AGS Magazine June 1954 by AGSFP Association

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CONTENTS ILLUSTRATIONS Facing page

Facing page

__ Sir Landsborough Thomson . . 96 F.P. Rugby Section tst XV . 97 • • A. H. Innes. E. J. S. Michie . Season 1953-54 • . The School Hall . between pp. 136-137 School Prefects-1953-54 .

. . . . • . . Swimming Pool or Ncw Hall ? . . The Present Hall. New Club Badge, Tic and Blazer . . . . . . . This Year's President . . . . . . . . Our Internationalists . • • • . . . . Notes about Old Boys . University Notes. Books by F.P.s. Annual School Church Service . Fruit Growing in British Columbia. By James S. Yule . . . . Memories of Persia, 1918. By W. G. Melvin . . . . Canadian Football. By Wallace Troup . Rugby International Tickets. London Scottish Football Club • Mar . . . . . . . . . . Obituary •

riages

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School Section— . . . . . . School and Random Notes . . . . . . Presenting the Prefects . . . . . . . . American Interlude . . . . . . . The Effect of Travel . • . . . My Favourite Superstitions . Conducted Tour. Aberdeen University Bursary Competition . . • • • . . . House Notes . . . . Lower School Notes. Scripture Union . . . Combined Cadet Force Notes. Pipes and Drums . . Scout Notes. Literary and Debating Society . . . Dramatic Society. Arts Club. Film Society . . . . . • . . . Music Notes . School Sporting Activities— . Rugby . . Hockey . . Cricket . . • Swimming School Office-Bearers, 1953-54 • The Former Pupils' Club— . . . . . Annual General Meeting . . F.P. Club Boarding House Company Limited . . . . . . . London Centre • • • • Edinburgh Centre . . . Edinburgh v. Glasgow Golf Match. Glasgow Centre . • • . . . F.P. Rugby Section. . • . . . . F.P. Tennis Section. . . F.P. Cricket Section. F.P. Golf Section . Boarding House Section. New Members of the Club. . . . . . . . Club Consuls . . . . . Club Office-Bearers, 1954- 5 5 . . . . . . . Club Subscriptions .

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Aberdeen Grammar School Magazine 0th year, No. z74 (New Series, first year, No. x6,)

Vol. LVII

JUNE 1 954

No. a

The Magazine is published under the auspices of the Former Pupils' Club in December and June. Communications should be addressed to the Editor, ALAN C. R. WATT, M.A., LL.B., 52 Bon-Accord Crescent, Aberdeen. NOTE : An atteri.rk after a name indicates that the F. P. i.e a member of the F.P. Club ;

•

dates after a name indicate theJean( of attendance at the School.

Swimming Pool or New Hall ?

0 4.•

The Town Council of Aberdeen has not yet decided in what tangible manner the Septcentenary of the School in 1956 is to be marked. At the time of the last issue of the Magazine the position was that a proposal for the building of a fine new School Hall to accommodate 1,200 people had been recommended by the Special Septcentenary Joint Committee, consisting of representatives of the Town Council, the School and the Club, and was being considered by the Education Committee of the Town Council and the Scottish Education Department. The course of events since then may be summarized as follows :1. The Department indicated in January 1954 their approval in principle of the execution of the work involved in the provision of a new Hall, a new gymnasium * and the conversion of the existing Hall into other accommodation—in two stages, the first of which would comprise the erection of a building which would eventually be a complete Hall but which would in the meantime be used in part as a new gymnasium. The cost of this stage of the project was not to exceed L5o,ooo and it was made clear that no indication could be given as to when the work involved in the second stage might be undertaken. 2. A revised scheme was prepared, allowing for the completion of the first stage of the project, i.e. a Hall to seat only 64o and a temporary gymnasium, at an estimated cost of L66,65o. 3. The School and Club representatives on the Joint Committee were unanimously of opinion that the style and size of the proposed Hall—even on completion of the second stage of the project at *In considering all the later proposals it must be remembered that the Town Council and the Scottish Education Department had earlier admitted the need for a new gymnasium which, as a self-contained unit, was to cost approximately L3o,ooo.

Aberdeen Grammar School Magazine

some unspecified date in the future—were very far short of what had originally been envisaged and that the completed Hall (which would not accommodate the whole School, as had been hoped) would be much inferior to the existing Hall, which is inadequate in size but not lacking in distinction and long associations. 4. The School and Club representatives unanimously recommended that the project for a modified Hall be dropped as inadequate and that instead the sanction of the Scottish Education Department be sought for the provision of a Swimming Pool. On two occasions when deputations from the Town Council had met the Department with regard to the Hall project, the alternative of a Swimming Pool had been discussed informally and on both these occasions the Department indicated that the building of a Pool could not be authorized. The proposal, however, had never been officially submitted to the Department, nor considered in the light of plans and an estimate of the cost. 5. Plans were subsequently prepared for a Swimming Pool on ground to the west of the main School buildings and adjacent to the existing gymnasium. The estimated cost of this project is f4z,500• At the date of going to press the whole question is before the Education Committee of the Town Council. It is the hope of the School and Club representatives that the Committee will recommend and that the Council will decide to make an official approach to the Scottish Education Department for the provision of a Swimming Pool. In their opinion a Pool would mark very adequately the significance of the occasion of the Septcentenary and its cost would be only £12,500 more than that of the second gymnasium already approved in principle, which would not be required if a Pool was provided. By contrast, the expenditure of £66,650 would provide an unsatisfactory Hall with accommodation for only 640 and would leave for some future unspecified date the extension of the Hall and the provision of a second gymnasium at an unknown but necessarily considerable additional cost. Another important factor is that the City Architect has indicated that, if the provision of a Pool is authorized without delay, it could be completed by August or September 1956 : on the other hand it has been indicated that it would be impossible to have even the first stage of the new Hall completed by that date. * * * We had hoped to be in a position to advise F.P.s in this issue of the Magazine as to the month in 1956 when the Septcentenary is to be celebrated, so that F.P.s abroad who are to be on home leave in 1956 might arrange to be in Aberdeen for the celebrations. We regret that it is not yet possible to say more than that the Septcentenary is likely to be celebrated during the summer or autumn of 1956.

The Present Hall

•

F.P.s who have not seen the School Hall recently will be interested in the two photographs of the Hall which appear in this issue of the Magazine. These were taken last year after the Hall had been renovated and redecorated. All the woodwork has been restored to its natural colour and the walls and ceiling are now painted in light colours. New curtains have been provided for the stage and windows and the Hall is lit by fluorescent lighting which is unobtrusively housed within the beams in the roof. (The shields which appear on either side of the stage in one of the photographs were for Coronation Year only.) The collection of photographs which was hung on the south wall has been removed outwith the Hall and in its place are oak panels bearing the names of the Duxes of the School, 178o-1894 ; Gold Medallists, 1848-1894 ; Duxes and Gold Medallists, 1895-1954 ; Rectors since 1 z6z ; and First Bursars at Marischal College (17521857), King's College (1756-1859) and Aberdeen University (i 86 z1935). All these names were previously contained on the upper portions of the north and east walls. When the War Memorial on the north wall was extended in 195o, a small dais and six small pillars of carved oak were added so that the Memorial might be a shrine set apart from the body of the Hall. Its simple dignity is now enhanced by the unadorned light-coloured wall above it. On the east wall there are now only nine portraits. These are of (left to right) Theodore Watt, M.A., LL.D., James Gibbs, M.A., William Keith Leask, M.A., Patrick Dun, M.D., H. F. Morland Simpson, M.A., LL.D., James Dun, LL.D., Charles McLeod, M.A., D.Sc., Alexander Bain, M.A., LL.D. and James Melvin, M.A., LL.D. On the stage are the chairs and table presented to the School in 1934 in memory of George Kinnear Fleming, and the Bengal Lectern presented in 1946 by F.P.s in Bengal and Assam ; in front of the stage is the console of the organ installed in 1928 from funds provided by George Waters and T. Irvine Rowell ; and above the main door of the Hall is the Malayan Clock presented in 1939 by F.P.s in Malaya.

New Club Badge, Tie and Blazer The Executive of the Club have had under consideration the questions of the Club Colours and the Club Blazer. Suggestions from members were invited. It has been decided to rematriculate a Club Badge and this has been done through the Lord Lyon King of Arms. The official Club Badge will in future be the present School Badge with a bordure of gold. This new badge is to be incorporated in outline on the existing Club Tie. In addition, the official Club Blazer will in future be black with brass buttons and will have the new Club Badge on the breast pocket. Enquiries are now being made with regard to the most suitable materials for both the Tie and the Blazer. The changes will become effective in 1956, the Septcentenary year. 93

This Year's President Sir Landsborough Thomson At the Annual General Meeting of the Club held on 3o March 1954, Sir (Arthur) Landsborough Thomson* (1899-1908), C.B., O.B.E., M.A., D.Sc., F.R.S.E., was elected president for the year z 9H-5 5. Knighted in 1953, Sir Landsborough has been second secretary of the Medical Research Council (under the Committee of the Privy Council for Medical Research) since 1949 and has been a member of several important Government committees and commissions set up from time to time. One of Britain's leading ornithologists, he has been president of the British Ornithologists' Union since 1948 and was president of the XI International Ornithological Congress held at Basel in May of this year. In April he was elected president of the Zoological Society of London in succession to Field-Marshal Viscount Alanbrooke. Our new president was a pupil at the Royal High School, Edinburgh, before coming to the School in 1899. His father, the late Professor Sir J. Arthur Thomson, LL.D., held the chair of Natural History in the University of Aberdeen for many years, and after graduating M.A. in 191r, Sir Landsborough obtained the degree of B.Sc. with distinction in Zoology in z914. He also studied in the Universities of Heidelberg and Vienna. He was appointed assistant to the Professor of Natural History at Aberdeen in 1914 and served in France and Belgium from 1915 to 1919 as an officer in service battalions of the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders and on the staff. He was latterly Assistant Quartermaster-General at G.H.Q., France, and was demobilized with the rank of lieut.-colonel. He was awarded the O.B.E. (Military) and was twice mentioned in dispatches. He joined the headquarters staff of the Medical Research Council in 1919 and in 19zo he obtained the higher degree of D.Sc. from the University of Aberdeen. From 1923 to 1932 he was secretary of the Distemper Research Committee ; from 1936 to 1941 he was secretary of the Tropical Research Committee ; from 1937 to 1941 he was a member of the National Radium Commission ; and he has been chairman of the Public Health Laboratory Service Board since 195o. He was vice-president of the Zoological Society of London from I 94 5 to 1948 and from 195o to 1953. When a student at Aberdeen in 1909 he instituted an inquiry into bird-migration by marking birds with numbered rings. In the same year there was started in England what later became the British national scheme, under a committee of which he is now chairman. He is the author of Problems of Bird Migration (1926) and Bird Migration: A Short Account (3rd edition, 1949) and also of two more general books on birds of a popular nature (the first of which was published in 191o when he was a student), as well as of numerous papers in ornithological journals, etc. He was chairman of the British Ornithologists' Club from 1938 to 1943 and of the British Trust for Ornithology from 1941 to 1947. 96

Wallace Heaton Ltd.

Sir LANDSBOROUGH THOMSON C.B., O.B.E., M.A., D.Sc., F.R.S.E.

^ • . y courtesy .iialmatn, Edinburgh E. J. S. MICHIE B

A. H. 1NNES

This Year's President

97 Our president was the first secretary of the Hockey Section of the F.P. Club. He is a member of the Athenaeum Club, having served on its committee, and he was president of the Aberdeen University Club, London, from 195o to 5952. A keen mountaineer, he has climbed in the Pennine Alps and Bernese Oberland, and has done much hill-walking in Scotland, Scandinavia and elsewhere. Some of these expeditions have provided material for articles which he has contributed to the Cairngorm Club Journal. Sir Landsborough will preside at the Annual Dinner of the Club to be held in Aberdeen on 29 October 1954, and also hopes to attend the Annual Dinners of the Centres in Glasgow, London and Edinburgh.

Our Internationalists Rugby Ernest James Stewart Michie (1947-5 2), who was a member of the School XV in 195o-55 and in 1951-52 (when the team was unbeaten), was capped for Scotland on four occasions last season— against New Zealand, France, Ireland and England. Six feet three inches tall and fourteen stones in weight, he played as a second-row forward. He is a second-year Engineering student in the University of Aberdeen and plays for the University Rugby Club, of which he has been elected vice-captain for 1954-55. Last season he was also selected to play for the Scottish Universities against the English Universities and the Irish Universities. Hockey Eric Douglas Watt* (1937-5o), who has been playing in the Scottish hockey team since 595o, when he was capped while still at School, appeared for Scotland in three internationals last season— against Ireland, England and Wales. He now has fourteen caps to his credit. Last season he was also captain of the Scottish Universities XI. In two of the international matches Eric Watt was joined in the Scottish team by another F.P., Alexander Henry Inns* (1933-45), M.B., Ch.B., who obtained his first cap in the match against Ireland at Dublin in March and was also selected for the English match at Dundee in April. Innes started hockey in his last year at School and gained ist XI colours. He helped to reorganize the F.P. Hockey Section in 5945-46, was secretary for two years and captain in 1948-49. He then played hockey for the University XI for three years, gained his full blue in 595o-51, and played for the Scottish Universities team, being captain in 195o-51. Since graduating at the University in 1951, he has played for Ruthrieston and he was captain of that team last season. He has created a Scottish record by scoring ioo goals in first class games. For the past two seasons he has been coaching boys at the School in hockey at Rubislaw.

*** The Editor will be glad if F.P.s will send him, from time to time, information for this section of the Magazine. News of appointments, promotions, etc., and other items of interest which ate not reported in the press, are particularly requested.

New Year and Queen's Birthday Honours Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire (K.B.E.) John William Taylor* (1906-11), C.M.G., M.B.E., M.A., F.R.G.S., lately H.M. Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary in Mexico City, was created a K.B.E. in the Queen's Birthday Honours announced on To June 1954. He retired from the Foreign Service in March of this year and is now Director General of the Hispanic and Luso-Brazilian Councils at Canning House, London. He took up his new duties at the beginning of April. Mr. Taylor joined the British Consular Service in 1919 and was appointed Vice-Consul at Lyons ; in 1921 he was appointed to a corresponding post at Prague. Thereafter he was transferred to the Consulate at Vienna, being appointed Consul there in 1934 ; in January of that year he was appointed Deputy British Delegate to the International Danube Commission. In 1938 he went to New York as Acting Consul and later in the same year he was transferred to Baltimore ; in 1943 he was appointed to Guatemala with the rank of Commercial Secretary for the Central American Republics. He was Chargé d'Affaires there in 1944 and was promoted to be Counsellor (Commercial) to Czechoslovakia (in London) in March 1945. He proceeded to Prague in June of that year and was later Charge d'Affaires. In September 1946 he was transferred to Cairo and became Minister (Commercial). Two years later he took up a corresponding post at the Embassy in Washington and in July 195o he was appointed Ambassador to Mexico. Sir John received the accolade on ii June 1954. Commanders of the Order of the British Empire (C.B.E.) Matthew George Fisher (1896-190o), Q.C., M.A., LL.B., Professor of Civil Law in the University of Edinburgh since 1938 and Dean of the Faculty of Law since 1943, was awarded the C.B.E. in the Birthday Honours. He was admitted to the Scottish Bar in 1913 and took silk in 1938. Mr. Fisher has been Counsel to the Secretary of State for Scotland under the Private Legislation Procedure (Scotland) Act since 1928 and chairman of a committee set up by 98

99 Notes about Old Boys local of field the Secretary of State in 1948 to review the whole government law in Scotland, with a view to its revision and consolidation. From 1925 to 1937 he was secretary to the Scottish lecturer Ecclesiastical Commissioners and from 1932 to 1938 he was 1944 he In Edinburgh. of University the in Law Administrative in the by Class) (Third Restituta Polonia was awarded the Order of President of the Polish Republic for services during the war. the Eric Linklater* (1913-16), M.A., LL.D., also received too are plays and books His Honours. C.B.E. in the Birthday numerous to mention individually—they have appeared regularly since His Juan his first novel, White Maa's Saga, was published in 1929. of Space Year A book. known best his perhaps is (1931) in America autobiography" of chapter a " was was published last year ; this published and was in some ways a supplement to The Man on My Back as a known well is and plays many in 1941. He has also written broadcaster. 1925 He was assistant editor of the Times of India in Bombay from Literature English of Professor the to assistant thereafter to 1927 and was then in the University of Aberdeen from 1927 to 1928. He at Cornell Literature in Fellowship Commonwealth a to appointed 1939 University and spent two years in the United States. FromRoyal the in major a as Fortress Orkney the commanded to 1941 he Public Engineers, and from 1941 to 1945 he was in the Directorate of three wrote he period this During Office. War the Relations at Northern pamphlets in " The Army at War" series, namely, The After the Division. Highland The and Calais of Defence The Garrisons, by published was Italy, in Campaign war his official publication, The held he where Korea, visiting after 1952, in and Office the Stationery in Korea. the temporary rank of lieut.-colonel, he wrote Our Men to 1948 1945 from Aberdeen of University the of Rector He was was Adventure" of Art The " and his Rectorial Address entitled essays contained also which name, that of book a in 1947 published in degree of on a variety of topics. He was awarded the honorary of the president was he 195o In 1946. in University LL.D. by the International 22nd the over presided Scottish Centre of P.E.N. and Congress of that body in Edinburgh. Officers of the Order of the British Empire (O.B.E.) & ComIan Cumming* (1907-14), managing director, Vernon New year's this in O.B.E. pany Limited, Madras, was awarded the Exthe of Branch Madras the of president is He Year Honours. United the of chairman was Services Association and until recently he Kingdom Citizens' Association in South India. Highlanders In the first world war he served with the Gordon1920 he went In prisoner. taken and wounded twice in France, was and merchants, leather Limited, to Madras to join Best & Company Limited, Company & Vernon join to firm that left he after twelve years honorary of which he has been managing director since 1947. He was Erskine Lord to and Viceroy was he when A.D.C. to Lord Linlithgow

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Aberdeen Grammar School Magazine

when he was Governor of Madras. A versatile sportsman, he played rugby for Madras from 1920 to 1923 and hockey for twenty years. He was president of the Madras Boat Club in 1952-53, plays tennis and golf and engages in punting. He joined the Southern Provinces Mounted Rifles in 1921 and was in command from 1933 to 1934. He is F.P. Club Consul for Madras. Harold James Milne* (1904-07), M.C., D.L., Provost of Fraserburgh, received the O.B.E. in the Birthday Honours. In April of this year he was appointed a Deputy Lieutenant for the County of Aberdeen. He has been a member of Fraserburgh Town Council since 1933 and Provost since 195o ; he has also been a member of Aberdeen County Council since 1935 and is convener of the Planning Committee. For ten years he was a member of the National Executive Council of the British Legion and he has been president of the Aberdeen, Banff' and Kincardine Area Council since 195/. He is also chairman of the Aberdeen and Kincardine War Pensions Committee. He holds several appointments under the National Health Service : he has been a member of the North-Eastern Regional Hospital Board since its inauguration in 1948 and he is chairman of the North Aberdeenshire Hospitals Board of Management and of the Health Executive Council for the Counties of Aberdeen and Kincardine. Since 1951 he has been an honorary Sheriff-Substitute. William Douglas Simpson* (1901-13), M.A., D.Litt., F.S.A. (Scot.), F.S.A., chairman of the Ancient Monuments Board for Scotland, was awarded the O.B.E. in the New Year Honours. Dr. Simpson was president of the F.P. Club for the year 1953-54 and some account of his distinguished career was given in the Magazine of July 1953. He has been Librarian to the University of Aberdeen since 1926 and is one of the leading authorities on the history and archaeology of Scotland. Robert Alexander Stephen (1919-25), M.D., F.R.C.S., Lieut.Colonel, R.A.M.C., received the O.B.E. (Military Division) in the Birthday Honours. He has held a regular commission since 1934 and is at present at Millbank Military Hospital, London. He graduated M.B., Ch.B. at Aberdeen in 1930 and obtained the degree of M.D. three years later. He was admitted F.R.C.S. in 1935. Academic Honours Honorary Degree of Doctor of Laws (LL.D.) John Macmurray (1902-04), M.C., M.A., Professor of Moral Philosophy in the University of Edinburgh since 1944, received the degree of LL.D. from the University of Glasgow on 16 June 1954. He graduated M.A. at Glasgow in 1914 with first class honours in Classics and was a Snell Exhibitioner and Newlands Scholar at Balliol College, Oxford, from 1913 to 1919. In the latter year he was appointed John Locke Scholar in Mental Philosophy at Oxford and later the same year lecturer in Philosophy in the University of

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Manchester. In 1921-22 he was Professor of Philosophy in the University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, and from 1922 to 1928 he was back at Balliol College as Fellow and Classical Tutor and Jowett Lecturer in Philosophy. Thereafter until he obtained his present chair in Edinburgh he was Grote Professor of the Philosophy of Mind and Logic in the University of London. In 1946 he was appointed a member of the Inter-University Council for Higher Education in the Colonies. After leaving the School Professor Macmurray attended Robert Gordon's College and in April he delivered the oration at this year's Founder's Day Service. Wilfrid Philip Shepherd-Barron* (1896-1903), M.C., T.D., M.Inst.C.E., M.I.Mech.E., president of the Institution of Civil Engineers, is to receive the degree of LL.D. from the University of Aberdeen at the Summer Graduation this year. He was Chief Engineer to the Port of London Authority from 1938 to 1953 and is chairman of the Hydraulics Research Board under the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research. He is a colonel in the Engineer and Railway Staff Corps, Royal Engineers (T.A.). After serving his apprenticeship as a civil engineer with the Harbour Engineer at Aberdeen he was in practice in Aberdeen with his father, the late Mr. James Barron, M.Inst.C.E., and his brother, JAMES BARRoN(1884-85), M.Inst.C.E., who became Engineer and General Superintendent of the Ribble Navigation Undertaking and who died in 1949. In 1921 he was appointed Chief Engineer to the Port Commissioners at Chittagong, Bengal, and from 1926 to 1938 he was Chief Engineer to the Karachi Port Trust. During the war he was continuously engaged in the struggle to keep London's harbours open and waged a constant battle, especially during the blitz of 1940 and 1941, against fire, mine and high explosive.

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Joseph John Baker* (1916-20 and 1925-27), B.Com., has been appointed president of Aberdeen Rotary Club. He is head of the firm of J. & W. Baker (China and Glass) Limited, Aberdeen. Thomas Ballantyne* (1942-47), M.A., LL.B., and John Thomson Clifford Gillan* (1934-46), M.A., LL.B., were admitted to membership of the Society of Advocates in Aberdeen in February. Adam John Guilbert Barnett (1915-zo), B.Sc., Ph.D.(Edin.), lecturer in Agricultural Biochemistry in the University of Aberdeen, visited Holland in April of this year to study the work going on at research institutes in Hoorn and Wageningen. The former, the Rijkslandbouwproefstation, is noted for the work which has been done there on the digestibility of grass and grassland products while the latter, the Centraal Institut voor Landbouwkundig Onderzoek, is the chief centre for agricultural research and incorporates the University side of agricultural teaching in Holland. He was also invited to visit a newer station—De Schohuis—at Amersfoort, where

Aberdeen Grammar School Magazine some important work on the feeding of antibiotics to pigs is being carried out. He gave two lectures at Wageningen on the work which is being done in his department at Aberdeen on the fundamental nature of the changes involved in silage fermentation—a subject on which he recently published a book. Dr. Barnett had not been in Holland since 1931, when he attended a summer course at Leiden, and while he found that many things had changed in some respects—more people spoke English, for example—many things were unaltered. He was particularly impressed with the unimpaired capacity of the Dutchman—in all walks of life—for work and suggests that the very marked fall in the cost of living in Holland since 1945 is the best indication of the Dutch working man's ability to get on with the job. Alfred Barrett (1936-41) was a member of the Cove Rangers team which reached the final of the Scottish Amateur Cup played at Hampden Park on az May 2954. The Aberdeen team was beaten 1—o by Royal Technical College. Barrett is on the staff of Aberdeen Savings Bank. Raymond Forrester Blackburn* (2941-46), M.B., Ch.B., and Leslie Bow Bartlet (1939-45), M.B., Ch.B., who both graduated in Medicine at the University of Aberdeen in December 1951, are now both doing their two years' national service in the R.A.M.C. Blackburn has been in Korea for the past year and was promoted to the rank of captain in April ; he is a medical consultant with the Commonwealth Forces. Bartlet arrived in Korea at the beginning of this year and now also holds the rank of captain. He is a psychiatric consultant. Both are enjoying life and are stationed together near Seoul. Blackburn is still playing hockey. George William Bowes* (1925-28), A.R.I.B.A., has been a partner for the past two years in the firm of T. P. Bennett & Son, architects, 43 Bloomsbury Square, London, W.C.I. He joined the firm before the war and has spent several years out of London—in the Portsmouth area, Guildford, Wiltshire, and North Wales as the firm's resident architect. For the past ten years he has been at their head office. He lives at Hutton, Essex, where John Douglas Fiddes* (2896-29oz), M.C., M.A., B.Sc., M.B., Ch.B., F.R.C.S.E., and his son, Alastair Dudley Rae Fiddes* (1936-43), are near neighbours. Ernest Duncan Brown* (1913-17) has been Chief Works' Engineer of the Austin Motor Company at Longbridge Works, Birmingham, since 1950. Soon after his appointment he visited America, Australia and South Africa to arrange for the erection of branch factories and he has since made the same trip again and has paid two other visits to South Africa. There is now a very fine assembly plant near Cape Town, and a similar factory in Sydney is nearing completion. On one of his visits to South Africa his business brought him in contact with Sir William Peters* (19oo-06), C.M.G., M.A., a short time before the latter's retirement from the 102

103 Notes about Old Boys offices of Senior U.K. Trade Commissioner in South Africa and Economic Adviser to the U.K. High Commissioner. In a letter Brown mentions a matter which has caused him much surprise. In his company's factory at Longbridge, which is the largest motor factory in the Empire, there is a very comprehensive apprentices' training scheme with probably the most complete facilities for practical training in medium engineering to be found anywhere in the country. Despite this, he cannot recall any Grammar School boy who has taken advantage of these facilities—a state of affairs which he thinks should be remedied without further delay I Eric Buthlay* (1928-40), B.L., was one of four F.P.s who " qualified " in the Northern Open Golf Tournament held at Dornoch in April. Conditions were most unfavourable on account of a prevailing gale and his score of 169 for the two qualifying rounds was the seventh lowest among the amateur competitors. The other F.P.s who qualified were J. S. R. Cruickshank* (1954-21), H. G. Mackintosh* (1912- I 5) and Lewis Middleton* (1919-32). After the final two rounds of the tournament Middleton was sixth equal among the amateurs and the order among the other three F.P.s was Buthlay, Cruickshank, Mackintosh. Buthlay was a member of the Royal Aberdeen II team which won the Maitland Shield competition at the end of May. Alexander Matheson Cain* (5937-46), M.A., is now assistant keeper in the Printed Books Department of the British Museum. Douglas James Calder* (1927-31), who was formerly with J. B. Yabsley, jeweller, Ludgate Hill, London, has, since the beginning of this year, been the representative at Hatton Garden, London, for Barker Brothers (Silversmiths) Limited, Birmingham. His brother, Robert Henderson Calder* (5921-24), who has been in Australia since 1927, is now branch manager for the British Tube Mills at Perth, Western Australia. Leslie Thompson Carnegie* (1925-38), B.L., was appointed County Clerk of Dumfries in April of this year. He had been Deputy County Clerk of East Lothian since February 1950 and a legal assistant there for the previous two years. He served his law apprenticeship with the Town Clerk, Aberdeen. His brother, Austen Ogston Carnegie* (5932-45), M.A., previously on the teaching staff of Angus County Council, is now a teacher under Aberdeen Town Council. Francis George Christie* (5948-5z) is one of twenty-five air cadets selected for a three-week air tour of Canada in August. He has been a member of 107 (Aberdeen) Squadron, Air Training Corps, since 1950. George Frederick Cox* (1899-1906), M.A. (Aberd.), B.D. (St. And.), minister at Harray, Orkney, since 1922, has been appointed minister at Newburn, St. Andrews. He underwent his Divinity training at the University of St. Andrews, and was assistant to the

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Professor of Hebrew there from 1914 to 1919. For the following three years he was assistant minister of St. Andrew's Parish Church, Edinburgh. He was dux and gold medallist at the School in 1906. Douglas Edward Cruickshank* (1942-48), A.R.C.M. (Viola), was a successful candidate in the L.R.A.M. (teaching) examination held in January 1954. He continues part-time study at the Guildhall School of Music while on national service with the R.A.O.C. Staff Band. Peter Diack* (1904-09), M.A., was incorrectly reported in the last issue of the Magazine as having retired. He has returned to Glasgow and was inducted as minister of the Park Church there on 1 October 1953. He was minister at Pollokshields West Church, Glasgow, from 1937 to 1948 and then minister at Drumoak, Aberdeenshire, for five years. Marshall Keith Duguid* (1919-29), who left Beira last year and settled in Southern Rhodesia, has purchased seventy acres of ground about ten miles from Salisbury on the Salisbury-Umtali road and intends to open a Motel there in due course. Robert James Duthie* (1911-17), M.D., has been appointed a member of the North-Eastern Regional Hospital Board. Other F.P.s on the Board are Ranald Esslemont* (1903-13), J.P., and Harold James Milne* (1904-07), M.C., Fraserburgh. (See page zoo.) William John Stewart Fleming* (2937-42), who went to Edinburgh Academy after leaving the School, is reading Philosophy, Politics and Economics at Lincoln College, Oxford. At the Academy he was captain of the rugby XV and head of the School. Thereafter, during his two years' national service, he held a commission and served with the Parachute Brigade in Egypt. William Henry Brough Forbes* (1939-48), B.Sc.(For.), went to North Borneo in September 1953 to take up an appointment with the British Borneo Timber Company Limited at Sandakan. Ronald Dennis Fortune (1944-47), B.Sc., has been appointed scientific officer at the Admiralty Research Laboratory, London. He graduated at the University of Aberdeen in 1951 with honours in Natural Philosophy. George Paterson Fraser (x933-45), B.Sc., Ph.D., has been appointed lecturer in Clinical Chemistry in the University of Aberdeen. He graduated B.Sc. there in 1949, and prior to his return to Aberdeen in April he was doing research work at Dagenham, Essex. Edgar Reuben Gauld* (1917-23), M.B., Ch.B., M.R.C.P., retired last September from the Gold Coast where he was latterly medical specialist at Sekondi Hospital. He is now studying at the London School of Hygiene with a view to obtaining the Diploma in Public Health. He was F.P. Club Consul in the Gold Coast. Richard William Geater* (x938-47), who has been with the British American Oil Company in Toronto since leaving the School,

