen, to Flora Victoria, youngest daughter of the late William Gordon, of Kaimhill. ZAMEK (1887-88).—At St. John's Wood Synagogue, London, on 21st March, ALFRED ZAMEK, 421 Great Western Road, Aberdeen, to Sarah gate, youngest• daughter of Mr. and Mrs. G. M. Phillips, 22 Hamilton Terrace, St. John's Wood, London. SHAW (1888-91).—At St. James's Church, Gravesend, on 27th April, Lieutenant PETER SHAW, R.N.R., to Nanette, daughter of the late Mr. and Mrs. Paul Quenet, of Newcastle. BOWER

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in (1889-95).—At Kingsworthy, Hampshire, of son eldest R.F.A., BUTCHART, February, Major JAMES A. Aberdeen, to the late Mr. J. S. Butchart, advocate, and Mrs. Captain of daughter only Katherine Rivers Fryer, Charles G. Fryer, of Worthy Park, Winchester. Church, Pont COBBAN (1891-96).-At St. Columba's CLEMENT LEE COBBAN, Captain May, 20th on S.W., Street, to Madame Valerie Nikolaevna de Labiusky. House, View Terrace, on GAULD (1893-96).--At View son of Edgar 26th April, A. M. GAULD, solicitor, youngest of Sydney, Matthew, Elizabeth Mary to Gauld, builder, Australia. special licence, on WATT (1894-98).—At Norwich, by (T.), elder son of A.S.C. WATT, CHARLES Major April, 14th to Gladys, Aberdeen, Watt, Mrs. and the late Charles Watt Mrs. Chamberyoungest daughter of G. M. Chamberlain and lain, St. Catherine's Close, Norwich. Paulo, Brazil, on 15th JENKYNS (1894-1903).—At Sao Manufacturing (Lidgerwood March, WILLIAM J. JENKYNS to Sylvia Barnsley, daughter of Manuel Guedes, Tatuhy Co.)' and Sao Paulo, Brazil. Sampford Church, MACDONALD (1896-98).-At Melbury M.A., M.B., MACDONALD, on 29th April, PATRICK T. T. Macdonald, G. G. Rev. of son R.A.M.C., Ch.B., Lieutenant, of B. daughter Primrose, Cornhill, Banff, to Charlotte Dorset. Dorchester, Gardens, Melbury of Rintoul, Stockbridge, Peterhead, on 8th STEPHEN (1898-99).—At Mains of Inkhorn, Auchfarmer, STEPHEN, June, JAMES W. of the late James Allan, daughter nagatt, to Jemima, third Stockbridge. Parish Church, in April, BROWN (1899- ?).-At St. Ives BROWN, of the 3/4th HENDERSON E. Second Lieutenant A. daughter of J. E. Gordon Highlanders, to Irene, fourth Cornwall. Ives, St. House, Pellew, of Bank Chapel-Allerton Wesleyan Church, MUNRO (1901-06).—At C.A., son of Mr. Leeds, on 6th May, GORDON A. MUNRO, daughter of the elder Muriel, to Aberdeen, John Munro, Chapel-Allerton. Rev. Arthur and Mrs. Hoyle, Gate, Aberdeen, on FRASER (1903-08).--At 106 King's G. & W. Fraser, of 28th. February, GEORGE T. FRASER, of Robert daughter youngest Catherine, printers, to Nessie Cumming, upholsterer, Aberdeen. Fordoun, on 24th May, WILL (1907-09).—At the Manse, R.A.M.C., France, to WILL, JAMES ALEXANDER Captain Innes, distillery George Mr. of daughter Helen Reid, only manager, and the late Mrs. Innes. BUTCHART

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Rev. ALEXANDER ADAM (1835-38) died at Parkville, Australia, on 26th March, aged 92 years. He graduated M.A. at Marischal College in 1842, at the age of 18. For some years he was minister at Rayne, Aberdeenshire, but left for Australia in 1853 and was appointed to Beaufort, where he ministered for 47 years. THOMAS MACKENZIE* (1841-45), late Sheriff-Substitute of Sutherland, died at Tain on 19th May, aged 85. He graduated M.A. at Marischal College in 1849, and thereafter studied law at Edinburgh. He was appointed Sheriff-Substitute and Commissary Depute of Sutherland and Dornoch in 1859, and Sheriff-Substitute of Ross, Cromarty, and Sutherland in 1870. He celebrated the jubilee of his public service in 1909, and retired from office in 1912. He was admitted a member of the Society of Advocates in Aberdeen in 1855. When at the School he studied under Melvin, and always cherished happy recollections of the time he spent within its walls. He took a keen interest in the Former Pupils' Club, and as recently as February of this year wrote offering to supply information about some of his class-fellows. Rev. ALEXANDER WARRACK* (1847-51), M.A., ministeremeritus of the United Free Church at Leswalt, Wigtownshire, died at Oxford on 29th March, aged 78. He graduated in Arts at Marischal College in 1855, and after at the Free Church College, Aberdeen, was ordainedstudying at Leswalt in 1864. After 40 years' service there, he retired from the active ministry in 1904 and thereafter resided in Oxford. was associated with Dr. Wright, both while at Leswalt He and after he went to Oxford, in the preparation of the " English Dialect Dictionary," to which he contributed over two hundred thousand quotations of Scottish dialect words with their readings. In 1911 he completed his work on A Scots Dialect Dictionary, comprising the words in use "from the Latter Part of the Seventeenth Century to the Present Day," which was published by Messrs. W. & R. Chambers. The Dictionary is now widely known, and has helped and stimulate an interest in the Scots vernacular. to revive GEORGE LAWRENCE (1863-66) died at Fraserburgh on 18th May, aged 66 years. He served an apprenticeship with the North of Scotland Bank, and after being for a time at the head office, was appointed agent at New Deer in 1879. He was transferred to Fraserburgh in 1898, and retired a few months ago. GEORGE Nicol.* (1865-68) died at Durham aged 61. After leaving the School he was withonhis11th May, father in

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a brewery business in Aberdeen until 1876. For the next five years he was manager and traveller with Messrs. L. C. Legge & Co., Rainton Brewery, near Fence Houses, County Durham, and from 1881 he was traveller, and manager at the' City of Durham branch, for Messrs. Plewsodons, Ltd., brewers, of Darlington, etc. DAVID MARSHALL (1876-77) died at Aberdeen on 19th May, in his 54th year. He was for a considerable time in Ceylon. THEODORE THolisoN* (1867-73), C.M.G., M.A., M.D., late Assistant Medical Officer, Local Government Board, died at He graduated in Oxford, on 6th March, aged 57 years. Arts at Aberdeen University in 1877, and took the M.B. degree of London University in 1884 For eighteen months he was medical officer of health for Aberdeen, and thereafter he held a similar post in Sheffield. In 1891 he was appointed an Inspector of the Local Goverment Board, and this position he held until 1911, when he was appointed Assistant Medical Officer. In 1903 he was British delegate to the International Sanitary Conference of Paris and Plenipotentiary to sign the International Sanitary Convention, and in 1906 he held the same position at the Conference in Rome. He was appointed a Companion of the Most Distinguished Order of St. Michael and St. George in 1905, and retired in 1913.

Wanted: A Pavilion. Sooner or later a Pavilion will have to be provided for the new School Recreation Ground. As there are at present no funds available for the erection of an adequate and worthy structure, the suggestion may be thrown out that someone deeply interested in the School, and not unwilling to be a benefactor, might present it with a Pavilion ; or possibly a few Old Boys might co-operate to this end. Another idea is that a Pavilion might be erected (by special subscription or otherwise) as a permanent memorial of F.P.'s who have fallen in the service of the Country. Perhaps all who are willing and able to help will keep the matter in view.

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The Byron House, Honeybrae. ' The house of Honeybrae, represented in the accompanying photograph, is one of the most significant of the Byron associations left to us in Aberdeen. It is now very much in decay, but in all its essential features the house is very much what it was when the boy Byron spent a short summer holiday there while a pupil at the Aberdeen Grammar School. Honeybrae stands in the middle of a market garden between the South Stocket and Morningfield Road, slightly west of Morningfield Hospital. In Byron's time it was well into the country, and it has a historical setting of some interest. The whole property there is part of the old royal hunting forest of Stocket, given by the Bruce to the town of Aberdeen, presumably for special services rendered. Towards the end of the seventeenth century, it came into the hands of the Skenes of Rubislaw, and remained in the Skene family till 1860, when Rubislaw was bought by the late Sir Alexander Anderson, and was made over to the newly-formed Aberdeen Land Association in 1875. Both Honeybrae and Morningfield form part of that property, still owned by the Land Association. Morningfield, however, has quite a separate existence and history from Honeybrae. In 1773 and 1775 George Skene of Rubislaw, father of James Skene, _the intimate friend of Walter Scott, sold to David Morice, writer in Aberdeen, about twenty-two acres of ground on his Rubislaw estate, and to that. property Morice or his successors applied the name of Morningfield. It was rather an imaginative name for an Aberdonian to select, but not inappropriate as applied to lands sloping to the eastward, that would catch the early rays of the coming dawn across the Bay of Aberdeen. The still' more fanciful name of Eveningfield was once applied to a cottage on the north side of Rubislaw Den North —see'- the Ordnance Survey map of 1869—and that would imply, as indeed would be the case, that it would have the advantage of Morningfield later in the day in having a later glimpse of the waning sun. But the Eveningfield ground was really part of the Morningfield property, and in 1854, after the death of James Philip of Morningfield, who had occupied Morningfield House, the property was re-conveyed back to the Skene family, and was reattached to the Rubislaw estate. Honeybrae, although just beyond Morningfield, is no part of Morningfield, and old residents recall still the old road that crossed the Rubislaw Burn to Morningfield from the Skene Road—part of which, with its magnificent avenue of trees, still runs from Gavin Coutt's shop in Queen's Road to

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Rubislaw Den South. From that road, at Morningfield, a road ran up to Honeybrae, and along that road Byron would be taken when, in the summer of 1798, he was conveyed to Honeybrae for a few weeks' stay there. Honeybrae is not, strictly speaking, a cottage, but a house of two complete storeys. In 1798, when Byron, a boy of 10k, was taken there, it would be a comparatively new house, standing in its own grounds, in a very delightful situation. Byron and his mother—he was Lord Byron by this time— were resident in the house, 64 Broad Street, and when the Grammar School holidays came round in June; the family went to Honeybrae evidently for their holiday, accompanied by their little maid, Isabella Mitchell. The late Rev. W. Rogerson, in a series of detailed articles on Byron's connection with Aberdeen, in Bon-Accord in 1902, gives very interesting information with regard to this maid-servant, through whom comes the information as to the residence at Honeybrae. It seems that Byron did not stay out his holiday at Honeybrae. His nurse, Agnes Gray—as Mr. Rogerson points out—who had married some years before, had gone to stay at the west end of Woodside, and thither Byron went from Honeybrae for a short holiday before leaving Aberdeen for good. Honeybrae was not probably known as such in Byron's time, for the name has only appeared in the rentals for the past fifty or sixty years. In that period it has been mainly the dwelling of the market gardener who has leased the ground, although away back in 1830 it was the residence of Captain John Boyd, of one of His Majesty's foot regiments. Above the main door one will note what is sometimes called the " thirteen " window—that is, a window the upper part of which is a composition of thirteen designed panes. Byron's room is on the first floor at the south-west corner, with a window in the front and another in the west gable. It had been a fine room in its day—in Byron's day ; and its outlook is still grand, although very different from what is was in 1798. As would be supposed, the Byron associations draw many visitors to Honeybrae, chiefly from a distance. Mr. Alexander Leslie, market gardener, who has been the tenant of Honeybrae for nearly thirty years, tells of one incident of about twenty-five years ago that carries back the Byron One day an old tradition there a very long distance. gentleman, the oldest gentleman he ever saw, was driven out to the house, and having been helped, at his own request, up to the " Byron " room, he sat down there with a sigh of satisfaction. He went on to explain that as a boy he did his lessons in that room (which he spoke of as Byron's room),

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and that his people had occupied the house after Byron had been there. The house of Honeybrae has been repeatedly reproduced, but I am not aware of any painting, or sketch, of the early part of last century. It would be interesting to know of any such that may happen to be in existence. A water-colour painting of Honeybrae, by the late A. J. Murray, architect, is in possession of Rev. Dr. Matthews, formerly of Madagascar. The Public Library has a drawing of the house— erroneously styled " Byron's House, Sunnypark," by G. Gordon Burr. A sketch of it appeared in Bon-Accord on 28th July, 1898; and again (in connection with Mr. Rogerson's articles) on 3rd July, 1902. G. M. FRASER.

