AGS Magazine June 1970

THE

ABERDEEN GRAMMAR SCEKOL MAGAZINE

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Aberdeen Grammar School Magazine 86th year No. 206 (New Series 76th year No. 597) ==.

Vol. LXXIII

No. a

JUNE 1970

The Magazine is published under the auspices of The Former Pupils' Club twice during the year, in December and June General

Alistair G. Gracie, i 2 Fernielea Crescent, Aberdeen.

Editor

Editor of the School Section

Bruce Finlayson,

Editor of Notes, Obituaries and Marriages

J. B. Rennie, ago Union Street, Aberdeen.

Advertisements

J. A. G. Mearns, Mearns Publicity, 7 Carden Place, Aberdeen.

Secretary of the F.P. Club

Brian K. Crookshanks, T.D., M.A., LL.B. 2 5 Crown Street, Aberdeen.

, M.ED.

The General Editor invites contributions from F.P.s for the next issue of the Magazine and requests that all copy, both for him and for the Notes Editor, be submitted by 15 November, 197o. Readers arc asked to support the advertisers, without whose support publication of the Magazine would not be possible.

Printed for The Former Pupils' Club at The University Press Aberdeen

CONTENTS Illustrations— Robert McNay School Rugby Team, 1969-7o .

School Hockey Team, 1969-70 F.P. Rugby Team, 1969-70 .

Pre-War Auto Club . .

General Section— The Changing School . .

Robert McNay . . .

Special Entertainments Notice .

Pre-War Arts Club . . .

Whatever happened (II) . . ? .

The Bursary Competition .

Hitch-Hike to India . .

Amateur Astronomy . .

A Social Record of Aberdeen .

Editorial Change . . .

Memories of Moscow . .

School Section— School Office-bearers Random Notes . .

Presenting the Prefects .

Staff Changes . . .

House Notes • • School Sporting Activities .

School Societies . . .

C.C.F. Notes The School Dance . . .

Music Notes . . .

Lower School Notes F.P. Section— .

Club Office-bearers .

New Club President Annual General Meeting The Club Centre . .

Section Reports . .

Notes About Old Boys . .

Missing Members . . .

Obituaries . . .

New Members

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An asterisk * appearing after the name of an F.P. indicates that be is a member of the F.P. club. The jean appearing after the name of an F.P. are those of his attendance at School.

The Changing School Two events have taken place during the last few months which are important to everyone who has the interests of the Aberdeen Grammar School at heart. The first is the acquisition by the F.P. Club of a large house in Queen's Road for Club purposes, and the second is the decision by the Education Authority to abolish the name of the School.

The coincidence of these events seems to me to be a starting point for a debate whose outcome could be a valuable contribution to education in this City and perhaps further afield. I do not myself have sufficient background knowledge to get involved in a detailed argument on the subject, but I would like to raise a few general observations and questions on the possibility of the new Clubhouse being made available for educational purposes; that is to say, for the continuation of the sort of School which would commend itself to the F.P. Club; for the rebirth in fact of the Aberdeen Grammar School.

It is over three years since some bright spark suggested at a Club Dinner that an approach be made to the Education Authority to return to the Club the gifts which it had presented to the School over the years together with the School name itself, which even at that time, was becoming inappropriate—these elements all to be used in the re-establishment of the Aberdeen Grammar School. Although one suspects that the audience was influenced as much by alcohol and the maudlin nature of the speech as by reason on that occasion, the suggestion seemed to meet with a certain amount of approval, and since then the writer has wondered from time to time whether the idea would be taken up elsewhere. I have to confess that nothing further has happened, yet the admittedly sentimental attractions of the idea seem to be rooted in practicality. There is of course a strong case for the abolition of all education in the private sector but the issue is such a controversial one, the freedom of the individual put at such risk, that no government of either party is ever likely to introduce legislation to this end. The popularity of private education continues indeed to grow apace with the suspicion of comprehensive state education, and in this context there is nowhere a greater need for a private boys' school than in Aberdeen. Given that private education is an accepted and permanent part of our national life why should this City fall behind? Is there a genuine local consensus of conscience against it? If so well and good. Or is there just a lack of imagination and collective enterprise sheltering behind that good old native Aberdonian canniness which is more often our sorrow than our joy?

In asking these questions I should make it clear that they do not I hope arise from the attitudes of an entrenched reactionary. Although I have reservations about them as most people have, I have no deeprooted hostility towards either the concept of comprehensive education or an education authority which has done many good things. My argument is simply this; that in education as in all other areas of human activity a point is reached where, as someone once said, "the passion for equality makes vain the hope of freedom". Applying this to our 77

Aberdeen Grammar School Magazine 78 own situation it seems to me that the education authority's laudable purpose of providing equality of educational opportunity for as many children as possible has gone too far in the means of its pursuit.

The point has been reached, where, for all the merits of equality its pressures on certain areas may well result in a great deal of harm, not only to the school but to the community at large both in the short and long term. Those freedoms which are suffering immediate interference are of course the parents' freedom of educational choice and the freedom of those persons most concerned with the business of the school—Rector, teachers, parents, F.P.s—to run it in the way that they think it should be run. In these circumstances the proper course of action seems to me to be to opt out.

So much for the principle—opposition to the specific idea of making over the Clubhouse for the purpose is inevitable and understandable.

There are obvious technical difficulties which might themselves prove insurmountable although judging from the success of Albyn and St. Margaret's Schools for Girls which have flourished from very similar sites one would doubt if this would be so. There is the drawback too that the place has only just been purchased and is no doubt proving very popular among the younger F.P.s. But young men grow old and die and this is a double disadvantage in our case. It is a disadvantage, firstly because I suspect that the Clubhouse will not in any event and for a variety of good reasons be used to any great degree by older F.P.s and secondly, it is a disadvantage because there will in time be no more young F.P.s coming up and what will become of the F.P. Club in the long term when there are no more F.P.s of the Aberdeen Grammar School? I should emphasise that I am not against the new Clubhouse for any F.P. activities. I am all for them once we have got our priorities right. I merely think that on the matter of priorities they come below the School itself.

A few final thoughts : What is the real purpose of the F.P. Club? Is it to promote the interests of the School or the interests of the Club ? Is there not an opportunity at the end of the School's life for the Club to look to horizons rather wider than a game of snooker or a half-pint, the provision of which is the main purpose at present of the Clubhouse? Is there not an opportunity for a worth-while practical sacrifice to be made for the preservation of the School?

Although there would no doubt be an enormous public response to an appeal fund led officially by the Club, would it be enormous enough ?

These are not easy questions, and it may be that the stage has been reached where there are an insufficient number of people who care about the answers, but they are questions which seem to me to be worth asking over the next year or two when there is in any event going to be a great deal of general discussion on the future of independent schools following the publication of the recent report on independent schools.

STEPHEN A. C. ROBERTSON

Robert McNay One of the most characteristic features of the School year nowadays —and one which has called for regular comment each June for the past five or six years both in the Rector's Report and in the pages of this Magazine—has been the large turn-over in School staff. It is a source of some comfort to reflect that the vast majority of those who leave us are young men who have spent a few years of their professional career in the School, either serving their apprenticeship as teachers or adding to a store of experience accumulated elsewhere, and who are now very properly moving on to another post of greater responsibility.