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has been captain of the re-formed Toronto Scottish Rugby Football Club for the past two seasons. Rugby in this part of Canada is organized by the Ontario Rugger Union which came into being in 1949, and sixteen clubs now belong to it. On account of the severe winter weather the season is divided into two parts, from September to November and from the end of March to the beginning of May. The ist XVs of the various clubs compete for the News of the World Trophy and the znd XVs for the Carling Trophy, both of which are played for in the first half of the season. In the second half friendly games are played and the season concludes with seven-a-sides early in May. Geater played a leading part in the re-formation of the Toronto Scottish in 195z and he is most anxious that any F.P. going to Ontario —and also any Gordonian—should bring his boots and shorts and communicate with him on arrival. (His address is 436 Sheppard Avenue East, Willowdale, Ontario : telephone, Baldwin I - 1518.) One of the honorary vice-presidents of the Club is Robert Fleming* (1891-98), who has recently been succeeded by Geater as F.P. Club Consul for Ontario. Godfrey Power Geddes* (19o5- I 1), D.S.O., O.B.E., T.D., M.A., D.L., has retired from the chairmanship of the County of Aberdeen Territorial and Auxiliary Forces Association—a post which he held for over seven years. His service in the T.A. extended over a period of thirty-three years, in addition to which he held a commission in the Gordon Highlanders from 1955 to 1919. He remains honorary colonel of the 516th Battalion. He has been succeeded as chairman of the County of Aberdeen Territorial and Auxiliary Forces Association by Major George William Bruce* (1915-14), T.D., who was formerly chairman of the County of Kincardine Association. Robert Niven Gilchrist* (1901-05), C.I.E., M.A., Indian Educational Service (retired), who left India in February 1939 and retired officially in 1941, has been living in Aberdeen since 1950. From 1940 to 1947 he was a temporary principal in the India and Burma Office, London, and after the granting of independence to these countries, he was for a year in the Commonwealth Relations Office. Thereafter he was occupied in preparing a seventh edition of his Principles of Political Science, originally published in 1921. The book had to be largely re-written and was published in 1952. He is now a member of the Board of Management for the Aberdeen General Hospitals and of the Business Committee of the General Council of the University. William Robert Daniel Glennie (1911-17), A.M.I.Mech.E., A.M.Inst.C.E., has been in the Civil Engineer-in-Chief's Department of the Admiralty since 5941. He has served at Devonport, Newcastle, Fishguard, Milford Haven, Hongkong and at the Department's headquarters at Pinner, Middlesex. He is at present stationed at Portsmouth. In 5947 he was presented with the American Medal

Aberdeen Grammar School Magazine i o6 of Freedom for war services. Before joining the Admiralty he was a civil engineer at the oil refinery, Fawley, Southampton, for thirteen years. Stephen Goodbrand* (1927-4o), M.A., was inducted to his first full charge at Hobkirk, near Hawick, on 1 April 1954. He was ordained in September 1952 and was acting minister of the Church of Scotland in Colombo for six months last year. Peter Mitchell Gordon* (1939-48), M.A., who is doing his national service, was commissioned in the Royal Artillery in March 1953 and has been serving in Egypt with Mauritian troops. In the Canal Zone the Army recruits men from Mauritius, Rodriguez and the Seychelles to serve as guards and pioneers and thereby release British troops for other duties. Most of the national service officers posted to Mauritian companies are gunner or infantry officers who return to their regiments for the last three months of their service. John King Grant* (1914-16), M.B., Ch.B., Dipl. Psych.(Edin.), has been physician superintendent of Renfrew Mental Hospital, Dykebar, Paisley, since July 1939. It is one of the three mental hospitals built in Scotland during the present century and it has 460 beds. Situated in grounds covering 570 acres, it is built on the detached block system. After graduating at Aberdeen in 1924 he was an assistant in a general practice for a short time and was then appointed third assistant physician at Aberdeen Royal Mental Hospital. From 1929 to 1939 he was on the staff of the Royal Asylum, Montrose, latterly as senior medical officer and deputy physician superintendent. In 1938 he obtained the Diploma in Psychiatry at the University of Edinburgh. John William Reid Gray (1931-45), M.A., LL.B., is the latest F.P. to join the ranks of the Faculty of Advocates. He was admitted in March of this year. In April he was appointed by the Colonial Office to be a resident magistrate in Uganda. Patrick Moir Gray* (1903-n), who has been engaged in tea and to planting in Ceylon for about thirty years, was due to retirebeen on return to the United Kingdom at the end of April. He has Watawala. at the Lonach Estate Alan Stirling Hall* (1937-40 and I943-5o), who completes his honours course in Classics at the University of Aberdeen this summer, has been elected to a Domus Exhibition in Classics at Balliol College, Oxford. Sir Wilson Jameson* (1892-1902), G.B.E., K.C.B., M.A., M.D.(Aberd.), LL.D., D.Hy. (Durham), Sc.D. (Cantab.), F.R.C.P., F.R.C.O.G., is to receive his fifth honorary doctorate in Laws in July of this year from Queen's University, Belfast. James Patrick Jeffrey* (1906-18), T.D., B.Sc.(Eng.), C.A., was of forced to resign from Aberdeen Town Council at the beginning Rosemount represented had He February on account of ill-health.

107 Notes about Old Boys Ward since May 1951. He had also to resign from the presidency of the Aberdeen Chamber of Commerce, which he had held since 1952, and give up his work as a member of the Aberdeen Special Hospitals Board and of the Scottish Council (Development and Industry). Donald Ritchie Keith* (1925-34), M.A., Ed.B., was appointed in January to be an assistant master in Bucksburn School, Aberdeenshire. He previously held a similar post in Dyce School. Francis Henry King* (1916-26), who has been with the Hongkong and Shanghai Bank since 1928, is now in the bank's office in Calcutta. He was previously chief accountant in the Bombay office. John Fraser Kirk* (1937-47), M.A., was licensed to preach by the Presbytery of Aberdeen at a service in Rubislaw Church in April of this year. James Gray Kyd* (1891-98), C.B.E., F.F.A., F.R.S.E., who proposed in 1944 that a Third Statistical Account of Scotland should be prepared, is now seeing the first fruits of his labours. The first four volumes—pilot surveys dealing with Ayrshire, Fife, the City of Aberdeen, and East Lothian respectively—have been published and the first of the other volumes, which are composed of parish accounts written by local ministers, schoolmasters and others, are soon to appear. In December 1953 Mr. Kyd presented a copy of the Aberdeen City volume to the Lord Provost of Aberdeen, and in so doing he revealed that the 1951 Census showed that the proportion of the population of Aberdeen born in Scotland was higher than the corresponding proportion in any other of the large cities. That, he said, may be one of the reasons why Aberdeen is probably the most representative Scottish city. On To May 1954, the tooth anniversary of the birth of Sir John Sinclair was celebrated in Edinburgh and elsewhere. Sir John was the compiler of the First Statistical Account of Scotland and Mr. Kyd was prominently associated with the celebrations. Kenneth Sinclair Lawrie (i945-47), A.R.I.B.A., who is now with a leading firm of architects in Toronto, has been awarded the second prize of 65o dollars in an architectural competition sponsored by a Canadian journal. The competition is held annually " to assure a continuous development of the moderate-cost house-design theme " and the contest keynote this year was the designing of a house suitable for the temperate zones of Canada from the Atlantic to the Pacific. William Milne Littlejohn* (1901-02), A.M.Inst.C.E., has recently retired from the position of honorary colonel of 356 (Highland) Medium Regiment, Royal Artillery, an appointment which he had held for seven years. Ernest Hutcheon Lyon* (1902-07) retired from the post of assistant secretary and establishment officer in the Department of Agriculture for Scotland in March 1953, after thirty-nine years' service with the Department. He had been in the civil service since 1907.

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Alexander Macdonald (1921-27), M.A., M.D., is to succeed Professor John Cruickshank in the chair of Bacteriology in the University of Aberdeen with effect from 1 October 1954. He is at present reader in Bacteriology in the University of Liverpool. He graduated M.A. at Aberdeen in 1931 with first class honours in English, and M.B., Ch.B. in 1937 with second class honours, winning the Shepherd Memorial Gold Medal for Surgery. He was a resident in Aberdeen Royal Infirmary from 1937 to 1938 and held a Garden Fellowship in the Department of Bacteriology at the University from 1938 to 194z. In the latter year he obtained the degree of M.D., and gained the Thursfield Award for the best thesis for the degree of M.D. which attained the standard of highest honours in the year 1941-43. From 1942 he was senior assistant bacteriologist in the Pathology Department at Cambridge for a year, and from 1943 to 1948, when he took up his present appointment in Liverpool, he was Director of Public Health under the Medical Research Council at Norwich. Dr. Macdonald will be the only F.P. among the professoriate in the University of Aberdeen. Duncan Ronald Macgregor* (1925-38), M.A., lecturer in Geography in the University of Edinburgh, who lives in Dollar, contributed an article entitled " Daily Travel : A Study in Time and Distance around Edinburgh" to the December 1953 issue of The Scottish Geographical Magazine. With the aid of maps he showed that certain places outside Edinburgh are not so far away in terms of travel time as is popularly supposed and, as an example, he pointed out that, in comparison with places which are served by the railway, Corstorphine stands in the same general category as Aberdour in Fife and North Berwick. There are places, he wrote, within easy reach of Edinburgh which seem excellently suited to accommodate secondary schools—places where children would live in intimate association with the natural world, where the meaning of community life could be clearly understood and where health would be safeguarded and improved. He posed the question : Does the point not come when the size and structure of a city recommend that any further growth should take the form of extra-urban communities or satellites? Should we not deliberately control surburban expansion with the object of decreasing local travel and easing traffic congestion within the city, and of creating and maintaining settlements of separate identity without ? The Hon. Lord Mackay (Alexander Morrice Mackay)* (1882-91), Q.C., M.A., LL.D., retired at the beginning of February. In May 1953 he completed twenty-five years as a Senator of Her Majesty's College of Justice in Scotland. He was called to the Bar in 1902 and became a K.C. in 19zo. Kenneth Pirie Mackenzie* (1901-07), M.A., M.B., Ch.B., Colonel, R.A.M.C. (retired), who is now a member of Inverness Town Council, was appointed a baillie in May of this year. He

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has resided in Inverness since 1945 and joined the Town Council in 1951. During the war he was in Jap hands for 1163 days and a book which he has written on his experiences, entitled Operation Rangoon Jail, is to be published this autumn by Christopher Johnson (Publishers) Limited. This is believed to be the only book of its kind published by a medical man and the only one that gives an account of Japanese treatment of prisoners in Burma.

Alastair MacLennan* (1923-29), O.B.E., Colonel, R.A.M.C., is now with the H.Q. of the 3rd Infantry Division stationed near Moascar on the Suez Canal. He has made the original discovery that when the Plagues of Egypt were recorded in the Old Testament one was omitted—namely sand I From 195o to 1952 Colonel MacLennan commanded the 26th Field Ambulance in Korea and from April 1952 to October 1953 he was A.D.M.S. of the 6th Armoured Division in Germany. George Alexander McNab* (1936-44), A.R.I.B.A., A.R.I.A.S., has qualified as A.M.T.P.I. and is now with Messrs. Riach & Cowan, architects, Edinburgh.

Ian Angus Shaw MacPhail (1933-40), L.S.I.A., was Assistant Musical Director of the Arts Council of Grcat Britain from 1946 to 1953. In this capacity he was responsible for all programme and artistic direction and for liaison with the main symphony orchestras. He was jointly responsible for all auditions and was in charge of the design and production of all publicity—catalogues, posters, brochures, etc. He played an active part in the Festival of Britain and designed all concert publicity for the London Season of the Arts. Since 1945 he has frequently broadcast on the B.B.C. Overseas Service. He is general editor of a series of " You Books " and the author of one of them—You and the Orchestra. After seven years with the Arts Council he decided last year to concentrate on typography and publicity and he entered Dexion Limited, an international organization which makes and markets universal construction units, to do publicity and public relations work. Last November he went to the Ionian Islands to help in relief work after the series of violent earthquakes there last summer. Harry Gordon Macpherson* (5938-44), B.Sc. (Aberd.), M.A. (Toronto), is now enrolled in the University of Toronto for the degree of Ph.D. (in Geology), which he hopes to obtain by the summer of 1955. After three-and-a-half years in the Army, when he served with the Royal Engineers mainly in India, Ceylon, Burma and Malaya, he attended the University of Aberdeen and graduated B.Sc. in 1952 with honours in Geology. Thereafter he went to Canada and was employed during the summer of 1952 as a geologist in the Ontario Department of Mines. He graduated M.A. at the University of Toronto in June 5953 and spent the summer of last year in Labrador, searching with the American Exploration Company for copper.

Aberdeen Grammar School Magazine His brother, George John Macpherson (1933-40), Sergeant, R.A.F.V.R., was killed in 1944 while serving in Bomber Command. Ian Gowanlock McPherson* (1910-17) is now the representative in the North of Scotland for John Deas & Company Limited, Glasgow, manufacturers of oils, soaps and disinfectants. At the Municipal Election in May 1954 he was re-elected to Aberdeen Town Council. James Stewart MacPherson* (1928-33), M.A., was appointed in January to be headmaster of Culter School, Aberdeenshire : he had been headmaster of Bowmore Junior Secondary School, Islay, since 1948. Classical dux of the School in 1933, he graduated M.A. at Aberdeen in 1937 with honours in Classics and was on the School staff from 1939 to 1946. From 1940 to 1945, however, he was a prisoner-of-war in Germany. He was principal Classics master at Campbeltown from 1946 to 1948. George David Holt McQuitty (i925-z8), M.C., B.Sc., M.B., Ch.B. (St. And.), is now in general practice in the Birmingham area. His brother, Eoin Leonard McQuitty (1925-28), M.B., Ch.B., also graduated in Medicine at the University of St. Andrews, where he won a Harkness residential scholarship. He is in practice at Totton, Southampton. The youngest of the three brothers, Gordon Raith McQuitty (1927-28), L.D.S. (St. And.), qualified in 1943, served as a dental officer in the Navy and is now in practice at Cupar, Fife. Ronald Duncan MacRae* (19 T 6-23), M.B., Ch.B., D.P.H., F.R.C.S.E., Lieut.-Colonel, I.M.S. (retired), is Surgeon-in-charge at the Pakistan Government Civil Hospital and the Pakistan Government Medical School, Quetta, and is also in charge of Government hospitals elsewhere in Baluchistan. Until recently he was Director of Health Services in that province. He joined the Indian Medical Service in 1932 and was stationed in the State of Coorg, South India, from 1935 to 1938. He was then appointed Residency Surgeon at Hyderabad, Deccan, and later held the same post at Gilgit, Kashmir. From 1942 to 1944 he served with the 14th Army in Assam and in 1944 he was appointed Surgeon at the British Legation in Kabul, Afghanistan. He took up his present appointments in 1952. Douglas Keith MacTaggart (1927-39), M.A., M.B., Ch.B., D.P.H., has been appointed Medical Officer of Health for the Paignton, Brixham and Dartmouth division of Devon. He graduated M.B., Ch.B. at Aberdeen in 1949 and was in practice at Brixham from then until 1952. He obtained his D.P.H. at the London School of Hygiene. 110

Arthur William Alexander Main* (1939-45), M.A., B.D., was ordained at West Pilton Church, Edinburgh, in January of this year. He was then assistant minister at that church. Edwin Roy Marston* (1936-39) is now in the service of Barclay Motors Limited, Bury St. Edmunds.

Notes about Old Boys Peter Carmichael Millar* (1933-44), M.A., LL.B. (Edin.), has been assumed as a partner in the firm of W. and T. P. Manuel, W.S., Edinburgh. Thomas Gordon Milner* (1925-37), B.Sc.(Eng.), who has been leave in the Colonial Engineering Service since 1947, was home on met from Nyasaland last winter. A few months previously he had who (Glasg.), M.A. (1924-34), Crawford* Noel Douglas Frank is a missionary of the Church of Scotland at Livingstonia, Nyasaland. He had also met Charles George Sang (1919-32), B.Sc.(Eng.), who is with Messrs. Scott & Wilson, consulting engineers, and Alfred Cahoon Bruce Singleton (1924-33), M.B., Ch.B., D.P.H., and who is now Senior Medical Officer in the Northern Province Luff Peter met Milner home way his On stationed at Mzimba. Hill* (1934-38), who is with an oil company in Kenya. James Monro* (1928-39), who is a pilot with British European Airways, was in command of a B.E.A. Viscount which made a forced landing at Geneva in April. Forty-four passengers and the crew of six were aboard. The pressurization of the aircraft failed at a height down of 24,000 feet and Captain Monro managed to bring the plane which at height maximum feet—the 12,000 to swoop in one violent people can live without special oxygen supply. After two years the with the Caledonian Insurance Company in Aberdeen he joinedAfter pilot. fighter night a R.A.F., was commissioned and became the war he took up civilian flying and joined B.E.A. Thomas Ian Morrison* (1934-47), B.Sc., was released from full549 time service in the Army in October 1953 and was posted toRoad Company (Inf. Div. Tpt.), R.A.S.C. (T.A.), Great Southern holds Camp, Aberdeen, for service in the Territorial Army. HeCricket the rank of lieutenant. A member of both the Hockey andTraining Sections of the Club, he is meantime a student at Aberdeen College and is to take up an appointment as assistant teacher of Science in the High School of Stirling in August. the John Mortimer* (1923-27), F.C.I.I., who has been with Limited Association Insurance National Employers' Mutual General Institute since 1933, has been appointed president of the Insurance 1946. since company his of of Aberdeen. He has been local manager Frederick Peter Morton* (1882-94), who is now aged seventy-six, gave a pianoforte recital in the hall of St. Columba's Church of of Scotland, Pont Street, London, in February of this year in aid Fund. Rebuilding Church's the lain Henry Pattison* (1921-3o), B.Sc.(Agri.), M.R.C.V.S., has been a research pathologist at the Agricultural Research Council 1946. Field Station at Compton, near Newbury, Berkshire, since particular in and animals, His work is entirely concerned with farm (with a with diseases of the mammary glands of the cow. Last year four spent he grant) travel Smith-Mundt award and a Fulbright discussing and laboratories various visiting U.S.A. months in the

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pathological problems with many veterinary scientists. At Compton he often sees George Chambers Brander (1920-32), B.Sc.(Vet.), M.R.C.V.S., who is at the Cooper Research Station at Berkhamstead. Harry James Rae* (1898-1904), M.C., M.A., M.B., Ch.B., D.P.H., Q.H.P., was appointed last September by the General Medical Council to be Visitor of Examinations under Section 18 of the Medical Act, 2858, and Visitor of Medical Schools in Great Britain and Ireland under Section 22 of the Medical Act, 1950, in the subjects of Social Medicine and Public Health. He was M.O.H. for the County of Aberdeen until January 1952, M.O.H. for the City of Aberdeen and the County of Kincardine until September 1952 and head of the Public Health Department in the University of Aberdeen until September 1952. Charles Reid* (1895-1906), D.S.O., M.A., C.A., a partner in the firm of James Meston Sc Company, London, and his brother, Edward Birnie Reid* (19oz-13), O.B.E., T.D., C.A., of James Meston & Company, Aberdeen, have been elected members of the Council of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Scotland for the year 1954-55. The Institute is celebrating its centenary this year. Peter Rennie* (1938-43), M.A., who graduated at Aberdeen in 1951 with honours in English Language and Literature, taught for a year in Glasgow and is now teaching in London. He is also studying for a degree in Polish Literature and Language at the School of Slavonic and East European Studies in the University of London. He is engaged in translating into English a seventeenth-century Polish historical account of a war with Muscovy. John Watson Robertson (1903-03), M.A., B.Sc., LL.D., F.R.S.E., F.E.I.S., retired from the headmastership of the Central School, Aberdeen, at the end of 1933 after holding that post for twentyseven years. The F.P. Club of the Central School presented him with his portrait. Alasdair Somerled MacDougall Scott* (1944-53) is now an engineer cadet with Alfred Holt & Company, Liverpool. He entered their service in September of last year. Frederick John Michael Shand* (x943-49), B.Sc., is now in the service of the Canadian Government as a map compiler in the Department of Mines and Technical Surveys at Ottawa. He took up this appointment on i November 1933. Denis Michael Alastair Shewan (1933-43), a final year student at the Aberdeen School of Architecture, won this year's Medal for Civic Architecture presented by the City of Aberdeen. His winning entry was a model of a North-East Civic Arts Centre in the Guestrow. William Youngson Salter (i 932-45), another final year student, gained honourable mention in the competition and achieved the same distinction in one of the annual competitions promoted by the Royal Incorporation of Architects in Scotland. He was runner-up for the Rowand Anderson Studentship.

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Percy Charles Brand Shirreffs* (1913-16), M.B., Ch.B., was one of the British business men who went to Russia at the beginning of January to have preliminary talks with the purchasing board of " Transmachimpost ", which is the department of the Foreign Trade Ministry which deals with ships and machinery. The Russians have a trade delegation in this country and preliminary negotiations for contracts are carried out through them. If a substantial amount of money is involved, the terms of contract are discussed in Moscow. The business men from this country boarded a Dakota-type Russianbuilt plane in Helsinki and came down at Leningrad. Passports were checked there and Customs cleared. No search was made of baggage and the only question asked was: " Have you any apples or flowers ? ". (This is designed to prevent the introduction of plant diseases.) From Leningrad they flew on to Moscow airport which is about twenty-five miles from the city, and were taken to one of the two hotels reserved for foreigners. A bedroom, bathroom and sitting room cost k7 a day I The exchange rate was x x roubles to the £ and extras were accordingly very expensive—a seat for the Ballet cost L3. A big rebuilding programme is going on : all factories in the city have been pulled down and are being rebuilt outside. The streets are very wide. Many queues form up to file through the Lenin-Stalin tomb : the inside is of green marble with a black motif and subdued lighting comes from the roof. The glass cases in which the bodies lie are brilliantly lit from inside and are raised to eye level. The new university, of which Russians are justly proud, has 16,ooo students, 6,ooo of whom live-in and have rooms to themselves. While in Moscow, Shirreffs called at the British Embassy to pay his respects to the F.P. Club Consul, lain J. M. Sutherland* (x933-41), and, incidentally, to give him an opportunity of exercising his consular functions for the first time since his appointment two years ago. Unfortunately, Sutherland was in London at the time. Arthur Skene (1921-33) has been appointed general manager of the British Tabulating Machine Company's factory at Castlereagh, Northern Ireland. He joined the company as an Admiralty representative at Letchworth in 1944 and had been works manager at Castlereagh since 1949. John James Gladstone Smith (1925-35), Major, R.A.O.C., who holds a permanent commission, has been G.S.O. II in the Inspectorate of Establishments at the War Office since September 1953. This appointment may take him to any part of the world where the British Army is serving. He attended the Staff College at Quetta in 1945 and qualified p.s.c. In July 1946 he returned from India after five years' service there and was posted to HQ., Southern Command, Salisbury, as D.A.D.O.S. From 1947 to 195o he was D.A.D.O.S. on the staff of HQ., and Anti-Aircraft Group, at Uxbridge and thereafter he was appointed D.A.D.O.S., Sudan and Eritrea. From 1952 until September of last year he was in Khartoum.

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Cecil Roland Smylie* (1944-49) went on a trip to Japan earlier this year as a cadet on board M.V. Soudan. He is now studying for his znd Officer's ticket. Alexander Logan Speirs* (1926-38), M. B., Ch.B., M.R.C.P., D.C.H., was appointed Consultant Paediatrician at the Royal Hospital for Sick Children, Glasgow, and at other hospitals under the Western Regional Hospital Board, with effect from 1 June 1954. James Booth Thomson* (1918-31) has been Youth Organizer for the City of Carlisle since December 1948. This year, at the invitation of the Foreign Office, he undertook a tour of Western Germany and, in particular, the towns of Dusseldorf, Munster and Rheine. The purpose of the visit was to foster good relations between the youth of Germany and the youth of England and, in particular, between Rheine and Carlisle. In the course of fourteen days he visited schools, factories, housing estates, welfare centres and homes for deprived and refugee children. The evenings were spent in visits to youth organizations and in making personal contact with youth organizers. As a result twenty-eight young Germans and two youth leaders from Rheine are to visit Carlisle for a fortnight in August and it is hoped that a party from Carlisle will visit Rheine in 1955• Alexander George Walker* (1906-20), F.C.I.I., has had to retire from the Northern Assurance Company on account of ill-health. He had been at Alexandria since 1933 and before that he was in the Aberdeen office for twelve years. He is now living at Carnoustie, Angus. Daniel Jackson Walker* (1918-22) has been appointed president of the Scottish Hockey Association. He is a former honorary treasurer of the Association and was appointed a vice-president in 1950. He is manager of the Stirling branch of the National Bank of Scotland Limited and a member of Stirling Town Council. William Telfer Walker (1919-24), Wing Commander, has been appointed to command 3602 (City of Glasgow) Fighter Control Unit,. Royal Auxiliary Air Force, at the R.A.F. Station, Bishopbriggs, Glasgow. Ronald Warman* (1942-f4) has left for South Africa. to finish his schooling in the Transvaal.

He is

Arthur Alexander Williamson* (1904-07) retired from the Royal Insurance Company Limited in March i953 after forty-five years' service. He was accountant in the company's Aberdeen office until 1949 and thereafter cashier. Stanley George Williamson* (1922-25), who joined Forbes & Walker Limited, brokers, Colombo, Ceylon, in 1952, after twenty-two years with the Chartered Bank of India, Australia and China, was appointed a director of the company on 1 April 2954.

115 Notes about Old Boys George Alexander Wilson* (1920-23), M.B., Ch.B., D.P.H., who has been in the Colonial Medical Service in Tanganyika since 1931, has had to retire on account of ill-health. He is to live in Glasgow. He was formerly M.O.H. at Dar-es-Salaam and from 1949 he was medical specialist in the Labour Department there. He was F.P. Club Consul for Tanganyika. Herbert Horace Eugene Wiseman* (1896-1903), M.A., F.E.I.S., A.R.C.M., Mus. Doc., visited British Guiana, Trinidad and Jamaica earlier this year. In Jamaica he was engaged in examining for the Royal School of Music and during a visit to the University College of the West Indies situated on the outskirts of Kingston, he met Eric Kennedy Cruickshank* (1920-32), M.D., M.R.C.'P., who is Professor of Medicine in the new College. In his presidential address to the Incorporated Society of Musicians in Edinburgh at the beginning of January, Dr. Wiseman, who was for twenty-five years Director of Music under the Education Committee of Edinburgh Town Council and thereafter Musical Director of the B.B.C. in Scotland for seven years, stoutly defended the mouthorgan against the snobbery of the " high priests" of music. In the course of his address he said :— I cannot believe that God ever intended music to be an obscure, mysterious thing, but some folk evidently do. I am not thinking to-day of those composers who wrap up their message in veils of obscurity in order to convince the world of their cleverness and originality • they offer a problem which can be left to another time. I am thinking of those pedagogues who approach youth clad in the vestments of high priests, muttering their shibboleths. They admit youth to their secret mysteries with a condescension which would be amusing if it were not so tragic. They do not see that music is not obscure but is an essentially human thing.. . There is, 1 am afraid, in the musical profession an attitude of snobbishness and aloofness. . . . Those who fancy themselves to be the guardians of the inner sanctuary persist in regarding music as a mystery only to be approached by a series of the particular type of genuflexions which they favour. Why should recorders be considered good art and mouth organs bad? Have not Milhaud and Vaughan Williams and other reputable composers written for that mighty genius, Larry Adler, who makes the mouth-organ do such incredibly musical things? Mr. Adler has shown that the mouthorgan need not always be associated with the lowest type of music, and he is exerting a tremendous influence on our youth.

James Fenton Wyness* (1915-2o), F.R.I.B.A., F.S.A.(Scot.), has, by the gracious pleasure of H.M. The Queen, been admitted as a Serving Brother to the Venerable Order of the Hospital of St. John of Jerusalem of which Her Majesty is Soveriegn Head in the British realm. His investiture took place at Edinburgh in June. Alexander Young* (1925-36), who is with the Iraq Petroleum Company at Kirkuk, Iraq, was home on leave last winter. He has been appointed F.P. Club Consul for Iraq.

University Notes Both the president of the S.R.C. and the president of the Union elected for next session are F.P.s : they are respectively Gordon Strachan Cowie* (1937-50 and Arthur Farquharson Tough* (194649), M.A. * * * For the first time since 1938 the University golf team won the Scottish Universities team championship this year. It was held at Carnoustie at the end of Match. The Aberdeen team beat Edinburgh by 6i matches to 31., Glasgow by 7 to 3 and St. Andrews by 6 to 4. Included in the team of ten there were the following F.P.s : John Philip Grant (1937-45), George Leslie Fraser* (193649), Myron Grant Hampton* (1946-49) and Alister MacGregor Nisbet (1938-48). * * * Three members of the rugby team were selected to play for the Scottish Universities against the English Universities and against the Irish Universities : they were Alexander Ian Cheyne* (1937-48), Ernest James Stewart Michie (1947-52) and Douglas Stewart Robbie* (r935-48). * * * At their spring meeting the Blues Committee of the Athletic Association awarded full blues in rugby to E. J. S. Michie and D. S. Robbie and a full blue in golf to J. P. Grant.

Books by F.P.s The Editor will be glad to receive for review in this section of the Mag‘qine copies of books, pamphlets, etc., written or edited by F.P.s.

HERBERT TOWER SORLEY* (1899-1909), C.S.I., C.I.E., M.A., D.Litt., F.R.S.A. : Musa Pervagans. Aberdeen University Press. zos. A selection of some seventy of Dr. Sorley's favourite lyric poems, with his own verse translation alongside the original, and a brief introduction to each section. The translations are from classical Greek, Latin, both classical and medieval, Arabic, Sindhi, French and Urdu. Annual School Church Service The Annual School Church Service will be held in Rubislaw Church, Aberdeen, on Sunday, 12, September 1954, at 6 p.m. F.P.s, pupils, members of the staff, parents and all others interested are invited to attend.