"lnteramna Borealis," or Doctor Johnson Redivivus. In years gone by, when there was no dream of war, and the business meetings of the F.P. Club afforded such mild excitement as was going, there was to be noticed in that assemblage, made up, for the most part, of blooming youth, a great gaunt figure of a man, with huge craggy head, beetling brows, and a magnificent thatch of grey hair. Amid the jeunesse dor€e of the Club the figure loomed up like a dark cliff in smiling blue waters, and, looking on the carven face, those newly come from the classics could not but think of the inexorable judge of the Lower World, Rhadamanthus. Had they but known it, they were looking on the reincarnate spirit of Dr. Johnson, but Dr Johnson become now— strange to tell—a Scot, a Scot of the nineteenth century, and an Aberdonian! The name he bears to-day is William Keith Leask, the most outstanding literary personality our City has produced these many years. The pity is there has been no Boswell sedulously dogging his hero's footsteps, gathering the oracle's various utterances on men and things, a rich harvest of apophthegms and mordant humour. But there are his actual writings, all those fugitive pieces he has scattered with lavish hand up and down the pages of Alma Mater and the Grammar School Magazine, truly disjecta membra of the man, stamped each of them with the unmistakable impress of his own personality. A volume, then, such as Interamna Borealis, which brings together many of the writer's most characteristic essays and jeux d'esprit, will be welcomed by readers to whom for many a year the chief charm of their School and College magazines has been the articles bearing the signature " W. K. L." Lovers of the by-ways of Aberdeen life in the last sixty years

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will prize this volume for the vivid pictures it gives of men and days that are no more; sons of the old School and the Crown will prize it for what it tells or awakes of the picturesque past; most will value it for sheer love of the richly human personality which speaks on every page. Never was such an unabashed praiser of bygone days. Mr Keith Leask glories in his native city of Aberdeen, glories in Buchan, arida nutrix leonum. With all the learning of the academic halls he has kept that prerogative of genius— the heart of a child. The result is something unique. He exudes Greek and Latin quotations like a University professor, takes Chambers's Cyclopcedia of English Literature by way of dejeuner, and a little later is expressing himself with naïve rapture over memories of the Christy Minstrels and R. M. Ballantyne. He is the quaintest blend of erudition and sentiment. He quotes with the meticulous care of a pundit, gives you references and footnotes galore, and woe to the erring scribe who falls beneath his bludgeon. Anon his role is that of Cato censor morum, denouncing the unnaturally Anglified speech and manners of young Aberdeen, pouring scorn upon a University where there is no longer a men's debating society—this was in ante-bellum days, of course—and where for the old-time jovial class-supper there has been substituted the frigidity of the " Bajans' At Home " 1 His mind revels in the past, but he surprises continually with his caustic comments and modern instances. With Aberdeen for his main theme he breaks off, with all the waywardness of genius, into reflections and moralizings de omnibus rebus. Whatever gave colour and zest to School and College life in his day, whatever there was of piquant and picturesque in the life of the Town at large, Mr. Keith Leask has captured and reproduced with his own distinctive Till the great novel of Aberdeen life and literary flair. manners in the nineteenth century be written, this volume will stand as the most vivid and faithful portrayal of those former days in Bon-Accord. J. M. R.

Our Contemporaries. The Editor begs to acknowledge receipt of the following magazines, with apologies for any omissions :—" Edinburgh Academy Chronicle " (3), " Commerce Life," " Courier " (3), " The Forty-niner," " Glasgow Academy Chronicle," " Olavian," " Nelsonian," " Boltonian," " Glasgow High School Magazine," " Erasmian," " St. Andrew's College Magazine," " Stewart's College Magazine," " School Times " (Londonderry), " C. A. I.," " School News " (Belfast), " The Watsonian," " The Herioter," " The Fettesian," " Portmuthian," " South African College Magazine."

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The Old Ally. "The Scot Abroad'' : J. H. Burton. i., 1864. " Les Ecossais en France: Les Francais en Ecosse": par FrancisqueMichel. i., ii., Londres, 1862. " The thistle and the fleur-de-lys "—Scott. Grant D'tff in his diary, December 30, 1859, says he had a call from M. de Circourt. His visitor made a striking remark. " If it had pleased the Almighty to create not two but twenty millions of Scotchmen, they would have conquered the world, and uncommonly hardly they'd have used it, too." This was meant to be a compliment, and to-day the two nations seem more allied than ever. Had there been a real Scottish feeling about, something expressive of the true national tone, as distinguished from the diluted and Anglicized society due to the excessive influence of Parliament, we should have seen ere now some great memorial or tribute presented by Scotland to France, to mark the sense of admiration for its conduct of and in the war. I say, if the old feeling had been alive, not blunted by football mobs, sporting papers, and text-books written by ignorant Englishmen to tell us about Crecy and Agincourt, the English army and the English navy, this would have been done long ago. We can only hope that the feeling of old days will yet lead to this. As far back as 1614, John Barclay of the Argenis, born in Aberdeen, and son of the great French jurist, of the same family as gave birth to the Barclay of Tolly whose statue in St. Petersburg commemorates his command of the Russian troops in the Napoleonic wars, had noted the simiIt had larity of feeling between France and Scotland. nothing of that detestable and vulgar " pawkiness " that the In the middle ages it was Harry Lauder type has created. the fiertg that was everywhere regarded as the mark of Scotland. But it is not to be denied that the good feeling then seen Before the Alliance was conwas not always expressed. cluded and operative, there was a very different tone. In the thirteenth century the French proverb described the Scots as "the greatest beggars" they knew in Europe, and Richelieu quoted it with reference to the Gordon of Gight The pleasant land of among the assassins of Wallenstein. France, early civilised and developed, regarded Scotland with something like horror. A Scot, a rat, and a louse were everywhere, ran the saying, and in The Rontaunt of the Rose Jean de Meung satirized Scotland as the native land of Famine

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in rocks and ice. Even Froissart was censorious. France then had the most splendid capital in Europe. The French found that Edinburgh was only on the scale of provincial towns like Tournay and Valenciennes, and that—on the authority of the best reading of the manuscript—there were only four hundred, not, as generally stated in books, four thousand houses in it all. There were no chateaux, no carpets, no feather beds as at home. And yet there had been a time when Scotland, before the Hun and the War Lord, Edward I., had been on a greater footing of equality with France. " England," Burton says, " had brought Scotland to beggary, but it had the repute of recent wealth and prosperity. Not a long period had passed since Berwick-upon-Tweed, the capital, took rank with Ghent, Rotterdam, and the other great cities of the Low Countries, and was almost the rival of London in mercantile enterprise. Stately edifices, baronial and ecclesiastical, still stood, testifying to a people equal in wealth to the English when they were built, though they were doomed to fall into decay and be succeeded by sordid hovels, when the weight of a long war against a powerful and oppressive empire had impoverished the people. Before the French came over and made acquaintance with their allies at home, that poverty had set its desolating mark all over the land, and the French saw and felt it." Scotland long felt it. To keep herself free, her shilling sank to the English penny, and her pound to one and eightpence. For a brief sketch of the Old Alliance there is perhaps nothing better than that address of the French Academy presented at the Quatercentenary of the University in 1906. No doubt the delegates remembered King's College was founded on the model of Paris, but they might have missed openings. So far from doing so they made excellent hits, and remembered what Richelieu had intended the French Academy to stand for, so that the style is superb. They said that in the annals of Old Paris, the College of the Scots, founded in 1326 by David Murray, bishop of Moray, for students from his own diocese, was so famous as to be even legendary. At Paris, Bordeaux, Poitiers, Bruges, the compatriots of Michael Scott of Balwearie and David Murray were to be found as far back as records existed. No French University without a Scots professor. This, by the way, was but poorly repaid by Scotland, for Robert Chambers in his Domestic Annals of Scotland (i. 94, iii. 449) infers from the Edinburgh Courant of January 5, 1720, that the French teacher in the Scottish capital was perhaps the first of his race. The Academy goes on to mention George Buchanan and Montaigne, and says that from Scott's Chronicles of the Canongate—how well I remember the inscription about " My

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Lord Seton's Lodging " on a wall there—Augustin Thierry and Jules Michelet drew the inspiration for their reconstruction of the history of their own country. Then they closed on a note of allusion which I would fain hope was taken by the hearers or readers since, and to explain which would only be to dilute or destroy the force of the touch, that in the kiss given by Margaret of Scotland to Alain Chartier of France it appeared to them that the two nations found the fitting symbol and expression. Conceive the lumbering and involved way in which Germans would have tried to express the idea, if by any means they even could have imagined it. This week we have the members of the Russian Duma declaring in his " own romantic town " that the most familiar book to all Russians is the Ivanhoe of Sir Walter. Long before the foundation of the Scots College, and a century before the foundation of St. Andrews, there was a Rue d'tcosse in Paris where the Scots gathered in attendance at the University. One of the happy touches at the Quatercentenary was made by the Swedish delegate, the Rector of Upsala. " Long before any University was founded in either Scotland or Sweden, Scots and Swedes were together in a High School at Paris. In one of our towns there is a small street which still keeps its name of the Rue d'Ecosse, called that because Scottish students lived there when studying at Paris University." Another street of the name was at Dieppe, the chief port of landing with the Scots, and in it the merchants gathered to sell the coarse serge cloth of their country. But of course the great and romantic glamour gathers round the story of the Scottish Guard, and Scott's splendid novel of Quentin Durward came to Frenchmen as the revelation of their own past with a delight and a freshness that had been before unknown. Michel is wonderful in his research, extending to the minutest details about the famous corps, and Burton follows him closely. " It is," he says, " a pity that we have no distinct account of its origin, and can only infer from historical probabilities that Claude Fauchet is right in saying that it was formed out of that remnant of the Scots who survived the slaughter of Verneuil, and did not desire to return home. If Charles VII. was not the founder of the Guard, it is pretty certain that he adjusted its organisation as a permanent institution of the French Court. . The Scots Guard consisted of one hundred gensdarmes and two hundred archers. They had a captain who was a high officer of state. The first captain of the Guard who appears in history—and probably the first person who held the office— was John Stewart, Lord of Aubigne, the founder of a great

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Scots house in France. By a chivalrous courtesy the appointment to this high office was confided to the King of Scots. This was an arrangement, however, that could not last. As the two nations changed their relative position, and the Guard became Scots only in name, it became not only out of the question that the captain should be appointed by a foreign Government, but impolitic that he should be a foreigner. It is curious to notice a small ingenious policy to avoid offence to the haughty foreigners in the removal of the command from the Scots. The first captain of the Guard who was a native Frenchman was the Count of Montgomery, who, for his patrimonial name, which corresponded with that of an old Scots family, passed for a man of Scots descent. . . . According to the old courtly creed of France, the privileges of the Scots Guard had an eminence that partook Twenty-four of them were told off as the of sacredness. sacred protectors of the royal person. They took charge of the keys of the chamber where the King slept. When he entered a walled town, the keys were committed to the custody of the captain of the Guard. They guarded his boat as he crossed a ferry. On ordinary occasions two of them stood behind him; but in affairs of great ceremony six of them stood near the throne, three on either side. It was deemed a marked honour to them that the silk fringe with which their halberts were decorated was white—the royal colour of France." It was but natural that, when the union of the Crowns took place, the Scottish element should cease. Yet so attached was Scotland to the old memories, and doubtless to the actual good things going, that in 1611 the Scots privates in the Guard complained to James VI. against their French commander, De Montespan. In 1642 the request was made by the Scots Estates and Privy Council to the French Government that the old League should be restored. By 1730 no Scot remained, but still the old custom was kept up in changing and setting the watch. The answer was given " en Ecossois, I am hire, c'est a dire me voila." " There is still," adds our distinguished F.P., " a pleasing sentiment in recalling the friends found in the wide world when kindred were unkind; and the hospitable doors opened to our wandering countrymen among those who stood at the head of European civilisation must ever remain a memorable record of the generosity of the patrons and of the merits of those who so requited their generosity by faithful and powerful services." And yet Scotland growled and groused against any favour shown to any Frenchman in the land. Perhaps the highest post he ever got was the abbacy of Tungland, near Dumfries, and this was given to Jean Damien. It drew a satirical and

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angry protest from Dunbar at Court. Damien, by the way, was the man that projected the working of the gold mine at Wanlockhead and in the upper ward of Clydesdale, the source of the scanty supply of the metal from which James V. coined the " bonnet-pieces," and from which the regalia of Scotland is made.* Damien was the first airmail or aviator known to history, and with supreme confidence in his aeroplane he proposed to fly from Stirling to France. But he was in advance of his time, and of the subsequent work done for airmen by Bleriot, Hawker, and others in our day. He fell from Stirling Castle and broke his leg. What a contrast there must have been between the opulent country of France and the poor, distracted Scotland in the days of Quentin Durward! Fancy the opening scenes of the novel, with the inn and the good wine and fare, compared with what Le Balafre and his nephew had left behind them. France became the second home of the Scot, and the It was noted then as a connection lasted down to 1707. striking feature of the Scots Estates, in contrast with the parochial squirearchy of England, that among the members there were many who both wrote and spoke French and Italian, while many had been educated abroad, and particularly at the Dutch Universities. It was on the night of the Porteous Mob that Lord Monboddo returned from And what a change from Benachie and the Groningen. Gadie to the great rivers of France! " When the lank youth," Burton says, " left behind him the house of his ancestors, standing up grey, cold, and bare on the bleak moorland, it was not to pass into hard, solid exile, but rather to exult in the prospect of a land of promise or El Dorado, and faithfully was the promise kept; for the profuse hospitality and lavish generosity of France to her guests is a thing hardly to be elsewhere paralleled in history. It was but just that it should be requited with some fidelity and ardent devotion." When the French door closed and religious differences became accentuated, it was to the Low Countries and to Poland that the wanderers then turned, not to fill posts in the Guard, but to act as wandering pedlars and merchants. They crowded to the Baltic ports and left the Jew in Russia but a scanty field for his competition in that undeveloped country. In 1699 the Scots in Dantzic and Konigsberg rebuilt Marischal College in part. Gordon of Straloch assures us that the climate of Aberdeen was " temperatum et salubre," and was the admiration of Danes, Prussians, and Poles. Yet it must have appeared to the wanderers but as a sorry exchange, at a time when the twin spires of St. Nicholas in Aberdeen and St. Nicholas in Stralsund were the * " My purse with bonnet-pieces store To him will swim a bowshot o'er."—Lay of the Lake, VI., 539-40.