The situation has become so familiar that it is accepted as part of the natural order of things and replacements, if not always easy, are rarely impossible.

There is, however, another loss which is of quite a different order.

Recent years have witnessed the disappearance, one by one, from the school scene of a number of senior members of staff, whose record of long and devoted service to the School had rendered them virtually irreplaceable. Ian Park, James Walker, John Lynch, Miss Ethel Mary Stewart, James Morrison, Charles Hemingway—the list reads like a school Roll of Honour. And now, this year, to add to it we have the name of Robert McNay. Mr. McNay joined the staff of Aberdeen Grammar School as Head of the Geography Department in September, 1947. A native of Wishaw in Lanarkshire he took a double Honours degree—in Geography and Botany—at Glasgow University, graduating in June, 1939.

The outbreak of the war interrupted his course at Jordanhill Training College and he spent the next five years employed in important research work in industry, resuming his studies at the end of hostilities in 1945.

His first teaching post was in Berwickshire High School, which he joined in January, 1946. It is perhaps as good an indication as any of his quality as a teacher of Geography that after only five terms as an Assistant Teacher he was appointed to a post of major responsibility as Principal Geography Master at the Grammar School. Of this quality the next twenty years were to give ample proof. Under Mr. McNay's direction the Geography Department of the School went from strength to strength and one measure of its success may be found in the large number of boys who have gone on in recent years to do distinguished work in Geography at the University.

For all who have known the School in the post-war years, however, Mr. McNay is just as likely to be remembered for his contribution to Hockey as to the teaching of Geography. It has been a contribution, indeed, not only to Hockey in the Grammar School but just as much to Hockey in the City of Aberdeen.

In January, 1967, he relinquished his post as Head of the Geography Department to take over the even more exacting one of Deputy Rector of the School. The appointment, as acceptable to his colleagues on the staff at the time as it was well deserved, has been fully justified by his record of achievement in the three and a half years that have 79

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Aberdeen Grammar School Magazine

elapsed since. They have not been the easiest years in the history of the School. A steadily increasing roll—which has been particularly marked at the top end of the School—the constant succession of changes affecting curriculum and educational policy in general, the continued uncertainty about the future of the School, these have all combined to place an added burden on all responsible for organisation and administration in the school. Mr. McNay has faced the challenge presented by this complex situation with all the forcefulness, all the vigour and all those positive qualities of character that we have come to expect of him and in doing so has made his own very definite contribution to the life of the School.

If he has, he would, I am sure be the first to admit that he has gained something in return. In one sense he has been serving an apprenticeship during these last three years, an apprenticeship that is bound to stand him in good stead when he takes over his new post in the autumn as Rector of Dumfries Academy. The change, indeed, has one feature in particular to commend it from Mr. McNay's point of view. The fact that Dumfries Academy is scheduled to remain as the second tier of a two-tier comprehensive system means that the organisation will be that of a selective Senior Secondary School—admittedly from Third Year upwards—and therefore very much in line with what he has been used to throughout his stay in the Grammar School. The fact that it is a co-educational school will, I am sure, hold no terrors for its new Rector, though whether his interest in Hockey will extend to the supervision of girls' teams as well as, or even instead of, boys' still remains to be seen!

As always on such occasions our feelings are very mixed, pleasure at the well-merited promotion of a colleague vying wth regret at the loss of a friend. For many of us in the School in the closing weeks of the session it has been the latter feeling that predominates. Twentythree years in a school is a long time—certainly long enough for a man to have forged numerous and strong ties of friendship and affection with his colleagues. This is particularly true in the case of a man of friendly, outgoing temperament like Bob McNay. Such in the last analysis, are the things that count and it is for these thatties, he will be most missed and best remembered in time to come—for the ties formed over the years in the staffroom, in the classroom, on the playing-fields, on the golf-course, at staff functions and finally in the intimacy of the home.

It is perhaps regrettable that when the time came for him to move he had to choose a place as far removed from Aberdeen as Dumfries.

Yet we cannot but feel that those ties we have referred to will prove strong enough to draw him back from time to time to his adoptive city.

He does not need to be told that there will always be a welcome awaiting him in the School on these occasions and that we look forward with pleasure to the exchange of news that is always one of the happiest features of such encounters. Meanwhile we should like, on behalf of the staff and boys of the School, whether present or past, to extend to him and to Mrs. McNay our warmest good wishes for their success and happiness in their new sphere.

Special Entertainments Notice The attention of all members is again drawn to the circular enclosed with this issue of the Magazine regarding the Annual Dinner and Ball. In view of the constantly increasing cost of sending out the circular separately, it was decided by the Club Executive several years ago that adequate notice would be given of these functions if the circular were to be sent out with the June issue of the Magatine every year.

You are therefore requested to preserve carefully the circular (which is the only intimation which will be given) until you decide to submit your application form to Philip N. Love, NI.A., LL.B., 36 Albyn Place, Aberdeen (Tel. 52525). In addition, you should note these dates in your diary: Annual Dinner: Thursday, 12 November 197o in Treetops Hotel, Aberdeen.

Annual Ball: Tuesday, 29 December 197o in the Beach Ballroom.

Only members of the F.P. Club may apply for tickets.

Pre-War Arts Club In the June 1969 issue of the Magazine the retiral of Mr. Charles Hemingway from the School staff was reported. For me, his going marks an epoch, as he was the last of my actual masters on the staff.

Together with many others, I wish Charles a long and happy retirement.

It appeared from the article that the writer was of the opinion that the Grammar School Arts Club was a post-war innovation.

I would like to point out that pre-war we had a flourishing and active Arts Club, and indeed, produced a very fine Arts Club Magazine.

The accompanying photograph [see centre pages], which I recently came across, was taken by the Press during the winter term of 1937-38, at one of the Thursday night meetings.

Apart from the young Charles Hemingway, and a very young writer, one can recognise Ian Shaw MacPhail, Bill Henry and James Gadsby, both now Doctors, Richard (Buck) Jones, now an architect in the Far East, Hamish MacHardy, James Garden (I think), and Bill Philp0ts, who was a natural footballer in both codes of the game, and went to America.

NEIL H. MACDONALD (1934-1938)

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Aberdeen Grammar Selma Magazine

Whatever happened (II) ...?

PRIMARY 7A 1958-9 Due to the popularity of the article which my friend, Jock Hendry, wrote for the last issue of the Magazine, the Editor asked (or rather instructed) me to do an "encore" by reporting on the careers of the other primary class which had been fed by the last intake ofnursery boys.

From Primary 3 to Primary 7 we "A"s were always inferior to the dreaded "B"s in everything from our academic performances to our ability to compete in snowball fights. I do not think we ever beat them at rugby, soccer or cricket, but we never gave up planning the most elaborate strategy for every match.

Even now we cannot compete with their ludicrously successful record of twenty-two university entrants from a class of thirty-three.

Nevertheless, while I was collecting the information contained in the following pages, I felt that, at last, in our own fields, we "A"s could at least force a draw!