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Fruit-Growing in British Columbia Commercial fruit-growing requires rather special conditions as to climate, soil and water supply and in the Dominion of Canada only two areas measure up fully to these requirements. The first of these areas is located in the Niagara district of the Province of Ontario and the second, with which we shall deal in this article, lies to the west of the Rocky Mountains in the most westerly province of Canada, British Columbia. The climate in this vast province in the Pacific North-West varies from the moisture-laden temperate zone of the coastal regions round Vancouver and Vancouver Island, so reminiscent of Old Country conditions, to the more frigid zone of the Rocky Mountain range which bounds the province on the East and where deep snow lies everywhere for seven months in the year and permanently above to,ooo feet. Now, by reason of the curious topography of British Columbia, there is a region known as the Okanagan valley which lies mid-way in the province and, extending southwards for about one hundred miles towards the U.S. border, constitutes a dry-belt area where, were it not for irrigation, conditions would approximate to semi-desert. Indeed, about sixty years ago, before this area was developed as a fruit-growing centre, conditions were just that— semi-desert, except for the immediate fringes of the chain of lakes, Okanagan, Skaha and Osoyoos, which divide the area southwards down the centre. Many, many years ago, the level of these lakes was from fifty to sixty feet higher than it is to-day and the rich silt deposits on the adjoining lands or benches as they are called now, form the valuable top soil of our present-day orchards. Fruit-growers in this region are almost exclusively owner-occupiers and the holdings vary from five to twenty acres, with ten acres a good general average. It is considered that one full-time man, the owner, can run ten acres entirely by himself for the greater part of the year and additional casual labour is required for such rush operations as thinning and picking. The industry here is a co-operative one and the growers themselves have constituted the British Columbia Fruit-Growers' Association (B.C.F.G.A.) to deal on their behalf with all matters of grading, packing and selling. This, of course, is only the development of more recent years, but the pooling system, now firmly established in the valley, has more than justified its existence and, while not affecting strict competition in world markets, has effectively brought order out of the chaos of individual growers' competing in sales against themselves without adequate experience. Salesmanship, at least on the North American continent, is a highly specialized business involving extensive experience of market conditions and trends and, with such a perishable commodity as fruit, prompt and efficient handling are essential. Only by the pooling of our resources in this co-operative way can the uniform and highgrade standard of our product be maintained and our fruit presented in the best possible way to an eager, but discriminating consumer. Maturity Committees are appointed by and for the growers and 117

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very definite grade standards are laid down and, since the grower is free from consideration of packing and marketing, he may concentrate his entire energies upon his real job—the production of high quality fruit. The growers in the valley are also assisted by advice from and demonstrations by the staff of the Dominion Government Experimental Farm at Summerland, where the growers' own cultural problems are scientifically studied and the findings of the experts are made readily available to them. In all fruit-growing, the control of pests and diseases, apart from normal cultural operations, can only be successfully tackled by scientifically calculated spray drenches and each year the Experimental Farm issues to each grower an advisory spray calendar for the year. This is the general picture of Okanagan fruit-growing to-day, with each grower operating his own unit with the assistance of the scientific information available, dispatching his fruit to the cooperative packing houses and then, leaving the marketing of his produce in the hands of a trained and efficient sales staff. From November to June the owner can deal with all cultural operations of pruning, spraying, re-planting, etc., by himself on a tenacre orchard or with the assistance of another worker, usually his son, if the acreage is larger, but from July to October additional casual labour is always necessary. This labour force appears in the valley each year and is recruited from High School and College students and from adult seasonal workers from Vancouver and other cities. Each orchardist provides accommodation for these workers in huts or cabins and in addition to providing fuel and light, the orchardist pays for their labour either at so much per hour worked for soft fruits or at so much per box picked in the case of apples and pears. It is always rather a lottery when the orchardist applies to the farm labour office as to what will be forthcoming, but, in practice, a fair wage and good working and living conditions usually attract the better and more experienced type of worker. As an inefficient worker can do a great deal of damage in an orchard in a few minutes by careless handling of fruit, it usually pays to seek out and engage the better type of worker even if it costs slightly more, for the stake is the finished produce of many months of careful husbandry by the orchardist and he does not want to fall at the last fence. In the Okanagan the fruits grown depend somewhat upon the location and while apples, pears and cherries are grown throughout the valley, the soft fruits, apricots and peaches, are successfully grown only from Penticton in the middle section and southwards towards the U.S. border. Due to the moderating influence of the Lakes, winter temperatures rarely fall much below zero, although occasionally, as in 195o, more extreme temperatures are known and winter injury to the trees is considerable. Canadian winters are normally long and severe, but in this more favoured valley, springtime bursts upon us in April, and by the end of May, the temperatures soar up towards the nineties and remain there fairly constantly throughout the summer. This is, as has been mentioned, the dry belt and with

Fruit-Growing in British Columbia

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an annual precipitation of only about ten inches, sprinkler irrigation commences in May and is carried out almost continuously until September. Fruit ripens well and fast under such conditions and with the sharp early night frosts of October, the final bloom of colour quickly tinges the apples and one can almost see the crop up-grading itself overnight. Except in a rare year, following an extremely severe winter, the set of fruit buds in most fruits and varieties, especially peaches, is much too great to permit even the healthiest tree to bring them all to maturity and still preserve colour, size and quality, and therefore a considerable reduction in the number of fruit buds is necessary. In apples this reduction is effected by the application of a spray applied at critical blossom time and the effect, if successful, is that all except the King blossom in each cluster are destroyed. In recent years, peaches and apricots have been tackled in a different way and it is now a common sight, although not exactly popular with the tourists in the area, to see the Okanagan orchardist clawing off the majority of the blossoms with a wire-end claw just as they are about to open. This reduces the final crop considerably, but even so, although one might think that nothing had been left on the tree at all, enough fruit still sets and makes a further thinning by hand necessary a few weeks later. Fruit-harvesting commences in this valley with the cherry crop in July, merging almost without pause later in the month into apricots, with peaches and early pears running through August and early September. This period of intense harvest activity is carried on through the later varieties of pear and culminates in the apples, the last crop of the season with everything usually in the packing house by the end of October. At the end of the picking season, most orchardists clean up the orchard for the season, stow ladders, props, etc., and apply Fall fertilizer : by mid-November, as it is still too early to commence winter pruning, they take a well-earned holiday away from it all. Fruit-growing is not an occupation which brings vast wealth to the orchardist, but it gives an adequate income to the conscientious and progressive farmer. Rather it is a way of life which, despite long hours of hard work, can bring a great satisfaction and, although there are many cold and weary hours in the winter months when essential pruning must be done, these are soon forgotten when the temperature returns to the pleasant eighties and the fragrant blossoms surround one's home and work area and give promise of a bountiful harvest and reward for what has gone before. In this short article it has been possible merely to touch very briefly upon some of the aspects of this type of work in Canada, but perhaps enough has already been said to capture the imagination and interest of some who seek a healthy, happy and creative life in the great outdoors. JAMES S. YULE (191 5-28).

Box 2177, R.R.I., Penticton, British Columbia.

Memories of Persia, 1918 When one thinks of Persia one pictures beautiful gardens, fountains and poetry. The Persia of one's dreams and the Persia of reality are, however, sometimes very different places. On entering South Persia at her principal seaport one is thoroughly disillusioned. There seems to be limitless sand, mud, camels, donkeys, flies and dirt. On a sweltering September day in 1918 drafts of Sappers and Miners and Indian Field Ambulance sections embarked at Karachi on R.I.M. Northbrook bound for Bushire. Most of the Indian personnel had, before embarkation, undergone the ordeal of vaccination and inoculation against various epidemic diseases of the East, followed by a most trying rail journey of hundreds of miles across arid desert in a stifling heat, without even the comfort of a little ice. Consequently, what with the unaccustomed motion of the vessel and resultant sea-sickness, the miserable passengers arrived off the Persian seaport in such a condition that only with difficulty could some of them be conveyed from the rolling ship to the waiting tenders. On disembarkation at the new British-built jetties these drafts were met by the Embarkation Officer, a gentleman who, in civil life, was a prominent Bombay business man. After a wait of some hours a place was allotted near the shore on which to establish a camp. The site was quickly marked off and tents erected. Then, and not till then, was it possible for the men to cook their food. Many, however, were so ill from the combined after-effects of recent preventive inoculations and sea-sickness that it was some days before they were any use for work. After a few weeks in this camp, and just when one would expect things to be settling down nicely, one after another of the men reported sick and were sent to hospital. Within six weeks about fifty per cent. lay ill in hospital. About this time it was discovered that the camping ground was an old " night soil" dump, merely covered over by a comparatively thin layer of sea sand. Complaints were, of course, at once made through the prescribed channels, but several weeks passed and no action was taken. The camp became almost deserted in appearance on account of the disproportionate number of medical casualties. Some strong action seemed necessary. Further representations through the " usual channels " failed to produce any remedy and it required a breach of discipline in the form of a complaint direct to the Army Commander's Military Secretary before anything was done in the matter. The effect was prompt and satisfactory. Orders were at once received to vacate the site and to shift to a new and clean ground further inland. From that day the health of the unfortunate Indian personnel improved and my unit returned to almost normal numerical strength. Military etiquette has, however, to be observed, and discipline upheld ; and this took the form of a " wigging" from the Division for having addressed G.H.Q. direct. 120

121 Memories of Persia, 1918 Bushire is to Persia what Basra is to Mesopotamia, the seaboard outlet for trade. Dates, wool, carpets, etc., are the principal exports and manufactured goods and salt from India the principal imports. One special export is worthy of notice because of its unusualness— exhumed human bodies enclosed in wooden cases, well wrapped up in gunny. These corpses in many cases are anything up to a year old, and therefore in a fairly " high " state. They are brought down from Northern and Central Persia to the coast in camel caravans for shipment to Mecca for re-burial, and are generally accompanied by some members of the deceaseds' families. These funereal caravans can be smelt afar off. It is a most trying experience to meet one of them on a narrow hill road. Until comparatively recently gun-running formed quite a lucrative and thriving industry ; carried on, of course, sub rosa but fairly successfully in spite of the vigilance of preventive gunboat activity. BUSHIRE

The town of Bushire is built on a small hill jutting into the gulf. It consists, roughly, of one rather good esplanade facing the gulf, and a regular maze of tortuous and narrow lanes intersecting one another and leading more or less upwards towards the summit of the higher ground. It has its municipal council, its schools, bank, public institutions, bazaar, and, of course, its mosques. In a fit of Western enthusiasm the City Fathers employed some more or less obscure firm of electrical engineers to instal an electric light plant, but about the time of the British occupation some acquisitive Persians helped themselves to the greater part of the copper aerial lighting mains, and so the British military works authorities took over the running of this installation to light the jetties and such portions of the town as were used for occupation purposes. Bushire's bazaars are really quaint. The streets are so narrow that the spaces between the projecting roofs of opposite houses are roofed over as a protection against the sun, and loaded pack animals cannot pass one another. Even one loaded donkey requires all the room available. Usually, when one meets such transport one has to step aside into a shop to let it pass. The Bushirie does not seem at all anxious to sell anything to a stranger : whether it is shyness or distrust of a foreigner is not clear, but one can enter a shop and examine everything at leisure without being pestered to buy. Many quaint objects can be picked up by rummaging in the back of these shops, particularly at the coppersmiths' workshops. And, of course, there is always the possibility of picking up a really good old carpet, or at least there was a good chance of it before the British Army spoiled the chances. In November 1918 the scourge of an epidemic of influenza swept the country. Business was at a standstill. The bazaar was practically closed. Milk was unobtainable and local eggs rose to one shilling each. As this occurred in a hot climate, where fresh water was scarce, the price of water, peddled in the streets, rose to as much as two to three pence a gallon, and none too fresh at that. At such a

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ruinous price comparatively few Persians could afford to buy water for cleansing, and soon the whole town was in a terrible state of uncleanliness. Ill-prepared both medically and constitutionally to combat this disease, the Persians fell easy victims, and Bushire, during these few months, lost over ten per cent. of its population. Corpses lay sometimes for days, just where they had fallen. The Bushire Municipal Authorities, utterly unable to cope even with the task of collecting the dead, practically ceased to function. To such a pass was sanitation reduced that the British military authorities took over the unpleasant task of collecting the dead and placing them in rows on the beach, to await Mohammedan burial. According to local Persian custom the dead are washed in the sea before burial. It is sometimes said that this post-mortem wash is a Persian's second bath, the first being at birth 1 Working parties from a British sanitary unit helped to dig graves, and, after the lapse of some days, most of the dead were decently buried ; to the great relief of those whose houses happened to be situated to leeward. About this time large quantities of railway sleepers, rails, locomotives and other rolling stock began to arrive from India to build a military railway to connect the seaport with the foot of the hills leading to Shiraz. Surely India must have scoured her most obsolete railways to collect the oldest and most useless materials and plant. Some sleepers were good, many indifferent, but a very large number quite unfit for any purpose other than firewood. And the locomotives ! Well, the less said about them the better. Out of some seven at one time in the running sheds at Reshire only two could maintain steam sufficiently long to make a forty-mile journey. Boiler tubes were the trouble, and months elapsed before new ones could be procured from India and fitted. At that time anything seemed good enough to send to the British in occupation in South Persia. Later on things were better, after visits from Simla " brass hats ". Considerable and rapid progress was made with the laying of the railway line and the bridging of the gulleys and rivers, and, when the railhead reached a place about halfway between Bushire and the foot of the hills, part of my unit had to move up to an advance post called Dalaki, the furthest camp so far established at that time. MOVING UP-COUNTRY

Entraining at Reshire, the railway headquarters, at midnight, we moved off one morning about 3 a.m. in a goods train loaded with cement, sleepers, rails and other materials. It was my first experience of trying to sleep on bags of cement and I certainly cannot recommend it for comfort. At 7 a.m. railhead was reached, out in the desert somewhere. There camel transport awaited. Poor beasts, they looked disgusted and thoroughly bored ; and, judging from the ill-natured sounds, quite annoyed at being disturbed. A march of some hours brought us to our first halting-place, another camp in the wilderness, where tents were pitched for the night.

123 Memories of Persia, 1918 This part of Persia is a flat district called Fars, inhabited by Tungistanis, a strong, healthy but extremely dirty race addicted to brigandage. The country is nearly devoid of vegetation except here and there where there is an occasional oasis with its guarded well and fortified village. On these recognised trade routes caravans of donkeys and camels carry the produce of the country to the coast, returning later with goods imported from other countries. Raids on these caravans were frequent, and the " tribute" so extracted from the traders almost a recognised custom. Indeed, the country is so very poor that, were it not for brigandage, it is difficult to see how some of the inhabitants could live. During British occupancy, however, the construction of the railway and other works gave sufficient occupation to enable the unfortunate inhabitants to live normal lives without resorting to brigandage. PRIMITIVE CULTIVATION

A certain amount of cultivation is attempted in tracks irrigated by wells. These wells, met with in most unexpected places, are often unprotected by any parapet or wall. Up to twenty feet in diameter, they are a source of considerable danger to those who ride off the beaten track. Such a country one would imagine to be about the last place to find growing fruit, yet most luscious grapes are grown, even in the desert, on clinging vines on the walls inside these deep wells. Date palms are, of course, quite common round irrigated villages. The irrigation is done mostly by wheels driven by donkeys and oxen. Our first halting place was such an oasis, converted temporarily into a perimeter camp by entrenchments and barbed wire entanglements. This protection was necessary, not against the local inhabitants nor against the nomadic robber bands but against a well-organised force of pro-German tribesmen led by the German ex-consul of Bushire. Next morning, to my disgust, I found I had developed malaria, with a temperature of toi°, and I was sent to an Indian Field Hospital, some ten or twelve miles up the line, where 1 stayed three days. At this field hospital I found, to my pleasant surprise, that the M.O. in charge was an old school friend. After three days in this field hospital I was sent back to the base hospital at G.H.Q. for further treatment. The journey outwards, partly on cement bags and partly on camels, was far from comfortable, but I shall never forget the forty-mile return journey sitting up in the front seat of a Ford lorry, jolted to pieces on a camel track, with a temperature of 103°, the proper ambulance attached to the field hospital having, without the knowledge of the M.O., been sent to Divisional Headquarters to bring up mess stores 1 Four hours of torture brought me to the British base hospital at Reshire, and never was anyone so thankful as I was to get into a bed. Some days later curiosity prompted me to have a squint at the temperature chart. It registered to4-5 on the night of my admission.

Aberdeen Grammar School Magazine Some time later I again went up the line to inspect an advance section of my unit at Malu. This time the journey was made in the comparative luxury of a somewhat antiquated rail motor inspection carriage, as far as Barasjun, at that time the railhead. From there to Dalaki, a matter of fifteen miles, motor transport was used. At Dalaki the .night was spent. This journey from Barasjun to Dalaki is an interesting one from a geologist's or prospector's point of view. It is absolutely undeveloped. Crude oil can be seen oozing from the ground in places, and away among the hills, where gigantic faults had occurred when the earth was young, one could see bands of mineral ores. These are occasions when one wishes one could just exchange the soldier's sword for the prospector's hammer. Dalaki is merely a caravanserai, built like a fort and converted into a perimeter camp for the time being. From it the hill journey commenced, a region of ranges of hills lying between the plains and Shiraz, on the direct trade route to Teheran. Malu, my destination, lay at the foot of the third pass towards Shiraz. From the top of this pass one gets a magnificent view of the plains of Fars. These passes were really quite impassable for any but pack animal transport and it was the task of the troops to render them passable by constructing a motor road to connect railhead with Shiraz. Companies of Sappers and Miners, Pioneers and working parties of Infantry worked hard at this, blasting away rocks, cutting into hillsides, and, where too steep, by constructing detours. By Christmas 1918 the first motor car completed the journey from railhead to Shiraz, under its own power, thereby linking up the base with the striking force by motor transport. Shortly afterwards, the capture of the German ex-consul, with the remnants of his force, brought active military operations to a close ; and the remainder of the time, up to the evacuation of South Persia by the British Army of Occupation, was taken up in dismantling the railway so recently constructed. Of my return journey to India there is little to relate, except that, on boarding the steamer Shah Jehan at Bushire for Karachi, I found myself transported to Basra. The final stage of the return journey, Basra to Karachi, occupied no less than fourteen days. The Gulf was like a mill pond, with hardly even a ripple to disturb its glassy surface. For two days we steamed through millions of water snakes. One could not look over the side without seeing half-a-dozen floating on the surface, basking in the sun. I have often related this phenomenon and nearly always my simple factual statement has been met with smiles and facetious remarks about taking more water with it ! But, nevertheless, it is the honest truth. At Karachi we trans-shipped to one of the regular passenger line steamers and in due time arrived at Bombay, where, after a day or two engaged in filling in many forms, I found myself once more a civilian and at liberty to return to my normal civil duties. W, 0, MELviN (1888-96). 124

Canadian Football • My friend, Sandy Brown, made a bad mistake. Just out from Scotland last Fall, a keen rugby enthusiast, he went to his first game of Canadian football alone, and without first learning the fundamental differences between British rugby and Canadian football. " Man ", he said, " call that football ? I seldom saw the ball, and usually when the referee was digging it out from a pile of players." Of course, Brown was right—and wrong. Our game is different, and it is a grand game, especially for the spectators. The season is short, from September to November, but what it lacks in length is more than made up in hysteria. Imagine two thousand football fans travelling from Aberdeen to as far away as Stalingrad to see a cup final : the distance from Edmonton to Toronto is no greater. Having followed the game for forty years, I many venture a few tips for the benefit of newcomers like Brown. The ball, goalposts, and field are similar, but the field is marked by cross lines every ten yards. There are twelve players in a team, with another twelve to twenty substitutes who see plenty of action. This generous playerparticipation would have pleased Morland Simpson who despised soccer with its eleven men aside. A team is made up of a line, six very heavy players up in front, forming a human barrier, the tank corps ; five lighter, speedier ball-carriers on the back field, the light infantry ; all under the direction of the quarterback, the general staff, who directs the individual plays when his side has the ball. As there is a lot of hefty bodily contact, players wear elaborate protective equipment—helmet, shoulder, elbow and hip pads, etc., costing in all around £35 per player. The game is so complicated that four officials are required : a referee, umpire, judge of play and head linesman ; and yet glaring infractions are missed in every game. Individual plays are stopped when the ball is grounded or ceases to advance, by the referee blowing a whistle, but the other three officials blow a horn and drop a handkerchief when they spot an infraction. There are also two men on the yardsticks on the sideline to measure the ten yards distance by which a team must advance the ball in three separate plays or downs, or lose possession of the ball. We have also the usual campfollowers—trainers, first aiders, waterboys, and a doctor and ambulance with stretcher all ready for action. Last, and perhaps most important of all, comes the coach who thinks up the various plays, drills the team and directs the general strategy from the sidelines. Coaches place spotters on the roof of the stands who relay their birds' eye view by phone to the coach below. It's a great game I My friend Brown would have enjoyed his first game if he had been aware of three fundamental differences. (I) The ball must be in the absolute possession of one team or the other ; (z) each team uses the utmost in deception in its plays; and (3) the game is played to thrill the spectators, and not for the players' health. The quarterback uses the brawn of his front line to make a hole in the opposing 125

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line, and the selected ball-carrier smashes through the expected gap. Before each play, a team is allowed twenty seconds to determine its strategy. This is done in what is called a " huddle ", when the team crowds around its Q.B. for his instructions. The Q.B. uses a variety of plays, lateral or end runs, line plunges, kicks or forward passes with all kinds of fakes and decoys. The forward pass, a U.S. innovation, has almost taken the foot out of football, changing the game to a kind of robust basketball. The ball may be thrown forward, usually by the Q.B., to any one of several eligible receivers, for gains of from a few yards to perhaps fifty, often for a touch-down. The play thrills the spectators, because the ball may be intercepted by a defender. If the ball is not caught, play is resumed at the same spot, the delay permitting the spectator's pulse to return to near normal. With unlimited substitution, coaches use some players for certain key plays. For instance, each team has a specialist in kicking, and he alone does all the kicking when called on by the Q.B., running on and off the field to do just that. Substitution has led to the development of two complete teams, one for offence and the other for defence. There is usually a wholesale change in players, almost forty-eight in all, when there is a change in the possession of the ball. All this means that it takes over two hours to play the four quarters of fifteen minutes each. Let's transfer our game, in imagination, to Aberdeen, with School playing Gordon's at Rubislaw—with apologies to both teams. School elected to play against the slope, and Gordon's kicked off to School's so-yard line. Brebner ran the ball back zo yards before he was tackled at the 3o-yard line. On first play, or down, Munro, the Q.B., sent Cheyne on a fake through left centre for 5 yards in a hole made by Craddock. On second down, Munro threw a forward pass to Farnsworth, who was out in the clear and was brought down at centre field (55-yard line), a gain of zo yards, moving the yardsticks and giving School a " first down ". Fine blocking by Noble and Paton opened Gordon's line for a plunge by Fraser for 8 yards, bringing the ball to Gordon's 47. Gordon's line stiffened, and School's ball-carrier was thrown for a loss of 3 yards, 5 short of a " first down ". School was forced to kick on " third down ", Munro's long punt forcing College back to their 6-yard line. Coach Hunter sent in his defensive team to meet Gordon's attack. Gordon's heavier line made big holes and in the next four plays advanced 36 yards to their 4z, moving the sticks twice. On the next play, Gordon's fumbled and Noble, always a ball hawk, pounded on the loose ball, giving School possession on the 39. Offensive and defensive teams changed again, and after a quick huddle, Munro threw a long forward pass to Milligan who outreached his opponents on Gordon's so. Dodging the safety man, he was over for a touch-down. Score, School 5 points, Gordon's nil. Anderson scored the convert from a placement, Fraser holding the ball, and the score was 6 to o. Bett caught the kick-off, and was heavily tackled on School's zo, but he hung on to the ball, a lucky break for School. After no

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gain on "first down ", Munro sent Smith and Ritchie around Gordon's left wing for a lateral passing play good for si yards, to the 31-yard line. Horns blew and handkerchiefs fluttered, and School was penalized so yards for holding on the line. On last down, Kemsley's powerful kick relieved pressure. . . . * So much for the game and players. What about the spectators ? Their numbers are usually limited by the seating capacity, but their enthusiasm knows no bounds and the high-priced reserved seats are all sold for the season. Few, if any, stands are covered. Unlike British soccer, there are no separate league and cup competitions, as our Grey Cup is competed for by the champions of the leagues in the east and west. This means that every league game is a potential cup-tie. The cup final is, therefore, the grand finale, accounting for the hysterical enthusiasm that grips the Canadian sporting public. Tickets for this game, limited to 27,00o, are as scarce as Abbey seats at a Coronation, and it is a social and athletic triumph to get one. The western team brings plane-, train- and car-loads of rabid fans, who parade to the game with bands, floats, etc., advertising the team's home town, province and natural resources. Spectators take the game seriously, and their equipment may be as the player's, blankets, spiked coffee, field glasses, elaborate as cameras and portable radios. Games are filmed and showings draw big crowds the next week, mostly from those who saw the game. Our game lends itself beautifully to statistics. Experts tell us how far each team advanced by various types of play, the number of passes completed and intercepted, with average yardage for each team by quarters. The number of times a player carried the ball and the average yards are worked out to the first decimal point. At our college games, the excitement has a curious effect on the visiting student spectators. As the game nears the end, visitors swarm on the field and attempt to carry off the goalposts. The home students respond, and there is a fine free-for-all. At one game last fall, the visitors' attack failed to come off, and the home students tore down and smashed their own posts—but lumber is plentiful here. An interesting refinement last season was the installation of oxygen tanks at the players' bench to revive groggy players. I'm told visiting teams bring their own tanks, to avoid the disaster that would follow the substitution of ether for oxygen. The question is asked, " Isn't Canadian football rough ? " It is, especially on the spectators. You have only to see them leave a game, exhausted and hoarse, to realize that the game is a tough, thrilling spectacle. Our former popular Governor-General, Lord Alexander, was very fond of our game. He seldom missed a match, and honoured the teams by performing at the ceremonial kick-offs. At his last Grey Cup appearance when Ottawa played Regina, he was escorted to centre field by officials, dignitaries and photographers. Twentyseven thousand spectators looked on and countless thousands listened * Editor's Note.—This article was written after Dr. Troup had read the School Rugby Notes in the July 195z issue of the Magazine.

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to their radios from Atlantic to Pacific. But nothing happened, and His Excellency was obviously cold, the only man out there minus his overcoat. Finally, he remarked, " Don't you usually play this game with a ball ? " Yes, everything was there except a ball I Hysteria, yes, amounting almost to sheer madness, but we love our game. Anybody know where I can pick up a ticket for next November's cup final ? WALLACE TROUP (1907-12), M.D.

Rugby International Tickets In recent years tickets for the grandstand and enclosure for international rugby matches at Murrayfield have not been available for sale to the general public, but have only been obtainable through rugby clubs. In terms of the conditions of allocation, clubs are permitted to issue these tickets only to members. This fact is not generally known, and the secretary of the Rugby Section is frequently approached by F.P.s who wish tickets, during the months of January to March when it is impossible to provide them. Tickets are allocated to clubs in the late autumn and have to be paid for before they are delivered by the Scottish Rugby Union. Any F.P. may become a playing or non-playing member of the Rugby Section and thereby become entitled to apply for tickets. A circular asking for applications is issued to all members of the Section in September or October each year. The Section also receives a small allocation of tickets for matches played by Scotland in England, Wales, Ireland and France, and members can also obtain these on application. Non-playing members, of course, are also entitled to free admission to all matches at Rubislaw.

London Scottish Football Club The London Scottish Football Club celebrated its seventy-fifth anniversary in March of this year. (It was actually founded on lo April 1878.) To mark the occasion a dinner was held in the Savoy Hotel, preceded by the Club's annual match against United Services at Richmond Athletic Ground. In this match—which was won by 24 points to 3—two F.P.s played for " the Scottish ", namely, Douglas W. C. Smith* (193o-41) and Bruce E. Thomson* (194o-43). They were both also in the London Scottish team which reached the final of the Middlesex Sevens at Twickenham in May. Smith is a former captain and Thomson has been elected vice-captain for 1954-55. The following F.P.s also are—or have been—members of the Club :— G. J. Anderson* (1908-21), G. W. Bowes* (1915-28), D. J. Calder* (1927-31), D. P. Cochran* (1906-15), G. E. Crombie* (1916-21), A. W. Grafton* (I912-22), W. T. H. Hay (1928-38), Ninian Mackie* (1927-37), Thomas Robertson* (1913-19), A. I. Watson (1923-3o) and C. R. Watson (1923-3o).