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two most familiar landmarks to sailors in the North Sea, a memory that clings to this day about Baltic Street in Footdee, and explains the boast of the old sailors of the port that to them the four quarters of the globe—" Russia, Prussia, Memel, and Shields "—were known. Quae regio in terms nostri non plena laboris! The modern feeling for Nature was then far distant. Mark how Buchanan in his Adventus in Galliam welcomes the change from the bare and bleak homeland to the pleasant land of France. He was patriotic to the core, but the modern feeling for hills and mountains, " land of brown heath and shaggy wood," was totally undeveloped. " He had," says Professor Hume Brown, his biographer, " the feelings of his age, and the classical tradition in the matter of scenery. We have abundant evidence from his writings that the forests and hills of his native district were the last sight in the world on which he could look with pleasure. It is the smiling plains of France, with their broad calm rivers, that he thinks of when he wishes to descant on the beauties of nature." To this insight Scott finely respond" when in Quentin Durward he describes the moonlight sgne on the Loire " rolling his majestic tide through the r hest plain of France." It would certainly have been a change from Angus to the great towers of Tours, the castles of Plessis, Chaumont, Vendome, Saumur, Amboise, and tlik abbey of Fontevrault, to the Vienne and to the Loire, bearing the barges with the wine of Saumur, the land of Touraine and the Tourangeaux, the land of plenty and the gros rire tourangeau, " which is," said Rabelais, " thank God, my maternal and natural tongue, for I was born and brought up in Touraine, the Garden of France." If any one wishes to feel how one-sided the social influence was, let him consider the evidence of language and of cookery. There is not a single Scottish word in French. Even the Norsemen were quickly absorbed in Normandy, becoming the Frenchiest of the French and leaving not more than half-adozen of their own words spoken to-day in their country. Then think of French influence in Scotland, and how steadily Scott clung to the old French dishes on which he had been brought up, before, as Lockhart says, Catherine de Medici brought with her Italian cooks to alter the old style. Consider gigots of mutton, caraffs and serviters (napkins) on the table, ashets, groserts, geans, reeforts (radishes), haggis, aumries, and even—tell it not in Gath—tartan! Mark the dambrod, about the one game by the fire in old Scotland. When one vizzies a rickle of smiddy-coom, when he is in the mood of being dour, dorty, braw, dementit, fashions, he is a living witness to the strength and influence of the Old Ally.

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When boys " trou " the school, or play " truant "—I fancy both name and the habit have not yet faded from the Grammar School to-day—they little suspect the language of France. It would be tedious to follow Burton into the well-worn field of Roman Law in Scotland, as contrasted with the merely provincial Common Law of England. In Universities the terminology is still marked, perhaps lost in the original home. " It is probable that we would find fewer actual living remnants of the old institution in Paris itself than in the northern offspring in Aberdeen." We have still Regents' Walk, vote in nations, elect procurators, and speak of bajans, and deans of faculty.• The old Scots Estates were closely modelled on the French system that expired with the Revolution in 1789. In architecture it naturally needs a specialist to feel the influence of France. " There is a peculiar airy richness," says Burton, " in French chateaux which every traveller notices, both in France and the clintries where French taste or influence has predominated The Scots laird, when he grew richer, enlarged his bastioirand topped it after the French manner. As he grew still richer, he built flanking towers of the same character. So at last his castle, from the original square grim block, sprouted up into a fanciful coronet of lofty, crowstepped gtbles, high chimneys and turret tops, such as we see in Fyvie and Midmar. Fyvie and Pinkie were built by Seton, Earl of Dunfermline, who came to Scotland after a foreign education, full of French law and French tastes. Heriot's Hospital in Edinburgh is a daring and beautiful attempt to bring the architecture which had thus irregularly grown into system and symmetry. The architect was William Aytoun of Inchdairnie, a namesake and ancestor of our own lyric poet." He notices another feature. The Tudor style, with its wide area, broad doorways, the oriel window, spoke of a land where law was strong. In Scotland and France it would have been deemed a risk to the inmates of being shot at through the windows by their enemies and neighbours. And as in Old Paris, so in Edinburgh, they piled " lands " on lands or storeys, capable of fortification. Green aptly notes that the feeling for "the chimney corner " is Tudor and Elizabethan. The pensive and solitary Aberdonian, when the revellers are gathering at the foot of the Townhouse or at Bawbie Law's, when the " first fitter " is about to start on his rounds for his Hogmanay, has need to think a little ere he remembers that this, too, is still an example of Scotland to-day held in mortmain to Old France, when the roysterers and others parted

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to seek their Hoguinetes, a gift hoc in anno, " in this year," before it passed into the new. Complacent theorists assure us, from their salaried places in Parliament, that we shall all be poorer after the war. We can at least combine historical sentiment with economy, if we resolve to retrench in that The Huguenots, Anglified innovation of Christmas Cards. not the Hoguinetes, have given us ecclesiastical " moderators " and " overtures " to the Assembly, and up to the Revocation in 1685 of the Edict of Nantes, Aberdonians, like our own F.P., Walter Donaldson (b. 1575), Principal of Rochelle, literally garrisoned the five French Protestant Colleges of Montauban, Nimes, Saumur, Montpellier, and Sedan. The Wee Frees in their not altogether irrational hate of hymns and organs follow the Huguenots, who abhorred both. Wherever the split of the Reformation churches was felt, hymns were left to the Lutherans alone. Why should not the Franco-Scottish Society in its various branches take up the task very seriously of translating into English the two splendid volumes of Michel, the result of endless research and labour, and issuing the work in a fine form as a fitting memorial of the Old Ally in this war? Few books couldolo more to promote the historical feeling in Scotland, and to awake the almost lost sense of style in literature. In his preface to the third edition of his excellent little work, The Pleasant Land of France, Mr. R. E. Prothero, M.P., writes that the two nations closely allied are fighting side by side, each for its existence as a nation and together for the ideals that both allies have of liberty and progress. " In the lifetime of the present generation, at any rate, it seems incredible that two nations, which have once been thus united, should again be sundered as strangers." He had England in view in his words, but to Scotland of course the reminder, if Old memories of seven less needed, is more imperative. hundred years can be trusted after the war to unite the two countries even more than in the days of the Old League. WM. KEITH LEASK.

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Of the Final Recruiting of the Greeks for the Trojan War.

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Less than ever nowadays can one get away from " the tale of Troy divine." From the fateful hour when a classical-minded Admiralty sent H.M.S. Agamemnon to wing its way past Ilion and through the blue Symplegades, the old-time legend has been before our eyes, the old-time heroes, the old-time scenes. Hie Dolopum manus, hic saevus tendebat Achilles, Classibus hic locus, hic acie certare solebant.

Even so, the ancient story takes on fresh aspects in the light of our own hazardous adventures to-day, and, like Beats's Grecian Urn, doth "tease us out of thought." With such new eyes, certainly, did we read the other day of the Greek muster for this first—and yet not first, but, at all events, greatest—expedition of olden days to the Dardanelles—the Trojan War. We read how this mighty expeditionary force was raised, how the various chiefs rallied at once to the call of the betrayed Menelaus, redeeming the pledges they had given in bygone years, when they were all suitors for Helen's hand, that, whoever the lucky man might be, he should receive the loyal support of the rest in any feud arising from his marriage with the daughter of Tyndarus. We read how the chiefs kept troth, though it was not even writ on a " scrap of paper," how the flag of voluntaryism rallied all save two, but these two—and this was what gave us pause—the most renowned of all the chiefs, Odysseus and Achilles! Here, indeed, was food for thought. The two most illustrious of all the Greeks, the two men who were to stand for evermore as patterns to their race of all that was brave, resourceful, heroic, the preux chevaliers sans peur et sans reproche of the old Achnan civilisation—those twain had to be fetched to the Great War! Big heartening here, surely, for our own eligible minority, the prayed-for voluntaryists of the eleventh hour! No need, truly, for them to be crestfallen or down-hearted, with their milky way starred by Achilles and Odysseus ! Mark first that what seemed in very truth " a negligible minority " was indispensable. It was not in pique they were sought out. The leaders of the Greek force were told in solemn conclave by the seer Calchas, that without these two shirkers, the expedition, maugre all the splendid voluntary

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response, was doomed to failure. We do well then to doubt the negligibility of our minorities to-day. Further, the seer named his men. He had them pinkformed, if you like. There were no vague, windy generalities about masses of young Greeks loafing and shirking, but a plain, forthright, " I want you," followed by the name, " Odysseus " ; " I want you—Achilles." Then came the personal canvass, with all its picturesque incidents as in our own recent canvass, the slackers evasive, the canvassers indefatigable, and strengthened and even led, in the second case, on a well-known principle, by their latestwon recruit—a hint, maybe, still worth heeding! Remember, it was no simple matter fetching these two youths. Bing Agamemnon's royal message was too remote to affect either, if it ever reached them. They had to be solicited personally. Ulysses, it will be recalled, was basking in the sunshine of domestic felicity with his wife and their little boy. Frankly, he detested this militarism. " Ithaca," we may fancy him saying, " my Ithaca, may be rugged, as you fellows are for ever telling me; but I'd much rather run round and round its rugged rocks, albeit a ragged rascal, than go and fight the Trojans." He even feigned madness, and ran amok with a ploughshare, only being unmasked when that 'cute recruiting sergeant, Palamedes, bade little Telemachus be flung in the path of the plough. Then indeed the father stood still, and revealed method in his madness. Such was the material from which was to be hammered out the much-wandering, much-toiling, resourceful Odysseus! Certainly he never forgave the agent who had fetched him; but that is another story. What meantime of Achilles ? It was the mother here " I didn't raise my son to be a who stood in the way. soldier" was the burden of her plaint to all expostulatory friends, whether gods or mortals, and she stowed away her dearly-loved only son at a friendly king's court, amongst a lot of house-keeping princesses, dressing him up as one of them. Hither came Odysseus, eager to win his recruiting spurs, and at the same time rope in his tardy comrade. Disguised as a merchant, the crafty Ithacan sought out the bevy of maidens, tempting them with his rich wares. He soon marked the handsome girl who stood aloof, disdainful of all the pretty gew-gaws and kerchiefs, and when, a little later, at a given signal, a trumpet was blown and arms were clashed, and the soi-disant girl started forward with flashing eyes, as if to seize the weapons of war, Odysseus, without more ado, said, " Achilles, mon vieux, your king and country need you —join to-day."

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Now the Achilles attitude is a familiar one at our tribunals to-day: the Odysseus one as a leit motif contains almost infinite possibilities, and the wonder is it has not yet been exploited. Perhaps it may be being reserved for a final apocalypsis of the unconscionable slacker. Before the douce tribunal of Aberdeen may yet appear the Sultan of Zanzibar, chanting some mystic incantation, " oom mani padme hum," and demanding instant exemption, for that affairs of state call him away to " Afric's sunny fountains " ; or the King of the Cannibal Isles may appear with formidable scimitar and plead he has Huns of his own to keep in order; or Solomon may appear in all the glory of his seven hundred and first espousal—as far as he can remember—and, more convinced than ever, plead " I cannot come. I pray, have me excused." Nay, more, as the vision expands, may not some stout agriculturist of Buchan yet offer to demonstrate to a startled court of appeal his militant tactics, by " drilling " or " harrowing " them, as the case might be, with whatever appropriate farming implement he might have in his hand? Meanwhile, to return to our Greek moutons, we note that never in the after days, whether on service or at home, was it made a taunt to either warrior that he had to be fetched, and this though the Greek host numbered in its ranks Thersites of the venomous tongue! And why? it may be asked. Because those Greeks " saw life steadily and saw it whole." The vision of things as they are was not dimmed for them by obscuring veils of sham sentiment on false pride. This life was for them practically the be-all and end-all. Life hereafter was but a shadow of their earthly existence. Did not this same Achilles tell Odysseus, when they encountered in the Lower World, that he would rather be a thrall on earth than king it among the shades? Those Greeks had no hope beyond the grave. They truly loved the " warm precincts of the cheerful day." Such men thought no shame to cling to life, to hate death. Natural and spontaneous themselves, they had perfect understanding of the feelings of Odysseus, the domesticated young husband, of Thetis, fond mother of an only son. Such men had no artificial code of honour or morals, which made them pretend to meet death with indifference. They wore their hearts, it might be, on their sleeves; certainly their tears were instant; they were children of sunlight and rain, children of nature. But were they the less brave therefor 7 Was Achilles the less terrible in fight that, on occasion, he could sulk and weer by the sea-shore, even call for the help of his mother? May we not learn a lesson here, too, to allow for the normal feelings of the human heart, and not attempt to choke them off,

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abort them, regard them with feigned contempt, or cover them with ridicule? It is no use calling Odysseus and Achilles shirkers and slackers and what-not, in the way of contumely. These and thousands, certainly, of those who tarry to-day, believe in all sincerity in their own bona-fides. They hold they have reasons sufficient to keep them at home. It is not that they are dodging; they are sensitive, many of them keenly so; many of them wish to go, but so long as they feel the call of duty more insistent elsewhere, they will not take up arms for their native land. They have to be sought out and won with sweet reasonableness. Odysseus must not be mocked when he pleads, " I have married a wife and cannot come. I pray you, have me excused." When Achilles frankly tells he is his mother's only joy, and that it will break her heart if he goes, he is not to be jeered at as a molly-coddle, and tied to apron strings. The deepest and tenderest of all human affections must be acknowledged with respect, not greeted with guffaws of laughter; only, a greater need must be urged by the ambassadors of war—the need of the state, of the civilised world. And even then, at the long last, the staunchest of the lingerers have to be conscribed ; the conscientious passive resisters come only when compelled. For, look you, how else can you get men who believe their duty to their home overtops their duty to their state, voluntarily to surrender the one to the other? Never, so long as it is left to their own will. But the decent sort will welcome the decision being taken out of their own hands ; these—paradoxical as it may seem— are the very men, the only men, one might almost say, who fervently pray for Conscription! They no longer have their " resolution sicklied o'er with the pale cast of thought." Constrained to take up arms, they will give themselves with Odysseus and Achilles whole-heartedly to the war ; with this impetuous warrior they will lay about them lustily in the field; with that master of organisation they will devise " stratagems and spoils " ; like these twain Greeks they shall be in this our world-agony the grand climacteric; through them our cause shall prevail. TERTIARY JOHN.

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With the 4th Gordons at the Front. Further Experiences of an F.P. In the " Magazine" issued last October there appeared a narrative of experiences in France contributed by a well-known F.P., a private in the 4th Battalion. Gordon Highlanders. In September of last year he received a commission, and after a period of training at home, he was again sent to France, where he has been serving for some months with the 4th Gordon. The former narrative was written from the point of view of a private ; the following narrative is written from the point of view of an officer. Rest Camp, 31st January, 1916.