R. W. Arthur (1954-65). Ronald recently returned to Britain from the island of Gan in the Indian Ocean where he was serving with the R.A.F. as a supplier. He has now been with the R.A.F. in Norfolk for eighteen months, after which he hopes to go into the hotel trade and settle in East Anglia. While living in the East Ronald retained his interest in hockey and competed in the Far East Airforce Championships in Singapore.

J. R. Baird (1951-64). Ross is now a car salesman with Cordiner's in Aberdeen. He takes a keen interest in rallying and is a committee member of Aberdeen and District Rally Club. He married in 1970.

J. R. Bisset (1952-65). John has taken a break in his geology course at Aberdeen University and is at present working as a geological officer with an oil company in Zambia. He intends to return to Aberdeen in September to complete his studies.

E. A. Buchan (i 951-65). After a spell at the Scott Sutherland School of Architecture, Eric switched to an Edinburgh University course in architecture which is slanted towards town planning.

D. Bytheway (1952-62). David's career began with the Daily Express, but after working with that newspaper for three years in

Stirling he joined the B.B.C. as a television reporter and he is now frequently featured on the "box" in such programmes as "Nationwide". He married a Stirling girl in April of this year.

I. G. Cotching (19S4-65). For a year after leaving School Ian studied at Aberdeen College of Commerce. In the following year he worked in the University's genetics department before coming to University as an undergraduate. He is now about to enter the final year of his course in botany.

Whaiever Happened . . 2

83

D. S. Davidson (1452-65). After spending a year at Aberdeen University, David decided to join the Civil Service. He worked with the Ministry of Defence in London until March 1970 when he married and set off for a post in Cyprus very much in the same breath.

A. M. Dempster (1951-63). On leaving school Alastair joined Lawson's of Dyce and he has now completed a three year course in Meat Technology in London. While at college he gained a bronze medal for his performance in his final examination and a silver medal for carcase judging at Smithfield Show. He is now manager of a production unit with Swift and Co. in Preston.

I. Douglas (195z-65). After completing his M.A. at Aberdeen University Ian emigrated to Canada where he is now training to become a chartered accountant. He recently married an Aberdeen girl who went out to join him in Canada.

M. P. Gray (1954-64). Mike has vanished . .. and that is no mean feat for a man of his bulk. His first job was with an insurance company in Aberdeen but he is now believed to be working in London.

R. Gray (1951-65). Russell is still at the Grammar School (after a four year spell at Aberdeen University and T.C.). Apart from being a teacher, Russell is also a drummer with a folk/jazz group which performs at student functions.

A. H. Gudim (1958-65). Harald's experiences in the Norwegian Army have been described fully by himself in the June 1969 issue of the Magazine. He is about to enter the final year of an honours course in administration at Strathclyde University after which he intends to change his allegiance and join the British Army. At Strathclyde he has gained colours for boxing and a full blue for amateur wrestling, having been this year's West of Scotland middleweight champion.

He was a member of the original training squad for this year's Commonwealth Games but has now been dropped from the team.

D. A. Hay (1951-64). David's distinctions at Aberdeen University included the Hendry Prize in Mental Philosophy and a Carnegie Award for his work in his Junior Honours year and his academic course was nicely rounded off with a first-class honours degree in psychology. He is now studying for his Ph.D. in biometric genetics at Birmingham University and he has been asked to give a paper to the British Association in September. When he has not been collecting academic awards David has been representing Aberdeen University at rowing and competing in international orienteering championships with Birmingham University.

R. D. Innes (195z-6z). Ronald left School to go to the College of Commerce and until recently he was working in the Aberdeen branch of Cook's travel agency.

84

Aberdeen Grammar School Magazine

A. K. G. Lamont (1952-65). Alistair switched courses a year after leaving school, moving from Strathclyde to college in Edinburgh where he is studying to be a civil engineer. He has been elected to a responsible student position within the college.

A. G. MacKenzie (1952-65). Despite spending a lot of time, money and energy both on providing the musical inspiration for what was currently Aberdeen's most popular "group" and on buying and selling cars of dubious merit, Alisdair graduated from Aberdeen University with second class honours in psychology. He is now working with Rolls-Royce in Crewe.

G. R. MacNay (x951-65). On completing his M.A. last year Gordon enrolled with Aberdeen College of Education. His long lunchtime sessions in the school playground eleven years ago have stood him in good stead as he how plays a lot of amateur football.

G. M. Morrison (195z-63). Since leaving School Graham has been a student at the College of Commerce and an employee of Bisset's, the booksellers. He is now studying at Aberdeen College of Education.

R. I. D. Murdoch (1952-66). Donald is now in his practical year at the Scott Sutherland School of Architecture. He takes a prominent part in student affairs and was president of his students' union last year.

L. W. Ogilvie (1952-64). Since joining the R.A.F. Lawrence has been extremely successful in various examinations. He is now married and is reputed to be guarding the secrets of the free world in Brussels.

D. A. M. M. Rae (1952-59, i 96 i-62). After returning to School from Aden Donald left again for York within a year and he has not been heard of since.

R. A. Reece (1952-65). The Civil Service was Richard's first choice after leaving School, but the following year he studied at Aberdeen's College of Commerce. He had the top mark in Scotland in his exam for the Scottish National Certificate for Costing. He is now helping to create the smell emanating from Sandilands Chemical Works near the beach. He has been married for some years and is the father of two girls.

J. D. Reid (1954-65). After graduating M.A. with honours in political economy last year, James joined the National Coal Board's graduate training scheme, and rumours that he has been seen hewing away at a coal face are not entirely unfounded. James is situated in London just now and is considering taking an accountancy qualification as part of his training.

G. D. G. Shirreffs (1952-64). Since leaving School George has been working with a firm of consultant engineers in Aberdeen. He is

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taking the Higher National Certificate of Civil Engineering and plays juvenile football in his spare time.

M. J. Shlrreffs (1951-64). Murdoch has a done a lot of work for Charities and in student affairs generally. This year he was both secretary of the University Union Management Committee and editor of Eureka. He expects to graduate M.B., Ch.B. this year and intends to get married next year.

G. B. P. Smith (1951-64). Bruce's achievements at Aberdeen University were not limited to a meritorious LL.B. degree. He was also a member of a team which won the British Universities' Mooting Competition. He served his apprenticeship with the firm of James and George Collie and he is now an assistant with the same firm as well as being a part-time lecturer in Mercantile Law. He married in 1970.

A. G. Stewart (1953-63). Alan left School to join the army but he subsequently secured his freedom and went to study at Napier College in Edinburgh. He is now a catering officer in Grangemouth. He married this year.

R. J. Stuart (1950-64). Rod has worked with Roy Thomson Ltd. since leaving School and he is now a qualified foreman auto-electrical engineer. He married in 1969, but his other interests include fishing, shooting and membership of the British Sub-Aqua Club.

I. W. Thomson (1952-65). lain is training to be a chartered accountant and he is currently attached to Meston and Co. A. H. White (1952-65). After a short spell at the College of Commerce, Alan joined the Diplomatic Service. He was promoted into the Immigration Department but in February 1969 he resigned and after five months, work as an uncertificated teacher he began to study at Gray's School of Art. He hopes to be an art teacher.