Marriages Allan (1938-43).--At St. Nicholas (Union Grove) Church, Aberdeen, on 27 February 1954, ALEXANDER STEPHEN ALLAN, only son of Mr. and Mrs. A. S. Allan, 22 Murray Terrace, Aberdeen, to Margaret Badenoch Kilgour, only daughter of Mr. and Mrs. A. Kilgour, 18 Westholmc Avenue, Aberdeen. Allan (t93o-36).—At Ferintosh Parish Church, Conon Bridge, Ross-shire, on 5 December 1953, THEODORE MARTIN A1.I.AN,* M.B., Ch.B., son of the late Mr. A. J. Allan and of Mrs. Allan, 51 Craigie Park, Aberdeen, to Isabel Mary Sellar, M.A., LL.B., elder daughter of the Rev. John and Mrs. Sellar, Ferintosh Manse, Conon Bridge. Anderson (194-24).—At East and Belmont Church, Aberdeen, on z6 April 1954, GEORGE ANDERSON, 22 Deevale Crescent, Aberdeen, to Dorothy Marjorie Bruce Stewart, 29 Stanley Street, Aberdeen. Anderson (793o-42).—At Craigiebuckler Parish Church, Aberdeen, on 3 March 1954, GEORGE MACDONA1.D ANDERSON,* son of Mr. and Mrs. George P. Anderson, 6 Kingshill Road, Aberdeen, to Moira Christison, only daughter of Mt. and Mrs. W. B. Christison, 44 Gray Street, Aberdeen. Brown (193z-46).—At Cramond Parish Church, Cramond, on 23 April 1954, Wo_itAm M0RRISON BROWN,* son of Mr. and Mrs. Robert Brown, 3o Momingfield Road, Aberdeen, to Gwerda Annc Ireland, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. David C. Ireland, 16 Craigcrook Avenue, Blackball, Edinburgh. Bruce (5934-45).--At St. Peter's Church, Great Yarmouth, on 21 December 1955, 1011N MARSHALL BRUCE, SOD of the late JOHN BRUCE (1896-1903) and of Mrs. E. G. Collins, 43 Queen's Road, Aberdeen, to Neta Mummery, daughter of the late Mr. A. E. Mummery and of Mrs. S. G. Waller, Great Yarmouth. Cassie (1922-23 and i915-34).—At St. Saviour's Church, Cape Town, on 28 November 1953, IAN HARVEY CASSIE, L.D.S., elder son of Mr. and Mrs. J. Harvey Cassie, Thrums, Bieldsidc, to Alma Amott, daughter of the late Mr. George Wyllie, Aberdeen, and of Mrs. J. Amott, Claremount, Cape. Dey 0936-44—At Fordoun Parish Church, on 27 march 1954, GEORGE ALEXANDER DEY, B.Sc.(For.), son of Mr. and MTS. H. Dey, 68 Hammersmith Road, Aberdeen, to Mary Watson, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. B. Watson, Norwood, Auchen blae. Donald (t939-41).—At West Church of St. Andrew, Aberdeen, on 9 January Ch.B., eldest son of the late Mr. It. T. 1 954, ROBERT TURNER DONALD, Donald, Inverurie Aberdeenshire, and of Mrs. Louise Donald, 3z Albert Terrace, Aberdeen, to Helen Marv Mitchell, younger daughter of GEORGE ANGUS MITCHELL,* F.R.I.C.S., and of Mrs. Mitchell, 31 Albert Terrace, (19oz-73), 'T.D., Aberdeen. Emslie (1941-47).—At Stoneywood Church, Aberdeenshire, on 7 May 1954, the Rev, CALTHORPE EststtE,* M.A., son of the late Mr. Alan Emslie and of Mrs. Emslie, 244 Great Western Road, Aberdeen, to Betty M'Allan, M.B., Ch.B., daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Francis M'Allan, i Ruthriehill Road, Stoneywood. Farquhar (194i-44).—At Albion and St. Paul's Congregational Church, Aberdeen, on zz February 1954, ERR: F./mow-ma,* son of the late Mr. John Farquhar and of Mrs. Farquhar, 53 Hammerfield Avenue, Aberdeen, to Helen Bisset, younger daughter of Mr. John C. Bisset, M.P.S., Malvern, and of Mrs. Jessie Bisset, 118 Middlefield Place, Aberdeen. Farquhar (1938-44—At Holburn West Church, Aberdeen, on 18 March 1954, WILLIAM JAMES FARQUHAR, younger son of Mr. and Mrs. P. Farquhar,

14 Raeden Avenue, Aberdeen, to Myrtle Hope Farquharson, younger daughter of Mr. and Mrs. J. Farquharson, 38 Ashley Gardens, Aberdeen. Fettes (19z8-3z).—At Carden Place Church, Aberdeen, on 27 April 1954, ALAN FtrrEs, son of Mr. and Mrs. Joseph Fettes, Kirton Bank, West Cults, to Adeline K. Dron, daughter of the late Mr. David Dron and of Mrs. Dron, 64 King's Gate, Aberdeen. 129

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Fiddes (1924-37).—At St. Giles' Cathedral, Edinburgh, on 12 April 1 954,

JAMES RAFFAN ELUDES,* M.A., LL.B., advocate, elder son of Sir James and Lady

Fiddes, 3 Kaimes Road, Edinburgh, to Edith Margaret Learmonth Lippe, second daughter of the late CHARLES EATON LIPPE (1879-81), K.C., and of Mrs. Lippe, 23 South Learmonth Gardens, Edinburgh. Gair (1925-36).—At West Church of St. Nicholas, Aberdeen, on 28 April 1954, ALAN BEGG GAIR, son of Mr. and Mrs. Andrew Gair, 78 Mile-End Avenue, Aberdeen, to Frances Daly Balfour, only daughter of Mr. and Mrs. John Balfour, 4 Westbum Road, Aberdeen. Knight (1939-42).—At St. Mary's Parish Church, Dundee, on 19 March 1 954, HUGH MARSHALL KNIGHT,* only son of Mr. and Mrs. A. C. Knight, 37 Gray Strict, Aberdeen, to Sheila Margaret Rose Carlton, only daughter of Mr. and Mrs. H. J. Carlton, 1 Oakwood Terrace, West Park Road, Dundee. Laing (x931-43).—At King's College Chapel, Old Aberdeen, on 28 December 1953, PETER DuxicAN LAING,* B.Sc.(Eng.), son of Mr. and Mrs. George Laing, 7 Royfold Crescent, Aberdeen, to Betty Thomson, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. James Thomson, 4 King's Cross Terrace, Aberdeen. Lee (19;6-39).—At Rubislaw Church, Aberdeen, on 16 December 1953, ERNEsr MACLEAN LEE, son of Mr. and Mrs. E. R. Lee, Boolroad, Tarves, Aberdeenshire, to Mary E. Fowlie, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. J. B. Fowlie, Aberdour House, Fraserburgh. M'Robbie (1921-33).—At King's College Chapel, Old Aberdeen, on 5 December 1953, DONALD Qualms M'Roasix, M.B., Ch.B., Turriff, son of WILLIAM ALEXANDER WROBBIE * (1893-97) and of Mrs. M'Robbie, 102 Desswood Place, Aberdeen, to Isobel Margaret McDonald, daughter of the late Mr. John McDonald, Union Bank House, Fochabers, and of Mrs. McDonald, Alvie House, West Pilmuir, Forres. Milne (1934-46).—At King's College Chapel, Old Aberdeen, on 13 March 1954 JOHN MAXWELL MILNE,* M.A., son of Mr. and Mrs. John N. Milne, 66 Rubislaw Den South, Aberdeen, to Sheila Anne Ross Slater, daughter of the late Mr. W. G. Slater and of Mrs. Slater, ico Queen's Road, Aberdeen. Mitchell (I935-47).—At St. Andrew's Church, Calcutta, on 15 February 1954, DAVID RUTHERFORD MITCHELL,* son of Mr. and Mrs. David Mitchell, 37 Burns Road, Aberdeen, to Florence Duncan, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. John Duncan, 85 Argyll Place, Aberdeen. Nairn (x932-4x).—At West Cults Church, Aberdeenshire, on 3 April 1954, DANIEL ROBERTSON NAIRN, younger son of Mr. and Mrs. Henry Naim, 36 Irvine Place, Aberdeen, to Vera Margaret Bogue, elder daughter of Mr. and Mrs. J. Fraser Bogue, Deemount, Bieldside, Aberdeenshire. Nicol (1934-45).—At Auckland, New Zealand, on 28 April, 19S4, KENNETH MOIR NICOL, youngest son of the late Rev. DAVID BRUCE NICOL (190o-02), M.C., and of Mrs. Nicol, Springfield Road, Aberdeen, to Pauline May Gallagher, only daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Gallagher, Onehunga, New Zealand. Rennie (I938-43)At All Saints' Church, Thirsk, on 26 December 1953, PETER RENNIE,* M.A., son of Mr. and Mrs. P. Rennie, Five Holding, Balmedie, Aberdeenshire, to Janina Granowska, youngest daugher of Mr. and Mrs. Seweryn Granowski, Fox Hall Farm, Topdiffe, Yorkshire. Riddell (x9o7-76).—At St. Mary's Church, Carden Place, Aberdeen, on z6 January 1954, JOHN LENNOX RIDDELL,* 15 Woodburn Avenue, Aberdeen, to Mary B. R. Sutherland, 25 Hazledene Road, Aberdeen. Robson (1933-42).—At the Cathedral, Portsmouth, on x May 1954, FRANCIS OGILVIE ROBSON,* Lieutenant, R.N., younger son of THOMAS OGILVIE ROBSON * (1902-11), M.B., Ch.B., 202 Queen's Road, Aberdeen, to Rosemary Corbin, only daughter of the late Mr. P. Corbin and of Mrs. V. M. Corbin, 34 Villiers Road, Southsea. Scott (x932-44).--At King's College Chapel, Old Aberdeen, on 28 December 1953, DAVID Scorr,* B.Sc., son of Mr. and Mrs. Robert Scott, 8 Caledonian Place, Aberdeen, to Margaret Eleanor Stewart, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. A. M. Stewart, 19 King Edward Gardens, London.

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Sellar (I933-45).—At the Cathedral of the Good Shepherd, Singapore, on 6 March 1954, Foams KEITH SELLAR,* B.L., son of Mr. J. K. Seliar, Ittingstone, Huntly, and of Mrs. Gordon Graham, Mile-End House, Aberdeen, to Shirley Margaret Stroud, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. E. H. Stroud, Gascoyne Plantation, Carnarvon, Western Australia. Stickland (1931-43).—At St. Mary's Church, Willingdon, Eastbourne, on 9 January 1954, IAN WENBORNE STICKLAND, Only son Oi Mr. and Mrs. A. G. Stickland, 128 Broomhill Road, Aberdeen, to Rosaline Anabelle Laura Squire, second daughter of Mr. Geoffrey Squire, 33 Upperton Gardens, Eastbourne, and of the late Mrs. Squire. Taylor (193 I -4o).—At St. Stephen's Broadway Church, Winnipeg, on 24 April 1934, WILLIAM CLYNE TAYLOR, M.B., Ch.B., D.C.H., son of the late Mr. William Taylor and of Mrs. J. W. Taylor, 15 Carden Place, Aberdeen, to Susan Snowdon Paxton, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Paxton, Oak River, Manitoba. Watt (19o5-I6).—At St. John's Kirk, Perth, on 8 January 1954, FREDF:RICK ROBERTS WATT to Barbara McLennan King. Wood (I937-48).—At St. Ninian's Church, Aberdeen, on 16 December 1953, WILLIAM Woon,* son of Mr. and Mrs. George Wood, 86 Hammcrfield Avenue, Aberdeen, to Joyce Margaret Elder, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. W. T. Elder, 8 Edgehill Road, Aberdeen. Worling (I933-45).—At Beechgrove Church, Aberdeen, on zo March 1 954, PETER METCALFE WORLING,* F.P.S., only son of Mr. and Mrs. A. D. Worling, 39 Richmondhill Road, Aberdeen, to Iris McBeath, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. J. McBeath, Tulloch Gardens, Dingwall.

Obituary (1882), M.A., M.B., Ch.B., died at Font Hill, Cassel Avenue, Bournemouth, on 26 May 1954, in his eighty-first year. He graduated at the University of Aberdeen in 1894 and M.B., Ch.B. four years later. HeM.A. was in medical practice first at Burnley, Lancashire, and thereafter at North Shields. Alexander Clark * (1885-89), M.A., died in East London, South Africa, on 23 January 19S4, in his seventy-first year. Prior to his retirement in 1932 he had been a teacher of English and Latin for thirty years on the staff of the Boys' High School (now Selbome College), East London. Latterly he was vice-principal. He graduated M.A. at the University of Aberdeen in 1893 and was thereafter a teacher in Dalkeith Burgh Public School for two years and in Bathgate Academy for six years before going to South Africa. During the second world war he returned to Selborne College, where he was known as "Charkie" to many generations of Old Selbornians, to take up a temporary post. In a tribute which appeared in the Alonthly Record of St. George's Presbyterian Church, East London, it was stated :— He was born in 1873 in Kingswells Free Kirk Manse, Aberdeenshire, where he learned that Calvinist Faith which by the ignorant is called hard but which has iron in it and enables one to play the man through all life's trials. . . . For over fifty years he has been a choir member who could be relied on morning and evening, come rain come shine. Only in the last few months did he so far yield to deafness as to come down into " the body of the kirk ", and that was in his anxiety to hear the Word of God. He was the eldest son of the late Rev. Alexander Clark of the Free Church Manse, Kingswells, and one of five brothers who attended the School. of these survive : JAMES HAGGART CLARK (1888-92), M.A., retired fromTwo the ministry in 1950 and lives at Abernethy, Perthshire, and ANDREW CLARK* (189519o1), M.A., retired teacher, who has been in South Africa since 1908 and is now Town Clerk of Keiskama Hoek, Cape Province. The other two brothers, GEORGE CLARK (1889-?) and WILLIAM CLARK (1893-99), died in 1929 and 1952 respectively, the former in British Columbia and the latter in Durban, South Africa. William Sim Cran* (1872-77) died at 475 King Street, Aberdeen, on 7 April 1954. He was aged ninety-three. For forty-one years he was in the service of Henry Adams

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the Union Bank of Scotland Limited, being at one time agent at the Holburn Street branch and later agent at the West End branch, Aberdeen. He retired in 1920. He was the last surviving member of the family of the late Mr. Robert Cran, writer, Aberdeen, who was chief managing clerk in the firm of Yeats, Milne and McDonald, advocates, Aberdeen. Mr. Cran bequeathed the sum of kzooo to the University of Aberdeen for the promotion of pure science. Charles Frederick Graham Crawford (1898-1902), youngest son of the late Lieut.-Colonel Henry• Crawford of Rothienorman, died at Haslemere, Surrey, on 5 January 1954. He was aged sixty-nine. After leaving the School he entered the Royal Military College at Sandhurst and was commissioned in the Worcestershire Regiment in 1905. Prior to the first world war he served in Egypt and in 1914-15 he was in France, where he was twice wounded. He was wounded again in 1917, and in 1919 he was appointed a staff captain at the War Office. In the following year he had to be placed on half pay on account of his wounds. Alexander Yule Curr* (1877-82) died at Foresterhill, Aberdeen, on 6 January 1954, aged eighty-five. For sixty years he was a partner in the firm of Thomas Curr & Company, coffee essence manufacturers and coffee and spice merchants, Schoolhill, Aberdeen, having joined his father, the late Mr. Thomas Curr, at the age of twenty-two and retiring four years ago when he was eighty-two. He was an elder of Queen's Cross Church, Aberdeen, for twenty-five years, after being a deacon for many years before that. He was also a member of the Aberdeen Presbytery. His life-long hobby was angling and he was also a keen bowler, until he had to give it up on account of ill-health. He was a regular attender at cricket matches at Mannofield and a member of Dceside Golf Club. His brother, CHARLES BELL. CURR (1881-85), A.R.C.O., was organist and choirmaster of St. Andrew's U.F. Church, Blairgowrie, and thereafter an organist and music teacher in Laurencekirk. He died at Camoustie in 1953. His two sons were also at the School : ALEXANDER IAN CURR (1907-16), M.B., Ch.B., is in medical practice at Poole, Dorset ; and THOMAS THISELTON CURR (1908-18) is a partner in Thomas Curr & Company. Edgar Gauld (1887-91) died at his home, 16 Desswood Place, Aberdeen, on zi February 1954, aged seventy-eight. After leaving the School he was with Messrs. Gauld & Company, wholesale warehousemen, Aberdeen, and later with Messrs. Strachan & Gauld, Aberdeen. Thereafter he was for thirty-seven years a commercial traveller in the North of Scotland for Edward E. Lazarus Limited, London. He was well known in musical circles in Aberdeen and was an elder of the North Church. He was one of six brothers who attended the School : WILLIAM E. GAULD (1882-86), F.R.I.B.A., retired architect and builder, lives in Aberdeen ; JAMES GAULD (1891-93) is in Salisbury, Southern Rhodesia ; and ROBERT MCHARDY GAULD (1892-95) was formerly with Gordon & Watson Limited, funeral directors, Aberdeen. His other two brothers, GEORGE OGG GAULD (1886-91), M.B., Ch.B., and ALEXANDER NICROBBIE GAULD (1893-96), Solicitor, both died in 1950. His son, EDGAR REUBEN GAULD * (1917-23), M.B., Ch.B., M.R.C.P., is now in London. (See p. 104.) James Gilchrist (1892-94), M.A., M.D., and Adam Gilchrist (1900-03), M.B., Ch.B., both sons of the late Mr. Adam Gilchrist, Wells of Rothie, Rothicnorman, Aberdeenshire, and both doctors who had practised in England for many years, died on 27 December 1953 and 9 April 1954, respectively. JAMES GILCHRIST died at a nursing home in Sydenham, London, aged seventysix. He graduated M.A. at the University of Aberdeen in 1898, M.B., Ch.B. in 1901 and M.D. in 1906. He was in practice at Sydenham for almost fifty years and retired at the beginning of 1953. From 1918 to 1930 he was honorary surgeon to the South-Eastern Hospital for Children at Sydenham and from 1928 to 1950 he was treasurer of the Sydenham District Medical Society, of which he was also a former president. In a tribute which appeared in the British Medical Journal it was said that " Gilly " as he was known to his many friends, was a pattern of the old kind of family doctor.

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ADAM GILCHRIST died at the North Staffordshire Royal Infirmary, aged sixtyeight. He graduated \.B., Ch.B. at Aberdeen in 1908 and was in medical practice at Burslem, Stoke-on-Trent, from 1909 until his death. He was honorary surgeon at Haywood Hospital and devoted much of his time to the Red Cross and St. John Ambulance Brigade, being assistant county director for North Staffordshire. He was a former president of Bursletn Golf Club and twice president of the North Staffordshire Caledonian Society, as well as its honorary piper. He was a very well known figure in the Potteries. Their brother, ROBERT NIVEN GILCHRIST* (1901-05), C.I.E., M.A., Indian Educational Service (retired), now lives in Aberdeen. (See p. to5.) Francis McLeod Glennie (t9to-16), M.A., B.Sc., died at Elgin on z6 January 19f4, in his fifty-sixth year. He had been bee-keeping adviser on the staff of the North of Scotland College of Agriculture for an area extending from Fochabers to Mallaig since 1949. He graduated M.A. at the University of Aberdeen in 1921 and B.Sc. in 1925. From 1928 to 1949 he was headmaster of Dundrennan Public School in the Stcwarrry of Kirkcudbright. The following is part of an appreciation which appeared in the Elgin Courant and Courier after his death :— He was a popular official, gifted with a ready wit and a keen sense of humour and his lectures were not only extremely helpful but greatly appreciated. Keen to advance any new development, he was an enthusiastic amateur photographer and employed this art extensively in the course of his work. The Bee-keepers' Convention which was held in Elgin in the autumn of 1952 owed much of its success to the organising ability which Mr. Glennic displayed. . . . Beekeepers in the area will miss greatly one who was not only a wise counsellor but a personal friend. His younger brother, WILLIAM ROBERT DANIEL GLENNIE (1911-17), A.M.I.Mech.E., A.M.Inst.C.E., is a civil ,engineer with the Admiralty. Charles Gordon (1882-85), eldest son of the late Mr. Charles Gordon, Rubislaw Green, Queen's Road, Aberdeen, died in London on 13 April 1954. He was aged eighty-two. After serving his apprenticeship with the Union Bank of Scotland in Aberdeen, he was with Arthur & Company Limited in Glasgow and in Port Elizabeth, South Africa ; in 1902 he entered the service of the National Bank of South Africa Limited in South Africa and from 1905 he was with the Bank in London. He retired before the first world war but was recalled to the Bank during the war. Thereafter he lived quietly in London, always keeping up his interest in banking and financial affairs. John Greenlaw* (1884-90, T.D., H.C.F., minister of the North Church, Buckic, from 1908 to November 1953, died at Foresterhill, Aberdeen, on 2t February 1954, aged seventy-seven. He was ordained at Holm, Orkney, in 1903, and the North Church, Buckic, to which he went in 1908, was his first and only charge. He celebrated his jubilee as a minister in May of last year. His last major public duty before his retirement was the dedication of the new panels on the town's renovated war memorial, a task he carried out with the aid of a microphone fitted up at his bedside. During the first world war he was a chaplain to the Forces for almost four years. He was a Freemason for fifty-six years and Provincial Grand Master of Banffshire from 1926 to 1946. Charles Stewart Jackson (1909-10, as briefly reported in the last issue of the Magazine, died at Stirling on 21 November 1953, aged fifty-six. He had been minister of the North Church, Stirling, since 1935. In the first world war he was commissioned in the Durham Light Infantry and served in France and Italy. In 192o-21 he studied Medicine at the University of Aberdeen and in 1921 he took up rubber planting in Malacca. He returned to Aberdeen and, after training at the L.F. Church College, he was ordained as a minister cf the U.F. Church and inducted to Stuartfielcl Church in the Parish of Deer, Aberdeenshire. From 1932 to 19i5 he was minister of Queen's Cross Church, Glasgow. Thomas William Lumsden (1883-87 and 1889-91), M.D., as briefly reported in the last issue of the Magazine, died at Stocking Pelham, Hertfordshire, on 24 November 1953, aged seventy-eight. From 1930 to 1942 he was Director of

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Cancer Research at the London Hospital. He graduated M.B., Ch.B. at the University of Aberdeen in 1897 with honours, winning three gold medals, and in 1901 he was awarded the degree of M.D. with commendation. From 1900 to 1925 he was in private practice in London but in the latter year he gave up his practice to join the staff of the Lister Institute as an honorary assistant in the pathology department. At the same time he took up cancer research work under the British Empire Cancer Campaign and five years later he was appointed Director of Cancer Research at the London Hospital. He studied particularly immunity to cancer and his life-long aim was to produce an anti-cancer serum. He was a constant contributor to medical journals. Colin Crichton Maclver (1927-32), M.A., died at Dumfries Infirmary on 10 January 1954, as a result of injuries received in a road accident on the previous day. He was knocked down by a motor lorry• when walking on the main GlasgowCarlisle road near Lockerbie. He was aged thirty-seven. He graduated M.A. at the University of Aberdeen with honours in Mathematics and Natural Philosophy in 1936, winning the Boxhill Prize in Mathematics. From 1938 to 1946 he was a scientific officer with the Royal Navy, and latterly he was a member of the staff of the British Institute of Technology in London. He was the elder son of COLIN JOHN MAcIvER (1902-03), M.A., formerly of the School staff. His brother, NORMAN CRICHTON MAcIvER (1928-34), M.A., was presumed killed in March 1941, when he was serving as a pilot officer in the R.A.F.V.R. William Milne McPherson (1878-79), retired master baker, died at Foresterbill, Aberdeen, on 19 April 1954, aged ninety-one. He joined his father in a bakery business in Aberdeen in 1879 and took over the business on his own account in 1887. He owned two well-known bakery shops in the Queen's Cross district of Aberdeen and retired from business only eight years ago at the age of eighty-three. He was an original member of the Scottish Association of Master Bakers and was an outstanding figure in the bakery trade in the city. He was a prominent member of the Aberdeen Chamber of Commerce and also belonged to the Royal Scottish Geographical Society, the Franco-Scottish Society and the Cairngorm Club, of which he was a founder member. His hobby was languages and he had travelled extensively. In June 5949 he celebrated his golden wedding. His brother, ALEXANDER MCPHERSON (1864-65), baker, died in 1914. His son, IAN GOWANLOCK MCPHERSON* (1910-17), now represents John D. Deas & Company Limited, manufacturers of oils, soaps and disinfectants, Glasgow, in the North of Scotland. He is a former vice-president of the Club and chairman of the Executive. James Alexander Mearns (5887-90), M.B., C.M., died at Aberdeen on it January 1954, aged eighty-one. He was in medical practice in Aberdeen from 1900 to 1943, when he retired. After graduating at the University of Aberdeen in 1896 he was in practice at Crathie and was physician to the Royal household staff: in 1897 he was presented with the Diamond Jubilee Medal by Queen Victoria at Balmoral Castle. Thereafter he was in practice in Devon for a short time. He was a native of Kinellar where his father, the late Mr. James Meams, was schoolmaster. Cecil Harvey Milne (1916) died suddenly in Glasgow on 27 December 1953, aged fifty-three. He was the sixth son of the late Mr. W. S. Milne, general merchant, Aboyne, Aberdeenshire. William Harper (1889-92 and 1893-?), eldest son of the late JOHN HARPER (1867-69) of Harpers Limited, Craiginches Iron Works, Aberdeen, died at Ealing, London, on 14 February 1954, aged seventy-four. After leaving the School he attended the Polytechnic Institute, London, and on returning to Aberdeen in 1899 he was associated with his father in the early development of motor cars. They had premises in Aberdeen and Edinburgh and held agencies for Daimler and Benz cars. In a 3i h.p. Benz he took part in the first long distance road trial in this country over r,ooo miles and was placed first. In 1903 he went to India and was one of the pioneers of the motor industry in that country, taking part in numerous reliability trials. He was first in one of these with a Fiat. For a

Obituary time he was locomotive superintendent of Morvi Railways, Kathiawar. On the outbreak of the first world war he returned to this country, joined the Motor Transport Section of the Army Service Corps and served in France until demobilised in 1919 with the rank of captain. From then until 1922 he was with his brother, Charles, on the staff of the Harper Motor Company Limited, Aberdeen, and he then went to London where he became a partner in a motor car firm. His health broke down, however, a short time afterwards and he was in poor health for many years at Luton and in London. His brother, CHARLES HARPER* (1898-1902), was also associated with his father in Harpers Limited, Craiginches Iron Works, and held the Scottish agency for Cadillac cars. In 1911 he became the main distributor for Ford cars in the North-East of Scotland, and in 1919 he founded the Harper Motor Company Limited, Aberdeen, of which he has been managing director ever since. He has been a dealer for the Ford Motor Company Limited continuously since 1919 and is one of the Company's oldest dealers in the country. He has been driving cars for longer than any other person in the North-East. His younger brother, NORMAN HARPER* (1903), entered the Union Bank of Scotland Limited and served at Aberdeen and Braemar. From 1922 until he retired in 1947 he was secretary of the Harper Motor Company Limited. He resides in Aberdeen. Alexander Ross Murray* (1903-t3), A.M.Inst.C.E., formerly of Malaya, died at Longfield, Kent, on 9 May 1954. He was in his fifty-eighth year. Son of the late Mr. Alexander M. Murray, manager of the Aberdeen Commercial Company, he trained as an engineer with Messrs. Jenkins & Marr, Aberdeen, and was commissioned in the Gordon Highlanders in 1917. In 1918 he was a prisoner-of-war in Germany. He joined the Malayan Public Works Department at Singapore in 1923 and was transferred to the Drainage and Irrigation Department in 1928. He held various appointments in different parts of Malaya until 1942, when he was attached to the Royal Engineers with the rank of major and engaged in demolition work until the fall of Singapore. Thereafter he was again a prisonerof-war, this time for three years and nine months in Jap hands. In July 1946 he returned to Kuala Lumpur as deputy adviser in the Drainage and Irrigation Department, which post he held until his retirement to the United Kingdom in 1448. He made his home in Kent and enjoyed gardening until his health broke down six months before his death. When in Malaya he was F.P. Club Consul for Perak. His son, IAN HENRY LYALL MURRAY (1935-47)1 is studying Medicine at the University of Edinburgh. Patrick Murray (1892), M.A., died at Foresterhill, Aberdeen, on 8 January 1954, aged seventy-nine. After graduating at the University of Aberdeen in 1899, he held posts as assistant master in Mather's Public School, Newburgh, and Andover School, Brechin. In 1910 he was appointed headmaster of Fettercairn Public School and in 1916 he went to Fife where he was headmaster successively at Kingskettle, Lochgelly (1922), and Park Road School, Rosyth (193t). He retired in 1934. Robert Alexander Profeit (1882-85), M.A., a son of the late ALEXANDER PROFEIT (1848-5o), who was Queen's Commissioner at Balmoral for twenty years until his death in 1897, died at Christchurch, Hampshire, on to February 1954. He was a4ed eighty-five. He graduated at the University of Aberdeen in 1889 and was appointed Vice-Consul at Tunis in 1894. Three years later he was appointed to a corresponding post at Soulina on the Danube. He rcsired in 1900, joined a firm of export engineers in London, and worked there until he retired in 193o. He was the editor of Under Loebnagerr, a book published many years ago in connection with the annual bazaar at Crathie Church. He left the residue of his estate to the University of Aberdeen for the foundation of a travelling scholarship for the study of the diagnosis and treatment of malignant diseases. His brother, CHARLES WILLIAM PROFEIT (1884-87), C.S.I., C.M.G., D.S.O., M.B., C.M., Colonel, R.A.M.C., retired in 1924 and died in 1937. James Alexander Rennie (1902-04), younger son of the late Mr. James Rennie, Milton, Fintray, Aberdeenshire, died in Edinburgh on 29 April 1954, aged sixty-tive. In the first world war he was commissioned in the Royal Engineers

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but had to be invalided from the service on account of injuries received in France in 1916. He never recovered from these injuries. Prior to the war he was engaged in engineering. He trained with Mr. Jackson at Thorngrovc, Aberdeen, and then with Marshall, Sons & Company Limited at Gainsborough. From 191o to 1914 he was with Messrs. Walker, Suns & Company, tea planting engineers in Ceylon. On the outbreak of war he volunteered for the Ceylon Planters Rifle Corps which was posted to Cairo and soon after he was transferred to the Royal Engineers in France. His elder brother, WII.LIAM BEN:7'ON RENNIE (1898-1902), M.C., M.B., Ch.B., Colonel, R.A.M.C., died at Wellington, South India, in 1943. James Grainger Reynard (1912-16), B.Sc.(Agri.), died at the North Middlesex Hospital, London, on 18 November 1953, aged fifty-four. From 1916 to ' 92o he served with the Royal Flying Corps and Royal Air Force and he obtained his degree in Agriculture at the University of Aberdeen in 1924. In the following year he joined the Colonial Service and served in Trinidad and Nigeria until 1931. Later he was in business in London. His brother, JOHN NAPIER REYNARD (1927-32), lives at Grimsby, and another brother, NAPIER CAMPBELL REYNARD* (1929-33), is in Aberdeen. His son, J ‘MES NAPIER DUNCAN REYNARD (1943-46), is now at Gordonstoun. A GREAT FRENCH SCHOLAR Robert Lindsay Graeme Ritchie' (1894-99), M.A., D.Litt., LL.D., Docteur

de l'Universite de Paris, died suddenly at his home, Treoke, Radden Stile Lane, Exmouth, on to April 1954, aged seventy-three. He was Professor of French Language and Literature in the University of Birmingham from 1919 to 1946 and held the same chair in the University College of the South-West at Exeter from 1946 to 1952, when he retired. In October of last year, however, he returned to his Alma Mater, the University of Aberdeen, to assist Professor F. C. Roe, one of his former students, in the French Department. He was one of the University's most distinguished graduates. The second son of the late Rev. Robert Ritchie, St. Mary's Parsonage, Inverurie, he went to the University on leaving the School and graduated M.A. in 1904 with "double firsts" in Classics and Modem Languages. He was awarded a Carnegie Research Scholarship and studied in the Universities of Strasbourg and Paris. In 1907 he was awarded the degree of D.Litt. by the University of Paris for a thesis entitled " Recherches sur la Syntaxe de la Conjonction 4 Que ' ", which was subsequently published and which won for him the Prix Saintuur of the French Academy. In 1908-09 he held a Carnegie Fellowship and in the latter year he became lecturer in French in the University of Edinburgh. Ten years later he left Edinburgh for Birmingham. He was awarded a D.Litt. by the University of Aberdeen in 1922 and the honorary degree of LL.D. in 1934. In 1952 he received the honorary degree of D.Litt from the University of Birmingham and in that year also he was appointed Zaharoff Lecturer in the University of Oxford. This year he was appointed president of the Modern Languages Association. Ile also gained several French honours. He was an Officier de la Legion d'Honneur and a Laurtiat de l'Acadernie Francaise ; in t932 he received an honorary doctorate from the University of Caen. He was the author of several books and edited others. A Manual of French Composition first appeared in 1914 and became a standard text-book for students of French ; he was general editor of France: A Companion to French .Ctudies, published in 19;7 ; and his other publications included several translations trom French prose and verse. Between 1921 and 1929 his critical editions of Les Voeux du Paon and The Balk of Alexander the Great were published in four volumes. The Normans in England before Edward the Confessor appeared in 1948 and The Normans in Scotland is soon to be published. In a tribute which appeared in The Times, Professor F. C. Roe wrote :— Professor R. L. Graeme Ritchie, known to his intimates as " R. L. G. ", did more than any other man to raise university French studies to a high level of scholarship, applying to this newly recognized subject the standard of accuracy and elegance he had acquired as a student of the ancient eli,sics

THE

SCH(

i -

HALL

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in the University of Aberdeen. His masterly works on French composition beyond and translation are known and used in all parts of the world, even Though the British Commonwealth, wherever the French language is studied. Modern always insisting, as he did in his recent presidential address to the Languages Association, on a meticulously accurate knowledge of the language before undertaking ambitious projects of literary study, he did not confine himself to the field of syntax, in which he worked when preparing his first of Les doctorate. Besides the four erudite volumes of a critical edition Scottish I -orux du Peon and The Buik of Alexander the Great, published by the Text Society, he contributed to the Modern Studies Series, of which he was general editor, many volumes in which French authors were presented in a scholarly and attractive form which made them assimilable by students. He wrote several brilliant chapters, literary and historical, in France : A Companion to French Studies, which he edited. When he died he had just corrected the final proofs of his new bok on The Normans in Scotland. A man of vast erudition, linguistic, literary and historical, he was also a great stylist ; his wit and dry humour adorned his elegant speeches as Public Orator in the University of Birmingham. He devoted himself wholeheartedly to study, and, during the two terms he spent in King's College, Aberdeen, after retiring from the chairs of French in Birmingham and Exeter, he continued to work with undiminished zeal. In each of the four universities in which he taught, he was esteemed and loved by his colleagues and his students. Everyone who had the privilege of knowing him recognized, in his apparent reserve, a mere veil of modesty and shyness, and they felt the warmth of real affection, the unfailing generous kindness that he took such care to hide. His death means a heavy loss to scholarship, but his published works and his example as a teacher, as a director of French studies, and as a brilliant exponent of his researches, will remain an inspiration to others and a monument to his outstanding qualities. His elder brother, THEODORE FRANCIS RITCHIE (1888-93), D.S.O., M.B., Ch.B., Lieut.-Colonel, R.A.M.C., retired from the Army in 1921 and was later on the staff of the League of Red Cross Societies in Geneva. He now lives in Aberdeen. His younger brother, MICHAEL BALFOUR HUTCHISON RITCHIE (1897-98), D.S.O., O.B.E., M.B., Ch.B., also held the rank of lieut.-colonel in the R.A.M.C. He retired in 1931, but during the second world war he was a commandant of troops on board ship. His home is near Kingussie hut he now spends about six months each year abroad. Alexander Mackenzie Shinnie (1896-190o) died at Foresterhill, Aberdeen, on a May 19S4, aged seventy. He was very well known in the North-East of Scotland as an actor, broadcaster and producer, having been associated with the amateur stage in Aberdeen for forty years. From 1926 to 1948 he was on the staff of the Ministry of Labour in Aberdeen. He was the eldest son of the late Mr. Robert Shinnie, coachbuilder, Aberdeen, and his great grandfather, GEORGE StlINNIE (1796-97), was a class-fellow of LORD BYRON at the School. His stage career began before he left School, where he took part in sketches and sang songs at the piano. On 14 April 1899 he played Penelope in a one-act play The Area Belle at a concert in the School Hall, under the auspices of the School Debating Society. The producer was Mr. Kirwan Ward, his French master. After leaving the School he continued with concert work and played in several amateur productions. His first appearance on the professional stage was on 5 August 19oz at the Theatre Royal, Lincoln, where he played a small part and was assistant stage manager with Charles Macdona's Company in a musical play called The New Mephisto. Then followed years in London and on tour, when he played in all kinds of plays from Shakespeare to pantomime and often acted as stage manager. After the first world war, in which he served in Francc with the 51st Highland Division, being wounded in 1918 at Greenland Hill, he continued producing for amateurs—comic opera, Gilbert and Sullivan, musical comedy, straight plays and Shakespeare. He was particularly associated with the Aberdeen branch of the British Empire Shakespeare Society, the Lyric Opera Company, and the Five Club. Altogether he presented over thirty shows in His Majesty's Theatre,

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Aberdeen. He was advisory producer for the 1940 Students' Show, Watch Your

Step, and producer of Hold That Smile (1941). and Hitting Back (1949).