At present I am sitting in my tent waiting for 7.30 dinner. A coke brazier is burning cheerfully in the door, and my servant managed to get hold of a paraffin lamp, from where I don't know. However, that does not matter. . . The bed opposite me is vacant again. Last night it held M—, who arrived from Rouen last evening, but he left this afternoon for the trenches. It will be his first experience of them, and I think he was feeling just a trifle shaky. Three companies are at present there, and the fourth goes on Thursday. The camp consists of both huts and tents. I sleep in a tent, but our mess is in a hut. The mess room is about the size of a parlour at home, and there are just six of us in it just now. The grub we get is very good indeed—breakfast, 8; lunch, 1 ; tea, 4.30; dinner, 7.30. In the small town close by is a Y.M.C.A. hut, a pierrot show, a cinema—all new since I was here last. The men spend most of the evenings there. The town is within the range of shell fire, but has seldom if ever been shelled. There are baths run by the Army, and I was down having one this afternoon. I have been in command of the Company for two days, as the other officer is laid up. There are only the two of us, so I've been putting them through drill, examining their kits and feet, censoring their letters, etc., etc. Parades are something as follows :—Physical drill, 7.30-8 ; rifle, kit, and feet inspection, 9.30-9.45; drill, 10.15-12; drill again, 2-3. The most noticeable thing about here is mud, but all our paths are bridged over with wooden planks, so we are kept cleaner than we would otherwise be. We have a very good servant. He wakens me at 7, brings me a bucket of water, and cleans my boots and buttons. After breakfast he makes my bed, folds my things, cleans out the tent, and does any message I require. Then at night he lays out my mess trousers, lights my brazier, and gets my bed ready. He does it 'all very well and quietly, and likes the job because being an officer's servant (or batman as he is more often called) he is exempted from all parades and does no drill.

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a private, I find life a good deal easier as an officer than asFormerly I greater. course, of is, responsibility but the and myself have I now but myself, had no one to think of but 80 to 100 men as well. Sunday, 6th February, 1916.

but for I expected to be in the trenches this Sabbath, when once in a while my luck was in, for on Thursday, go to not came orders return, to due was my company the down rest long-promised because we were going to get our line. There are two kinds of rest—one is when the abattalion spell of has been doing hard work and is actually requiring the Boches, quiet ; the other is preparatory to a push againstthe Tommies as they are most often called here. (Last winter in front.) called them " Allimans," with an appropriate swear the last Our battalion has been doing very hard work for being. time the for battalion pioneer few months, being a actual Although hard, the work is preferred to that in the of degree greater a with about move can firing line, as one safety. of mud. The Where our trenches were was any amountwhen up there, trousers civilian men were actually wearing return, company one saw I thighs. the to up boots with long however, had, They eyes. the to up and the men had mud was much disapmost comfortable dug-outs. In one way I trenches we occuthe in spell a have not pointed that I did behind way short a trenches pied recently. They were reserve by a wood. Germans the to view from covered line, the firing blankets and braziers, The men have splendid dug-outs, withwarm in them than in and comfortable more even are and I doubt quarters, officers' the for As tents at the rest camp. There salient. the in dug-outs very much if there are finer in front runs railing a painted, are walls the them, are beds in Along this terrace, of them with a raised terrace beyond ait.machine gun trained. have to seem Germans the however, across it. They have and officers waste no time in sprinting now. There is also there had to stop their evening strolls not been in it have I grub. we where an officers' mess, well cooked as as and good as myself, but the food is quite who have M—, and T billets. rest the that we get in by impressed much were before, never been to the Front mile a than less mess officers playing cards and dining in a behind the firing line. back to where I was Well, I have wandered a bit. To gettrenches returned on the in were who companies —the three I had to day that Officer Orderly Thursday night. Being and that erected, were tents see that a large number of new arrival. their on rum the men got tea and and I was All Friday the men were engaged in packing, and tidily safely being mess our in things responsible for the

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packed, so that meant another late night. I got hold of ten men to give me a hand. Some of them " groused " about the size of some of the boxes they had to lift, so I said " Give me a shot at one of them," and I thereupon carried one about twice as far as any other body. That did the trick—the force of example, you know !—for after that, the men tumbled over each other in their efforts to carry the boxes. Reveille on Saturday was at 5 a.m. I was detailed to take charge of the rear party, so instead of leaving at 7 a.m. when the battalion went, we moved an hour-and-a-half later and marched behind the transport. At the station the wagons, horses, etc., had to be got on to the train, and as our company had to do it, we had a busy time. One of the officers went off to get some lunch for the rest of us, and brought back a varied assortment of things—bread, pastries, French wine, some champagne, apples, tongue, etc. We had a very pleasant journey down to a place with an unpronounceable name, and we are far from where shells, whistling and screaming through the air, can disturb us. There was a march of seven or eight miles to our billets, and it was dark before we reached them. The weather had been perfect—the evening was like late spring rather than winter. Our Q.M. was waiting us, and the first duty was to see our men into their billets. Mine are quartered in an empty house, and were no end delighted at once more being in rooms and not in tents, or dug-outs, or `lousy " (excuse the word) barns, or a dilapidated pigsty. After seeing the men settled and fed, we had a look around for our own quarters. M and I are in a farmhouse. He has one room and I have another—beautiful rooms they are, with plenty light, pictures on the walls, chairs, and any amount of religious portraits. M has a bed, while I have what looks to be a very large sofa arrangement on which I place my valise and sleeping bag, and sleep there like a top. The only drawback is that there is no fire. When up the line one doesn't bother about fire, never thinks about one in fact, but down the line, when one has many comforts, it's strange how one calls out for more. There is a fireplace, but no fire, so we shall get a brazier shoved in. This morning I visited Taylor, Begg, and Dunn, who have a most beautiful billet—the residence of the mayor of the village, or cure, or some " big-bug." They have all got beds—two bedrooms between the three, and a large sitting-room with a fire, four big easy chairs, etc., etc. The mess is the dininghall of an old inn—a fine old place with low rafters and a huge fire-place. In it we are very comfortable. A piano and a gramaphone have been installed since we arrived. All this has come as a very welcome surprise to us. I never expected to sleep in a comfortable room again until it was my turn for leave.

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We had church service this afternoon in an orchard. The chaplain is splendid, and takes no end of interest in the battalion. Friday, 25th February, 1916.

We have now shifted, and are at present in a village away far south from the salient. We are not far from the firing line, but out of range of shell fire. The village is of fair size, and we are billeted among the people. I have a very comfortable place along with another officer. We have a bedroom with a big bed, which we both occupy, and a small sitting-room. Just imagine that, and we are supposed to be fighting. Such things were unheard of up north, but More down here in France things seem to be different. attention is paid to comfort. We left our old rest camp early on Wednesday, and were addressed by two Generals in a most complimentary way. They both came to wish us farewell and good luck. A fairly long march took us to the station where we entrained. We were in the train all day, and reached our destination at 9.30 p.m. Snow had been falling for a day and a half, and the ground was covered to a depth of several inches. The weather was bitterly cold and frosty. We had then to march ten miles, and reached our billets at 3 in the morning. I did not hunt for my billet that morning, but just lay down on a mattress in the first house I came upon, and slept like a top till 10 a.m. After breakfast I set off to hunt for a billet and found this one. I don't expect we shall be here long, but will probably move up to the trenches in a few days. Up till now things have been pretty quiet here, so that is one thing to be thankful for. Sunday, 12th March, 1916.

Last time I wrote it was from a place where we spent about four days in excellent quarters. Eight of the junior officers lived in a dormitory sort of place and messed there, so we had a free and easy existence, and could buy what we liked. Then we moved ten miles further north and spent four days in another village. Most of the officers slept the first night in the schoolroom, but next day billets were looked out for us—some good, some indifferent. By good luck I managed to get a bed along with H . I did not examine the room beforehand, but sent my servant down with my baggage, and told him to prepare the room. Within halfan-hour he was back in a state of wild alarm, saying, " Oh, , you simply can't occupy that room." " Why ? " Mr. and you have the one bed all I said. " Well, Mr. H right, but the room is double-bedded, and Monsieur and Madame still intend to sleep in the other! " It turned out that Madame reconsidered things, and went next door, but

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Monsieur did not budge, and his snores troubled us at night. I managed to get a horse one day and rode into F—. While there I met Jim Duffus and Cecil Mackie. On the way back I ran up against Vass Lorimer, Major Nicol Smith, Captain Fleming, R.F.A., and several other Aberdeen fellows. In the afternoon, while Mackintosh and I were sitting in my billet, Fred Conner popped in on us, having walked over from his quarters to renew old acquaintances. Robert Lyon also turned up, so Aberdeen is well represented in this part of the world. I saw Douglas Spark and Finlay Finlayson (both attached to the Machine Gun Corps) three weelis ago. We then marched another eight miles to a fair-sized town, where two nights were spent. The next march was one of 161 miles, which was a very stiff test for the men, laden as they were. But we landed at a very pretty place. My company was billeted in the barns of a farm, and the three officers, Graham Simpson, Henderson (English assistant at the University), and myself had the kitchen of the farmhouse. We received beautiful butter, cream, eggs, and wine, etc., from the farm people at most moderate prices. Our servants cooked for us, and we did ourselves splendidly. The people were extraordinarily kind, and brought in straw for us to lay down and rest our sleeping bags on. Unfortunately we had only one night there. We were now nearing the trenches, and our next day's trek brought us to our last village quarters before moving up into them. This march was done on a biting cold day, and we were glad to reach our destination, which, as usual, was a small village. No Scotsmen had been in it before, and the people turned out en masse to see us. Some thought we were a savage tribe. Simpson, Henderson, and I, as usual, got a room in a farm-house, and our servants occupied the room next door, but we were no end pestered by the people coming in and nagging at us and the servants. The youngster began to cry when we approached him, and a young " bisom " of a woman tracked us around lest we should steal anything. We were awfully " fed up " with the people, especially with the daughter of the house, whom I called cochon and diable, and everything in French I could remem• ber. Unfortunately I forgot the French for " ugly," or else it would have gone in too. Henderson, at length, being a good French speaker, tackled them about it, and got the explanation that they had had some Senegalese billeted on them, who had been by no means pleasant ; and they thought we might be a similar sort of tribe. Next night we marched to the trenches. Two companies are in the cellars of a village, and two are up here in the reserve trenches. The dug-outs are palatial—made by

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• the French. This one, where I now write, is like a ship's There are four bunks, cabin, 15 to 20 feet underground. two on each side, for sleeping in, a table in the centre, a lamp, chairs, shelves, a photo of Joffre, a stove " souvenired " from some neighbouring chateau, a cat, plenty of mice, a rat or two, etc. The men's dug-outs are a vast system of catacombs, well under ground. We feed as we do at home. Shelling is not very fierce, bullets are not too numerous, trenches are deep.. In fact, if you wish a health cure or a rest, come out and join us. There are always bound to be one or two getting hit, but compared with our former place, where you always have " considerable artillery activity " or " mining operations," and "severe losses," etc., this is a Sunday School picnic. It may change in the future, one never knows. Dunn, As it is, I could stay here " for the duration." Simpson, Thomson, and I occupy this dug-out. We work as a rule spells of three hours each. Last night I was on from 10 p.m. to 1 a.m. with a couple of platoons deepening and There is other work draining a communication trench. besides—superintending the carrying up of rations, water, fuel, ammunition, etc. There is still a good deal of snow lying about, with occasional showers, but curiously enough, we don't feel the cold so much in the trenches as out of them, on account probably of the fires we keep going here. It's a great life, if it would keep like this. I must call a halt now, as my servant wishes to clear the table for tea. Sounds home-like, doesn't it ? Trenches, Monday, 13th March, 1916.

I have just been up to the firing line and making a sketch of the trenches leading to and fro. We have all to wear steel helmets here to ward against splinters from bombs and shells. They are heavy and warm, but much safer than tam-o'-shanters. We have also been served out with big boots which come up to the thighs like waders. For the past three nights I have been in charge of a party It is deepening and draining a communication trench. very muddy and dirty work, and these boots keep away the wet from one's legs. I have my burberry pinned up as far as the thighs, and look just like au ostrich. We have always to wear our revolvers, and gas helmets slung in readiness. Officers work in shifts here. I have usually been on at night from 8 to 11. When I come in at 11 p.m. my servant generally has a cup of tea or some soup waiting me in my dug-out, and any letters or parcels that have come up with It all the transport he lays out on the table for me. depends on what work I have to do whether I get up early or 'late. As a rule I get up at 9 a.m. and have breakfast, which I have ordered previously. It usually consists of tea,

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ham (perhaps sausages or eggs), bread, butter, jam, etc. ' Then the platoon's rifles have to be inspected, after which I go a tour round the trenches or take a party out to dig or repair somewhere. Lunch about 1 p.m. is soup, meat or bully beef, and tinned fruit (if we have any), followed by a cup of tea. The afternoon may be free or not—all depends on what orders there are. Tea comes between 3 and 5 o'clock, and then supper depends on when we come in at night. In my case it has been between 10 p.m. and midnight. The cooking is all done by our servants, who are excused all other work, so they have a soft time and enjoy it. There will be more work and less sleep when we go up to the front line. Here we are 400 to 600 yards from the enemy. At 8 p.m. our servants go down to headquarters, where they draw our rations and get water. We are entitled to ham, tea, sugar, meat (fresh and tinned), bread, butter, and a few other things. If we wish anything extra we send a note to our quartermaster, who sends it up if he has any or can get it. The last two days have been beautifully sunny. 7th April, 1916.