D. K. Yule (1951-65). David graduated from Aberdeen University with honours in English last year. Since then he has been working as a research student with the University's Department of Computing and at the time of writing he has nothing better to do with his time than to publish libellous comments about his former classmates.

Aberdeen University Bursary Competition The School maintained its standard of past years in the Aberdeen University Bursary competition with the following boys winning commendable places: Wilson S. Hendry I Kenneth F. McLean 2 4 George E. McLeod John Ellis 30 3 Michael Y. Prest Stephen C. Inglis 32 4 David Malcolm 6 David B. Catto 49 Graham C. M. Watt 12 Ian A. Anderson 64

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Hitch-Hike to India Sixth-former Chris Young has undertaken a 24,000 mile sponsored hitch-hiking expedition to India in aid of the "Help the Aged" Fund and, as we go to press, is already well on the way to reaching his goal. Here he tells of the reasons which have prompted him to embark on this marathon trek and also gives details of his planned route I leave on 18 May on my most ambitious hitch-hiking expedition yet. For many months now the planning of this trip has been purely on paper but while you are reading this, it will be a reality.

It has been an ambition of mine to hitch to India for some two years. My experience of hitching is fairly good, having already covered 25,ooo miles through France, Belgium, Holland, Italy, Germany, Monaco, Jugoslavia, Greece and Turkey during the past two years.

These trips I suppose have been trial runs.

I felt that somehow I would like to do something constructive during my trip arid hit on the idea of a sponsored hitch-hike. I spoke to the Regional Organiser for the "Help the Aged" fund who was very enthusiastic.

I wish through my trip to stir up some interest amongst the youth of Aberdeen—even Britain—in the conditions and standards which exist in many of the less developed countries of the world.

One becomes blasé of the troubles in these countries as they are pumped continuously at us through many media. I hope a young person's actual photographs and reports will create more interest than merely saying: "Half the world is starving, what will YOU do about it?" The general attitude is "I knew that" and no more is said.

But something active must be done—especially by youth.

One pound will feed an aged refugee for a week. Two pounds will give a good meal to twelve starving oldpeople. Five pounds will provide shelter and medical care for an aged refugee for a month. Fifty pounds enables an overseas station to look after the needy aged in a whole district.

You may ask: "Why help the aged ?" It is pitifully obvious that the aged and the very young are those in MOST NEED OF HELP. These are the people who can't work. Does this mean that they shouldn't live?

I would like to see a much larger participation in v.s.o. I almost wish v.s.o. had taken the place of conscription which was abolished a few years ago.

A great deal of work is in fact done by a select group of young individuals. I know that the "Shelter" group in Aberdeen is active and has many fund raising activities. I doubt however if more than one in every a 5 o youths in Aberdeen does anything constructive to help the less fortunate.

The old axiom certainly applies "Many hands make light work".

A great deal of work can be done in Scotland for the old people by those without the opportunity to travel.

Many people would not believe the conditions that some old people live in, in this "civilised" country.

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It will be a part of my project to visit refugee camps and mission centres in Algeria, Jordan, Iran, Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Nepal and India, and I intend returning with photographs of the conditions which exist.

My planned route is down through France and Spain to Morocco.

From there I will follow the Mediterranean southern coast through Algeria, Tunisia, Libya, then into Egypt. I will then bypass Israel by taking a sea passage to Beiruit in the Lebanon. From there I travel to Damascus, then to Baghdad.

From there on, the journey will begin to get more difficult because of extreme temperatures and lack of traffic.

Once in Baghdad I strike north-east for Tehran and after this the target is Kabul in Afghanistan. Delhi is the next stopping place. This part of India is very heavily populated and my stay there may be prolonged.

Via Rauxal I will journey to Katmandu, the capital of Nepal and only about fifty miles from Mt. Everest. After a short stay in Nepal I will hitch down to Calcutta, then to Madras, Mangalore, Bangalore and Bombay.

My stay in India will last about six weeks. My journey home will take me through Karachi, Quetta, Baghdad, Ankara, Istanbul, Belgrade, Zagreb, Munich, Brussels and then finally Ostend from where I will take the ferry to Britain.

The sponsorship scheme takes two forms: • Individual sponsors at a minimum of id per hundred miles.

• Group sponsors i.e. youth clubs, organisations, firms etc. at a minimum of 5d per hundred miles.

The sponsorship scheme will carry on throughout my journey and details and forms may be obtained from the North-East of Scotland organiser for "Help the Aged", Mr. Pat Bolan, Esso House, Ellon Road, Bridge of Don, Aberdeen.

Finally I would like to thank four of my colleagues at School, Archie Tait, Brian Kelman, Paul Webley and Greig Johnston, for their assistance in the planning of my expedition.

Amateur Astronomy The Space-Age is upon us. Astronomy as a means of Celestial Navigation, if nothing else, is becoming increasingly important.

The Big Question is: Why, if professional astronomers with complex equipment scan the skies and check out data with their computers, should the amateur look at the heavens at all?

The answer is, that professionals have a limited observing time, and that they concentrate on distant objects, millions of Light Years away, for the simple reason that that is what the telescopes were built for.

Therefore, amateurs can do valuable work on many objects closer to the earth, e.g. Moon, Sun, variable stars etc.

Why look at the stars? The stars have not much practical use in themselves, except for navigation and timing. The stars are, in fact,

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the most accurate clock there is l The chief reason for "stargazing" as far as the casual observer is concerned, is the sheer beauty of the cosmos.

Look closely at any area of the sky and you at once notice that the stars are not uniform in colour. Some are white, others are red, some orange, some yellow like the sun etc. When viewed through a telescope this becomes increasingly apparent.

Other spectacles in the sky are: The rings of Saturn which are well visible in a telescope at a power of approx. lox; The four brightest moons of Jupiter, which can be glimpsed in binoculars, meteors, or shooting stars (grains of cosmic dust burning up in the atmosphere) and occasionally a passing comet, in orbit around the sun, such as the recent Bennett's Comet, which incidentally was the brightest visible from Britain since 1937.

Therefore, the next time the sky is clear of cloud, mist etc. drag yourself away from the TV and look to the skies!

DAVID SOUTTER, III Gi

A Social Record of Aberdeen Thanks to two School pupils a remarkable social record of life in Aberdeen up to zoo years ago has been on exhibition in the city.

The exhibition is one of old photographs of Aberdeen and Aberdonians in the nineteenth century. But essentially it's about people— the people of the city captured in photographs as they work, rest and play.

These pictures are so natural and the quality so striking that you have to keep reminding yourself that they were taken at a time when photography was being pioneered.

The films the pictures came from are the personal collection of Mr. Alan Stott of J. E. Henderson's, the photographic shop in Rose Street. He has made this collection of the "History of Aberdeen" his hobby.

Mr. Stott was so concerned that this scattered record of Aberdeen could be lost for ever that he started his collection. As it became known he was after old pictures, people began to come forward with them.

He now has no fewer than 1,386 such pictures. But having gathered the pictures together, Mr. Stott wanted to share his collection with the people of Aberdeen. So he approached Mr. Ian McKenzie Smith, the director of Aberdeen Art Gallery, and it was decided that they should try to get this exhibition ready for the Aberdeen Festival.