He was associated with the B.B.C. in Aberdeen from the opening of the old studios in Belmont Street in 1924 and was the first official announcer at zBD. For many years he worked in the dual capacity of announcer and actor and his voice became familiar throughout the North of Scotland. His programme " Country Music " was broadcast on almost one hundred occasions. He was the last survivor of five brothers who attended the School : ROBERT LEsTER SHINNIE (1889-92), solicitor, died at Kingussie in 1932 ; JOHN NICOL SHINNIE (1898-1904), ironmonger, Glasgow, died in 1935 ; NORMAN TAYLOR SHINNIE (1902-07) went to New Zealand in 1914 and died there in 1928 ; and HERBERT FORSYTH GREIG SHINNIE (1902-07) went down in H.M.S. Formidable when she was torpedoed in 1915. Charles Edward Smith (1889-92), who was assistant city gas engineer and manager in Aberdeen from 1905 to 1938, died at 138 South Anderson Drive, Aberdeen, on 23 November 1953. He was aged seventy-seven. A son of the late Mr. Alexander Smith, a former gas and electricity manager in Aberdeen, his service with the Corporation Gas Department extended over forty-six years. He was a founder member of Deeside Golf Club. His son, CHARLES EDWARD SMITH (1921-32), M.B.E., died at Johannesburg in May 1953, aged thirty-six. One of his daughters, Miss Olive D. Smith, M.A. (now Mrs. Balfour), was on the staff of the Kindergarten Department at the School from 1932 to 1937. John Strachan* (1894-99), civil engineer, died at Sunderland on 31 July 1953, aged seventy-one. He was trained as a civil engineer at Aberdeen Harbour under the late ROBERT GORDON NICOL (1871-73), O.B.E., M.Inst.C.E., and later joined the London & North Eastern Railway at Hull. In 1912 he joined the engineering staff of the River Weir Commissioners and in 1920 he was appointed chief assistant engineer. On reaching the age of sixty-five in 1947, he retired from this position but for the next four years he assisted with the supervision of outside contract work. During his long service in Sunderland he played a leading part in many large schemes of port development. John Sutherland * (1899-1904), M.A., formerly headmaster of Sunnybank School, Aberdeen, died at Foresterhill, Aberdeen, on 16 February 1954. He was aged sixty-eight. His first teaching post was as third master at Woodside Public School from 1908 to 1919 and he was then transferred to Causewayend School. In x931 he was promoted to the grade of headmaster and appointed to the new Hilton School. In the following year he became headmaster of George Street Primary School and in 1938 he returned to Causewayend School. He was headmaster of Sunnybank School from 1939 to 1950, when he retired. His main hobbies were art, archaeology, his garden and golf. His two sons arc also F.P.s : JAMES WALLACE MILNE SUTHERLAND (1920-24 and 1928-29), M.B., Ch.B., F.R.C.S.E., was appointed surgical doctor at Kirkcaldy Hospital in 1947 ; and WILLIAM SUTHERLAND (1928-34), M.A., LL.B., became secretary and treasurer of the Fife Mental Hospitals Board of Management in 1948. Walter Taylor Wishart (1884-85), M.A., died at Comrie, Perthshire, on 18 December 1953, in his eighty-fifth year. He was minister at Gartnouth, Morayshire, from 1928 to 1940, when he resigned to facilitate the union of his congregation with that of Speymouth, and for the next three years he held a locum in the South Church, Elgin. A son of the late Rev. Alexander Wishart, Free Church Manse, Forgue, Aberdeenshire, he graduated at the University of Aberdeen in 1891 and took up his first ministerial charge at the U.F. Church, Abercom, Linlithgow, in 1901. Ten years later he went on a visit to Australia where he took services for the Rev. James Kinghom of Aberdeen in his Sydney church during the latter's illness, and on his return to Scotland he was appointed minister at Balquhidder, where he remained for four years. From 1919 to 1928 he was minister at Echt, Aberdeenshire, and a member of the Education Committee for the County of Aberdeen. His brother, ALEXANDER WATT WISHART (1884-85), M.A., was minister at Aboyne from 1899 and died in 1939.

SCHOOL SECTION School and Random Notes All the learning in this School can be summed up in one Latin phrase : arena virumque cam)

" an arm, a man and a cane". * * * We have noticed that the range of goons laughed at in this Magazine is somewhat limited. For the benefit of future editors we make a few suggestions :— " Oh, you'll find it all in your book." " Hunter, have some manners !!" " Nine books out of the library ??!!! " " Hard worked ! You don't know you're living." t4 . . . and the Farmer said I had bee hands." " Do you boys realise that before we break up you'll be spending literally thousands of the ratepayers' money ?" * * * We will not touch on sport this year. Let us draw a veil. Vae victis.

* * * The Prefects' Room wall (Mr. Morrison's side that is, not Mr. Cunningham's) bears the marks of many a heavy-handed senior prefect. This year's senior errand boy hammers up his postage stamp notices with the best of 'em. But one of the younger, more hardworking prefects, whose English had not yet reached our own level, noticed that our scientific Homer had nodded. Obviously he wanted to pacify contending grammatical experts by offering (in a note on field duty) the alternatives "rigorously" and "rigourously ". Controversy rages in the howff. * * * Since our last issue the ire of the editor has risen in strict ratio to his blood pressure. The reason ? Yet another khaki camerade has appeared with four white V-signs on his arm. Oh the indignity of it ! And upside down too ! Pity the poor sergeant-major who only wears two Coronation decorations cut from the " bug-house " display. * * * Bells rang, the door marked " Enquiries" swung violently to and fro, quivering Science students gaped and giggled. The spotlight of notoriety flashed upon that den full of drug-fumes and rotting bodies—the Botany Lab. A seven days' wonder ! A case of strangulation in the laboratory that would have intrigued the great 139

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Holmes I A tap, a curved, copper tap, a defenceless frail old tap had been throttled into oblivion. The hunt closed in on the East Stairway, on the Prefects' Room, and finally on one hapless, neurotic, broken-down wretch in the " Sixth ". Justice was done. Crime doesn't pay. * * * We are delighted to announce that at the moment of going to press yet another School Concert is well into rehearsal. V'e hear that almost the whole School (Upper VI of course excepted) will be singing. * * * We are pleased also to be able at last to state definitely that the workmen engaged at the back of the School actually are constructing a bowling green for prefects. It is to be ceremonially opened by the Lord Provost in 1956. * * * Changed days for the First Cricket Eleven ! Time was when the smiters of six could bombard the four corners of Rubislaw and make the tennis courts unsafe from the safety of the nets. Hallowed names like Murray, Lindsay and Rennie spring to mind. Now alas, by express command of the powers that be, we must keep our strokes within the nets. The long handle is taboo. This rule is said to have originated from the incident in which a member of the Modern Languages staff mistook a "corker" for a descending Venusian flying saucer. * * * Our Senior Prefect, David Williamson, and his deputy, Ian Buxton, attended a conference on African affairs in London from z8 December to a January. This conference was sponsored by the Council for Education in World Citizenship : we have noticed a difference in our two world citizens since their return. * * * We would like here to note the translation of David Crichton of VI to a higher sphere of employment. David was always a grand go-ahead fellow, picking up R.A.F. Cadet Scholarships and the like in his spare time. Thus it was no surprise when he was tested and accepted for Cranwell. We can do no more here than wish him well and conclude with the inevitable— per ardua ad astra.

* * * We arc overjoyed—nay ecstatic—to learn that at one of our last School dances (always occasions conducted with complete decorum), when the lights momentarily failed, one of our younger staff members proved an excellent electrician. In fact he had but to say from a distance—" put them on ", and the chandeliers once more cast their chaste glow upon the proceedings. . . . Of course we cannot think how the lights happened to go out. But then it was the last waltz. . . .

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The Swiss Tour was, we hear, a success. At any rate the laggards returned bronzed and handsome from Bex in French-speaking Switzerland some time after the summer term began. We of the prefecture have noticed with amazement the change good food, fresh air, and foreign contacts can make even in Pacitti. Rumour has it that no master or boy was observed while engaged in anything which might not be called " cricket ". * * * in these notes as being conversation We include the following definitely " Random" and just as definitely " School", and also as evidence of the use of a new set of physical laws which have come into existence in the School—Gray's Temporal laws. These may be stated thus : " If the number of boys in a class be multiplied by the number of minutes in the period they are therein, then the resulting expression is made up of ' boy-minutes ' ". The conversation ? It ran thus : " Just another month to go, Sir, another 32 periods I " " Ach, shoot him, zo,ooo boy-minutes to go." * * * School boy recently disMiddle unpleasant and Some ingenious covered that if one has a good aim and a strong arm, one can throw a rubber ball through the window of the Prefects' Room. Almost every day now one of these comes flying in and breaks up the happy home. And yet, if we shut the window, we would suffocate. We are petitioning the Rector to be allowed to use " broken chairs, prefects formerly for the use of " in retaliation. * * * We hear that a prominent member of the History staff has been commissioned by Major Annand, C. in C., O.C., A.G.S.C.C.F., to instruct our raw recruits in the handling of those arquebuses which have from time immemorial held a dusty place of honour in the Boots Cupboard. * * * We have come to the end of yet another set of random notes— the last we shall have the misfortune to write. They may be trivial or not up to standard as one of our acquaintances, who is " writing for Caudle now " and is " very much matured by the year at 'Varsity ", would tell us. The truth, however, is, as anyone who examines these notes closely will soon see, that nothing whatsoever has happened in School in the last six months—which makes it very difficult to write notes about it. Come gentlemen, we sit too long on trifles.—Shakespeare.

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Presenting the Prefects Let twenty pass and stone the twenty-first.--R. Browning.

Williamson, D. V. S. Has recently joined the instructional staff of St. Margaret's School as a Botany lecturer. Our blue-eyed, fair-haired, innocent (-looking) Senior Prefect has been hailed as the most efficient one in the last twelve months. I kissed the rose. . . .—Popular Air.

Buxton, I. W. D. We believe he is now proficient in Highland dancing which he learns on a Saturday night when the rest of the Sixth are otherwise engaged. Was observed early on Hogmanay exhibiting fine form round Eros in Piccadilly. You were there for some African conference, weren't you, Ian ? Two years in the company of prefects has done a lot for this lad. Much study had made him very lean, And pale, and leaden ey'd.—Hood.

Crichton, D. G. An infamous character who was known to snooker regularly on a Saturday night. Has joined the ranks of the dear departed and we presume he now practises his high-flying in the heavens. He would fain fly but wanted feathers.—Heywood.

Duncan, R. W. Returns to Venezuela this summer to re-tan those he-man shoulders. If he comes back for another year, " Tiny " is to be made (if our information is correct) assistant, deputy head. We like having him in the " howif ", even if it means Bruce has to sit on Macleod's knee. otl-ros 7-IpaKAls.—Themistocles.

Hunter, A. S. Stewart has been so pleased with himself ever since they gave him a little tin crown to stick on the arm of his uniform that he always comes to School on Friday morning with a sore throat. Believes in physical violence and constantly practises what he calls his " neck lock ". His hair is crisp and sometimes curls And he is saucy with the girls.-H. Belloc.

Levitt, C. S. A. W. " Chey ", bosom companion and Siamese twin of Hodge. Therefore he plays golf. A quiet lad, Charles will nevertheless be a loss to the School Film Society (Charlie's pride and joy). Has the reputation of being the best-dressed prefect. It is difficult to say anything cutting against him. Fie, what a spendthrift is he of his tongue.—Shakespeare.

Pacitti, J. Giovanni is an erudite, celibate, classical oily-locked gentleman who, as you may have guessed from his name, comes from Sweden. Argues vociferously with Mr. Milne about " it duce "

School Section 1 43 and with the editor of this rag about some small Italian racing concern, financed by American aid, called Ferrari. Gli Italiani tutti ladroni.—Napoleon.

Wood, D. S. His histrionic gifts are in no doubt. Didn't Mr. Brown censure that wagging finger? The "brain" of the prefecture. Elaborates on drama and German literature (some blighter— Goathey) to the innocent, wide-eyed denizens of the " howfr ". A German, Who smoked like a chimney.—Barham.

Henderson, A. A. R. Suspected of being Senator McCarthy's secret agent in the A.G.S. after his flight to the U.S. Is an R.A.F. cadet but very efficient, although believed, contrary to previous rumours, not now to have reached his z,ooo lines in May. Works hard, but only took six Highers this year. Mens sibi conscia recti.—Virgil.

Hodge, C. S. The " Mona Lott " of the Prefects' Room. We have come to the conclusion that he likes worrying. Has got a job for the summer ploughing up some waste land near the Bridge of Don. Which reminds us, doesn't he play golf ? Preferred the Swiss misses to the ones at North Berwick in the Scottish Boys'. What's the use of worrying ?

Macleod, I. F. Erupted violently on School sport during the summer term with a decisive win over the School tennis captain and a well-smitten six at that holy of cricket holies, Glenalmond. Recently was seen with members of the opposite sex for the first time. But they may have been discussing historical developments. He's very knowing.-Shakespeare.

MacLeod, R. D. M. Another six-footer and a rugby colour. Trains hard as Athletics Captain, but still manages to find enough spare time to work, when the occasion demands, and employ himself in extra-mural activities. One of the McRob. gang but still manages to keep in training when sprinting along Anderson Drive from south of the River Dee to Midstocket. Why so pale and wan, fond lover ? Prithee, why so pale ?—Suckling.

Baird, D. E. " Grouch" is a fair, curly-haired and blue-eyed six-footer. His stature helps him to force smaller members of the cricket team to attend evening practices. Claims to finding a solution to the world's food problems, but now adds colour to Mr. McLeod's classes in School. Has fallen into bad company outside with the Clan McRob. Innocence and youth should ever be unsuspicious.—W. S. Landor.

Bremner, A. A long, thin, vacant-looking young man who divides his time at School between being decorative in Mr. Milne's

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class and sleeping under the table in the Prefects' Room. Is said to play tennis and hockey but this has never been proved. One may think him rather a slacker and a bit of a wide boy but he's really only a long, thin, vacant-looking young man. da capo. Sero domum est reversus ritubanti pede.—Phaedrus.

Bruce, G. M. Plays for rugby and cricket teams but we fear that his dark wavy hair is not brushed for this purpose alone. Appears diligent and well-behaved in some classes but uses the " howff " as a boxing ring occasionally with devastating results. Old Meg she was a gipsy.

Fraser, J. G. N. A charming little fellow with a face like a flopsy-bunny who comes up to us every now and then, whispering the mystic words : " Like to buy a ticket for a sweepstake ? " For some peculiar reason has become a fast friend of R. Wallace Duncan. . . . my kingdom for a horse.—Shakespeare. McLeod, S. A khaki stalwart who bore manfully the post of Byron Rugby captain. We do not hear much from Spence and therefore deduce that he is one of the more efficient among us. Rumours of his being in School before 8.3o a.m. each morning must surely be unfounded. You're a pore benighted 'cathen, but a first-class fightin' man.—Kipling.

Miller, R. Most of Bobby's activities follow the same pattern as those of his bosom friend, Robin, but he does not train so arduously on Saturday nights. Expected to do well in the Inter-Scholastics hut may leave this year to study Medicine, like Robin. Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May.—Shakespeare. Mackie, M. The one Boarding House representative on the prefecture, this amiable farmer conveys himself around the town by means of a petrol-driven machine, which, contrary to expectation, does actually move. Is seldom in haste to go anywhere in School but enjoys reciting Burns. The rustic has, in general, good principles.—Sydney Smith.

Mutch, J. R. Y. Hockey and cricket stalwart who hit a six against the Other Place. Is outspoken, but quite genial on occasion. We have gleaned little of his private life, but he was a candidate (one of two) this year for Higher Music. I kept silence, yea, even from good words.—Book of Common Prayer.

Petrie, K. R. As rugby vice-captain is a sporting celebrity. Is also a long-distance runner. Has been known to frequent the Beach Ballroom. Despite his disconcerting habit of throwing furniture around the " howff", no fatal accidents have yet occurred. Like a red meteor on the troubled air.—Heywood.

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American Interlude Last November I was asked to represent Scotland at the Eleventh Annual Youth Forum sponsored by the New York Daily Mirror. Although the exact nature and duration of the Forum were something of a mystery to me at the time, I was prepared for a stay in New York of about two weeks. After several days of turmoil in which I had to procure all the various documents relating to overseas travel, I left by air from Prestwick on the night of ist December. Bad weather, however, necessitated a diversion in the route, with the result that I did not reach America until almost twenty-four hours later, having called at Santa Maria in the Azores and Gander in Newfoundland on the way. I was met at spacious Idlewild Airport, New York, by Mr. Sidney Panzer, publicity editor of the Mirror, who was also chiefly responsible for the organization of the Forum. He took me by car to the apartment hotel in Manhattan where, as he told me, I was to stay with the other " foreign delegates ". Dusk was approaching as we motored along the broad highways, and the lights of the Metropolis were coming on. To me, it was a memorable sight. In the aircraft I had seen and been amazed at the vastness of the sun-lit city far below, with its rows and rows of brown houses stretching from horizon to horizon, yet forming only part of the outermost suburbs ; now, the overwhelming magnitude of the place quite took my breath away as I watched those myriads of lights, yellow, white and red, begin to glow all around me. When we reached Manhattan it was nearly dark, but the brilliance of the illuminations made it seem like mid-day. My hotel, the " Beaux Arts ", was situated in East 44th Street, a few paces away from First Avenue and the world-famous United Nations Buildings. It consisted of two fourteen-storey blocks facing each other across the roadway. As it was solely an apartment hotel, meals were taken " out". Some of the rooms, it was stated on the pale-blue hotel notepaper, were air-conditioned, while some had television sets. The centre building was, of course, centrallyheated. It was here that I first met some of the Forum delegates from other foreign countries : Mr. Panzer introduced me on arrival to a Dane, a Finn, an Egyptian and a Peruvian. Within the next two days the remaining seven delegates made their appearance. They were from India, Liberia, Turkey, Nicaragua, Belgium, Greece, and South Korea. Everyone spoke English fluently, with the exception of the Nicaraguan who nevertheless smoothed over linguistic difficulties with an enormous grin and an unconcerned " Sure 1" The highlight of the visit was, as might be expected, the Forum itself, an assembly of one thousand young Americans who were to discuss, during one morning, five topics of national and international interest, chosen by themselves beforehand. The thousand were to be divided into five groups, one to deal with each subject under the chairmanship of a few select members who, I was informed, had

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been schooled for several weeks previously in the finer points of parliamentary debate procedure. As usual, this, the Eleventh Forum, was to be held in the rooms of one of New York's most luxurious hotels, the Hotel Astor, on 5th December. A ceremonial banquet in the blue ballroom would follow in the afternoon. The night before, however, we foreign delegates (that was our official tide) attended an informal meeting of the chairmen and chairwomen of the five panels. Our talk centred chiefly in personal matters, such as our respective journeys to America, our own countries, our impressions of New York up to that time, and so on. I was delighted with the easy, warm-hearted, and quite unforced friendliness of the Americans. They had a gift for making a person feel " at home " among them, and an ability to carry on an interesting and intelligent conversation. I was genuinely sorry when our chaperone, Mr. Tomasulo (an assistant to Mr. Panzer on the Mirror staff), announced that it was time to leave. The actual Forum of the following morning left me with many mixed feelings and impressions. On arriving at the hotel, I and, I think, the other foreign visitors, were surprised to learn that there would be no time for us to participate in the discussions. Instead, we would be introduced to each panel of two hundred while the debate was held up and those present would be allowed to ask us questions. Then, after about ten minutes, we would withdraw. When I was handed a copy of the topics for discussion, I was again somewhat surprised, for all the five subjects were in their nature political. Three of these five concerned United States policy, both foreign and domestic. I think this is a significant fact as the Mirror reported afterwards : " for the first time . . . a general theme, ' What is the road to international security and peace ? ', bound together the five panel topics ". An interesting point was that though a very deep and very real hatred of Communism was revealed in one or two of the resolutions put forward, McCarthyism and " the present form of Congressional investigation" were deemed "undesirable" and "degrading". Indeed, I found not one American who had any sympathy with the Senator. In the afternoon the assembled delegates were addressed at the banquet by several well-known public figures. The first of these was Mrs. Pandit, the ex-president of U.N. Her speech of some three-quarters of an hour was in the same vein as the morning's debates. Following her was Mr. Impellitteri, Mayor of New York ; then Dr. William Jansen, Superintendent of Schools. But, suddenly the mood of the gathering changed : to my astonishment a Brooklyn baseball star, Roy Campanella, came forward to make a short speech ; then, two "basketball aces "—one from the "Knickerbockers" (whom I later saw in action at the Madison Square Gardens), and the other from the " Yankees ". Next, a "famed comedian ", Sam Levenson (of whom I had never previously heard) and a " raconteur", Harry Herschfield, appeared on the platform. I confess to having been somewhat bewildered by the rapid change from serious speech and thought to comedy and song. The other foreign delegates admitted the same to me that evening.

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141 It is quite true to say, I think, that the " foreign delegates" were rather observers and messengers of goodwill than active members of a Forum of Youth. Our visit must have done some good in the fostering of friendly feeling between the Americans represented at that assembly and the countries for which the twelve of us stood. There were many people to say good-bye to us once the Forum had come to a close, and I, like the others, found myself in the middle of a throng of young Americans, mostly of the opposite sex, asking for my autograph. It was some time before escape was possible. The Youth Forum itself lasted but one day ; I was in New York altogether for ten. The rest of the time was taken up entirely with sight-seeing and visiting places of interest. Understandably, Messrs. Panzer and Tomasulo tried to keep us together as much as possible on any excursion. New York City, even Manhattan, is a vast maze of streets which, though they are sensibly numbered and meet at right-angles, can be extraordinarily confusing, and are, in addition, crowded at all times with fast automobiles. A jay-walker comes to a tragic end in New York. Several of my fellow delegates were anxious to indulge in some shopping on practically every outing. Where they found the money, I cannot say. I, the impoverished Briton, exchanged L5 sterling for a mere S i 3—the rate of exchange having dropped to $2.6o per Li—and bought a few odds and ends with them. Goods generally seemed much more expensive in America than at home ; for example, food and clothing—a single pear cost me the equivalent of gd., while a not-very-well-made tie was priced at above 8s. I Window displays in shops were lavish, the shops well stocked and always immaculately neat and modern inside, and the shop-assistants extremely courteous and helpful. The Christmas decorations were being put up in the stores when I was there and at night these, together with the wonderful displays of coloured lighting, made the main streets into brilliant lanes of fire. Some of the sparkling, ever-changing, gloriously colourful advertising signs in Broadway and Times Square defy the imagination ; even when one is looking at them it is almost impossible to recognize their physical reality ; they seem out of this world. But there are many other wonderful sights in Manhattan. Most people immediately think of the famous Empire State Building at the mention of New York. And with it, they perhaps remember the Chrysler, or the U.N. Buildings, or the Rockefeller Centre— some of the mightiest and most impressive edifices ever erected by man. It was unthinkable that I should visit New York and not ascend at least one of these. As it happened, I was to go to all four. Mr. Tomasulo took the foreign delegates on a business call to an airline office on the fifty-ninth storey of the Chrysler. Unfortunately the day was somewhat hazy, but it was possible to watch ships gliding down the Hudson River on the one side, and the East River on the other. A few days later we made the ascent, in two lifts, of the Empire State. Standing on the eighty-sixth floor observatory platform, r,z5o feet above the earth, and still zzz feet from the

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The man had looked up. He seemed to have changed. The joviality had gone out of him and there seemed to be something a trifle pathetic about him. He was staring at me fixedly and continued to do so as he pulled a packet of cigarettes from his pocket, slid it open, pulled one out, tapped it on the box, put it in his mouth, put the box back in his pocket, took out a lighter, flicked it alight and inhaled. Then he suddenly sat back and said : " Look here, do you mind if I tell you a story ?" " No." " It's about me. My Father was a grocer. He was narrow-minded, parochial. Every summer we came here for a week. As I grew older, I came to hate Blackpool more than anything else in the world. At that time I was a junior clerk with a coal merchant. I wanted desperately to go abroad. I suppose it became a fixation or something because I went to night school and learned languages to prepare for going— French, German, Spanish, Italian, everything they could teach me. I saved every penny I could. Half of it went on books, travel books, foreign novels, foreign newspapers, half to a fund to take me abroad and keep me till I could find a permanent job there. Then the war came. I was in London, in the Army Service Corps. I couldn't get overseas though I tried everything. I think that, if anything, my idea grew stronger then. I was able to meet exiles and hear them romancing about their various countries. I could get far more books. Then the war ended. I saw one of the new bus tour companies advertising for couriers and I applied like a shot. Since then I've been showing people the Eiffel Tower by moonlight and the Colosseum by floodlight from April to October every year." " That must be very pleasant ", I said, not understanding quite why he was telling me all this. He laughed. "No. It's hell. You see, I had imagined all these places as magnificent and superbly beautiful. They are beautiful, of course, but nothing like as much as I had imagined. When I first saw them I could have wept. I've tried to laugh it off, be cynical about it, forget it, but it's no use. For ten years I lived believing in all these things—Venice with its sweet-flowing canals, graceful gondolas and tall dark gondoliers, and all the rest. The gondolas leak, the canals stink and the gondoliers are old and grubby and smell of garlic. It's the same all over. It's no good trying to see things romantically and sublimely if the romance and sublimity just are not there. And so I've come to hate them all, those beauty spots of Europe, every wretched one of them. And I ask you, where can I go for my holidays ? There's only one place I can come. Here. Blackpool. This is the only place in the whole damned European continent where I can be happy because it's the only place 1 can hate more than the show pieces of the Grand Tour. Here I can feel I really want to get back to them without worrying about the frustration." He got up, called for his bill, and walked out, weaving his way between the gaudy, plastic-covered tables. DOUGLAS S. WOOD (Upper VI).