This company has just done a spell of six days up in the front trenches, and we are now doing six in reserve trenches further back. There is little for us to do here, except inspect the men's rifles and censor their letters. I have noticed that those with wives write to them every day—and it's extraordinary how beautiful and cheery most of those letters are. Then there are the usual fond outpourings in the letters of men with best girls. On the backs of the envelopes of most of these are the mysterious letters S.W.A.K. (" sealed with a kiss "), but as the letters are handed in to me open, the sealing has to be done by myself, and the girl surely can't have the same joy in opening them. The trenches we occupy are about 100 yards from the Germans. Between the two lines are a few dead Frenchmen. Occasionally at night we can see a German party working in the No Man's Land between the trenches. One dark night Graham Simpson watched such a party creeping along. They came to a Frenchman's corpse, and Simpson heard one of the Huns exclaim in French " Toujours malade," at which the party laughed. Immediately we opened fire and they scattered. In this trench where we are just now there is a nice little dug-out for our company's mess, where Captain Hay, Simpson, Begg, and I feed. Yesterday we set to improving it. Having " souvenired " a stove from near by, H. G. S. and I made for a ruined village to find fuel, our two servants accompanying us. In the village we came upon a distillery

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battered to pieces by shell fire and inhabited only by rats, mice, and cats, but inside we discovered an enormous store of coal. So we filled four or five sandbags, and now our mess is as cosy as it well can be. Needless to say, we keep the coal secret to ourselves. Rest Billets, 18th April, 1916. The communication On Saturday we were relieved. trench is about three miles long, and at the end of it we emerged into the open country. It was a beautiful, sunny, spring evening. Peasants were working on their crofts. Everything looked so peaceful that it brought back memories of Wardford in April, and made us feel so " fed up " with the war. We had a few men wounded, but none killed. Next day was Sunday, and after 10 o'clock breakfast, Henderson, Simpson, and I went to church. Our padre is a Highland chaplain, and was pleased to see us. He has taken rather a fancy to me, as I attend his evening services It is I quite enjoy them. as well as his forenoon ones. but fitting that we should go, as after being kept safe for 18 days, a couple of church services is a very small thankoffering. Saturday, 29th April, 1916. What a change a week has made in the condition of the trenches ! When we came here eight days ago rain was falling heavily, and fell still more heavily for a couple of days after, the result being that water collected in the trenches to such an extent that the foot-boards floated about like rafts. Our thigh-boots, which had been discarded about a month previously on the advent of spring, had to be called for, as the water came well over the knees in many places. For two or three nights parties had to be detailed to pump or bale out the water; then the sun came out again, and now the wet has disappeared. I smile when I think of ten men who were holding a sap head. At that point there was no dug-out, and one wet afternoon on my visit round the firing line, I came on these ten men sitting huddled close together on the firing step with their legs dangling in water and the rain beating down on them, looking the picture of misery. Their faces reminded me of some of those in Bairnsfather's But the last five days have been perfect; the cartoons. trenches have dried up, and we sit outside our dug-outs with tunics off and shirt-sleeves rolled. The padre has started running a canteen in the trenches, where men can buy tinned fruit, biscuits, chocolate, etc., and he spent a couple of days and nights in the support line with us, in order that he might see how it was working.

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He is an old sport, our padre : many of them would not live in the trenches. I showed him over the place and took him round the saps and firing line. At one point there is a mine being dug, and we had the good fortune to be allowed into it. The passage is sufficient for a man to get along stooping. We went forwards and downwards till we were 100 feet underground, then straight ahead until we were underneath our own firing line and 20 yards beyond it. At the end of the tunnel there were two men working like demons with picks. Another man was filling the earth and chalk into sandbags and placing them on a trolley which, when full, was hauled by a wire rope to the entrance. Those miners work in shifts of eight hours each. The men working at the job were miners by profession, hailing from the Peak district in Derbyshire. They were an exceedingly cheery crowd. Our company had a three days' visit from a Captain in the Militia, who was sent out here to learn something about trench warfare. These officers are sent out by the War Office, spend three days in the trenches, get an idea of what the life is like, and return home to give lectures—a sort of Cook's Tour business. I don't think the one who was attached to our company will have any desire to return. He came up one evening and H showed him round. To give him a warm reception the Huns started shelling our line pretty fiercely, and H got a slight scratch. Next afternoon we were bombed by trench mortars and lost a few men, while on the third evening our friend was almost hurled out of his bunk by a mine explosion some distance away. For a couple of hours afterwards, artillery, machine guns, rifle fire, bombs, and mortars made an infernal din, and the flare of the star shells and the flashes from the bursting shrapnel made an exceedingly pretty sight, and one which a newcomer would not soon forget. Altogether this Captain got his money's worth. We are now out of the firing line and in reserve trenches. We have not much to do—a few hours' fatigue work per day. Yesterday afternoon Henderson and I visited a neighbouring village to see if we could get any vegetables for our mess table. Our luck was in, for in one garden we came across a plot of rhubarb and took enough to last us for a few days. We also got some lovely flowers. I wonder what the seriousminded Hun would think if he knew that two British officers were treating the war so lightly as to be picking flowers and vegetables 600 yards from his lines. I wonder if he sits hating in his trenches !

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Letters from the Mediterranean. An F.P. in the Indian Medical Service, who has been working for months and months on a hospital ship sailing between Alexandria and Marseilles and Southampton, writes home as follows :— March 30, 1916.

" Did you ever come across Port Augusta on the east coast of Sicily, in your geography—English or Greek or Latin? I can't remember it. It is only a few miles north of Syracuse, and the sight of Syracuse recalled all sorts of laboured statements about triremes and naval battles several thousand years ago, and Caesar (the Hamilton Place Emperor, I mean) and µsrd Of rairra, etc, etc. We were sent to Port Augusta this time to feed the —, and she has got some maw. She consumes the contents of 9 or 10 ships like us. We got into the big bay on Monday afternoon, expecting to see the waiting ; however, she was not there, so we had a look round with our glasses. The town, with its white houses and prominent monastery-school, was gleaming white in the hot afternoon sun on one horn of the bay, and curving round from it was the rest of the green crescent, fresh and brilliant green just like chunks of Deeside, only Etna was towering up in thq background instead of Lochnagar, with puffs of yellow smoke coming out from its peak every few seconds, as if some fiend were smoking an enormous cigarette in the bowels of the earth. It was covered in snow from its enormous waist up,.and it is the only high hill to be seen. Little white-sailed boats were gliding about on the sea, and curious Sicilians and Italian soldiers rowed about round us selling oranges and lemons and shamelessly begging for money or cigarettes. I was really surprised at the gorgeous greenery all round. Malta is only a few miles off, and it is a desolate quarry ; the only earth there was brought on ships as harbour dues. " Next morning the loomed in, with its four enormous funnels, and slowly settled down a mile or so off from us. Two other waiting ships emptied into her first, and we went alongside in the afternoon. As we approached we might have been going up against some enormous building. Tiers of ports loomed above us, and a hole opened in her side, from which emerged a gangway. We transferred our sick, and after dinner most of us went over and saw round a part of her. She was like a huge London hotel—huge spaces of deck and ward and staircase. The word " companion " seemed absurd ; they were huge wide staircases. The smoking room was just like the lounge in the Strand Palace Hotel, about four times

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as big as La Scala tea room (you probably know it). The people we sent on were all sorry to leave our ship. One felt lost and dejected on the monster. All of us said we were glad we were not on that brute. We looked down from her boat deck on our own ship below, and she looked exactly like a model four feet long in a P. and 0. office window. Her funnels—four of them—are 26 feet across their long diameter. Two big motor cars can drive through them abreast. We stayed there all night, and glided off at 6 yesterday morning. Sicily was simply gorgeous as we sailed down her shore. Syracuse was shining white in the early sun, and all morning and afternoon we were close to the south coast, on a sea like glass. The sloping coast was dark green with olive trees, and buildings glistened among them white and red in the sun. This afternoon we passed close by Sardinia, and its rocky coast-line was red and white, like Ben Nevis at Fort William. " We should reach Marseilles to-morrow evening with luck. I suppose we go back East again, how far east no one knows. I'm hoping at every port to hear that we are going West again. After all, there is no scenery so gorgeous as Southampton or Euston Station. " I'm expecting another Grammar School Magazine soon. The interesting articles in it now would be by those left at home, not those abroad. I'm reading ' Rab and his Friends' just now, and it beats any Gallipoli or Mesopotamia dispatches." April 25, 1916.

" We might be in the Channel again, it is so cold, and only this day last week we were sweltering in Cairo. We, or rather I, managed to get up at last, for most of the others on board had been before. We were fortunate in getting 48 hours' leave instead of 24 as most of the former parties had, and we had a busy two days. It was well worth a visit, though I'm not very fond of solid globe-trotting as a rule. Somehow the actual sight of things long familiar from Sunday School days seemed to hit one in the face. It is a beautiful city, too, apart from all its ancient treasures and associations. We went out to the Pyramids the first morning. A train goes right out, crossing the Nile on a fine bridge which opens for two hours or so a day. At the foot of the Pyramids, beside the famous Mena House Hotel, we got camels and rode about on them. The heat and the glare were intense out there on the sands. At first somehow I was almost disappointed. I think one expects something utterly impossible in size, but as we went round and round the Pyramids and measured ourselves by the individual blocks of stone they are built of, we soon realised how marvellous they are. One photo I took shows two of our party standing on the Sphinx, mere points

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on it. There is an extraordinary old temple beside the Sphinx, underground now. It is built of immense solid blocks of stone like Stonehenge. - The corners in its chambers are made out of one stone hewn into a right angle, not two stones placed together. " We went through seven of the finest mosques in the city, and the wealth and gorgeousness inside them is marvellous. They are immense places. We of course were shod in huge slippers tied over our boots before going in. In some the walls were entirely built inside of alabaster and marble, beautifully cut and polished, and often dove-tailed together through their whole thickness like fretwork in wood. The stained windows, too, were beautiful, and one mosque that cost five million pounds was full of jade lamps covered with beautiful blue enamel Arabic characters. We climbed to the top of the highest minaret with much puffing and panting, and got a view of the city below, all round the Nile, just a little green strip of fertility in the middle of the fierce blazes of sand. You could see the outskirts of the city trickling out into the desert in the shape of a thin tendril of houses, stopping dead in the yellow sand, or at the foot of some sunbaked rampart of white earth. " In the museum we saw among other things the mummy of the Pharaoh who tormented the Israelites, and other wellknown ladies and gentlemen of his time. " It is a very fine city, too, apart from all these B.C. antiquities. The square where we were living is a fine modern space. Sometimes, goodness knows why, it seemed to recall early visits to Edinburgh. There is something kindred in both cities, or I fancied there was, which is just as good, except that I never got so shockingly bitten by mosquitoes in Edinburgh. The citadel is the highest point, or rather the high point (Edinburgh Castle, again). " We left Alexandria last Friday, and should get into Marseilles on Thursday. It is very cold again, but the sea is treating us kindly enough."

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Wounded in Action. The following account is taken from the letter of an F.P. who was wounded early in the War. It was written with his left hand from the Duchess of Westminster's War Hospital at Le Touquet, and gives a very vivid impression of " the real thing " :— " At dawn we set off and marched along muddy byroads, fields and woods, in a seemingly aimless and endless trail. Then about 10.30 we came into a village. All day the firing had been going on fiercely, and aeroplanes had been buzzing overhead. But now we were really up against it, for as we moved down the street a shell struck the cottage that we had We marched been standing in front of a minute before. down that hill with considerably more verve than we had marched up the other side. I recollect that a line came into my head about " to my tardy feet had lent the swiftness of the roe "—not that any of us, I think, were feeling panicky. Personally I felt merrier than I had done for the last two days. We got down into lower ground under one of our own British batteries which, firing over our heads, made a more terrifying racket than the bursting of the German shells. Here we spread along hedges and the edges of woods in single file, so as not to court the attention of hostile aeros. Over against the village that we passed through lay Both villages were on high ground, and another village. between them were high-lying fields separated by a fairly deep depression from each village. Roughly speaking, the British held the ground behind the one village, the Germans that behind the other, and the high ground in between was the death zone that the one must cross to get at the other. We began to move up to this high ground with the object of reinforcing some of our trenches. It was heavy .work through the wet beet fields with a pick in one hand and a rifle in the other, a heavy overcoat on and a heavier pack and 200 rounds of ammunition, but it didn't last long for me at least. As soon as we got above the sky line we got our baptism, and the bullets went singing past, kicking up a little spirt of dust here and there, so we all flopped and proceeded As we advanced the fire to rush forward by sections. became heavier and our rushes shorter. Then we heard on our left the vicious tap-tap of a machine gun, and we got into a ditch which providentially opened for us, or perhaps it was there before. Just as we got in I got a smack on the left arm, but it must have been a spent bullet, for my wealth of sleeves stopped it, and it did nothing beyond making a picturesquely-coloured patch in my upper arm with a small

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graze in the centre. We lay in that ditch very unostentatiously for a few minutes. We were a very small party by this time, not more than 30 I think, for our long line across the field seemed to have mysteriously disappeared. We were in the centre, and those to right and left had swung round In a few moments the and got into some sort of cover. command came to advance and try. to get into some more permanent cover on the left. We knew what was waiting for us when we came up, and yet we knew if we stayed it was just a question of time till a shell would find us. So up we got. I wasn't a minute out when thud came a bullet on my right elbow, and down I flopped, too late of course. It was a smack of a different kidney from the first, but it was bearable. However, I was on the very highest part of the ground, and I hadn't long to wait. There was a flash on my right, and their something hit me with what I can only describe, in the language of the Halfpenny Horrible, ,as a sickening thud. I felt as if my arm was blown into fragments, and for a while I really thought it was off below the elbow, for my sleeve was nearly torn off and the sight underneath' was not encouraging, while there was no feeling left in the lower part of the arm. I can't say I took it in a Spartan manner. I roared at full concert pitch, and then fell to cursing the Germans and the War and everything connected with it. I think it was instinctively to prevent my mind dwelling on the horror at my side, for I never for an instant lost consciousness. All the time the firing seemed to grow heavier ; for, whether intended for us or not, it all came over our heads. I soon gave up making a row and started to try and claw myself into the ground with my left hand. The ground was soft, so I succeeded in scratching a little hollow for my head, and I lay there. The cannonade was frightful ; the shrapnel came screaming overhead, generally bursting a little behind me, and time and again I was struck on the body and head with earth and stones kicked up. From the left the machine gun played intermittently, and in front I could see the flash of Everymusketry fire when I ventured to raise my head. Mostly where the air was alive with bullets singing past. they went overhead, but little spirts of dust went up continually when they struck earth. Once I tried - to move to shift my pack from my back—a too prominent object in the landscape—and at once a dozen bullets struck the earth within a radius of 5 feet of me, so I lay still. Except for some dead or wounded near me there was not a soul to be seen in any By this time I was certain that my chance of direction. escaping was absolutely nil, and having accepted this fact I got quite calm and indifferent. The blood was coming from my arm in little spouts, so I knew a small artery must be cut, and I remembered how Petronius in Quo Vadis slit one