And that's where Kevin Rennie and David Hewet of the School Photographic Society come into the story.

For the exhibition zoo pictures had to be printed, a considerable job which would have cost up to £8o if done commercially. In fact Mr. Stott goes as far as to say: "I doubt if it would have gone on if it had to be done commercially."

A school photographic club was the perfect answer. It involved the School in an art gallery project, something which Mr. Ian McKenzie Smith is keen on, and it also drastically cut the cost. The paper and the

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chemicals were paid for and Mr. Will, master in charge of the Photographic Club, was asked to arrange the printing.

Kevin Rennie, who has been Mr. Will's principal assistant at the Club this year, and David Hewet volunteered to do the job. The two i 7-year-olds worked during their Easter holidays and up to 9 p.m. on occasions to print off so 16 x zo in. pictures and 15o 8 x ro in. pictures.

Kevin said: "Each of them had to be selectively enlarged. On these old films, some of which are not very sharp and some which had been reproduced time and time again, great care had to be taken to ensure that the best quality was achieved."

The two boys obviously became absorbed in this project. David said they were very interested when they could pick out from old pictures parts of Aberdeen which remain. Both agree that the work was thoroughly enjoyable and gave them good experience.

The prints have been highly praised by everyone concerned. Mr. Smith said: "I am very pleased with the results." He explained that the exhibition would be evocative of the generation before last.

Mr. McDiarmid said that Scottish photographers are at the moment enjoying a kind of renaissance with an exhibition of the work of pioneers David Octavius Hill and Robert Adamson, which are on show in Edinburgh. But he is sure that they are no better than the Aberdeen pictures, and adds: "These were as good as anything produced in Scotland." Having seen the pictures I would not question that assessment. Many of them are by the famous photographic pioneer George Washington Wilson. His originality and sheer technical skill could surely not be bettered by any other Scottish photographer of his time.

Kevin and David have lost none of the magic in these pictures in which the merest shadow is important. "This is what is so impressive.

They have made a first-class job of it", said Mr. McDiarmid. "In fact, they haven't lost anything."

Editorial Change Pressure of work has forced Charles Ritchie to resign from his post of Notes Editor of the Magatine. It was with regret that the Executive Committee accepted his resignation at the beginning of this year.

Since his appointment in 1966 Charlie has carried out his considerable duties with diligent perseverance.

The gathering of material for inclusion in the Notes About Old Boys and Marriage sections of the Magatine is a difficult and sometimes frustrating role, but one which Charlie bore manfully. We thank him for his service.

In his place we welcome J. B. Rennie who has worked hard to maintain the standard of the Notes Sections in this edition of the Magazine since his appointment.

His duties are time-consuming but his burden can be made lighter if all F.P.s keep him informed of their activities.

Memories of Moscow 1968-69 In September 1968 I arrived in the Soviet Union with a group of British students to take up a four-month British Council studentship at Moscow State University. The period I spend as a student in Moscow (I eventually extended my stay to ten months) was one which had considerable influence on my ideas. I found the Soviet Union a fascinating country, since it differs in so many ways from our own, and on my return to Britain I realised that this interest is shared by a large number of people; my aim in this brief account is to give a picture of the Soviet Union which will answer the questions which I find are most commonly asked.

Before I begin to describe my impressions of Moscow, a word must be said about the KGB—the Soviet "secret police". (Not very secret, since their phone number can be found in the Moscow telephone directory.) Everyone has read tales of "bugged" rooms, of businessmen being compromised and so on, but only a prolonged stay in the Soviet Union can begin to give you a true awareness of the ways in which certain groups of people must conceal their attitudes and modify their actions to allow for the fact that some of the people with whom they come in contact may be reporting back to the KGB. No one can properly assess the degree to which this activity poisons Soviet society; police surveillance is far less widespread and far less vicious than it was under Stalin, but the KGB is still an important factor in Soviet life. It should, however, be remembered that the secret police is not a Soviet creation; it has a parentage which can certainly be traced back to the days of Ivan the Terrible.

KREMLIN VIEW

My home for ten months in Moscow was the University building on Lenin Hills forty-five minutes by bus from Red Square, and imposingly situated on the banks of the River Moskva, with a view over the city to the shining golden cupolas of the Kremlin cathedrals. The building, a skyscraper with a thirty-storey central block and tenstorey arms radiating from the centre, was built towards the end of the Stalin era, and is an example of the massive, crudely impressive style of architecture so beloved by dictators. There is accommodation for nearly io,ooo students as well as lecture-rooms and laboratories.

Students need hardly ever leave the building, since there are canteens, cafes, shops selling meat, groceries, bread and milk, kiosks where you can buy theatre tickets or have a watch mended or a ball-point pen repaired, a post office, bookstalls, a swimming pool, a cinema and a theatre all on the premises, as well as facilities for a wide range of sports in the spacious grounds around the University. At the risk of beginning to sound like the P.R.O. of Hilton Hotels, I should also say that my room left little to be desired; it had a bed, a couch and a couple of chairs, two tables, a radio receiver (with only one channel, however) and a private washroom with a shower and almost totally reliable hot water. True, there were cockroaches, but we soon established a reasonable "modus vivendi" by which they tactfully with90

Memories of Moscow 4068-69

91 drew as soon as I got up in the morning. Conditions in Moscow were far above those in hostels in other cities where British students were living: showers there tended to be communal, hot water was only available at certain times, and rooms were shared by two or three people. This fact of sharing rooms did have the advantage that contact with Russians was much more rapidly established: British students in Moscow have regularly found that it is not easy to make friends with Russian students. There are several reasons for this: we were not sharing a room with a Russian, we lived on a floor reserved for foreigners, we were no novelty, and so on.

INDIRECT CONTACTS

I had hoped to make contacts by going to lectures, but this hope was not fulfilled; the contacts I eventually made were much more indirect. Lectures were not a source of social contacts, nor were they a source of intellectual enlightenment. One learns about literature from textbooks which, of course, give a Marxist—Leninist interpretation of individual works and of literary trends: to say that these are tendentious and unstimulating is to be guilty of considerable understatement. The aim is not to stimulate originality, but to influence students to think along the same lines as the great authorities of the past. I found that I was expected to learn the textbook and be able to recite its basic points in parrot fashion. It seems to me to be an indictment of the much-vaunted "Soviet intelligentsia" that the opinions adhered to in the textbooks are those of Marx, Engels and Lenin, plus three nineteenth-century radicals—Belinsky, Dobrolyubov and Chernyshevsky. This seems a tacit admission that original thought ended in the first quarter of this century. Even if the education system were to encourage creative thinking, there would be few outlets for this in Soviet society; in the arts the restrictions are only too well-known, and in the fields of industry or commerce one is indirectly limited by the Party (since all the means of production belongs to the State, and the Party makes sure it controls the State).

The Party's own philosophy denies any "bright young men" from effecting change—the Leninist principle still adhered to is that all initiative is exercised at the top and filters down; this is "democratic centralism". Whilst this policy, adopted for the Bolsheviks before 1917, may be a suitable one for a party which is furthering a conspiracy, it is not one that leads to dynamic government, I should have thought.