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My Favourite Superstitions I believe in superstitions : in fact I always have done and always will do. I inherit these beliefs from my Mother. One day she did not cross a gipsy's hand with silver and he cursed her. Some days later I was born. Now she spends all her time reading books on superstitions. Once she discovered that Friday is an unlucky day. She now spends Friday with the family in an Anderson shelter. She has only to see a gipsy's caravan and she goes berserk, rushing hither and thither with shillings (extracted from the gas meter) crossing palms. Father, when hard-up, puts on a pair of ear-rings, pearl ones at that, grabs a violin, and appears at the front door as Francesco the Gipsy Fiddler. After Mother has prised some more shillings from the gas meter, she, with tears in her eyes, hands them over to Father (who you will remember is also Francesco). She retires muttering something about not having another son at any price. Father meanwhile has rushed to the local hostelry, where he stays until Friday when he joins us in the Anderson shelter. Mother then discovered that black cats are unlucky. She now spends all her spare time sitting at a window with a rifle. Our garden is full of dead black cats. When not shooting cats, Mother can be seen walking about the streets looking for omens. Once she saw an old crow and pronounced it an omen. Sure enough next Friday Aunt Ada came to visit us. As she sat talking to us in the Anderson shelter, she became more and more interested in our obsession with superstition. We convinced her that it was most unhealthy to walk under ladders, to light her three pipes with one match, or even to drink her stout straight from the bottle. Next day while walking down Union Street, she stepped into the street to avoid walking under a ladder and was run over by a motor-car. Father got his driving licence endorsed for that. As the shillings from the gas meter would not last for ever, we decided to make Mother earn some money. With curtain rings in her ears and a shawl round her hair she became " Mistik the Fortune Teller, Hours 9-12, excluding Fridays ". With a goldfish bowl inverted over an electric light as her crystal she looked admirable. Her first customer was a man whose lucky number, she said, was 4. Next day his wife had quads. We spent that day in the Anderson shelter. To get back to the point, which I left about a page and a half ago, a superstition I no longer believe in is the one that threatens seven years' bad luck if a mirror is broken. Last Friday (the 13th you will remember) Father hit Mother over the head with a mirror and broke both. To-day he was sent to jail for seven years, and so I can now spend Fridays in the house, or what is left of it—it was burned down yesterday. F. MACPHERSON (Upper IV (z)).

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Conducted Tour

The bus is full. Its occupants seem self-conscious, suggesting schoolboys on their first day at a new school. All we lack is a guide. Presently, a man detaches himself from a crowd arguing on the pavement. He is to be our guide. He is a short, rather sad-faced man in a shabby suit. " Good evening, ladies and gentlemen ", he says. We are surprised by the beautiful tone of his voice. As we proceed, his ready patter brings a smile, as it is like a lesson, well learned through much repetition. In Doughty Street we are invited to observe a plaque commemorating a Dickens residence ; the gruesome derivation of Bunfields is given with obvious relish ; and the distant prospect of the Houses of Parliament evokes a string of ready quips. A question from one of a group of dusky-skinned passengers is immediately answered in fluent French. A hush falls on the obviously impressed passengers and when the next question comes, its tone seems less assured. As we drive onwards, the flow of talk from the guide continues ; and we are not now surprised when he replies to a question in German. We visit the Clink Prison, the printers where the Bank of England notes are printed, an old inn with Shakespearean associations, and Chinatown, which the guide regrets is becoming disappointingly respectable, before passing through a tunnel, which, we learn, is to take us under the Thames. " A tunnel under the Thames ? I've never heard of it" says a voice, which obviously hails from the other side of the Atlantic. " It is none the less a fact ", replies the guide, hardly breaking his flow of information. Near the end of our journey we pass a restaurant where, we learn, actors are to be found eating late at night and early in the morning. Just before we stop the guide tells us he hopes he has been of service, in a way which hints that an addition to his earnings would be more than welcome. As I return to my hotel, I wonder if he is one of the actors he mentioned earlier in the evening. Irv Yrs (Middle Ix).

Aberdeen University Bursary Competition Arthur I. G. Davidson of Upper V was awarded the first bursary (L4o) in the Medicine section of this year's " Bursary Comp." and David V. S. Williamson of Upper VI the first bursary (L45) in the Science section. John Pacitti of Upper VI was fourth in the Arts section, winning a bursary of L65. Other successful entrants in the Arts section were Ian W. D. Buxton and Douglas S. Wood (both £6o bursaries) and James G. Kellas and Innes F. Macleod (both £5o bursaries). All four are in Upper VI. In the Science section James M. Taylor of Upper VI won a bursary of Ez5 and in the Medicine section Archibald S. Hunter of Upper VI and William R. C. Turner of Upper V were both awarded bursaries of L2.5.

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House Notes Byron House The officials elected at the beginning of this term were : Cricket Captain, John R. Y. Mutch ; Vice-Captain, Innes F. Macleod ; Athletics Captain, Spence McLeod ; Vice-Captain, Maitland Mackie. Congratulations are due to H. W. L. Thomas, who gained rugby full colours, J. R. Y. Mutch, who gained hockey full colours, and W. J. L. Buyers, who gained hockey half-colours. The House rugby XV, although beaten in two games, showed great fighting spirit and the younger members of the team showed great promise for next year. The hockey XI was rather unfortunate, as there was a lack of experienced players. But in spite of this, we managed to finish third in the league. At the Annual Swimming Gala, the young Byronites did well to keep the House in third place. Especially to be noted was the performance of T. Houghton of Middle Its who won the Middle School swimming medal. Our cricket XI has, so far, an unblemished record. We hope it will continue that way when we play our first game. MAITLAND MACKIE, Howe Captain.

Dun House We have had a large share of the colour awards for the winter season 1953-54. For rugby C. S. Hodge was awarded full colours and D. E. Baird, A. S. Hunter, P. B. Philip and D. V. S. Williamson gained half-colours. For hockey A. Bremner and G. A. F. Urquhart were re-awarded full colours and J. R. Wight was awarded half-colours. Officials elected for the summer term were : Cricket Captain, D. E. Baird ; Vice-Captain, A. S. Hunter ; Athletics Captain, P. B. Philip ; Vice-Captain, R. Templeton. Dun won the Rugby Cup for the third time in succession, this being largely due to our strong forwards. Scores were generally low and games scrappy, however, due to our lack of good backs. Our hockey XI defeated Keith and Byron quite convincingly in the Hockey Cup competition, but were unable to overcome Melvin who had a strong tsr XI representation. Dun House was runner-up to Keith in the Swimming Gala. We would no doubt have gained more points if D. E. Baird had been able to swim for us that night, but the showing was highly creditable as it was. Mr. Park continues his good work as Housemaster and we owe to him and his fellow Dun masters our warm thanks and support. DAVID V. S. WILLIAMSON, House Captain.

Keith House At the meeting held earlier this term the following officials were elected : Cricket Captain, G. Cruickshank ; Vice-Captain, R. Angles ; Athletics Captain, R. Miller ; Vice-Captain, R. MacLeod. For the third year in succession Keith House won the Swimming Trophy : much credit is due to the excellent performance of the Lower School competitors. The rugby team played well throughout the season and were unfortunate to lose to Dun by a small margin, resulting in the House failing to win the championship by only one point. I would like to take this opportunity of thanking Mr. Wilson, our able Housemaster, and all other masters who have worked for the well-being of the House. KENNETH R. PETRIE, Howe Captain.

Melvin House Congratulations are due to the following boys who gained sports awards in the winter session : R. W. Duncan (rugby cap, re-award), K. S. Duncan and G. M. Bruce (rugby half-colours), R. M. Logan (hockey full colours) and M. A. B. Christie (hockey half-colours). In the winter session our rugby team, although

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Aberdeen Grammar School MagaTine

not setting the heather on fire, played soundly, losing rather unluckily to Keith and drawing with Dun, the champions, and Byron. The hockey XI, with five ist XI players, won the House Championship by a fairly substantial margin, Dun alone offering a serious challenge. In swimming, the House did not meet with much success, and perhaps the least said about this activity the better I Prospects in the cricket championship appear bright, as Melvin possesses a large percentage of the 1st XI and several znd XI players. Officials for summer were appointed at a meeting early this term, and the following boys gained office : Cricket Captain, D. Black ; Vice-Captain, A. M. Fletcher ; Athletics Captain, R. W. Duncan ; Vice Captain, G. M. Bruce ; Junior Cricket Captain, W. Balfour ; Vice-Captain, E. D. B. Bain. IAN W. D. BUXTON, House Captain.

Lower School Notes By now the new designation of classes of the Lower School has become an established fact, and it is not now necessary for class-teachers to indulge in arithmetical calculations to convert Lower V into Primary VII. Generally speaking, the current session has been a normal one, with no extraordinary events taking place. One unusual feature has been the number of staff " casualties " owing to illness during the year. Fortunately, all is now back to normal. We are grateful to all who helped to get over the sticky patches—boys, staff, relief teachers and particularly those former members of staff who stepped in to fill the breach when the only other solution seemed to be to form classes of 7o-8o. On the games field all is well in the Lower School, with this session's Primary VI showing promise of being a good " year " as they progress through School. Swimming continues to be an activity in which more and more boys play an active part. Colin Preshaw is to be congratulated on winning the Lower School Medal. Other extra-curricular activities have had their normal share of enthusiasm and success. The Lower School Choir have publicly shown at the Music Festival and in the School Concert the results of their weekly practices. The Recorder Group broke new ground at the Music Festival, and it is to be hoped that there will be other ensembles playing with them at next year's Festival. The young artists and craftsmen of the Lower School gave evidence of their ability to their parents at the display of their work on " Parents' Day" Puppetry still receives much of our time, and shadows and gloves were manipulated with success at School and the Children's Theatre. The summer term gave opportunity for Primary VI to display their dramatic ability on the stage of the School Hall before an appreciative audience of their Lower School-fellows. This year's crop of Lower School monitors has been a fruitful one and produced good results. Those appointed were Eric Allan, John Cunningham, Michael King, Seaton McKenzie, Charles Michie, and Sandy Webster of P VII, and Findlay Coutts, Kenneth Gorrod, Hamish Hamill, Andrew Wyllie and Richard Bywater of P VI. D. M. A.

Scripture Union Since we joined the Inter-Schools Scripture Union, which has branches in nearly

200 schools in Scotland, there has been a marked increase of enthusiasm in our

branch. Over too boys arc members, although usually only about thirty boys attend our meetings, which are held once a fortnight. At one meeting in March this year, however, 225 boys were present, on the occasion of a visit to the School by the Scripture Union " boss" in Scotland, the Rev. J. W. Meiklejohn. He presented a Moody Bible Institute film, entitled Daft or Destiny. Among the speakers who have addressed us during the past session have been Major Murray of the Salvation Army, Mr. Sandison of the Royal National Mission to Deep-Sea Fishermen and the Rev. John Birkbeck. Once again we thank two members of the staff, Dr. MacAndrew and Mr. Miller, for their invaluable help. MALcomd A. B. CHRISTIE, Secretary.

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Combined Cadet Force Notes This year the Cadet Force has reached the too mark, all told. Of these the R.A.F. Section comprise zo. The annual Easter Cadet camp has not been held this year because of the whims of the Education Committee who made the holidays too transient for an April camp. So the Contingent will be bound for camp at Cultybraggan, Comrie, Perthshire, during the first week of July. Cultybraggan has become a well-known camp for cadets and for Territorials. If it turns out as well endowed with operational opportunities as York was last year, we should be well pleased. Some cadets attempted their Certificate "A" examinations at Christmas and all were successful. They were Cadets Watt and Aberdein (Part H), and Cadets Glennie, Petrie and Watson (Part I). An excellent showing this in so short a time. The post-Certificate " A " cadets and N.C.O.s have been taking a course in signalling. The first term was seriously interrupted as a result of a change in regulations for wireless transmission. However, it is hoped that some time in the summer term—weather and athletics allowing—the senior cadets will classify as signallers and thereby crown a year of interesting work mainly conducted in and around Bedford Road. The Contingent sent only one team to the Annual Wapinshaw and they did very creditably, being overall in the first ten and also winning the second prize in the " pool bull " competition. The team is to be congratulated on this display. Their performance was particularly good, since facilities for range practice have been very limited. On 3o May the Contingent took part in the Empire Youth Day parade from Rubislaw Terrace to the Music Hall, where they attended a service. The Lord Provost took the salute at the Music Hall. Although our pipe band was not on parade, the Contingent was in fine fettle and gave a good lead to a parade in which good marching and turn-out was not very apparent. However, quite a few favourable comments were passed on our turn-out. In the R.A.F. Section W.O. Crichton has now gone off to R.A.F. College, Cranwell. As this is the most coveted cadetship in the Air Force, we are very proud of his achievement. The Section had a field-day at Dyce on a May but unfortunately weather prevented any flying. Squadron Leader Forsyth of the University Air Squadron has been very good in giving some of the School cadets a "hop" in his planes on Saturday mornings. F/Sgt. Lothian and Cpl. Park are now doing training at No. 5 Gliding School, Edzell, and more cadets arc hoping to do gliding during the summer. The R.A.F. summer camp is to be at Leeming in Yorkshire, where there is a meteor-conversion unit. The numbers planning to attend are small but it should be a very enjoyable camp. A. S. HUNTER, C.S.M.

Pipes and Drums The School Pipes and Drums have been very busy during the past two terms, with numerous combined practices. We again have had expert tuition from Mr. Couper and Mr. Melvin, without whose help we could not have made such good progress. About ten pipers and six drummers have been on parade this session. We have many of last year's pipers but only two of last year's drummers. The attendances at classes have been remarkably good. The Pipes and Drums have had several engagements, including the Central School Sports, the Demonstration School Sports, and our own Cadet Inspection and Annual Sports. With so many of last year's pipers still to the fore, the pipers have learnt a completely new Retreat set for this season's engagements. Chanter practices are going well with a good class of keen learners. The drummers have put in a lot of hard work this session. The drums are in good shape and the bass drum has been repainted with the School crest added to it, thanks to the co-operation of the Arts Club, to whom we are grateful for this service. The full corps of drummers which has appeared on parade reflects considerable credit on the boys concerned. Numbers have been small in the drumming class.

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It is to be hoped that next session will see more of the younger boys of the Middle School come forward to take part in this extra-curricular activity of the School. Our equipment continues to be added to slowly, and parents and friends of the School will have noticed the magnificent Drum-Major's staff—a most generous gift from a Former Pupil. A. L. FLETCHER, Drum-Major. J. L. HARPER, Pipe-Major.

Scout Notes 17th Troop Since the last issue of the Magazine a very successful café and concert has been held. The substantial sum of over £3oo was raised despite the very strong opposition of eight other cafés on the same day. Once again we thank all parents, ex-scouts and friends who made this achievement possible. A very successful Easter camp was held at Kingcausie, Banchory-Devenick, in dry though cold weather and was attended by twelve hardy scouts. The following promotions have been made:—Seconds Edward Anderson and Douglas Simpson to P.L.s ; Scouts Ian Sutherland and Martin Watt to Seconds. We wish them every success. I should like to make one correction to the notes in the last issue. It was stated that the Cubmaster, Miss Alice Merson, was assisted by Miss E. Ogilvie : this should have read, assisted by Miss V. Ross. I make all due apologies for the error. The cubs are still increasing in numbers and continue to flourish with ever greater efficiency. Jotoq K. BLAIR, SCOUI/NaMT.

Literary and Debating Society The first term's meetings ended with a repetition of the parlour game that was so successful last year—" One Minute Please ". This drew a large and appreciative audience, probably because they liked the idea of being under no obligation to speak themselves. We opened the new year with the second Middle School debate of the session on the motion " That interplanetary travel will be of benefit to mankind ". The speaking, I believe, was vigorous and impassioned and we may hope that this means that the standard of speaking in the Society will improve. Then came the short story competition. A fair number of stories was received, but mainly from the Middle School. The general tone therefore was a trifle less mature than usual, although it would seem to promise great things in a few years. The competition was won by a story " The Tan-armed Gonsil " by A. S. Hunter (Upper VI). Anyone who wishes to know what a gonsil is had better ask Hunter himself. The inter-school debate with Central School was on the motion " That it is better to herd sheep on the hillsides than to dabble in the affairs of men ". It is remarkable how much people find to say on such well-worn subjects. It is also remarkable how little of what they say means anything. Attendance at this meeting was somewhat poor, probably because it was held in the evening. The debate with St. Margaret's School was on another hoary subject—" That the continental Sunday should be introduced in Britain ". There was a fascinating open debate about worker priests and Dr. Adenauer. The fascination lay in the still unsolved mystery of what it all had to do with the motion. After several regrettable postponements we ended the session as we began it, with a Hat Night. To our surprise it produced the best, most reasoned, most concise, most interesting speaking of the whole year. DOUGLAS S. WOOD, SaTekvy.

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Dramatic Society Last December the Society presented Rattigan's " Adventure Story" as its annual production. It is a highly dramatic representation of the career of Alexander the Great based on information in Plutarch's Life of Alexander. As usual there was rather a rush in the last fortnight to bring the performance up to par, but under the able guidance of Messrs. MacDonald and Nisbet we were able, 1 think, to give a fairly convincing performance. Douglas Wood was magnificent as " Philip's warlike son" and he was ably supported by Stewart Hunter who gave a clever performance as Hephaestion, Alexander's right-hand man. Our promising junior contingent was led by Leslie Nicol as the Queen Mother and Michael Tosh as Darius. As well as being the most dramatic production of recent years, it was also the most lavish, for the principals were clad in sumptuous robes and real armour from London. The " props " were objets d'art lent by Aberdeen antique dealers. Again we arc indebted to Mr. Bell and Mr. Hemingway for their most convincing stage sets and effects, and we must also express our deep gratitude to Mr. MacDonald who is now handing over the role of producer to Mr. Nisbet. N. T. Piartiresom, Vice-President.

Arts Club The Arts Club has this year carried through a full and comprehensive programme. Murals for the Music Room have been brought well on the way to completion by our Former Pupil, Alexander Cheyne, who very kindly consented to return to the Arts Club for the purpose. The younger members of the Club have done a considerable amount of modelling—models of the Castle of Mey, a fairground and numerous statuettes now being completed. The seniors have concentrated on producing patterns, and some bookbinding has also been done. The attendances, which were large during the winter, tended rather to tail off during the summer, the attractions of the open air proving too much for some members, but throughout the year the unceasing efforts of the Art staff made the Arts Club evenings extremely useful and pleasant. We thank them and also Mr. Baxter, who showed an occasional film for our delectation. One of the highlights of the season's programme of events was a visit from Mr. John Bell McDonald of Fraserburgh who delivered a racy and informative lecture on " Spain ", illustrated by slides and a film in colour which he himself had taken there last year. There was a large audience including many of the boys who " take Spanish ". In all a good season. HECTOR MACDONALD.

Film Society This year the Society has continued to attract large audiences of staff and pupils to its monthly film showings ; indeed Henry V, which was shown in February, broke all previous attendance records. Other films shown included that magnificent historical film, Monsieur Vincent, and The Shape of Things to Come, which is based on H. G. Wells's book of the same name. Short discussions were held after each performance to allow members to exchange views on the films. An extensive programme of films is being arranged for next session, and it is hoped that the Society will continue to maintain its high position in the club activities of the School. Some members, obviously determined to attract interest, have even suggested showing three-dimensional films, but, of course, this is just a little too ambitious. The Film Production Group, since its successful inauguration in October, has been advancing steadily with its short film on Colour : completion is in sight. We must thank the members of the Art staff for their staunch interest in the Society, and also our projectionist, Mr. Baxter, to whom we arc deeply indebted. CHARLES S. A. W. LEVITT, Secretary.

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Music Notes Since the last number of the Magazine, the musical life of the School has continued with unabated zeal. As this is written, another year's work on the part of the Senior and Junior Choirs, the Orchestra and Lower School Recorder Group draws near to fruition in the Concert to be held on 16 and 17 June. A Junior Orchestra, confined as yet to strings, will be making its debut on this occasion, and for this we are indebted to the sterling work put in by Mr. Willox and Mr. Ramsay, our visiting string teachers. Some of the choral work done in classes will be reflected in the singing by a Senior Choral Group numbering over one hundred boys of Hamish McCunn's setting of Campbell's "Lord Ullin's Daughter", and of Moussorgsky's " Defeat of Sennachcrib ", a paraphrase of Lord Byron's famous lines. The Orchestra now numbers thirty-two, including nineteen strings and a full double wood-wind department. We had hoped to have a junior partner on the horn for William Buyers, now a veteran with a N.Y.O. course behind him and more ahead we hope, but so far this has proved beyond us. These valuable instruments arc most useful when they hunt in pairs, so we live in hope. Our two newcomers, G. M. Milne and G. Shirriffs of IIA, provide some entertaining moments (for the rest of the orchestra) on their trombones but are beginning to add some sturdy notes to the ensemble, and arc young enough to be regarded as very promising. We shall be more than sorry to lose Martin Gatt who is becoming almost famous locally as a member of every orchestra in the district ; he is making bassoon-playing his profession and hopes to go to the Royal College in London for his training. Our interest and good wishes go with him, and we hope to see and hear him often in his native city when holidays permit. Nicholas Phillipson also leaves us this term, after a successful two years on the oboe, so our pride in a complete wood-wind section is short-lived. Patrick Milne of h is making rapid strides in the footsteps of Gatt; we should like to see a similar successor to Phillipson, and hope that Mr. Brown will find time to fill the gap for a while. Renewed thanks are due to Mr. Atkinson and to Mr. McLeod for their help on viola and trumpet respectively. The Senior Choir has had a busy year and took part for the first time in the North-East Music Festival. The two test-pieces provided plenty of difficulties which, after much sweat and toil, if not tears, were splendidly overcome. Unfortunately they encountered very stiff competition from the University Singers whose greater maturity of tenor and bass tone and more experienced upper lines carried them to first place. It seems to have been a general opinion, however, that the Choir performed very creditably and at least one competent, impartial judge thought the adjudicators rather ungenerous in withholding a well-deserved pat on the back. A group of Middle School boys also acquitted themselves well in the Festival, being placed first in the " Class for Secondary Schools up to 15 ", and unopposed in the " Class for Boys in Secondary Schools ". The Lower School Choir was placed third in the Primary Senior Class (Open), and has also taken part in the annual Assembly of Choirs of all the City Primary Schools. The Lower School Recorder Group was placed first in one class and was unopposed in the other, and our thanks go to Miss Isabel Taylor for her valuable training here. A wood-wind quartet from the Orchestra was first in its Class, while individual successes were too numerous to mention in detail, but deserve our congratulations. Two hundred Middle School boys attended the annual concert for schools given by the Scottish National Orchestra in the Music Hall. A new venture this term was a visit from the Saltire Singers, with their trainer and accompanist, Hans Oppenheim. This quartet of accomplished singers gave us delightful renderings of madrigals, folk-songs and ensembles ranging from the sixteenth to the twentiety century, and in the second part of their recital presented scenes from operas, which they acted and sang with such obvious relish that the hardiest sceptics were quite converted. To hear such music so well done is a stimulus we should like to provide annually. W. N.

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School Sporting Activities Rugby Unlike previous years, the weather this season permitted rugby right up to Christmas and very few games were cancelled up to then. However, we paid for this fine spell, January and February being months of snow and frost. The 1st XV was almost completely new and was therefore lacking in experience. It is thus not surprising that the season was not so successful as previous years, but it is most gratifying to note that the game is still being played with the same enthusiasm and zeal. Success will come with more experience. The znd and 3rd XVs played good rugby, and Colts, Juniors and Minors met with the success we usually associate with these teams. I should like to take this chance, on behalf of the rugby-playing boys of the School, of thanking Mr. J. C. Hunter, Mr. E. Hunter, Mr. W. D. Allardice and members of the School staff who have given freely of their time, and have always had the rugby welfare of the School at -heart. C. S. HODGE, Captain.

Who's Who in the zst XV C. S. Hodge. 6 ft. 1i in. ; r3 st. 8 lb. A most conscientious captain whose enthusiasm never flagged. A heavy front row forward who, with a surprising turn of speed coupled with great determination, proved a very difficult man to stop. 'N as hit unfortunately by injury at the start of the season and for a few games after his return was not able to give of his best. K. R. Petrie. 5 ft. Ili in. ; 1z st. 3 lb. Wing forward. Kenneth was always very fit. He played with great fire and with his speed and hard tackling he was always the danger man to opposing teams. He was a great opportunist who scored many tries by keen backing up. D. E. Baird. 6 ft. z in. ; 12 st. 4 lb. Right centre. A tall, well-built player with considerable pluck and determination. What he lacks in speed he makes up for in guile. His long, raking touch kicks often harassed the opposition and when on his game Baird is a great asset to the team. D. J. F. Bimie. 5 ft. 8 in. ; t r St. 8 lb. Hooker. Sturdily built, be is a promising player who shows a certain amount of skill in his department, although there is room for improvement. If Donald continues to strive hard in the loose, he will serve next year's team well. G. M. Bruce. 5 ft. 9 in. ; 9 st. so lb. Stand-off half. Graeme is of medium height, and tends to be on the light side. He has a fine touch of speed and a ready eye for an opening. He began the season very well, tackling hard and running strongly. However, he fell away slightly towards the end of the season. K. S. Duncan. 5 ft. 7 in. ; to st. 2 lb. Scrum-half. Kenneth was one of the more successful members of the team. Generally he supplied his stand-off with a good, well-directed service, but on occasions it was wild. Due to his soccer training he was very good with the ball at his feet and his lightning dashes from the base of the scrum caused the opposition much trouble. May well succeed in senior rugby. IL W. Duncan. 6 ft. 3 in. ; 14 st. 5 lb. Lock. A well-built and very strong player. Unfortunately he missed the first few games, but when he joined us his experience gave confidence to the team. He jumped well in the line-out and gave valuable service in the loose maul. He should do well in senior rugby. A. S. Hunter. 5 ft. 8 in. ; so st. 6 lb. Full back. Stewart played hard and enthusiastically throughout the season. His touch-kicking, although not brilliant, was safe ; his tackling was determined, but his covering up was not always foolproof. However, he made up for this by his many daring dives on the ball which saved some troublesome situations.

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Aberdeen Grammar School Magazine

R. D. M. MacLeod. 6 ft. ; i z st. Left centre. A tall, well-built 1"layer, Robin was the mainspring of the School attack. He ran strongly and intelligently in attack and tackled resolutely in defence. His only fault was that he was slightly slow off the mark, thus allowing his opposite number to harass him more easily. I. C. S. Michie. 6 ft. 21 in. ; 13 st. 7 lb. Second row forward. Tall and strongly built like his internationalist brother, Ian was one of the team's promising young players. He was seemingly tireless and put his full heart into the game until the final whistle. A good jumper in the line-out and a difficult man to stop in the loose. He will do well in next year's team. P. B. Philip. 6 ft. tin. ; 12 st. Wing forward. Tall and lithe, Pat could always be depended on to be close to the ball. He tackled strongly and worked hard in the loose. He is a player of whom a lot can be expected in later years. L. D. Morrison. 6 ft. al in. ; 14 st. 3 lb. Second row forward. A big bustling player. A wet day, when strength and stamina count for more than speed, brings out the best in Lewis. He jumped well in the line-out and fought hard in the loose. If he trains conscientiously, he will do well in senior rugby. D. V. S. Williamson. 5 ft. 9 in. ; 1 t st. 6 lb. Right wing three-quarter. David tried hard on the wing. He ran strongly and was most determined. However, he lacked imagination and craft which are the attributes of a really first-class winger. H. W. L Thomas. 5 ft. III in. ; 14 st. 5 lb. Front row forward. Hugh, although the " baby " of the team, went from strength to strength as the season progressed. He never stopped battling and was a tiger in the loose. He proved himself to be one of the few successes of the 1st XV. R. Miller. 5 ft. t 4 in. ; to st. Left wing three-quarter. Bobby was a player who could be depended upon to try his utmost. He tackled competently and although slow off his mark, once moving he could outstrip most opponents. Lack of weight was perhaps his greatest handicap.

Hockey The past hockey season was one of high endeavour rather than of notable achievement. Our tat XI, although unable to record many victories, on several occasions played with an inspiration and skill which deserved more favourable results. As in previous seasons, it was apparent that the most difficult art is that of being a successful forward. The need has, as always, been for greater skill in stickwork and smarter dribbling : given these, smarter team-work would follow readily. More intensive training and practice in these arts might profitably be undertaken in the future. The highlights of the season were the games against Centralians, Richmond and Gordonstoun School. The games with the senior sides were high-scoring matches, with the senior clubs just managing to win. At Gordonstoun, our tat XI for once managed to match the speed and slickness of the North side, and we were unlucky not to gain at least a draw. In other inter-school games, the tat XI was less successful. In the four games with Gordon's College, School only managed to draw once, the College team winning narrowly but deservedly on the other three occasions. For the first time, our two senior hockey teams travelled to Fort Augustus to fulfil a double fixture with Abbey School, and a very pleasant occasion resulted. The matches resulted in a 3-1 defeat for our 1st XI, and a z-s victory for our and XI. Later, the 1st XI met Fettes College XI in Edinburgh, and did reasonably well to hold the more powerfully-built Fettes boys to a 4-I victory. To round off the season, a School team travelled to Dundee to meet Harris Academy—this being another new fixture—and a 3-I victory for School resulted. The scoring personality amongst the forwards this season was J. Mutch, whose adroit switch from right back position, in which he excelled, to centre forward position was executed with chameleon-like ease. J. Wight and M. Christie made up in neatness and determination respectively, for what they lacked in weight,

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and this pair struck up a smooth partnership on the left wing. Outstanding in the defence were Alan Bremner and Roy Logan. As Captain, Alan set a high standard in determination and fighting spirit, while Roy, a more leisurely but stylish player, frequently disconcerted the opposition by exploiting his unusually long rcach. In goal, G. Urquhart gave many fine displays, and if at times an error of judgment did cost a goal, no one envied him the tricky, split-second decisions which constantly faced him. Others who gave sterling service were I. Buxton, G. Cruickshank, N. Johnstone and C. Levitt. The and XI fulfilled a fuller programme this season than hitherto, and their robust style of play was most refreshing to watch. Their successes included victories over Gordon's College and XI, Training College and Abbey School and XI. Prominent in defence were A. Henderson and J. Christie, while J. Howie and J. Burr were lively members of the forward line. Our warm congratulations go to Dr. A. I-I. Innes, whose help on Wednesday afternoons was much appreciated, on his gaining international hockey honours last season—the second F.P. so to do. Awards Full Colours—A. Bremner, R. M. Logan, J. R. Y. Mutch, G. A. F. Urquhart. Half Colours. W. J. L. Buyers, M. A. B. Christie, J. R. Wight. S. B. H. •

Cricket School have played four games against other schools to date, with varying success. The weather has been rather unkind to us ; games with Aboync C.C. and Perth Academy had to be cancelled, and other two matches were affected by rain. We arc fortunate this year in having the interest of Mr. Allardice who has looked after the ist XI, and his enthusiasm has brought good attendances at evening practices. We are also grateful to Mr. Morrison for his help. As usual, we are indebted to Mr. Tyson, for providing us with his expert advice and a cricket square which has no equal in school cricket. The 2nd XI is rather weak this year, but we hope for an improvement in the coming matches. In the Middle School there arc a number of players of distinct ability. We hope that the weather in June will be more suitable for cricket, and trust that we may conclude the season successfully. rat XI Matches The first game of the season was against F.P.s and XI at Rubislaw. School batted first and made ro4, mainly due to a fine innings by D. Black. F.P.s hit up the runs fairly quickly, for the loss of six wickets. School-104. (Black, 40 ; Cruickshank, 21 ; Hunter, 24 ; D. MacLeod, 14.) F.P.s and XI-1o8 for 6. (Bruce, 3 for 36.) Our first inter-school fixture was against Robert Gordon's College at Seafield. School won the toss and batted first on a rather slow-paced wicket. The first four wickets fell for eighteen runs before a stand between Mutch and Baird brought the score to 4o, when Baird was caught. Mutch, however, continued in fine style while wickets fell cheaply at the other end. He was finally bowled by Leiper, the spearhead of the Gordon's attack, but not before he had hit a fine six to the mid-wicket boundary. School's final total was 66, a total which was due more to poor batting by School than good bowling by Gordon's. Gordon's, too, opened rather shakily, losing three wickets for s3 runs, but then a partnership between A. Leiper and. M. Shepherd brought the total to within ten runs of School's score. Gordon's then lost four quick wickets for the addition of only a runs, but, with the score at 61 for 7 wickets, heavy rain made further play impossible. Watt was the most successful School bowler, taking 4 wickets for 20 runs. School-66. (Mutch, 3o ; Baird, t3.) Robert Gordon's College-6s for 7. (Watt, 4 for 20 ; Fletcher, 1 for 3.)