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of his and awaited the end, and I wondered whether mine would be that way or via another piece of shrapnel. I thought the odds were very much in favour of the shrapnel. Then the fusillade increased in violence, and the shells burst nearer me. Then I knew it was all up and I turned face upwards, because I didn't want to get hit on the back, and lay there watching the shells bursting as if it had been an exhibition of fireworks. Well, as you know, none of them did burst over me or I wouldn't be telling the tale. About two hours after I was wounded the firing lulled a little and moved away to the left. One or two of the heaps near me started to move and crawled away out of sight without getting hit, so I made up my mind to have a shot at it too. I managed with some trouble to rid myself of my equipment and left with scarcely a pang all the beautiful socks and shirts and tobacco and cigarettes I had been carying about. Some khaki-clad figures had stolen up and lined a hedge on my right, so off I stumbled in their direction, carrying tenderly my arm, which I was pleased to find still attached to me. Getting closer to them I was glad to find they were mostly of my own company. Two of them helped me over to where the first field-dressing station was, and there they bound me up, put me on a stretcher, and carried me a mile or so to another cottage, where by good luck a motor car was just about to move off. I was planked into it and off we went. After a 40 minutes' drive we were landed at another hospital in a small town, and my arm, which was still leaking considerably, was again dressed by a young R.A.M.C. officer whom I soon discovered to be from the North. Then a dozen or so of us were put in a motor ambulance crouched up in a sitting position, and we drove off. We had the most miserable journey I've ever had —bumping over the abominable roads. It came to an end at last, and we were stuck in the waiting room of the hospital. The wards were just about full up, so finally they decided to put me in the officers' ward. They cut my clothes off me and took them away to be destroyed, for they were all sodden with blood, leaving me without a possession except the things I had in" my pockets. It was nice to get into a clean bed, and after getting my arm dressed and an injection of morphia I slept like a top. Next day, Sunday, I smelt choloform for the first time, and I came out of it quite nicely, without ever feeling sick. They cleaned up the wound and put in some stitches. On Wednesday morning the word came that we were all to be cleared out and sent back to England. So we got taken down to the hospital train and reached Boulogne about 6.30 p.m., only to find that there were two other trains full of wounded waiting for the boat, so they shunted us down here to be the Duchess's guests. By S o'clock most of us were safely within these gorgeous halls and getting into

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•

the most inviting-looking snowy-sheeted beds, and a little later we were eating hot soup from Her Grace's own hand. We seemed to have come into a very Paradise, and although since then we have got used to it and have found some flies in the ointment, we are very lucky indeed to be here in what is probably the best hospital in France. " This has grown into something more like the manuscript of a novel than a letter, and it's Sunday evening by now—my second day's hard writing. I believe I'm beginning to " form a hand " in this beastly left-handed writing, and if only I could hold the paper firm I could do better. I had thought of breaking off here and resting from my labours, and letting you have the sequel in a second volitive. I hope I haven't been too realistic in my description of unpleasant things, but as it all ends happily (at least I hope so), perhaps you won't mind."

The Recreation Ground. -The new Recreation Ground having now been laid out, some notes about it will doubtless be welcome. By the arrangement made between the Aberdeen School Board and the Grammar School Former Pupils' Club it was agreed that the Ground should be managed by a Field Committee. That Committee, which is composed of three members of the School Board, three members appointed by the Executive of the Former Pupils' Club, and two representatives of the staff of the School, has been hard at work getting the ground put in order since the purchase was completed. The first step was to enclose the twelve acres which comprise the ground. A solid stone wall, 6i feet high, has been built on the east, north and south sides, while on the Anderson Drive or west side, a wooden paling has been put up. It is hoped in a few years' time, when funds permit, to erect an ornamental iron railing in place of this. The main entrance will be from the north in Harlaw Road, where the Pavilion will be erected, but there are also entrances from Anderson Drive and Cromwell Road. The work of levelling and laying out the ground was much more troublesome than was expected. A considerable amount of blasting had to be done at the eastern end, owing to the remains of the old Bleachfield buildings being found very near the surface. A huge number of pipes had to be laid down for drainage purposes, and the small burn which runs under the field had to be made safe. The ground was then levelled and sown, with the exception of the cricket pitch, which was turfed. The tennis courts were also pro-

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ceeded with at the same time. The whole work was finished early in the present year, and was supervised throughout by Mr._ J. C. Cruickshank, of Messrs. Walker & Duncan, in the absence on war service of his partner, Mr. George Ledingham. The tennis courts (three in number) were ready for play in May, and the School Tennis Club accordingly is taking advantage of the facilities and has been hard at work getting the courts into good condition with continuous play. The Cricket Club has been given permission to play in June on the new pitch, but a great deal must depend on the weather and the result of heavy rolling whether this will be feasible or not. The sown parts of the field will need time before they can be quite equal to the Mannofield or King's College grounds. It is not proposed to proceed with the construction of a Pavilion at present. The cost of such at this time would be very heavy, and the funds do not permit of such extraordinary expenditure. The Committee has, however, decided to put up a temporary shelter on the north side. The School Recreation Ground being thus a visible reality, the names of the late James Esslemont and of A. T. Cruickshank deserve to be handed down to posterity. They will rank as two of the School's greatest benefactors, for without their zeal and determination it would still have for its games nothing but the present bare patch, and the Former Pupils' Club would still have to face annually the problem of procuring a field. In view of the present conditions no attempt has been made to form an F.P. Tennis Club, but it is hoped that this and perhaps a Cricket Club will come into existence when we are at peace again, and able to take full advantage of the new Ground.

School Botanical Department. Two collections of dried plants have recently been presented to this department, one by Mr. R. M. Robson (F.P.), and the other by Miss E. 0. Christie. The latter herbarium was the work of Miss Christie's father, and some of the specimens it contains were gathered as far back as 1837. Warm thanks are returned to the donors. In the Garden progress has been made with the new rock-wofk, and it has already been partly stocked with the rock plants kindly given for the purpose some months ago by Mrs R. M. Williamson and by Miss A. M. Davidson.

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•

Summer is here again and, incidentally, cricket, tennis, bathing, sunshine—at remoter periods, and, finally, the piece de resistance of the year, the Bursary Competition. We have lately heard some inconsiderate juniors remarking on the empty condition of the front benches at prayers. Before long they will know too well that " much study is a weariness of the flesh," and will experience in the early morning the soporific effects of hard work. Nearer and nearer creeps the dreaded week, but we forget that when this is read our troubles will be over and our only care will be the date on which the results are issued. For the last time, the best of luck to the School! Ego @ Prize-day this year will not, in reality, be Prize-day, as it has been decided to give certificates instead of books. Those who are so fortunate as to receive a certificate will certainly treasure it, under the circumstances, far more than they would a book. Neither are prizes to be presented to the winners in the Swimming Sports. At a meeting of the Club held to decide this question, the motion was carried unanimously, the entry fee for competitors being cut down by way of consolation. In connection with the Swimming Club there is now formed a class for instruction in Life-Saving, which we hope will continue to flourish, as the training given by it is likely to prove of real practical benefit not only to oneself but maybe to others. The Debating Society held its last meeting on 24th March—a date which seems very far away now—in a most successful manner. May it never again be done away with as it was last session for, if there is no " Debater," School seems to lose its savour. A detailed and interesting account of the concluding meetings may be seen on another page. 68) The School has already played enough cricket matches to make evident the fact that this year's team is going to live up to the reputation of our 1st XI. The standard both

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in bowling and batting is high, and fielding is, on the whole, excellent, as the team contains a number of last year's men. A rumour is current at present that the Bleachfield playingground will very shortly be in fit condition for match-playing, but the present state of the field to an unskilled eye goes far on the way to refuting any such probability. It will undoubtedly be ready for games next season, unless some errant Zeppelin looses a casual bomb in its direction. With the light evenings comes tennis and, this year, tennis which is really tennis. On previous years the Tennis Club, unrecognised by the School, occupied a grass court at the Duthie Park, while the exercise which tennis naturally involves was, apart from that entailed in going and departing, totally nonexistent. Sets were conducted uninterestedly and in an altogether lackadaisical fashion. Now, however, the keenness displayed in the game is enormous; the courts, which are considered to be among the best in the city, are thronged from early afternoon to late in the evening. On the occasion of a visit of ours to the grounds, at about eight o'clock, a certain enthusiastic member informed us that he was just going home to get some tea, having played steadily since three in the afternoon. Of such does the Club consist. Diu floreat!

This year being the three hundredth anniversary of the death of Shakespeare, the Upper School met in the Hall on Monday, 24th April, to hear an address from Professor Jack. Several pupils of the High and Central Schools were also present, on the invitation of the Rector, while a note of apology from Mr. Stewart was read, stating his regret at the unavoidable absence of some Gordon's College boys who had been included in the invitation. We are deeply indebted to Professor Jack for his instructive, interesting, and illuminating lecture. Empire Day was celebrated in the usual manner at the School. Having saluted the flag, we entered the Hall, where, after a short service, Professor Terry gave us an excellent Empire Day message. Visitors and pupils were highly delighted with the keen humour by which the address was punctuated—that is a quality which always attracts a School audience. Mr. A. T. Cruickshank, in calling for a vote of thanks to Professor Terry, asked the assistance of the School with regard to the sphagnum moss required for Red Cross purposes. Three rousing cheers were given for the Professor, two songs splendidly rendered by the junior choir under Mr. Souttar, and the whole audience joined in the National Anthem.

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And thus our last session of School life draws to a close. Those of us who are old enough are counting the days until the time when we shall doff mufti, don khaki, and help Britain otherwise than by keeping ourselves fit, as best we can, in anticipation. For a time our hopes were raised by the prospect of the University O.T.C., but, alas! this project fell through owing to the absolute refusal of the War Office to countenance any such procedure. •

We cannot abandon our page without adding how honoured we feel to have held the position of Editor of the School Magazine, which is read in every corner of the world. We are proud to think that before long our name will be added to that ever-lengthening list of former Editors. And so we relinquish our pleasing and not very arduous duties, hoping that he who next takes them up will be capable of wielding a more eloquent pen than ours, and wishing him all -. success. Omit mots

Random Notes. At the stern call of duty and our Editor-in-chief, we once more grasp the fertile quill and seek to gather our scattered thoughts, for the edification and delectation of our wide circle of readers. The fact that our thoughts are, at present, exclusively devoted to our many studies will probably cause the diffusion of a funereal atmosphere over the succeeding page or two. For this we humbly ask pardon. A year and a half ago, most of us waxed wroth at the idea of commencing work at 8 a.m. Now, due to an altogether infamous Act of Parliament, we start at the grisly hour of seven. :It was a matter of small importance to the Members of Parliament who passed the Act, that the clock should be put forward an hour. It is at 3 p.m. that they begin the intensely arduous duty of drowsily listening to some futile debate. But we, we now begin work before the world is properly awake; we are toiling while the morning dew is yet on the ground; cock-crow merely signifies that we have completed a substantial portion of our daily labour. To employ a somewhat colloquial phrase, it's really a bit thick. That there is nothing like self-confidence is evidently the When each day opinion of this year's Smith Medallist. at the interval he confidently used to assert that he would win it, his colleagues derisively cried, " Why, this man is full of new milk! " (as supplied in the canteen, one penny Totally undismayed by adverse criticism, this per cup).

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strong man even went so far as to lay many bets that success would be his, with the result that he now numbers among his creditors a large proportion of the Sixth. By the way, we have suspicions that the shrewd fellow has already put a mortgage on his medal ; at any rate, two days after the result was announced, we were most kindly invited to take part in a lavish " bust " to celebrate the happy event. Our Editor-in-chief is, we hear, about to respond to his country's call, and, apparently, intends to see life at the same time. Already he is a gay dog in private life, and once away from the tender influence of our kind teachers—who knows ? Were this an intentionally serious part of the Magazine we should like to congratulate him, wish him good luck, and all the rest of it; as it is, we can merely cheer him (to the tune of a well-known ditty) with the thought that, " Though you're shivering in a trench, never mind ! Though you're soaked and feeling blue, never mind ! For you're done with Maths. and French, Latin, Greek, and English too— And you're on the Roll of Honour ! Never mind !"

We have recently heard that several members of the School, including two shining luminaries of Modern VI. and one from Classical V., have lowered their dignity by joining a Rambling Club—formed at the instigation of an ecclesiastical gentleman—which seemingly has for its object the study of Aberdeenshire fauna and flora, and the propagation of Christian intercourse between young people of both sexes. From an account of their last meeting, which reached our ears by devious paths, it also seems that an indispensable adjunct to the proper furtherance of the above-mentioned objects is the consumption of ice-cream in large quantities at out-lying hostelries. Need we say that a hot flush of indignation suffused our cheeks when we heard this story? Tennis is once more flourishing, this year in monastic retirement at Bleachfield. No longer can we be taunted with the suggestion that our enthusiasm for tennis merely conceals another enthusiasm ; no longer can it be called a " spooning game," or even be slandered under the name of " pat-ball." The one serious drawback to the new ground is the entire absence from the vicinity of anything that tends to slake the thirst. There is certainly a long hose-pipe and a water connection, but until now, at any rate, all attempts to direct down the throat the powerful stream of water which the hose emits, have ended in disaster. The only thing to do is to bribe a perspiring junior to go in search of a shop, and return with as many bottles of gafeous liquids as his pockets will hold.

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The Library has been extraordinarily popular of late with hungry youths seeking a place in which to ingurgitate a hasty luncheon at eleven o'clock. Buns, chocolate, and mysterious paper bags, produced from inside pockets, are all conspicuous. But why is this necessary? Why could not the canteen downstairs be developed into a restaurant, the fifteen-minute interval be expanded, and an opportunity be given us to really satisfy our hunger? Wonderful visions float into the mind at the very idea, visions too sublime for mere prose, visions which can find expression only in deathless verse. Here goes— With a plate of fried potato, And a brace of mutton chops, We'd sit and swot our Plata, And in bliss learn Euclid's props. Or with humble buttered " baps," And a piece of juicy Stilton, We'd learn Geog., and draw our maps, Or rejoice in stately Milton. While temperance potations— Ginger ale in jars of stone— Would make easy Greek orations Better far than Mr. Bohn. If the Sixth all puffed " John Cotton," Their exams. they'd never plough— Oh, it's absolutely rotten That we can't begin it now !