But I am digressing rather from the topic of education .. .

"FRINGE"

SUBJECTS

I had, before going to the Soviet Union, been of the opinion that all Soviet students were serious and hard-working: I was pleased to discover that this is not the case, and that there is the same variety of attitudes to work as exists in British universities. The work-load in terms of hours of lectures per week is heavy, and exams are of a type which would terrify me: they are all oral, and the system is that one comes into the room, turns up a piece of paper with one question on it,

Aberdeen Grammar School Magazine 92 goes away for twenty minutes to think, and then comes back to answer. The curriculum followed is much broader than we usually assume it to be, and there are compulsory "fringe" subjects like the History of the Party, Dialectical Materialism ("The Law of God" in student slang) plus one afternoon a week of military training (for male and female students).

People often ask about the standard of living in the Soviet Union.

I find it very difficult to answer this fairly, since it rather depends on what basis of comparison one employs. If one is to consider only outward appearance, the Soviet Union appears a poor country. There is a lack of modernity and efficiency, a lack of many things we take for granted; still very few cars, clothes improving in quality but still of a lower standard in most ways than those we buy (and the cost is considerable; a man's suit can be from zoo roubles or £ioo, and a pair of ladies' shoes are about 9o roubles or f45), meat is of mediocre quality (and in one large city in the south was unavailable for several weeks in winter, even in sausage form) and fruit and vegetables can be hard to obtain (pickled cucumber was the regular vegetable in winter, oranges appeared in shops irregularly every two or three weeks, and Leningrad was without eggs for six weeks in November to December). Against this (and one must remember that things are getting better all the time), one should balance things like cheap housing, cheap transport, cheap electricity and gas, free education (but you pay for school books), a free health service, and subsidised holidays in the summer. One is not allowed to forget the devastation caused by the Second World War (in Soviet terminology the "Great Patriotic War") when vast areas of Russia, White Russia and the Ukraine were devastated and twenty million Soviet citizens were killed. The task of rebuilding industry and the agricultural economy in a country which Stalin cut off from American aid was an immense one, and the Soviet growth rate was very healthy. Now that the heavy industries have reached a high level of production, the consumers are being given more consideration, but recent reports show that the growth rate is dropping and that the leadership is aware of considerable inefficiency. It has also been apparent for some time that the "kolkhozy" (collective farms) are not increasing production at a satisfactory rate; the agricultural problem, always present in the Russian economy, would seem to remain unsolved.

PLEASANT ASPECT

One of the pleasant aspects of my stay in Moscow was the fact that I was able to enjoy the theatre and ballet to an extent which is not possible in Aberdeen. There are always good concerts on in Moscow, at the Conservatoire for example, but I concentrated on the theatre (the Maly and the "MXAT", the latter being closely associated with Chekhov and Stanislavsky). But of course the main attraction in Moscow is the Bolshoi Theatre. (In my childhood I used to think "Bolshoi" had a luxurious, mysterious Eastern ring to it; I was rather disillusioned to discover that it means simply "big"). All the larger theatres and concert halls in Moscow are packed, and it can be difficult

Memories of Moscow 1968-69 93 to get tickets, but it is nearly always worth the effort; the Russians arc proud of their tradition in ballet and maintain a very high standard of technique, and in opera they spare nothing to make their sets accurate and appropriate to the time—they have a wonderful sense of spectacle, be it burning castles or glittering processions.

In the Kremlin there is a new building—the Palace of Congresses— intended principally to house congresses of the Party, but used also as a theatre. I remember very well my last evening in Moscow; I went to the ballet "Don Quixote", and at the interval we went up to the "buffet" which is right at the top and covers the whole area of the theatre.

There, we looked out on the Kremlin cathedrals and enjoyed pancakes and caviar with a glass of Soviet champagne. The Soviet Union is not uniformly austere.

WINTER EXPERIENCE

It was a marvellous experience to live through a Russian winter.

All the seasons in Moscow have their charms; autumn and spring are very brief, so that in one the trees go the most beautiful shades of gold and brown in a short time, and in the other, the trees and bushes seem to acquire delightfully fresh green leaves almost overnight. But it is the Russian winter that has been honoured in literature and has so affected the economy of the country and the attitudes of its people.

Two things surprised me about winter in Moscow: there was remarkably little snow, and one actively enjoyed walking about in a temperature of — io°C. The reason for both is the dryness of the air, which makes one feel the cold far less. Indeed, one was not really uncomfortable even at — za°C (when the air freezes in your nostrils as you breathe in); even then one could get about with the ear-flaps down on one's "shapka" (fur hat). Indoors one was immune from the cold: the rooms were double-glazed and centrally heated so that one could always sit in shirt-sleeves, and getting up in the mornings was not the unpleasant business that it is in a cold British bedroom. One's doubleglazed window also served as a refrigerator since the inner windowpane could be opened. On occasions, the refrigeration proved a little over-effective; one feels stupid delicately removing an egg from storage and tapping it gently on the side of one's frying pan only to discover that even a hammer and chisel would be of little use, as it is frozen solid.

Transport keeps going in winter because of the lack of moisture in the atmosphere, snow is easily swept from the roadways, and every day armies of snow-removal lorries clear the streets and dumps the snow in the river. The transport system in general, regardless of the weather, is worthy of comment. Buses, trolleybuses and trams have a fixed fare (respectively 5, 4 and 3 kopecks) however far one travels: there is no conductor, one pays the fare and tears of the ticket oneself.

Buses are very frequent, but are fairly small single-deckers and get very crowded (since there is no conductor to limit numbers, people just keeping getting on until one hardly dare breathe in, and one often finds oneself walled in by an impenetrable barrier of Russian "babushki" (lit. "grandmothers", applied to any oldish Russian woman, typically

Aberdeen Grammar School Magaine 94 of short but very solid build). The Metro is Moscow's pride and joy; again trains are very frequent and are far less crowded than the buses.

Like the University, the Metro is largely a product of the Stalin era, hence its marble walls and pillars and its statues of heroes of the Revolution or the War. In April 1969 a group of us from Moscow, along with a few students from other cities in the Soviet Union went on a trip to the southern part of the country, to the Republics of Uzbekistan, Armenia and Georgia. This was an unforgettable experience. We took off one night from Moscow at 11.45 p.m., and just over five hours later, our Ilyushin Fl-i 8 landed at Samarkand Airport. As soon as we reached the airport buildings we realised we were in a different world—men with long beards, flowing robes and little skull caps (in Russian "tyubityeiki") sat around waiting for planes. We spent two days in Samarkand, living in a student hostel (whose sanitary arrangements defy description) with a bus provided to take us to the monuments, and so we were able to see most of the important sights—the most famous being the Geer Emir, which covers the tomb of Tamberlaine the Great. We were impressed by the way in which Soviet experts have restored the beautiful mosaics which adorn the old buildings, devoting their efforts to discovering a modern dye which would give the same translucent blue colour which is dominant in these mosaics. We also had some time to stroll round the old part of the town, looking at the low, blankwalled houses with their little gardens and the narrow streets which give some protection from the frequent sandstorms. We had wondered at the number of troops we saw—all wearing funny Boy Scout-style hats—but were later informed that the small patrols we saw with fixed bayonets on their guns were to try to reduce the number of throat-cuttings which apparently occur.