16:

Aberdeen Grammar Sebool Magazine

School's next fixture was at Dollar. We again won the toss and batted first. The opening stand put on a valuable 18 runs, but after this only Baird, who made 27, batted with any degree of confidence, and School were dismissed for 59. The credit for this low total should go to Johnston, who bowled unchanged, taking 6 for 16. When Dollar lost their first 5 wickets for 28, School appeared to have a chance of victory, but aggressive batting by Hall and Shaw ensured for the Academy a good five-wicket victory. School—S9. (Baird, 27 ; Black, 12 ; Cruickshank, so.) Dollar Academy-6z for 3. (Baird, 3 for 17 ; Watt, 2 for zo.) School's first victory came the following week in our home fixture with Perth Academy. Perth were put in to bat on a pitch softened slightly by rain. They were soon in trouble due to good bowling by Watt, who took 4 wickets in his first two overs at a cost of t run. 6 wickets fell for 17, then Fraser hit the bowling and made 47 out of 65. School opened rather poorly and were soon 3o for 6 wickets, but resolute batting by D. MacLeod, who made 19, gave us victory by z wickets. Perth Academy-65. (Watt, 5 for 25 ; Baird, 3 for zo ; Fletcher, I for 8.) School-66 for 8. (D. MacLeod, 19 ; Watt, so.) The following week School travelled to Glenalmond but, because of heavy rain, a start was not possible until 3.3o p.m. Having won the toss, Glenalmond batted first. They scored fairly steadily although they lost wickets against accurate bowling by Fletcher, Watt and Baird. They finally declared at 88 for 7, after just under two hours' batting, leaving School to get the runs in seventy-five minutes. School began promisingly with an opening partnership of 26. Then in an effort to get runs quickly School lost wickets. At 47, Cruickshank, who made 26 valuable runs, was fourth out and with less than half-an-hour left, School had to be content to play for a draw. Glenalmond—88 for 7 (decl.). (Fletcher, 4 for 31 ; Baird, 2 for z6.) School-58 for 7. (Cruickshank, 26.) D. E. BAIRD, Cricket Captain.

Swimming Many glittering rumours have buoyed the hopes of the members of the School Swimming Club throughout the session and " the Pond " seemed a definite possibility. Alas, at the time of writing, although these hopes have not been completely shattered, it seems that September 1956 will again see us starting a new session in the Municipal Pond. It is a fine pond with excellent facilities and we have much to thank the officials for—but it is not " our Pond ". During the year great enthusiasm was shown for swimming and there was a very large entry for the Gala. Although the standard of swimming was generally not high, several of the younger boys showed great promise. The Annual Swimming Gala again turned out to be a great success. The House Championship was won by Keith House, Dun House being runner-up. All the individual championships were won very convincingly. Melville Watson and Colin Preshaw, both of Keith House, won the Rector's Cup and Lower School Medal respectively. The Middle School Medal was won by Tom Houghton of Byron House. Thanks to the classes held by Mr. W. D. Allardice on Friday afternoons, the School gained a large number of Royal Life Saving Society Awards. The record for the session was : Elementary Certificates-25 ; Intermediate Certificates-25 ; Bronze Medallion—t8 ; Bars to Bronze Medallion-4. As a result of beginners' classes held throughout the year fifty-five boys obtained 5o yard Breast Stroke Certificates. PATRICK PHILIP, Secretary.

163

Scbool Section

School Office-Bearers, 1953-54 Prefects I. W. D. BUXTON D. G. CiuclrroN A. S. HUNTER C. S. A. W. LEvirr JOHN PACITTI D. S. Wool) D. E. BAIRD

DAVID V. S. WILLIAMSON (Senior Prefect) I. F. MACLEOD ALAN BREMNER G. M. BRUCE J. G. R. FRASER A. A. R. HENDERSON C. S. HODGE MAITLAND MACKIE House Captains Keith K. R. PETRIE

R. D. M MACLEOD SPENCE MCLEOD ROBERT MILLER J. R. Y. Mt rcti K. R. PETRIE R. W. DUNCAN Melvin I. W. D. BUXTON

Byron M. MACKIE

Dun D. V. S. WILLIAMSON

Captain

C. S. HODGE

Captain

A. BREMNER

Captain

D. E. BAIRD

Captam

R. D. M. MACLEOD

Captain

K. R. PETRIE

Captain

A. BREMNER

President

Literary and Debating Society D. V. S. WILLIAMSON Vice-President J. PACITTI D. S. WOOD Secretar>

President

D. S. WOOD

President

Rambling and Mountaineering Club Vice-President J. Y. L. HAY A. Br.ENuszErt J. L. HARPER Secretary

President

D. S. WOOD

Rugby Football

Vice-Captain

K. R. PETRIE

Hockey

Vice-Captain

R. M. Loomq

Cricket

Vice-Captain

A. S. HUNTER

Athletics

Vice-Captain

Swimming Vice-Captain P. PHILIP .Secretary

R. W. DUNCAN D. E. BAIRD

Tennis

Vice-Captain

J. A. YOUNG

Dramatic Society A. S. HUNTER Treasurer N. T. PmLuesoN

.Secretary

Film Society

Secretary

C. S. A. W. LEvrrr

Scripture Union M. A. B. CHRISTIE

Branch Secretary Editor

School Editors of the Magazine Assistant Editor D. S. WOOD A. S. HUNTER

Former Pupils' Club Founded if September 1893

Annual General Meeting The fifty-second Annual General Meeting of the F.P. Club was held in the Caledonian Hotel, Aberdeen, on 3o March 1954. Mr. Maurice Cramb, VicePresident of the Club and Chairman of the Executive, was in the chair and there were thirty-five members present. Executive's Report for the Year

The Secretary read the Report by the Executive for the year 1933, from which the following are excerpts :— MEMBERSHIP

The following is an analysis of the membership of the Club as at 28 February 1954, with the corresponding figures as at 28 February 1953 :— Life Members Fully Partially Paid Paid 28/2/53

28/2/54

Ordinary Members

Honorary Members

Staff Members

Total

II 11

8 fo

216o 2152

—

-h 2

1176 1177

94 86

87, 868

—8

—3

The number of boys who joined the Club on leaving School was quite satisfactory. LOSSES BY DEATH

During the year thc deaths of sixty-two F.P.s, of whom twenty-nine were members of the Club, were reported. The Executive regret to record the death of Miss Winifred Robertson, head of the Kindergarten Department in the School. THE CLUB AND THE SCHOOL

At the School Prize-giving in June 1953 the Club presented silver medals as usual for Geograhy, German and Spanish. The winner of the Club's All Round Trophy and the John Ivo Dawson Prize was Erroll G. Anderson. THE MAGAZINE

The Magazine continues in its usual form. As formerly, two issues were published during the year, but the December 1953 issue was a special F.P. Club Diamond Jubilee Number. The cost of publishing thc Magazine in 1953 was less than in the previous year. CLUB CENTRES AND SECTIONS

The various Centres and Athletic Sections continue successfully and reports on their activities have been published in the Magazine. The proposed official Centre in Southern Rhodesia has not yet been formed. During the year the Tennis Section was revived and, although the membership is not yet large, the Executive are confident that it will flourish as it did in pre-war years. SOCIAL The Diamond Jubilee Dinner was held in the Caledonian Hotel, Aberdeen, on Friday, 23 October 1953, when 174 members and guests were present. Dr. W. Douglas Simpson, President of the Club, was in the chair, and the principal guest was Professor John M. Graham, Lord Provost of Aberdeen. The Annual Ball was held in the Beach Ballroom, Aberdeen, on Monday, 28 December 1953, and was attended by 365 members and guests. 164

Former Pupils' Club

165

Arrangements are in hand for 1954 : the Dinner will be held in the Caledonian Hotel on Friday, 29 October and the Ball will be held in the Beach Ballroom on a date in December to be fixed. LIFE MEMBER CAPITAL FUND APPEAL The response to the Appeal made to Life Members of the Club has been quite satisfactory : to the end of t953 the sum of £1974 I IS. was contributed by 395 members. A further circular is being sent to those Life Members who have not yet contributed and who have not indicated that they do not wish to do so. Reports from Section Representatives In submitting his report on the Rugby Section Mr. N. I. W. Meldrum stated that four teams had been fielded regularly. He referred to the inadequacy of the facilities at Rubislaw on account of the increased number of boys at the School and stated that the rugby pitches were so over-played that important matches had now to be played at Linksfield. Ile added that members of the Section (as part of their training) had joined a local basketball league and were likely to be champions. Mr. R. P. Wishart reported that the season 1953-54 had been one of the most successful in the history of the Hockey Section. The 1st XI had won seventeen and drawn three of their twenty-two matches, and the and XI had beaten several local senior sides. He regretted that there were not so many players joining the Section on leaving School as there should be. For the Cricket Section Mr. A. M. Davidson reported that last season's record had been most encouraging. Two teams had been fielded until the end of August and the Strathmore XI had finished in the top half of the league table. The and XI belonged to the Aberdeenshire Grade Association and had failed by only o•625 per cent. to qualify for promotion to Grade II. The report on the Golf Section was submitted by Mr. G. E. C. Barton on behalf of Mr. H. G. Stephen. Four outings and competitions were arranged last year and five had been arranged for 1954. As always, the Section was in very good heart. Mr. B. D. M. Grassick reported that the re-formed Tennis Section had already a membership of over twenty. On account of the poor quality of the nets no matches were played last season but they hoped to have new nets before the summer of 1954. Treasurer's Report The Treasurer submitted the Accounts of the Club for the year ended 31 December 1953. These showed a deficit of £155 8s. 6d. but during the year the sum of £204 is. 6d. had been extracted by the Inland Revenue in respect of arrears of Income Tax, Schedule D, for the period from April 1946 to April 1953. This was an extraordinary item and the Treasurer was confident that the measures taken by the Executive in 1952 to restore the. Club's financial position would result in a surplus for the year 1954. The Accounts (see pages 166 and 167) were approved. Office Bearers for i953-54 The honorary president, Mr. J. J. Robertson, was unanimously re-elected. The retiring president, Dr. W. Douglas Simpson, was elected an honorary vicepresident and the other honorary vice-presidents were re-elected. Sir Landsborough Thomson was unanimously elected president for the ensuing year (see page 96) and Messrs. Maurice Cramb, Joseph R. Carry, J. Scott MacLachLan and Alan C. R. Watt were re-elected to their respective offices. It was reported that Mr. Alexander Cromar had had to resign from the Executive during the year and that Messrs. W. L. Connon and A. J. Peters fell to retire by rotation. Messrs. G. E. C. Barton, Eric Buthlay, A. J. M. Edwards, I. G. McPherson, J. S. G. Munro, D. G. Patterson, James Reid, J. L. Riddell and H. G. Stephen were re-elected as members of the Executive and Messrs. R. L. Cromar, E. H. Cruickshank, D. G. Dempster, W. W. Porter and H. M. R. Watt were elected to fill five vacancies. (The full list of office-bearers is given on pages 179 and 18o.) Messrs. Bower and Smith, chartered accountants, were re-appointed auditors and Colonel J. P. Jeffrey was re-appointed auditor of the Accounts of the Sections.

ABERDEEN GRAMMAR SCHOOL Abstract of Revenue and Expenditure Account REVENUE

1952

Ordinary Subscriptions received prior to January 1953 Ordinary Subscriptions received m 1953 . . Arrears recovered in 1953 .

f89 18 6 147 10 0 46 11 0 £283 19 225 19 16 10 314 1 3 15

. 9

6 6

3 2 0

68 17 1

. a

•

£128 15 6 142 15 0 76 15 0

• . .

. . . . . . Revenue from Investments (Gross) . . . • . Surplus from Entertainments Account . . . . Interest at 4 per cent. on Life Member Capital Fund • • • • • . . . Sales of Roll of Honour converted Premium of £I per cent. on £400-3 per cent. Defence Bonds . . . . . • • • • Deficit for year .

f913 2 6

£348 5 163 4 12 19 312 16 _ 4 0 155 8

6 6 4 3

£996 14

• Balance Sheet as AND

CAPITAL

LIABILITIES £549 0 6

I. GENERAL CAPITAL FUND

f549 0 6

II. LIFE MEMBER CAPITAL FUND-

. Amount at credit at 31 December 1952 Life Members' Subscriptions received in 1953 . and Life Member Special Appeal .

£7,537 9 2 282 18 0 £7,820 7 2

Less—Transferred to Revenue and Expenditure

Account 7,537 9 2 25 0 10

0 0

•

312 16 3

III. ENTERTAINMENTS SUSPENSE ACCOUNT-

7,507 10 11

25 0

IV, CLUB DEVELOPMENT RESERVE ACCOUNT—Amount at credit .

10 0

182 1

Amount at credit

•

V. ORDINARY SUBSCRIPTIONS PAID IN ADVANCE-

Balance of Subscriptions received prior to 31 December 1952, applicable to future years Subscriptions received in 1953 applicable to . future years . . . . .

£74 1 0 108 0 0

202 16 6 4

3 8

VII. GIFTS AND LEGACIES-

Advertisements prepaid

•

100 0

IX. HONORARIA-

100 0 0 20 £8,865

3 8

410 0 0

0 VIII MAGAZINE-

£10 0 0 100 0 0 100 0 0 200 0 0

. 10 Shares in Boarding House Co. Ltd. . • . . Legacy from Miss Alice Iamb . . Legacy from Miss I. A. Anderson . . . Mackie Legacy from Miss Jessie A. M. 125 Shares in Boarding House Co. Ltd. from • • • . . Wm. Paterson . 125 Shares in Boarding House Co. Ltd. from . . . . . W. M. Alexander 410 0

VI. FUNDS OF CLUB SECTION IN ABEYANCE—Motor Section

Amount due to Sec. and Treas. and Editor of Magasine . X. Posrs—Amount due to Secretary and Treasurer •

•

0 0

£8,811 16 1

9 10

166

FORMER PUPILS' CLUB for year ending 31 December 1953 1952 £246 12 7 558 14 5 107 15 6

EXPENDITURE . 1121 17 8 • • • • • • • . Working Expenses 32 8 0 . • • . Income Tax, Schedule D, year 1953-54 . 43 3 6 . . Income Tax paid by deduction from Investment Income . I 6 204 . . Arrears of Income Tax. Schedule D, years 1946-47 to 1952.53 4 1 488 sales and Magazine—Cost for year, less revenue from advertisements Miscellaneous Expenses—Medals, Capitation Grants, Club Develop- 106 19 4 . . • . • • • • • ment, etc.

/996 14 1

£913 2 6

at 31 December 1953 ASSETS £7,688 8 si 12 10 0 (Capitation Grant, 1953, London)

1. CASII IN HAND AND IN INVESTED FUNDS

. • . £7,469 5 0i

•

II. GENERAL REVENUE AND EXPENDITURE ACCOUNT-

Deficit in Revenue and Expenditure Account for . . . year ending 31 December 1947 Deficit in Revenue and Expenditure Account for . . . 1948 year ending 31 December Deficit in Revenue and Expenditure Account for . . . year ending 31 December 1949 Deficit in Revenue and Expenditure Account for. . . year ending 31 December 1950 Deficit in Revenue and Expenditure Account for . • . year ending 31 December 1951 Deficit in Revenue and Expenditure Account for . December 1952 . . year ending 31

1,126 2 6i

Add—DEFICIT in Revenue and Expenditure Account for year ending 31 December 1953 . III. MAGAZINE—

13 8 9 25 0 0

Stock of Envelopes in hand Cash in Hands of Editor .

. .

£217 19 10 143 13 7 224 3 5 26 12 0 444 16 '7i

68 17 1 £1,126 2 61 155 8 6

. .

•

1,281 11 0} 36 0 0 25 0 0

foregoing ABERDEEN, 18 February 1954.—We have examined the 31 December Revenue and Expenditure Account for the year ending compared 1953, 1953 and relative Balance Sheet as at 31 December correct. We the figures with the vouchers, and found the Accounts states the correctly Sheet Balance are of the opinion that the annexed exhibited position of the Club as at 31 December 1953. We have had at the close of the to us the various Securities supporting the Funds at cost Sheet Balance Accounts. The Securities are all entered in the prices. (Signed) BOWER & SMITH, C.A., Honorary Auditors. 245 UNION STREET, ABERDEEN.

£8,811 16 1

£8,865 9 10 167

Aberdeen Grammar School F.P. Club Boarding House Co. Ltd.

GRAMMAR SCHOOL HOUSE 8 QUEEN'S ROAD, ABERDEEN

The House is conveniently situated in the west end of the town, and is equidistant from the School and the Playing Fields. The House, which can accommodate 52 Boarders, is specially designed and fitted for the purpose, having large common rooms, modern dormitories, bathrooms, changing rooms etc. The Company have their own Hard Tennis Courts (3) and large Playground adjacent to the House. Fees, £159 per annum.

Housemaster

Mr. JAMES D. MORRISON

Matron

Miss MARGARET T. HEGGIE

For Application Forms and further particulars apply to the Secretary of the Company, Mr. ALFJCANDER J. DUFFUS, Advocate, 7 Golden Square, Aberdeen. 168

Former Pupils' club

169

F.P. Club Boarding House Company Limited The Directors' Report for the year ended 31 July 1953 stated that the average number of boys during the year in the Senior House was thirty-eight, and in the Junior House fourteen, whereas the Senior House could normally accommodate forty-six boys, and the Junior House eighteen. The Company had suffered a loss which amounted to £465 19s. 4d. After deducting the sum carried forward from the previous year, together with income tax over-provided for 1953-54, the net loss for the year amounted to £23 6s. 8d. During the year ALEXANDER MCKENZIE JOHNSTON (1898-1903), the chairman of the Company, and JAMES CAT/D DUFFUS (1897-1904), secretary and law agent, resigned. Mr. Johnston had been a director and Mr. Duffus had been secretary since the Company's formation in 1928 and the directors recorded with gratitude the time which these gentlemen had given and the interest which they had taken in the Company's affairs for twenty-five years. ALEXANDER GRAY (1910-22) has been appointed chairman of the Company and ALEXANDER JAMES DUFFUS (1932-38) has been appointed secretary and law agent. ROBERT JAMES MAITLAND (1912-18) is a new director. In the course of a statement at the Annual General Meeting Mr. Gray referred to the substantial loss in the previous year's trading. This loss, he said, was accounted for mainly by the fact that the average number of boys at the Boarding House had dropped. He went on to explain that the Company was not in the position of a normal trading concern, where the directors, in face of recurring losses, would make it their business to increase the gross turnover. This Company existed to satisfy a demand—the demand for living accommodation for boys attending the School, and if that demand faltered or ceased, so diminished or terminated the Company's reason for being in existence. There was not a great deal that the directors could do to stimulate that demand, after, of course, having made it as widely known as possible that the Company provided the facilities which it does provide and that it welcomed the support of parents who had sons who might become boarders. It was naturally one of the chief aims of the directors to carry on the Company's affairs in a way which would be at least reasonably profitable to the shareholders and, when the directors saw that there was not only a substantial loss in a year's trading but a real prospect that through lack of boarders that loss might continue, it was time that they surveyed the position and took action calculated to ensure that the Company did not continue indefinitely to make losses. They could, of course, increase the charges made for boarders, but, if these were made too high for the pockets of the parents, the ultimate result would be that the gross income would shrink by the withdrawal of boys. The directors could also endeavour to balance the Company's budget by making economies, and this had been done. The chairman went on to say, however, that such small economies as might be made would probably not affect the unfavourable position to any great extent, and the board could not, of course, contemplate any economies which might result in the boys not being more than adequately fed and supervised. There were accordingly some serious problems for the directors. In paying tribute to the services of Mr. Johnston and Mr. Duffus he stated that they had made it clear that they had resigned not because their interest in the Company's welfare had flagged or because they shirked any responsibility, but because they felt that, in view of changing circumstances, important decisions concerning the Company which seemed imminent should be made rather by younger directors whose opinions they thought might be more likely to represent the views of that younger generation in whose hands the future destiny of the Boarding House must inevitably rest. * * * Since the Annual General Meeting the directors have decided to reorganize the Boarding House and to accommodate all boarders and staff in the Senior House. The Junior House—No 6 Queen's Road—has been sold and the directors are hopeful that the measures which they have taken—regretfully but after long and anxious consideration—will restore the Company's financial position.

17o

Aberdeen Grammar School Magazine

London Centre

The Annual Dinner was held on Thursday, to December 1953 in Brown's Hotel, W.I. The meeting was notable as being the first presided over by Sta October. He JAMES CROMBIE since his election as president of the Centre in referred to his pleasure at his appointment : and his proposal to telegraph greetings to his predecessor, LORD ALNESS, was warmly applauded. The toast of " The School and Club" was proposed by SIR PATRICK ASHLEY the traditional COOPER in a vigorous speech. Sir Patrick questioned whether Scottish thrift and education were now as effective as they had been, in ways of which he had seen so much in his days in international finance. He Praised the School for all it had done for him and its many sons in character-building. The first reply came from the Rector, paying his first visit to the Centre since School's 1948. In a speech of much charm and felicitous phrasing he sketched the course since the abolition of fee-paying, and stressed that the School was still Morland Simpson's School, where the nurture of the boy was more important than the schooling of the pupil. For the Club the reply was made by DR. W. DOUGLAS SIMPSON, who acknowledged the honour done to his father's memory by his own election as president. which He set before the company the great advantages enjoyed by any school which occupied its ancient building and site, which could identify its founder, and was was under governors who subscrved the interests of the school. Such now exercise Gordon's case, but not the School's. He stressed the need for all F.P.s to for the vigilance on the School's behalf, and called on the Club to act as watchdog School's freedom. ChairThe proceedings closed after GILBERT J. ANDERSON had proposed the man's health in a short and cordial speech. The following F.P.s accepted invitations to the Dinner, the list being arranged in order of seniority based on date of entry to the School :1884. Robert Inkster (1884-88). 1893. Sir Jameson Adams (1893-94). 1894. M. J. Williamson (1894-1903). 1896. Sir Patrick Ashley Cooper (1896-1901), J. D. Fiddes (1896-1902). 1899. Sir Landsborough Thomson (1899-1908). 5901. W. Douglas Simpson (1901-I3). 1905. H. G. Edwards (1905-14), I. G. Innes (1905-08). 1906. D. S. Stewart (1906-18). (1908-21), A. G. 1908. Gilbert J. Anderson (1908-21), Sir James Crombie Esslemont (1908-20), C. S. McLeod (1908-20). 1909. G. M. Cochran (1909-22). 591o. G. T. Simpson (1910-20). 1912. J. W. Bennie (1912-19). 1913. Thomas Robertson (1913-19), P. C. B. Shirreffs (1913-16). 1914. C. G. Walker (1914-22). 1915. G. W. Bowes (1915-28), L Don Robertson (1915-16). 1916. Walter Graham (1916-19). 1918. A. D. S. Anderson (1918-24). 1919. J. H. L. Innes (1919-23), D. S. S. Marr (1919-32). 19zo. J. L. S. Thomson (1920-27). 1921. George J. Anderson (1921-28), I. H. Storrie (1921-26). 5922. D. J. G. Sherman (1922-26). A. H. K. Slater 1923. J. R. W. Catto (1923-36), E. D. Mackworth (1923-27), (1923-35). 1924. D. F. Ross (1924-35). 1925. J. K. Colley (1925-35), W. J. G. Meldrum (1925-35). 5926. A. R. H. Kellas (5926-32). 1927. D. J. Calder (1927-31), Ninian Mackie (1927-37). 1928. K. M. Bell (1928-34). 1929. G. F. Cassie (5929-39), G. L. McEwan (1929-35). 1932. W. A. B. Forbes (1932-42). 1930. D. W. C. Smith (1930-41). 1942. A. K. Robertson,(1942-44). Fiddes R. (1936-43). D. A. 1936. Hon. Members. P. S. Noble, J. J. Robertson (Rector).

Former Pupils' Club

171

The Fifth Annual Dance was successfully held with the High and Gordon's in the Paviour's Arms, S.W./, on 26 March 1954. The following are the arrangements made so far for next season Annual General Meeting on 14 October 1954 in The Horse and Dolphin, St. Martin's Street, W.C.z. Annual Dinner on 9 December 1934 in Brown's Hotel. Principal P. S. Noble is to propose the toast of " The School and Club " and Sir Landsborough Thomson is to reply.

Edinburgh Centre The Annual Dinner was held in the George Hotel, Edinburgh, on 19 March 1954. MR. E. Ros Btaarrr, President of the Centre, was in the chair, and the principal guests were Mr. T. P. McDonald, Sheriff of Aberdeen, Kincardine and Banff, Ma. J. J. ROBERTSON, Rector, Dr. A. Melville Clark, Lecturer in English Literature in the University of Edinburgh, and Ma. MAURICE CRAMB, Vice-President of the Club, deputising for the President, Dr. W. Douglas Simpson, who was unable to be present. Five former presidents of the Centre, namely, LORD MACKAY, MR. J. G. Km, Mr. J. A. LILLIE, Mr. J. LINDSAY DUNCAN and MR. DOUGLAS H. JOHNSTON, were present, as were two other distinguished F.P.s, SIR ANDREW CLow and SIR DAVID EDWARDS. Dr. James Stewart represented the Edinburgh Branch of the Gordonian Association and MR. J. G. M. MASS represented the Glasgow Centre of the Club. Forty-four members and guests were present. The first toast was that of " The Guests " which was proposed by the Chairman in a witty speech, and replied to by Mr. T. P. McDonald who had been appointed Sheriff-Principal of Aberdeen, Kincardine and Banff a short time previously. He referred to his recent visits to Aberdeen, Peterhead, Stonchaven and Banff, when he had been introduced as Sheriff, and spoke of his pride in presiding over one of the premier sheriffdoms in Scotland. The toast of " The School and the Club" was proposed by Mr. J. Lindsay Duncan, Sheriff-Substitute of the Lothians and Peebles at Edinburgh. He suggested that the supreme value of the School might well be that it aimed at producing individuals and not persons of a single pattern. There was no recognised Grammar School type. The masters who had taught him at the School—notably Middleton, McLeod and Mackie—were all distinct individual characters, and he Munson, i was grateful that he had had the opportunity of sitting at their feet. He also referred to the benefit he had derived from the discourses of " C.D." on his continental travels. In a reference to the Diamond Jubilee of the Club, Sheriff Duncan stated that the Club's prosperity was mainly due to Theodore Watt—a name that would always be remembered with gratitude by F.P.s. In the course of his reply on behalf of the School, Mr. Robertson paid a high tribute to Dr. Morland Simpson, who was in a very real sense the second founder of the School, and to Dr. George Duncan, Sheriff Duncan's father, who, although not himself a F.P., had given invaluable service to the School during his long association with educational affairs in Aberdeen. The Rector went on to ask if all the good things for which Morland Simpson had been so largely responsible would endure. Nor, he thought, if the new rulers succumbed to the belief that they could best ensure the millennium for the day after to-morrow by denying that there was wisdom or civility in human life earlier than the day before yesterday. The essential things would survive, if those in authority avoided the old and ruinous heresy, that one can fasten on a single virtue, such as equality, tear it from the living texture of things, and deal with it in isolation, without at the same time impoverishing and distorting it. They would endure if it was recognised how wide was the gulf between the almost maddening simplicity of the blueprint and the complexity of life as man has to live it. Mr. Maurice Cramb replied on behalf of the Club. There followed a new toast, "Our Land of Bondage" which was wittily proposed by Ma. ALLAN C. FRAZER and replied to in like vein by Dr. A. Melville Clark. Both speakers drew inspiration from appropriate passages in the Old Testament. The toast of " The Chairman " was proposed by MR. D. R. BELLAMY CAY.

17z

Aberdeen Grammar School Magazine

The following F.P.s were present at the Dinner, the list being arranged in order of seniority based on date of Miry to the School :1881. Lord Mackay (1882-91). 1891. J. G. Kyd (1891-98). 1893. J. A. Lillie (1893-1903). 1896. Sir Andrew Clow (1896-98). 1903. Sir David Edwards (x9o3-o9). 1911. J. Lindsay Duncan (1911-24). 1953. D. H. Johnston (1913-26). 1915. J. R. L. Cruickshank (1915-21). 1916. Maurice Cramb (1916-29). 1920. E. Ros Birkett (t9zo-z2). 1921. H. F. Scrimgeour (1921-30), R. C. Scrimgeour (1921-24)• 1923. W. F. Mayor (1923-3o), F. S. Taylor (1923-28). 1924. J. R. Fiddes (1924-37). Douglas Reith (1924-35). 1925. A. C. Frazer (1925-30), A. C. R. Watt (1925-37). 1926. J. G. M. Birss (1926-38), D. M. C. Donald (1926-32), J. R. Mackay (1926-37)1928. G. F. Hendry (1928-39). 1932. D. K. Cameron (1932-35), I. M. Matthews (1932-40), Alexander Stuart (1932-45). 1935. D. R. 13. Cay (1935-46). 1937. R. A. Wilson (1937-42). 1939. W. 0. Pattullo (1939-O). Hon. Member. J. J. Robertson (Rector).

Edinburgh v. Glasgow Golf Match At the end of May, as the result of a challenge issued by the Edinburgh Centre of the Club, there was a golf match between the Edinburgh and Glasgow Centres at Carnwath. Singles and two-ball foursomes were played on a handicap basis, and after nine closely contested games, none of which finished before the sixteenth green, the Edinburgh Centre won by six matches to three. The weather, if not the golf, was brilliant, and the outing was thoroughly enjoyed by all. It is intended that this meeting should become an annual event and it is hoped that in future it may be possible to field larger teams. The results of the match were as follows :— Singles GLASGOW EDINBURGH H. E. R. Shand (a and 0 1 D. K. Cameron o A. L. Speirs o A. C. Frazer (2 and 1) I J. G. M. Birss (3 and 2) x J. R. Mackay o W. G. Gow o IL D. Jamieson (3 and 1) 1 K. R. T. Matthew o D. R. B. Cay (3 and a) x W. 0. Fiddes o W. F. Mayor (a and 1) 1 Foursomes Birss and Gow o Mayor and Frazer (z and s) z Speirs and Matthew o Jamieson and Cameron (2 and i) x Fiddes and Shand (x up) x Mackay and Cay o Result—Edinburgh 6, Glasgow 3.