Things we want to know :— What the master exactly meant who recently remarked, " It is to be feared that some of the ancient peoples were no fonder of washing themselves than are some of the moderns " ? What caused a certain member of the Sixth to translate " urbis situs " as the" thirst of the city " ? Whether the new padlock on the south-west door of the School is as unpopular with the slothful as the easily-opened window of Room II. is popular? If the new Smith Medallist really suffers from dyspepsia ? If the member of the Sixth who arrogates to himself Pharisaical superiority over his fellows is not really a fitter companion for publicans and sinners 7 And now our Random Noting is at an end ; the wrinkles disappear from the editorial brow; the editorial ink-well is undisturbed by the editorial pen; all is at peace . . . Selah.

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School Literary and Debating Society. 4th February, 1916.—Dr. M`Leod, our senior mathematical and science master, delivered his annual lecture to the members of this Society in Room IX., at 7 o'clock. Owing to the popularity of the lecturer and his subject, Mr. Linklater presided over a very large attendance. " Some Experiments " embodied chiefly " The Romance of Astronomy," and the lecturer began by giving general informaLantern views followed, and tion regarding the subject. these included diagrams of comets, the signs of the Zodiac, and of various constellations. In addition to his exposition on " Astronomy," Dr. M`Leod gave practical experiments on the gyroscope and the spinning top. This concluded a very educative lecture, and on the motion of the Chairman a hearty vote of thanks was accorded. 11th February, 1916.—The Society assembled in Room IV. at the usual time under the chairmanship of Mr. Linklater. The business of the evening was a debate—" Should the Coal-mines be taken over by the Government? " Mr. Ritchie—who supported the affirmative—delivered a careMr. Taggart treated the subject fully-prepared address. from the negative point of view, and also showed careful preparation. The misconduct of certain members disturbed the meeting, and detracted from the general enjoyment. Mr. Taggart won by a small majority. The meeting terminated at 8.30. 18th February, 1916.—Under the presidency of Mr. After being Henry, M.A., the Society met in the Hall. suitably introduced Rev. Robert Forgan, B.D., commenced his illustrated lecture—" A Tour in India." In the course of the lecture he gave a general sketch of India in relation to the variety of its religion, caste, influence, and power. He remarked on British Rule in India, and gave interesting • information regarding the towns and buildings which he had visited in his travels. The lecture was improved by illustrations which clearly showed many curious aspects of the Hindu life. This terminated the meeting, and the usual votes of thanks were awarded. 25th February, 1916.—Owing to the Lighting Order issued by the School Board there was no meeting. 3rd March, 1916.—A very interesting lecture was delivered in the Hall by Rev. Lucking Tavener on " Art Treasures of Rome." Mr. Mackie, M.A., kindly presided, and introAccompanied by lantern slides, Mr. duced the lecturer. Tavener showed the main streets, statues, buildings, and ornaments of the mighty city of Rome. Religious customs and the exquisite architecture were also carefully explained. On conclusion Mr. Mackie thanked the lecturer for his instructive

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address, and a similar compliment was awarded the Chairman for presiding. The meeting terminated at 8.45. 24th March, 1916.—The final meeting of this Society was held in Room IX. at 7 o'clock, under the presidency of Mr. Linklater. The lecturer for the evening was Mr. Mackenzie Forbes, M.A., who delivered a very novel lecture entitled " Devils." After explaining and illustrating the uses and abuses of the word " devil," the lecturer proceeded to describe some of the devils of ancient times, and this caused much Various superstitions and beliefs about the amusement. Devil, as well as certain theories as to the origin of devilworship, were then explained. As a Sing-Song was held after the lecture, Mr. Forbes—who is so well known for his musical talent—gave two songs, and for this as well as for his lecture hearty appreciation was shown. The rest of the evening was spent in various duets, quartettes, and solos.

School Cricket. Cricket commenced with a match at King's College on 13th May against Gordon's College. The weather was good, although there was a strong wind blowing in from the sea, and the pitch was fairly hard. Gordon's won the toss and decided to put the School in first, whereupon the School opened with Anderson and Sleigh. The wickets fell easily at first until J. Mackintosh made a stand by hitting the bowling all over the field. Then the tail end made a good Mackintosh show and put the total up to seventy-seven. made thiry-two, Sorley thirteen, Thomson twelve, and Smith ten. Then Gordon's went in to bat and the wickets fell fast, since nobody could play the balls bowled by Campbell, who took seven wickets for twenty runs. Gordon's finished with a total of forty. On Saturday, 20th May, the School played the Royal Asylum at Elmhill. The Asylum team batted first, and ran up a total of seventy-four. The School then went in, but could not make a stand until Thomson and Smith entered into Together they displayed some brilliant a partnership. hitting, and after a short but glorious innings Smith was bowled with fourteen to his credit. Thomson carried his bat to the end, and made twenty-five not out. The School were beaten by only thirteen. Sorley was the best bowler for the School with eight wickets for forty-four; Campbell had two for thirty.

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School Officials. SESSION

015-106.

Sports Committee. President, Non. Secretary,

The RECTOR. Mr. JAMES DAVIDSON. Mr. J. C. KNox. J. MACKINTOSH. W. MCINTYRE. J. L. RIDDELL. J. C. RENNIE. J. M. SLEIGH. D. S. WALKER. A. R. SMITH. P. D. LAWRENCE.

E. ANDERSON. E. R LINKLATER. Mr. R. MACRAE. J. T. SORLEY.

Football. Captain -

J. T. SORLEY. I Secretary,

- P. D. LAWRENCE.

Captain, -

Cricket. J. T. SORLEY. I Secretary,

- P. D. LAWRENCE.

Swimming. Captain, Vice-Captain, Secretary, lion. Treasurer,

J. SLEIGH.

D. S. WALKER. Mr. R. MACRAE.

C. RENNIE.

Committee. J. T. SORLEY. K. ROBERTSON.

A. ARGO. E. R. LINKLATER.

J. BENZIE. i

Tennis. Captain, -

E. R. LINKLATER. I Secretary,

- H. RITCHIE.

Literary and Debating Society.

President, Vice-Presidents, Secretary, -

Committee. H. RITCHIE. R. A. M1LNE.

A. TAGGART. A. R. SMITH.

E. R. LINKLATER. {P. D. LAWRENCE. D. S. WALKER. A. R. GRAY. J. R. SUTHERLAND. I

Library. Lending—

Reference, D. S. WALKER.

E. R. LINKLATER. J. L. RIDDELL.

Miss SINCLAIR. I

J. T. SORLEY.

For " The Former Pup Ls' Club" see page 201.

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Aberdeen

Grammar School Magazine.

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The Former Pupils' Club. Annual Report for Year ending i5th April, 1916. The Executive has pleasure in submitting the Twentyfourth Annual Report of the Club. As stated in the Annual Report for the previous year, no Annual Meeting is to be called until the termination of the War, when the Reports of the Club will in due course come before a Special General Meeting. In Noveinber Mr. James W. Milne, C.A., who has acted as Secretary and Treasurer of the Club continuously since 1906, received an appointment in London under the Minister of Munitions, and arrangements had to be made for the carrying on of the work of the Club during his absence. The Executive has arranged for this being done by Mr. Stodart M. Chrystall, Solicitor, the Assistant Secretary, and by Mr. Theodore Watt, the Convener of the Editorial Committee of the Magazine. F.P.'s on Active Service. Already The School Muster Roll continues to grow. there have been printed in the Magazine the names of about 900 Former Pupils (a very large number of them members of the Club) who are known to have joined His Majesty's Forces voluntarily. It is believed,_ however, that the total number of F.P.'s on active service before the passing of the Military Service Acts must have considerably exceeded 1000. During the year several members of the Club have received military honours. One has been appointed Companion of the Most Distinguished Order of St. Michael and St. George, three have been appointed Companions of the Distinguished Service Order, six have been awarded the Military Cross, while at least a score have been mentioned in dispatches. Membership and Subscriptions. The Executive is pleased to report that the membership of the Club has been well maintained during 1915-1916. The number of members in the Register is 1444, as compared with 1435 last year. The number of unpaid subscriptions is less than in the previous year, but there is still a considerable number of subscriptions unpaid. The Executive would again ask those members who are in arrear to send their subscriptions as early as possible along with those for the present This will help towards the success of the Magazine, year. the production of which is largely dependent on the finances of the Club being in a healthy condition.

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Losses by Death. During the year the Club has lost a considerable number of members by death. These include Mr. Talbert Helmrich, a member of the Executive Committee, whose services to the Club were highly appreciated, and no fewer than 17 who have given their lives in the defence of the country. The toll of the War has truly been very heavy. The Magazine. Since the outbreak of war the production of the MagaMuch of the matter that has appeared in the three issues of the year under review has naturally had reference to the War, but the Editors have been successful in procuring various articles of general interest. The Executive has good reason for believing that the Magazine is continuing to fulfil its main object of keeping Old Boys in touch with the School and with one another, and evidence is not wanting that it has been very welcome in the trenches. zine has been the only Club activity.

Medals. The Club as usual presented medals to the best English, Science, and Mathematical Scholars at the School, but no award was made of the All-Round Trophy Bronze Medal. The Financial Statement. The Treasurer's Accounts, after having been duly audited, show that the revenue for the year amounts to £227 17s. 3d. and the expenditure to £142 Os. 11id. The funds at the end of the financial year, as shown in the accompanying Abstract, amount to £642 1 ls. 4d., of which the sum of £407 1 ls. is capital (as compared with £342 I ls. 6d. for the previous year), £121 1 ls. 8d. is at the credit of the Byron Statue Fund, £20 8s. 5d. is at the credit of the " Roll of Old Boys " Scheme, and £16 Os. 2Jd. is at the credit of the London Section. These funds are invested to the extent of £250 in 4 per cent. Debenture Stock of the First Scottish Northern Investment Trust Limited, £100 on Deposit Receipt with the Aberdeen Trust Co.' Ltd., and the balance is on Deposit Receipt with the North of Scotland and Town and County Bank, Limited, in the Aberdeen Savings Bank, and in the London and Aberdeen Treasurers' hands. The surplus revenue for the year is £22 Os. 4d., and the accrued surplus revenue amounts to £77 Os. aid. For " Abstract of Revenue and Expenditure Account" see page 203.

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furriers, ..Caales'

Aberdeen.

Outfitters.

ARGO'S

STORES,

81 c 83 GEORGE STREET. Men's, Voutbs', & koy_6' Zuitt-3. Best Value in Town. .•MMEI•

Tel. 2540Y2.

& SON . X. GILL IRaatcbinahers, 3ewellers, 6 Opticians,

AL 12

BRIDGE

STREET,

(Established

ABERDEEN.

over 50 Years.)

Fashionable Wrist Watches—Gold, Silver, Gun et..I- - Ile,d Value. Silver Cigarette Cases, Match Boxes, Fashionable Signet Rings, in great variety. Spectacles and Bye Gasses. Boys' Watches 5/- to 20/- each. You will find our Repairs either in Watches or Jewellery promptly exetuted and quite

satisfactory.

OFFICERS' UNIFORMS A SPECIALITY. Mr. Watson has had unique experience in this class of work. Cutting, Fitting, and Making-up personally attended to. Note the Address

WILLIAM N. WATSON, COMPLETE MILITARY OUTFITTER.

Now 199 UNION STREET, Aberdeen. Telephone No. 994. 'Phones-15w and i5ola.

WM. SMITH

HIGH-CLASS

FRUITERER, FLORIST, and CONFECTIONER. THE

SHOP FOR

LUCKY

WEDDING

BOUQUETS.

Only Address:

HOLBURN

JUNCTION

(TOP OF UNION STREET). .

Greenhouse and Vineries-12 HUNTLY STREET. Til,waplur .I,Nre,i—Smith, Aberdeen,

1591.

ABERDEEN GRAMMAR SCHOOL FORMER PUPILS' CLUB. April 1916. Abstract of Revenue and Expenditure Account for Year ending isth REVENUE.

EXPENDITURE. •

I. Cash in hand and Invested Funds at 16th April 191 5 .4556 15 O Subscriptions— Life Members— - .465 2 O Admitted during year Ordinary Members— - 23 2 6 Arrears recovered Subscriptions paid in advance - 19 12 6 (luring year Subscriptions paid during - tot 5 O 1915-16 209 2 O III. Miscellaneous— - Z12 10 II Interest 5 14 5 Discount o 9 11 Byron Statue Fund—Interest 18 15 3 •

1. Development Scheme II. Roll of Old Boys Scheme III. Magazine IV. Miscellaneous Expenditure V. Working Expenses VI. Cash in hand and Invested Funds Afifilicable asfollows :-Capital £407 11 O 20 8 5 Roll of Old Boys Scheme 121 II 8 Byron Statue Fund 16 O 23-; London Section - j;565 II 3 Add—Surplus Revenue at 16th April .654 19 8 191 5 Surplus Revenue for year ending 15th 22 O April 1916 77 O oi

•

£642 11 £784 12

£1 18 O I 13 6 41 89 12 4 1 O i 44 16 642 II 4

4 L.784 12

Account for year ending 15th ABERDEEN, 6th June 1916.—We have examined the foregoing Revenue and Expenditure April 1916, compared same with the vouchers, and found it correct. BOWER & SMITH, C.A., Honorary. Auditors. (Signed)

204

A berdeen

Grammar School Magazine.

List of New Members. Life Members. The following have become Life Members of the Club since the last issue of the Magazine : — Lieutenant Wilson Jameson, R.A.M.C., 5 Ferinds Park Avenue, Annan. R. M. Laing, 82 High Street, Inverurie. Lieutenant D. Adam, 26th Field Company, R.E., B.E.F. R. R. Cook, Kimanis Estate, Jesseltoa, British North Borneo. Dr. Robert W. Eddie, 334 Holderness Road, Hull. T. J. Wilson, 59 Old Bailey, London, E.C. Surgeon J. Gordon Denson, R.N., H.M.S. "Hannibal," cio The Admiralty, Whitehall, London. Captain William J. S. Ingram, R.A.M.C., 95 Blenheim Place, Aberdeen.