From Samarkand we flew to the town of Bukhara, which in many ways was similar to Samarkand, but was less well-restored: whilst my abiding memory of Samarkand is of the exquisite blue of the mosaics, I remember Bukhara as being of the same colour as the surrounding desert. Then two days later we flew to Tashkent, where we at last found hot showers. All these three towns are in the Republic of Uzbekistan, Tashkent being the capital. Although the two native races are the Uzbeks and the Tadjiks, whom we found very warm and happy people, Russian colonisation has led to the situation whereby Russians or Ukrainians are noticeably in the majority in the large towns. Tashkent was devastated by an earthquake just a few years ago: there are few signs of this left now, and the city seemed quite a pleasant one, if not distinguished by any specially impressive buildings.

LEGACY OF CULTURE

Armenia and Georgia are in many ways very similar, although natives of either republic would be appalled to see them put on the same level— there is a traditional rivalry, not to say enmity, between the two peoples.

In both places we were aware of the legacy of a culture which for long had been more advanced than Russian culture, and in both places we enjoyed trips into the magnificently varied scenery of the Caucasus.

Memories ofMoscow 1968-6y

95 In Erevan we noticed two major differences from Russia. The Armenians are proud that their state was the first in the world to make Christianity the official religion, and their church is well supported both from within Armenia and outside. The Armenian Gregorian church apparently is somewhere between the Roman Catholic and the Russian Orthodox churches, and was immediately aware of the absence of an iconostasis and the presence of a church organ (the singing of the choir in the fourth-century church at Echmiadzin, near Erevan, was particularly beautiful). It was very noticeable also how proud people we met were of Armenian culture; whereas Russians never speak of emigres, and works of Russian artists produced outside the Soviet Union are ignored (a notable example is Stravinsky), Armenians constantly speak of the contribution of Armenians "at home and abroad" and of how rich Armenians in Great Britain and America support the church in Armenia. This view that Armenians have something to contribute to the world at large, and not just to the Soviet Union was one which impressed me, although Russians might attack such national pride as "bourgeois nationalism".

HOTEL LUXURY

So far, we had always stayed in student hostels and been provided with a bus (no charge being made for either), but in Tbilisi, which for most of us was the high spot of our trip, we lived in luxury in a hotel, as the hostel was full up. We still had a bus, and were taken on an excursion along the Georgian Military Highway, made famous by the Russian Romantic poet Lermontov. Moscow is in a plain and the towns in Uzbekistan are surrounded by desert, so that it was a most welcome change to find oneself back among mountains: it made me quite homesick.

The Soviet authorities deny that the "nationalities question" is any longer a problem. In Georgia and Armenia, however, I became aware of very strong national pride; in Georgia this was partly shown by the presence of photographs of Stalin and of streets named after him (something now abolished everywhere else in the Soviet Union)— they are obviously still proud of the "local boy who made good".

I am convinced that the Soviet Union in its present state can only be held together by a strong authoritarian regime; if the reins were loosened to any significant degree, I am sure that certain republics would press for much greater autonomy and even for secession from the Union, a right that the Soviet Constitution guarantees them.

Since there is no sign at present of a "loosening of the reins" it will be some years before I am proved right or wrong.

The two months left to us in Moscow after our trip to the south were very busy. It was a time of buying presents, planning a trip home through the Black Sea, and, since by now I had made some Russian and Lithuanian friends, going on picnics or to parties. There was also one major event in which five or six of us participated—the traditional May Day parade. Last year there was, for the first time, no military part of the parade, so that we felt quite happy marching along with people who seemed to be more celebrating the definite end of winter and the

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coming of spring, rather than any political cause. Most of the marchers were holding artificial flowers (I had a large red rose thrust into my hand), and as we approached Red Square under banners denouncing variously the American action in Viet-Nam, the "Mao clique" in China, and, to make sure the British didn't feel left out, The Times and Guardian, the order boomed out over loud speakers; "Comrade demonstrators, raise your flowers". I thrust my red, paper rose high in the air and marched through Red Square under the benign gaze of Comrades Brezhnev, Kosygin, Mikoyan and Suslov.

Both the May Day parade and, perhaps to a lesser extent, the November parade also, generate a carnival atmosphere; there are firework displays in the evening and red bunting adorns the normally rather colourless buildings.

On 1 July 1969, I left Moscow by train for Sukhumi, a port on the Black Sea, where we embarked on a ship which took us to Venice via Sochi, Yalta, Odessa, Varna, Athens, Brindisi and Split. It was a truly magnificent way of ending a year which had been full of new experiences and which had been an invigorating break from the normal run of my university studies. I feel I gained tremendously from my ten months in a strange perhaps even alien, environment and cannot endorse too strongly the comment made by my contemporary, Harald Gudim when he said in the Magazine of June 1969 at the end of an article on a period spent in the Norwegian Army, that any experience "which allows one to broaden one's perspective and meet a broader cross-section of people is surely not a year wasted if it permits one a breathing space and the opportunity to decide more independently and objectively the direction in which one wishes to make one's way in life".

DONALD A. LAMONT (1951-65)

School Section School Office-bearers Prefects GRAHAM C. M. WArr (Senior Prefect) SCOTT HENDERSON (Deputy Senior Prefect) NORMAN C. BAND DEREK D. BAVIDGE DAVID BOYD GORDON A. BUCHAN JON H. CIIRISTIANSEN ALAN CHRISTIE DAVID I. CORMACK ERIC H. CROCKART STEPHEN M. DAVIDSON JOHN L. DUNCAN

Jonr4 D. FLETCHER RANALD J. FORDYCE WILLIAM G. FRASER RICHARD GAMBLIN IAN GOODFELLOW AI.ASTAIR M. HARGRF.AVES WILSON S. HENDRY DAVID A. HEWET STEPIIEN C. INGLIS MALCOLM M. KERR

EUAN J. LAWRENCE KENNETH F. MCLEAN DOUGLAS G. MORTON THOMAS M. NASKRET ANDREW D. NISBET KENNETH F. PARK ALFRED T. ROBERTSON GEOFFREY H. SMITH GORDON URQUHART DOUGLAS R. WILLIAMSON

House Captains Byron

Dun

JON H. CHRISEIANSI N

SCOTT HENDERSON

Keith

Melvin

ALASTAIR M. HARGREAVES

THOMAS M. NASKRET Rugby

Ca/Vain SCOTT HENDERSON

Vice-Captain ALASTAIR M. HARGREAVES Hockey

Captain GEOFFREY II. SMITH

Vice-Captain WILLIAM G. FRASER Cricket

Captain RICHARD GAMBLIN

Vice-Captain IAN GOODFELLOW Swimming

Captain R. J. FORDYCE

Vice-Captain E. J. LAWRENCE Literary and Debating Society

President Graham C. M. WArr .Secretary DAVID A. HEWET

Vice-President ERIC H. CitocKAsr Treasurer DAVID I. CORMACK Dramatic Society

President ANDREW G. COOK Secretary DAVID MALCOLM

Vice-President STEPHEN G. INGLIS Treasurer DAVID I. CORMACK Cadet Force

C.S.M. MALCOLM KERR Editors of School Section DAVID I. CORMACK

GRAHAM C. M. WATT 97

98

Aberdeen Grammar School Magazine

Random Notes "There are some masters leaning over backwards to help you boys." * * * Regular readers of this column may be interested to know of the response to our Tea-lady Appeal. Raquel Welch did in fact apply, but had to be turned away due to possible congestion in the Howff.