Glasgow Centre This year's Dinner will be held on Friday, 12 November. The new president of the Club, Sir Landsborough Thomson, expects to be able to attend. The Annual Theatre Evening in conjunction with the Glasgow and West of Scotland Gordonians and the Glasgow Branch of the Girls' High School F.P. Club will be held in the autumn, on a date which will be intimated to members of the Centre.

How you can fly in the Fleet Air Arm DURING the past forty years the Fleet Air Arm has developed from the Cinderella of the Royal Navy into its most indispensable branch. This development has resulted from a new type of naval warfare and has opened

up a unique life to many hundreds more young pilots and observers. Because of the skill required, and the heavy responsibilities to be met, they are all Officers. They enjoy a life of adventure at sea and in the air.

410-4

ENTRY Some of these young men are officers who entered the Royal Navy through the Royal Naval College at Dartmouth or are ex-ratings promoted to commissioned rank. But the Admiralty also needs large numbers of young men over 17 and not yet 26 to join primarily for flying duties. After only a very short general service training they start flying. They join as Short Service Officers but, at any time after flying training, they may be selected for permanent commissions. Otherwise they leave with a handsome gratuity, and with the training they have received in the Service they have an excellent start in any civilian career — especially Civil Aviation. TRAINING The first few months of the new Officer's life are spent in a carrier undergoing general nautical training. After that comes flying training either in the U.K., U.S.A. or Canada. The Observer learns the intricacies of aerial navigation, Radio, Radar and modern anti-submarine Sonar equipment. His mastery of aircraft electronics is vital in A/S warfare and all-weather night fighting. The Pilot goes through another expensive form of training. The first solo flight, the award of wings and the first deck-landing aro great days in his life.

SQUADRON LIFE After training comes the time for the young Officers to earn their ' bread and butter ' — to put their training into practice. They spend two years in a 1st Line Squadron at sea mastering the finer points of aerial warfare and becoming part of a fighting team in a fighting Fleet. After this their lives follow no fixed pattern. Some may specialise in one aspect of flying such as weapon training or photography. Some may spend two years flying at a Naval Air Station in Scotland, Malta, or Singapore. The best will eventually command a Squadron of naval aircraft, and progress to the higher ranks of the Service.

AIWA These men lead a life that is crammed full of incident, responsibility—and enjoyment. There is plenty of sport, ample leave, expeditions ashore in places ranging from Gibraltar to Japan, plus the convivial life of a Wardroom Mess. The way into this life is, on the face of it, easy: physical fitness and a G.C.E., or equivalent, with certain passes. But to meet the intense training, the responsibilities and the excellent prospects, the character and spirit of the candidate must be of high quality.

Full details of Fleet Air Arm Commissions, including National Service aircrew commissions can be obtained by writing to: 4i•

ADMIRALTY, N.C.W. BRANCH (DEPT. EQ/54) QUEEN ANNE'S MANSIONS, LONDON, S.W.1.

OFFICIAL

SPORTS OUTFITTERS TO COLLEGES SCHOOLS AND YOUTH CLUBS A comprehensive stock of Summer and Winter Sports Equipment is available to choose from at reasonable prices

* Open on Saturdays until 6.30 p.m.

TENNIS BADMINTON and

Simpson s' SPORTS EMPORIUM

SQUASH Repairs and Re-stringing— 24 hour service

28 BRIDGE ST. ABERDEEN (Palace Cinema Corner)

* PROMPT ATTENTION GIVEN TELEPHONE 21094

TO ALL ENQUIRIES

Former Pupae Club

173

F.P. Rugby Section The rugby season just finished can be termed no better than average. As so often has happened before, the hopes of a successful season were high at the start, but once again things just did not go quite right. To a certain extent the lack of success was caused by the inception of the District representative games which resulted in much weakened sides having to play on four Saturdays out of six in October and November and in the teams having no chance to become settled until the season was half over. In the main, however, the lack of success against the top class southern sides was due to lack of experience and size amongst the forwards. Several games which appeared well won at half-time were lost, not due to any lack of fitness, but simply because over eighty minutes the very light and inexperienced F.P. forwards just had not the strength to hold out. It is a most remarkable fact that practically all the very large and heavy forwards who have been at School in recent years have either left town or are not available for the Section for one reason or another. The season, however, was not a bad one. Fourteen games were won by the list XV as against fifteen lost, but as three of these defeats were suffered by much weakened sides during the period of the trials, the record was not too unsatisfactory considering the high standard of the fixture-list. It is not sufficiently realized that the opposition encountered by the F.P. XV is much stronger than that encountered by the other Aberdeen sides. The Section is the only Aberdeen team included in the Unofficial Championship. This season a certain degree of success was achieved with victories over Greenock Wanderers, Musselburgh and Melville College F.P.s, and draws with Allan Glen's School F.P.s and Edinburgh Academicals. The Section finished up in the same position as last season, eight places from the bottom. In games with local sides we had a good deal of success and once again Gordonians were defeated twice. During the season the support given to the Section was reasonably satisfactory and the " gates" were the best since season 1947-48. Taken all over, however, it is felt that the efforts of the Section in providing such an attractive fixture-list, with opposition from the leading Edinburgh and Glasgow clubs, do not receive the support which they deserve. Colours for the season were awarded as follows :— Full.—W. D. Allardice, D. N. Georgeson, E. H. Cruickshank, I. Stuart. Half—E. Craig, C. D. Mowat, B. S. Gray, W. M. Brown, P. B. Forbes, S. McPherson, S. Monro, D. Grieve, I. R. Macdonald, C. Ritchie. At the Annual General Meeting the following officials were elected for season 1954-55 :— E. H. Cruickshank. Captain. I. Stuart. Vice-Captain. J. M. Melvin. Hon. Treasurer. Hon. Teams Secretary. D. H. Chapman. N. I. W. Meldnun, secretary for the last ten years, intimated his resignation but agreed to carry on temporarily, pending the appointment of a successor. The teams' records last season were as follows :— Points For Against Lost Drawn Won Played 322 z86 15 2 1st XV 14 31 zo8 8 2 12 znd XV 22 241 156 I "A"XV 12 73 4 7 125 128 8 12 "B" XV — 4 1st XV Results 1953 Dec. 12. v. Glasgow Academicals at Anniesland 19. v. Glasgow University at Rubislaw „ 26. V. Boroughmuir F.P.s at Meggetland .

•

. . .

0-1 I 8-11 3-19

Lost. Lost. Lost.

Aberdeen Grammar School MagaVne

174 1954 Jan. 2. 23. 3o. Feb. 6. „ 20. , 27. Mar. 6.

v. Aberdeenshire at Rubislaw . . . V. Morgan Academy F.P.s at Dundee . v. Aberdeen University at King's College . v. Trinity Academicals at Rubislaw . . P. Glasgow High School F.P.s at Linksfield v. Hillhead High School F.P.s at Hughenden v. Aberdeen Wanderers at Hazkhead . . v. Moray at Rubislaw . . . . . . . " zo. v. Panmure at Edinburgh 27. v. Musselburgh at Stoneyhill . . . Apr. 3. v. Dundee High School F.P.s at Chanonry . v. Gordonians at Linksfield . . .

•

1 9 .

30.

Sept. 25. 27. Oct. 16. •> Nov. 20. Dec. 78.

. .

3-3 Drawn. 3-8 Lost.

• • . • . . . . .

6-14 Lost. 8-6 Won. 13-o Won. 6-6 Drawn. 11-30 Lost. r1-6 Won. 3-6 Lost. 26-3 Won. 6-32 Lost.

. . .

• •

•

• • • •

and XV Results 1953 Dec. I2. v. Aberdeen University znd XV at King's College v. Aberdeenshire and XV at Rubislaw . . 1954 Jan. 2. V. Gordonians and XV at Seafield . . • „ 16. v. School 1st XV at Rubislaw . . . . „ 23. v. Morgan Academy F.P.s and XV at Dundee . V. Aberdeen University 2nd XV at Rubislaw Feb. 20. v. Centralians 1st XV at Chanonry . . . Mar. 6. v. Gordonians and XV at Rubislaw . . . „ 13. v. R.N.A.S. Lossiemouth at Lossiemouth . . V. Aberdeen Wanderers and XV at Rubislaw . Apr. 273. v. Perthshire Academicals znd XV at Perth. . •

•

22-3 16-8 13-14 12-3 3-31 3-27 11-3 42-3 6-II 9-5 16-3 6-3

• •

13.

•

Won. Won. Lost. Won. Lost. Lost. Won. Won. Lost. Won. Won. Won.

Next Season's Fixtures in the South v. Perthshire Academicals at Perth. v. Stewart's College F.P.s at Edinburgh. v. Allan Glen's School F.P.s at Glasgow. v. Edinburgh Academicals at Edinburgh. V. Greenock Wanderers at Greenock. v. Glasgow University at Glasgow. N. I. W. MELDRUM, Hon. Secretary.

F.P. Tennis Section At the Annual General Meeting in April, the following office-bearers for the 1954 season were elected :— Captain—J. W. Howison ; lion. Treasurer—J. McP. Mutcla ; Hon. Secretary— B. D. M. Grassick. Committee—J. Fenton Wyness, A. M. Hardie, G. L. Fraser, T. Amott and I. 0. Brown. It was decided that the Section's " Singles" Cup should be presented to the School to encourage the playing of tennis. The cup has been warmly received by the Rector and Mr. J. C. Hunter. Bad weather has unfortunately hindered the activities of the Section but with the warmer days yet to come, it is hoped that a large number of members and prospective members will take full advantage of the courts. Matches with a few of the Aberdeen clubs are being arranged. BRIAN D. M. GRASSICK, Hon. Secretary.

F.P. Rugby Section 1st XV—Season 1953-54

•

Standing—D. R. Grieve, C. Ritchie, I. Stuart (Team Secretary), P. B. Forbes, W. A. Craig, D. H. Chapman, S. McPherson, A. A. Lawrence, D. Stuart, N. I. W. Meldrum (Hon. Secretary). Sitting—N. R. Johnston, I, R. Macdonald, E. H. Cruickshank (Vice-Captain), D. N. Georgeson (Captain), W. D. Allardice, E. Craig, J. L. Brebner.

School Prefects-I953-54 \

• • i

•••

- *,•

a' •

•

•• -

.„

— -#

; to : i '

, trachan

Bock Row—M. Mackie, C. S. Hod c, J. R. V. Mutcn, G. M. Br uce, J. G. R. Fraser. Middle Row—S. McLeod, I. F. Macleod, A. Bremner, D. E. Baird, R. D. M. MacLeod, K. R. Petrie, R. Miller, A. A. R. Henderson. Front Row—J. Pacitti, C. S. A. W. Levitt, R. W. Dune*, D. V. S. Williamson (Senior Prefect), Mr. J. J. Robertson (Rector), I. W. D. Buxton (Deputy Senior Prefect), A. S. Hunter, D. S. Wood.

Former Pupils' Gab F.P. Cricket Section

175

At the Annual General Meeting the following officials were elected :— Strathmore Union XI Captain—A. M. Davidson ; Vire-Captain—I. S.uart : Grade XI Captain—Dr. A. H. Innes ; Vice Captain—C. A. Clark : Hon. Treantrer— C. H. Webster ; Hon. Secretary—A. M. Davidson ; Hon. Match. Secretary—C. A. Clark. Like the north-east crickcting weather, the fortunes of the Strathmore XI to date have proved rather unpredictable. Having started the season by scoring 165 for 8 (dec.].) and zr6 for r (decl.) against Mannofield and Meigle respectively, the team have since fallen to Montrose and Strathmore with meagre totals of 67 and 48. Our congratulations, however, must go to D. J. Stephen and J. S. Manley for creating a new record second-wicket partnership in a Strathmore Union match. In the game with Meigle, they added exactly zoo runs after the loss of the first wicket for t6. Stephen scored rz6 and Manley 61, both not out. The Grade XI have won all their games to date, and are again under the astute captaincy of Dr. A. H. Innes. There seems to be no doubt that they will gain promotion to Grade II this year. Not only has the standard of play improved greatly in the side, but the enthusiasm shown by the players themselves has been most encouraging, resulting in keen competition for places. A cordial invitation is extended to all boys leaving School this year who enjoy an afternoon's cricket to join the Section. Both XIs have most attractive fixturelists, and they are assured of excellent wickets. Practices are held at Rubislaw on Tuesdays and Thursdays of each week throughout the season. Further particulars can be had from the Secretary (Telephone No. Aberdeen 17492). A. M. DAVIDSON, HON. Secretary.

F.P. Golf Section The 1954 season of the Golf Section opened at Ballater on 9 May at 9.30 on a beautiful Sunday morning. The greens were in a condition that made good scoring difficult, but nevertheless a good time was had by all. The morning round consisted of Medal Play for the usual prizes which were won as follows :— Handicaps 1 to 11— . . 83 — II = 72 . . . . Dr. H . Fowlie (Guest) . • • . F. J. Meldrum . 77 — 4 = 73 0 • 9 • • . • J. L. Riddell. • 77 — 3 = 74 . . • • • • . W. L. Connon • 83 — 9 = 74 •

•

Handicaps II and over—

. • . 85 - 17 = 68 • . • • D. G. Patterson . • . • • • • . . A. Gray . 97 — 23 = 74 • • — • . • J. S. MacLachlan . . . 96— 18 = 78 • • . • • JO S. G. Munro . . 96 — 18 = 78 . • . • • . . R. J. Maitland Tankard presented held for the In the afternoon the Stableford Competition was by Dr. Allison and Dr. Fowlie, who also very kindly donated the prizes for the other winners in this competition. The result was as follows :— znd J. G. Kilgour 42 points. rst F. J. Meldrum 43 points. 3rd G. A. C. Walker 41 points. A second outing was held at Aboyne on 6 June and the following further outings have been arranged for this season :— Ballater—8 August. Aboyne-1z September. Ballater-3 October. Following the Ballater outing the Annual General Meeting of the Section was held, when the 1953 office-bearers were re-elected with the exception of Mr. N. R. Wishart, who was not eligible. Mr. George Barton was appointed to fill the vacancy. The honorary secretary resigned as usual, but following the principle that " there are none so deaf as those who do not want to hear", the members retained him in office. I would remind all F.P.s home on leave that they will be very welcome at any of our outings. H. G. STEPHEN, Hon. Secretary. a

176

Aberdeen Grammar School Magazine

Boarding House Section Since the last report, the first secretary of the Boarding House Section, F. K. Sellar, has left the country and to him we extend our best wishes for the future and thanks for his splendid work as secretary. The membership of the Section increases and a hearty welcome is extended to all former house boys who may wish to join. It is hoped to arrange a reunion in the form of a dinner or smoker about the beginning of 195 5. I. M. DUGUID, Hon. Secretary.

New Members of the Club 15 November 1953 - 15 May 2954 LIFE MEMBERS Elmslie, Gordon Sinclair (1933-43), B.Sc.(Eng.), 25 Norfolk Road, Aberdeen. Hamilton, Gilbert Frewin (1921-30), B.Sc., M.B., Ch.B., 33 High Street, Old Aberdeen. Lightfoot, Edmund George Herbert (1921-24), L.D.S., 19 Victoria Street, Aberdeen. Longmore, Herbert John Alexander (1943-48), 69 Fountainhall Road, Aberdeen. ORDINARY MEMBERS Anderson, Alexander Donald Stewart (1918-24), M.A., C.A., 15/18 St. Dunstan's Hill, London, E.C.3. Anderson, Robin David Michael Reid (1943-53), 11 Polmuir Road, Aberdeen. Bowie, Norman (1943-53), 14 Raeden Avenue, Aberdeen. Cameron, Kenneth Stuart (1947-50), 63 Dee Street, Aberdeen. Davidson, William Littlejohn (1948-53), 33 Laurelwood Avenue, Aberdeen. Dobson, Raymond John Bain (1936-45), Eastfield, 193 Westbum Road, Aberdeen. Donald, Herbert William Girvin (1941-45), 46 Rubislaw Den South, Aberdeen. Donald, Robert Weir (1943-52), 39 Hilton Drive, Aberdeen. Esslemont, Alan (1941-53), 16 Westfield Terrace, Aberdeen. Esson, Alexander, Junr. (1949-51), 67 Richmond Street, Aberdeen. Fleming, William John Stewart (1937-42), East Manse, Banchory. Gordon, Alastair James (1946-54), 5 Court Road, Swanage, Dorset. Gordon, Ian Alexander (1946-54), 5 Court Road, Swanage, Dorset. Kynoch, David Alfred Morrison (1948-53), 49 Esslemont Avenue, Aberdeen. Leishman, Richard Barclay (1943-47), 26 Harlaw Road, Aberdeen. McIntosh, James (1948-52), 3o Inchbrae Terrace, Aberdeen. McWhirter, William Ewing (1946-52), 64 Great Western Road, Aberdeen. Matthews, Ian Macpherson (193 2-37 and 1939-40), di. Smith, 24 Danube Street, Edinburgh 4. Milne, James Campbell (1944-5o), 5 Chestnut Row, Aberdeen. Mitchell, William Alexander (1911-22), 8 Beaufort Gardens, Knightsbridge, London, S.W.3. Mutch, John Renwick (1940-47), 2 Norfolk Road, Aberdeen. North, Derek Norman (1940-41 and 1942-52), Cardonald, West Cults, Aberdeenshire. Pollock, John Gordon (1946-53), c/o Y.M.C.A., 5 Golden Square, Aberdeen. Robertson, John Stephen (1924-34), 27 Forbesfield Road, Aberdeen. Smith, Ian Slessor (1945-53), r6 Auldcastle Road, Inverness. Thomas, John (1935-48), 44 Ashgrove Road West, Aberdeen. Warman, Ronald (1942-54), c/o Austin, 20 Hills Road, Selection Park Springs, Transvaal, South Africa.

Former Pupils' Club

1 77

Club Consuls There have been the following changes in the roll of Club Consuls since December 1933 :— Resignations Egypt—ALEXANDER GEORGE WALKER (1906-10). (See page 114.) Gold Coast—EDGAR REUBEN GAULD (1917-23), M.B., Ch.B., M.R.C.P, (See Page 104.) Tanganyika—GEoRGE ALEXANDER WILSON (1920-23), M.B., Ch.B. (Sec page 113.) Ontario—ROBERT FLEMING (1891-98). (See page tos.) Appointments Ontario—RICHARD WILLIAM GEATER (1938-47). (See page to3.) Iraq—ALEXANDER YOUNG (1925-36). (See page 113.) The full roll is now as follows :—

AFRICA (1903-09), P.O. Box 1002, Nairobi, Kenya Colony. Northern Rhodesia—JOHN MANSON SLEIGH (1914-16), B.Sc., M.Inst.C.E., c/o John Howard & Company (Africa) Limited, Great North Road, Lusaka, Northern Rhodesia. Southern Rhodesia—JAMES WYNESS MACGREGOR (1910-23), Morven, Nutt Hill, Murambi, Umtali, Southern Rhodesia.

Kenya—GRAEME GEORGE SUTHERLAND

Union of South Africa Cape Province (Cape Town)—Professor WILLIAM SOUTAR MACKIE (1895-1901), B.A., Drumoak, Greenfield Road, Kenilworth, Cape Town. Cape Province (East London)—JAMES MELVIN (1904-1o), C.B.E., M.C., T.D., M.B., Ch.B., 44 Queen Street, Cambridge, East London, Cape Provir cc. Natal--FRANK BRUCE FARQUHARSON DUGUID (1919-26), 8 Lambert Road, Durban. Transvaal—JOHN EWAN HENDERSON (1884-87), P.O. Box 4466, Johannesburg.

AMERICA Canada Alberta—DOUGLAS HARPER (1888-98), M.A., B.L., 609 Tegler Building, Edmonton, Alberta. British Columbia—Wmmut ERNEST MILNE (1881-90), c/o Milne & Middleton,

137 West Pender, Vancouver, B.C. (Private address-1837 19th Avenue West, Vancouver.) Manitoba-JOHN DUGUID CRUICKSHANK (1899-1904), The Canadian Bank of Commerce, Personal Loan Department, Winnipeg, Manitoba. Ontario—RICHARD WILLIAM GEATER (1938-47), 436 Sheppard Avenue East, Willowdale, Ontario. Quebec—NORMAN MACKINNON (1907-16), B.Sc.(For.), 4093 Cote des Neiges Road, Montreal, Quebec.

Falkland Islands ROBERT STEWART SLESSOR (1927-29), M.B., Ch.B., S.M.O., Port Stanley, Falkland

Islands.

Mexico PATRICK JOHN MILROY WALKER (1914-20), C.A., Apartado 38 Bis., Mexico, D.F.

I 78

Aberdeen Grammar School Magazine South America

Brazil—JAMES IRVINE MELVILLE (1917-21), 11le Royal Bank of Canada, Rua 13 de Novembro, 240, Sao Paulo, Brazil. Colombia—ROBERT WILLIAM YOUNG (1914-21), Embotelladora Tropical, S.A., Calle 9 del y Carrera Eugenio Macias, Barranquilla, Colombia.

United States of America Illinois—JAMES BRUCE SMITH (1918-25), The Bruce Smith Insurance Agency,

208 South Lasalle Street, Chicago, Illinois.

West Indies British West Indies—KENNETH REID (1901-04), Concordia, Tobago, B.W.I. Dutch West Indies—GEoRGE FERGUSON RITCHIE (I9I7-24), Lago Oil & Transport Company Limited, Marine Department, P.O. Box 643, Aruba, D.W.I.

AUSTRALIA Australian Capital Territory (Canberra)—CnARLEs OGILVIE WILL BOWMAN (1910-15), Manager, Capital Hill Hostel, Canberra, A.C.T. New South Wales—ALAN REID (1911-14), 3 Iona Avenue, West Pvmble, Sydney. Western Australia—IAN THOM (1912-25), Wydga Station, Mount Magnet, Perth,

Western Australia.

EUROPE Channel Islands—WILLIAM MILLER (1894-?), Beaufort Hotel, St. Helier, Jersey. Russia.—LAIN JOHNSTONE MCBETII SUTHERLAND (1933-41), M.A., B.A., British

Embassy, Moscow (c/o Foreign 0flfcc, London, S.W.1).

Switzerland (Geneva)—JAmEs LAWSON MOWAT (1915-16), M.A., Ph.D., c o

Bureau International du Travail, Geneva, Switzerland.

Switzerland

(Zurich)—ROBERT ALEXANDER ESSLEMONT MENNIE (1 924-36), M.A., B.P. Benzin and Petroleum A.G., Handelshof, Uraniastrasse, Zurich, Switzerland. Yugoslavia—Professor Dr. DRAGOSLAV MILETITCH (1916-18), Medicinski Fakulter, Skoplje, Yugoslavia.

FAR EAST Hongkong—FRANK CHARLES BRISCOE BLACK (1914-17), C/O Hongkong &

Shanghai Banking Corporation, Hongkong. Malaya (Selangor)—FoasEs KEITH SLLLAR (1933-45), B.L., cif, Messrs. Shcarn, Delamore & Company, advocates and solicitors, Kuala Lumpur, Malaya. (Interim.)

INDIA and CEYLON India (Madras)—IAN CUNNING (1907-14), O.B.E., c/o Vernon & Co. Ltd., 36

Second Line Beach, Post Box 79, Madras.

India (West Bengal)—RoBERT IlurroN Dcouto (1918-23), C.A., c/o Duncan

Brothers & Co. Ltd., 31 Netaji Subhas Road, Calcutta.

Ceylon—CHARLES JAMES STRACHAN (1917-21), Anglo-Ceylon General Estates

Company, P.O. Box 13, Colombo, Ceylon.

IRAQ ALEXANDER YOUNG (1925-36), Iraq Petroleum Company, Kirkuk, Iraq.

NEW ZEALAND ANDREW ALEXANDER MARE DUCAT (1924-28 and 1929-34), P.O. Box 2253, Wellington, New Zealand.

BOYS WiltE BOYS! . and clothes won't stay clean for ever. But they will last longer and stay bright and fresh if you send them periodically to

THE

Gordon Cleaning Co., Ltd. CLEANERS t!Cc DYERS

Huntly ABERDEEN BRA N CHES

434 Union Street ABERDEEN

505 George Street ABERDEEN

Tempting, tasty

and

intriguing savouries savouries and occasions when For those ...are the maybe cocktails wines ...or host and the decerning accepted thing, experienced enlist the hostess who assurcan await with services of Collie ations of congratul ance the app reciative guests

By Apporntment,Grocers to H.M. the late King George VI

andumGeeie Wad FAMILY GROCERS AND WINE MERCHANTS 269-271 UNION Also

Cults,

ST., ABERDEEN Ballater

Tel. 27244 &

Braemar

CALEDONIAN FOUNDED 1805 Incorporated by Special Act of Parliament

A World Wide Organisation Transacting All Classes Of Insurance General Manager : William Graham Robertson HEAD OFFICE: St Andrew Square, Edinburgh ABERDEEN OFFICE : 5 Union Terrace, Aberdeen Branch Manager: Mark W. Connell

SHIRTS AT THE MAN'S SHOP The wide selection should make your choice an easy one

COLLAR ATTACHED

27/6 to 52/6

WITH 2 COLLARS

32;6 to 67/6

FOR SPORTS WEAR

11/6 to 32/6

NYLON SHIRTS

59/6 to 87/6

" TERYLENE "

95 - and 105/.

SHIRTS

ESSLEMONT & MACINTOSH (RETAILERS)

LTD. TAILORS AND OUTFITTERS

UNION STREET

ABERDEEN

DUPLICATING TYPEWRITING

STRACHAN Commercial and

For all your needs PHONE

Portraiture

Aberdeen 20509

Photography

A complete service for all Professional, Commercial and Industrial Businesses

Miss COWIE'S COPYING OFFICE

416 UNION STREET ABERDEEN

393 Union Street

Telephone 20851

ABERDEEN

TELEPHONE A BERDEEN 239 50 .

TELEGRAMS 'GALLOWSES' ABERDEEN

W • J • MILNE

LTD

Men's

•

Outfitters

ABERDEEN

BRANCHES THROUGHOUT

)Ag CITY

BA KERS OF QUALITY • ABERDEEN -------

BOOKBINDING OF ALL DESCRIPTIONS

WILLIAM

JACKSON

(ABERDEEN)

LIMITED

FARMER'S HALL LANE Offices:

6-10 UPPER KIRKGATE Telephone 22591

Established 1855

al .con~ 7 SHIRT HOSPITAL

REJUVENATION CHARGES REFRONT

5/-

3/3 3/3 3/3

COLLAR REVERSED ON COLLAR ATTACHED SHIRTS ONLY

3/3

I/-

NECKBAND

DOUBLE CUFFS INTO SINGLE CUFFS

CUFFS REVERSED

PATCHES -

EACH

NOTICE WE CANNOT ACCEPT SHIRT " PATIENTS " FOR OPERATIONS OTHER THAN THOSE MENTIONED' ABOVE

FALCONER'S UNION STREET Phone 25345

ABERDEEN

For Weddings

. . . as

for

all

social

functions

the

atmosphere, amenities and services at The " Caley "

merit the widespread

confidence they have always enjoyed

The

CALEDONIAN Hotel

UNION

Telephone:

TERRACE

29233

CORPORATION

ABERDEEN -

ABERDEEN

EDUCATION COMMITTEE

GRAMMAR

SCHOOL

(FouNDED BEFORE 120)

RECTOR .

JAMES J. ROBERTSON, O.B.E., M.A., B.D., F.R.S.E., J.P.

HE GRAMMAR SCHOOL provides a complete course of Primary Tand Secondary Education tor Boys. :—Kindergarten (5-7), Lower

The School is organised as follows School (7-1z), Middle School (iz-i 5), Upper School (t 5-10. The School, which occupies an extensive site in the West End of the City, has, in addition to ample classroom accommodation, an Assembly Hall with Stage, a spacious Library and Reading Room, live well-equipped Laboratories, three Art Rooms, two Music Rooms, four Workshops, two Gymnasia, a Dining Hall, a Museum, and a Botanical Garden. While the School has a Classical tradition, it offers considerable variety of courses, the subjects of the Secondary Department being (in addition to Religious Education, Music, Physical Exercises and Games), English, I listory, Geography, Latin, Greek, French, German, Spanish, Mathematics, Physics, Chemistry, Botany, Zoology, Art and Crafts, Technical Subjects, and Commercial Subjects. Boys are prepared for the Universities, the Civil Service, the Professions, Commerce and Industry. The Examinations normally taken are the Leaving Certificate of the Scottish Education Department and the Bursaries Competitions of the Scottish Universities. The School has spacious Playing Fields at Rubislaw, the games played being Rugby Football, Cricket, Hockey, and Tennis. There is a Boarding House run in conjunction with the Grammar School.

ABERDEEN HIGH SCHOOL FOR GIRLS (ALBYN PLACE)

HEAD MISTRESS .

MISS B. M. ROSE, M.A., LL.D. (ABERD.), J.P.

HIGH SCHOOL provides a complete course of education for T HE girls between the ages of 5 and t9 years. It is organised in three Secondary. Departments—Infants, Primary and The girls in the Secondary Department are prepared for the Leaving Certificate of the Scottish Education Department and the Bursary Competition and the Preliminary Examination of the University: and those pupils who take Music, for the Examinations of the Associated Board. The subjects studied comprise Scripture, Physical Training, Class Singing, English, History, Geography, Mathematics, Physics, Chemistry, Biology, Latin, Greek, German, French, Music, Art and Craft, Needlework, Cookery and Laundry. There is considerable variety possible in the choice of subjects and courses. At least one afternoon a week and Saturday mornings are set aside for organised games at the School Playing Field of eleven acres situated at Haxlehead. Information as to Scholarships, Courses of Study, etc., at the Grammar School and the High School for Girls is given in the School Prospectuses, which may he had free on application to the Director of Education, Education Offices, Municipal Buildings, Castle Street, or to the Rector or Head Mistress respectively.

••

.---AbenkenSdViTISS Bank

There is no recognised text book on Thrift, but in many pass books of

ABERDEEN SAVINGS BANK excellent examples of Thrift will be found.

RUGGER

AND

FOOTBALL

BOOTS

correct fitting by X-RAY pedoscope

JOHN A. DUNN LTD. FAMILY BOOT AND SHOE MAKERS

46 UNION STREET, ABERDEEN also at PETERHEAD, ELGIN, FORFAR, TURRIFF

Phone 20158 PRINTED

E AI ERDP-EN UNIVERSITY PRP-SP