•

Ordinary Members. The following have become Ordinary Members of the Club since the last issue of the Magazine:— Robert C. Mackenzie, 25 Argyll Place, Reginald J. G. Wilson, St. Leonardo, Aberdeen. King's Gate, Aberdeen. Herbert Donaldson, 21 King's Gate, AberRanald Esslemont, 16 King's Gate, Aberdeen. deen. Charles A. Aymer, 21 King Street, Bervie. James blades, Marchniont, Rubislaw Den Eric B. Wilson, 282 Gold Hawk Road, South, Aberdeen. Shepherd's Bush, London. Norman J. Wilson, St. Leonardo, King's N. D. Smith, 31 Devonshire Road, Aberdeen. Gate, Aberdeen. Douglas] Scott, 9 Bayriew Road, Aberdeen.

Addresses Wanted. The present addresses are wanted of the following Members of the Club. Information will be gladly received by Mr. Theodore Watt at 10 Moray Place, Aberdeen, or at The Rosemount Press, Aberdeen (telephone No. 103i) :-Newell B. Cran (Johannesburg). Dr. A. Dyce Davidson (Highgate, London). W. Hepburn Horne (Aberdeen). Rev. A. McBain (Glasgow). George W. R. McConnachie (Aberdeen). A. E. Quin (Leeds). Hugh S. Robertson (Uddingston). J. It. S. Scott (Mhow, India). Wallace Troup (Aberdeen). •

Magazine Committee. F.P. Club Representatives— THEODORE WATT, M.A. (Convener and Editor-in-Chh1). WM. KEITH LEASK, M.A. CHARLES DAVIDSON, M.A. !

School Representatives— Editor, D. S. WALKER. Literary Editor, E. R. LINKLATER. Editorfor Sport, J. T. SORLEV. Business Manager, P. D. LAWRENCE.

TELEPHONE No. 1891.

ARCHIBALD McKELLAR, family 6rocer and Wine merchant,

456 UNION STREET, BERDEEN. —* -Invalid China Tea in i lb. packets. Harris's Wiltshire Bacon in tins, 1/1 and 1 6 each. Harris's Wiltshire Sausages in tins, 1 2 each. (Suitable for sending to our soldiers and sailors.)

Medicinal Wines—Yibrona, Hall's, Wincarnis, Glendenning's.

W. J. MILNE, iboster, etc., 251

UNION

STREET,

ABERDEEN. (Opposite Royal Northern Club.) Telephone 1293. Agent for BURBERRY in the West End of Aberdeen.

Messrs. MORGAN, !photographic Artists, Miniature !Painters, an0 III lier5 of Artistic frames. .

•

393 UNION STREET, ABERDEEN. 'P.

Special Terms to Granimar School Stuaeqts. g g10 A.M. TILL 5 P.M.

Telephones:

lag: 1f 880.

TELEPHONE No. 603.

Telegram+,

" Power, Aberdeen."

CLAUD HAMILTON, LT' ABERDEEN and ABOYNE. Automobile Engineers.

Electrical Engineers.

Official Repairers to the R.A.C., S.A.C., M.U., and A.A., also to the leading Insurance Companies.

Contractors for all kinds of Elec-

Expert Mechanics and modern tools.

trical Work, including Admiralty Battleships, Country Mansions, Private Houses, etc. Large staff of

All sizes of Tyres in stock.

Experienced Electricians.

ENQUIRIES SOLICITED.

ESTIMATES GIVEN.

GEORGE ANDERSON, " THE" IRONMONGER,

19 BROAD STREET, Opposite "Journal

and "Express"

Office.

Ironmongery at The Store where you can get anything in Household most Reasonable Prices.

SPECIALIST

KERBS

Endless Variety ; all for PARLOUR, BEDROOM, or KITCHEN. requirement. every suit Sizes and Prices to

Bedsteads and Bedding in great variety. Cutlery by best Sheffield makers, at Lowest Prices. Incandescent Fittings, Mantles, Globes, Beaded Shades, etc., etc. 'PHONE 2174.

A VISIT WILL REPAY.

Grammar School Specialities.

Navy Serge Football Shorts, wide cut. 2 11, 3 11. Cream Flannel Football Shorts, correct cut. 2 11, 4 6. Cream Knitted Sweaters, Polo Collar. 4/6, 5 6. Coloured Cashmere Jerseys, Newest Colours. 4 6, 5. 6. Cream Viyella Jerseys, Buttoned Shoulder, 3 11, 4 6. White Wincey Shirts, detached Collar, 3/6, 3 11, 4 6. White Net and Repp Shirts, Loose Collar, 2/6, 2 11, 3'6. Navy Serge Eton Caps, Piped Red, White, Blue, 1 -, 1 6. Also Self-Navy Serge Eton Caps, 1/-, 1/6. Grammar School Cap Badges, 21d. each. Red, White, Blue Knitted Ties, 60. each. Red, White, Blue Elastic Belts, 6d. each. Navy Cloth Tennis Jackets, Corded Red, White, Blue, 4 6, 4/11, 5/6. dozen. Boys' White Eton Collars, various depths, 6d. each ; 2;9 half dozen. Youths' Soft Collars, Double or Polo style, ed. each ; 2/9 half Youths' White Starched Collars, double style, various depths, ed. each ; 2/9 half dozen.

OFIN FALCONER CO FAMOUS FOR A CENTURY&' QUARTER FOR

QUALITWVALUE. I

THE ROYAL ARC, 1 ABERDEEN 0; • ...fE

Established 1859.

Telephone 1950.

FOR

MILK and CREAM, BUTTER, EGGS, TEA CAKES, SCONES, & OATCAKES, TRY

FINDLAY'S DAIRY, 457 UNION STREET, & BRANCHES, ABERDEEN; Also, THE SQUARE, CULTS. Established over a Ceatary. •

DAVIDSON BROTHERS, ea bitictmahers ant) lApboleterer6, CARPET WAREHOUSEMEN,

Removal Contractors & Complete House Furnishers,

131

UNION STREET, RBERDEEN.

Works-45 and 47 CHAPEL STREET.

Visit .

•

Moir's Hairdressing Saloons, 5 DEE STREET (Just off Union Street). First-class Assistants always in attendance Business Hours—

Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. MEMBER

Saturday, 8 a.m. to i.3o p.m. .

FOR

THE

ABOVE

Drawing

Instruments Materials,

and

TAYL0IF{.,r t `¢o~o~~t SCHOOLHILL, ABERDEEN.

Telephone 2870.

J. GEDDES,

Kr- f'd-,

tobacco $ Cigar Merchant. •

All High-class Tobaccos, Cigars, and Cigarettes in perfect conditicn may be had at

(11/ All kinds of Smokers' Requisites.

fil

A large and varied Stock of Walking Sticks by the best London Makers.

t.‘

Agent for Loewe Pipes.

478

Union

Street,

Aberdeen.

NO ONE SHOULD BE WITHOUT AN

ELECTRIC POCKET LAMP A LIGHT WITHOUT DANGER OF FIRE. The cost is small, the convenience great. Come and see our large selection, from 1 - to 7 6.

George St., MILLER BROS • 1 249 251 ABERDEEN. Telephone 2304.

All Fresh from ElIon Daily.

The Fountainhead for Fine Buchan Butter, Fresh Farm Eggs, Fine Home-made Cheese, Fowls, Chickens, Rabbits, Ducklings, Jams (all own make), Honey (in Supers, 1lb. and 21b.), Honey (in nice Tumblers).

MILNE, Ellon Stall, New Market ; TELEPHONE 746. And Branch-404

UNION STREET—Tel. 251.

JAMES FYFE & SON, PAINTERS & GLAZIERS, OFFICE & SHOWROOMS, 11 DEE ST. 'Phone 304.

Tel.: Fyfe, Painters.

Best Quality of DRUGS, etc., at Lowest Cash Price. .FINMINIEIMII!1•1111011111M

JAMES D. DUNCAN, M.P.S., ebeinwt,-IPbarniacwt,

231 UNION STREET

231

Telephone 311.

D. WYLLIE

SON,

247 UNION STREET, ABERDEEN. Agents for Ordnance Survey Maps. Booksellers, Army and Navy Stationers. Circulating Library in connection with Mudie's, of London. Engraving, Bookbinding, and Printing of every description. Fountain Pen Emporium. Premier House in the North of Scotland for the sale of Scottish Publications. Publishers and Proprietors of " The Aberdeen Book Lover." Telephone 402. Established 1814. Telegraphic Address : " Wyllie, Booksellers, Aberdeen.'

CAST=OFF CLOTHING. Mrs. M`CALL, 50 UPPERKIRKGATE, ABERDEEN (Established over quarter of a century)

will wait upon Ladies and Gentlemen, and give Extreme Value for all Kinds of OLD GOLD AND SILVER,

LEFT-OFF CLOTHING,

WORN-OUT JEWELLERY, SHEFFIELD PLATE,

TRINKETS,

FALSE TEETH,

FURS,

FURNITURE, etc., etc. BANKERS--North of Scotland and Town & Count) Bank. Ltd. BUSINESS STRICTLY PRIVATE.

Telephone No. 3002.

M. GERARD, JEWELLER

AND

SILVERSMITH,

411 UNION STREET (WEST). •

Engagement and Wedding Rings. JEWELLERY OF EVERY DESCRIPTION: AP40

Watches, Clocks, Silver and Electro-Plated Goods in Newest

Designs, and Large Selection to choose from. i'd,phone 2533Y5.

ABERDEEN

GRAMMAR

SCHOOL.

(Founded previous to 1256.) Rector—H. F. MORLAND SIMPSON, M.A. (Cantab.), LL.D., F.S.A. Scot. The School, which is one of the Secondary Public Schools of Scotland, provides for Boys a complete course of study—Elementary and Secondary, Classical and Modern. The Lower School receives Boys of the Infant stage and upwards. The School contains excellent Laboratories—Chemical and Physical, Art Room, Workshop, Botanical Garden, Gymnasium, Library, and Reading Room. The situation of the School is open and healthy, within ten minutes of the Railway Station. There is a Cricket Field, and there are separate Playgrounds for the various departments. Boarders are received by several of the Masters. Information as to Fees, Scholarships, etc., is given in the School Prospectus, which may be had free on application to the CLERK of the SCHOOL BOARD, 22 iTnion Terrace, or to the RECTOR.

ABERDEEN HIGH SCHOOL FOR GIRLS. Head Mistress—Miss LUCY L. WARD, B.A. (Load.) The School, which is one of the Secondary Public Schools of Scotland, is organised in Three Departments— a Junior, an Intermediate, and a Secondary—the last combining Modern and University Sections. The Art and Music Departments are under highly qualified Masters and Governesses. Pupils are received from the age of Five Years. The recent additions, consisting of an elegant Hall, Cookery and Laundry Rooms, and a Suite of Laboratories of the most approved description for the teaching of Physics, Chemistry, and Biology, make the School one of the best equipped in the country. A Library and Reading Room and Luncheon Rooms are provided. The School occupies a spacious site in the West End of the City, within twelve minutes of the Railway Station. The Head Mistress can arrange for the Boarding of Pupils from a distance. Information as to Fees, Scholarships, etc., is given in the School Prospectus, which may be had free on application to the CLERK of the SCHOOL BOARD, 22 Union Terrace, or to the HEAD MISTRESS.

CAST-OFF CLOTHING AND OLD JEWELLERY WANTED.

Mr. and Mrs. D. McKAY, 15 SC8001..1}-1161,2, Give Highest Prices for Ladies' and Gentlemen's Cast-off CLOTHING, OLD JEWELLERY, FALSE TEETH, OLD PLATE, &C. Zither Br. or Bra. Belk! will call at your residence on receipt of float Card or Telephone 2412. BUSINESS STRICTLY PRIVATE. TELEPHONE 2612. BANK REFERENCE. Note Address-15 SCHOOLHILL. Bring or sand your Cast-off Clothing to ktoKay's, 1 a eohoothIlL

When you are in need of ANYTHING in the Chemist's line Telephone 1784,

or call at

476

UNION

STREET

(Between Rose Street and Holburn Junction) when your requirements will be attended to.

F. HAY,

WILLIAM

.% Z Chemist

(From Duncan Flookhart & Co., Edinburgh),

476 UNION STREET, ABERDEEN.

(Near Holburn Junction.)

FRED HARDIE, Photographic !Mist,

1016 UNION ST., fiBERDEEN, For every style of In- and Out-door Group, Composite Groups, and General Portraiture, etc., rAtioh OW 881.

Popular

Prices.

Complete House Furnishers. Largest Stock in North District at

R. J. MACKENZIE, Ltd., 419

UNION

STREET,

ABERDEEN. KEEN PR

BEST WORKMANSHIP.

?he douse wit'? the "Trcaae. Perfect Fitting Suits for Boys and Youths.

OU naturally do not wish to pay more for your clothes than is necessary. At the same time you want to be correctly fitted and get a suit that will hold its shape for months to come. R. K. SMITH'S service of READY-TO-WEAR CLOTHING is so well known that we have no hesitation in asking you to call and see the big variety of styles and fittings we offer at prices that enable you to dress with economy and good taste. Our name on your suit is a dependable guarantee of quality and style—and there is no guess work about the workmanship either.

R. K. SMITH, Ltd., The King's Buildings, II3-II9 Union Street, ABERDEEN. T. •77.

ia.trams —"Clothing', Akboreliton."

THIS IS NOT MERELY

DUNN'S

"FOOTFORM"

BOOT IT IS A

THOROUGH

GOOD BOOT. GUARANTEED THROUGHOUT.

IN BOX CALF, GLACE KID, BALMORAL OR DERBY SHAPE. In Sizes, Half-sizes, and Four Different Fittings.

1916 as illustrated.

'Phone 158.

'Phone 158,

JOHN A. DUNN, 26 & 175 UNION ST., ABERDEEN. THE ROSEMOUNT PRESS, ABERDEEN.