Meanwhile our new tea-lady is Richard Gamblin, who admittedly does not fit all the requirements but is better than nothing. * * * We are informed that boys with hairy legs will be made to wear tights in the swimming pond next year * * * All suggestions for next year's Film Society programme should be neatly written down on a piece of foolscap paper, carefully sealed in an envelope, and thrown away. * * * A statistics project concerning the appetites of the Sixth Year has discovered that the most popular refreshment may be had from the Mars Bar. Few seem to favour the Milky Way. * * * The safest driver amongst the staff is undoubtedly Mr. Patrick Scott, who always drives as if his brief-case is sitting on the boot.

Not so, however, the anonymous owner of a dark blue Cortina who swerved dangerously out into the path of one Enjon driver, and ended up driving down the right-hand side of the North Deeside Road. * * * And now, the Voice of Moderation: "I don't mind pupil participation. In fact I welcome it. They can do anything they like. As long as they get their bloody hair cut."

Presenting the Prefects G. C. M. Watt. Graham was instrumental in the establishment of the new Prefects/Masters Committee, but has also done some important work, such as the organisation of the School Dance. A financial wizard. Gained colours (mainly black and blue) for playing the odd game of hockey, or rugby, or soccer, or refereeing, and his running the line for the ist XV was always worth an extra man. First Senior Prefect to use subtlety in the Howff. Grins and knows too much.

"I have two cogent reasons for not printing a list of subscribers— one, that I have lost all the names—the other that I have spent all the money." Johnson "About time you paid us a visit, Mr Watt." R. Falconer

Presenting the Prefects

99

S. Henderson. Captain of the 1st XV, Scott has "dun" everything there is to do in rugby except score a try. Although not a member of the Hillwalking Club, Scott had a gallant but unsuccessful attempt at conquering a Munro this term, but claims it's all a big fiddle. However, our D.S.P. can take a big bow for his efforts this year.

"He needs more skill than I can tell, To play the second fiddle well." C. H. Spurgeon N. C. Band. Veteran of the now legendary 1963-64 Lower School Football Team, Norman's enthusiasm for the game waned recently, and he had to be persuaded (nicely) to play for the Prefects 1st XI. Goes to Glenshee with the Ski Club. His week starts at half-past six on Sundays.

"Black Velvet Band." Popular Song D. D. Bavidge. Although Dek scored his first and only try against Gordon's playing centre-threequarter, his normal position is stretched out horizontally in one of the Howff armchairs. Has forgotten what a blackboard looks like. Shares the Howff record for failing driving tests.

"The ground flew up and hit me in the head." Artemus Ward "I shall sit here, he said, on and off, for days and days." Lewis Carroll D. Boyd. Often lens a hand to Archie, but does not project his own image much, within the scope of the Howff. However, some attention has been focused on his developing extrovert nature, which he credits to certain features of the Howff set. After Film Society, David likes to unwind in the Projection Box. "Fiddlepin's end! Get out you blazing ass! Gabble o' the goose.

Don't bugaboo-baby me!" C. S. Calverley G. A. Buchan. Gordon has no vices we can think of, and is therefore something of a black sheep in the Howff. Since his belated elevation to the elite, has been known to erupt at the back of the Debater.

Also plays football with considerable skill.

"You base football player." Shakespeare J. H. Christiansen. Crik is fanatically devoted to "Muggins", and plays during free periods. Although a rugby and soccer player of much daring, he has yet to miss a maths period in Room G. His habit of drop-kicking darts into the ceiling is the fastest-known way of emptying the Howff.

"To drink is a Christian diversion." Congreve "`A little drop' may end in a great fall." C. H. Spurgeon A. Christie One of Tarzan's apes, Alan is a quieter Sixth-year Prefect, but has been known to argue vehemently with Williamson.

Plays hockey and cricket. The only Prefect to go to the Beach three nights a week, even if it is to work.

"I never expect a soldier to think." Shaw

Aberdeen Grammar School Magatine D. I. Cormack. Gunth, as this fascist, philosophising, play-writing, acting, mountain-climbing Sixth Year Prefect is called, has frequently had the Howff rafters ringing to his beloved Wagner. Has his own fan club which bought him an Easter egg. Threatens to stage Gotterdammerung in the Howff, and describes himself as a lover of art, power and Helen, although not in that order.

"I wish he would explain his explanation." Byron loo

E. H. Crockart. Vice-President of the Debater, by virtue of his ability to speak unintelligibly fast, Eric is a musician and likes to decompose his own music. Plays the horn, argues with Williamson, but has not been forgiven for "Under a Cool Blue Sun".

"I can't sing. As a singist, I am not a success. I am saddest when I sing.

So are those who hear me. They are sadder than I am."

Artemus Ward S. M. Davidson. Has been seen cycling down Union Street wearing Bermuda shorts, Adidas shoes, a pink and white striped plastic raincoat, and polaroid sunglasses—the latest patter. Stephen may not be the fastest winger in Scotland, but he's certainly the smelliest (it's only the liniment). Now he is School Tennis Captain, has no ambition left.

"A very ancient and fish-like smell." Shakespeare "Why didst thou promise such a beauteous day And make me travel without my cloak ?" Shakespeare J. L. Duncan. Called Buddha, John pops up everywhere, including the 1st XV and the School Choir. Was starting a beautiful friendship with a rakish young lass from Albyn until the penny dropped, and John was not able. Now confines his social activities to Photographic Society coffee mornings, and afternoons.

"Well you see .. ." J.L.D. J. D. Fletcher. John hangs about the Howff quite a lot. Being both quiet and colour-blind, he never sees red, and thought the Albyn uniform was light brown until this year. Drives a van, water-skis, canoes, acquaints with Christine and disowns a scruffy fourth-year brother.

"If you like not hanging, drown yourself." P. Massinger R. J. Fordyce. Will have to learn to keep his cool during Latin periods. The Sixth Year have seen a lot of Ranald Fordyce this year, and he is freely tipped as a successor to Dek. Breaks with current Howff fashions by wearing full colours. Might take up swimming.

"One mother is worth a hundred schoolmasters." Proverb W. G. Fraser. Gavin remains aloof from the day-to-day bedlam of Howff life, and spends his free periods either working or studying.

Drives his own car and has full colours for hockey. Is perhaps not unbalanced enough to be a real Prefect.

"His cogitative faculties immersed in cogibundity of cogitation."

H. Carey

Presenting the Prefects

'cm R. Gamblin. Not a man to be caught with his trousers down, Richard must be the noisiest hand-clapping footstomping Prefect in the world. Absolutely no sense of rhythm. Plays scrum-half with flash, and is very handy in that he will take on anything.

"The shortest ladies love the longest men." P. Massinger I. Goodfellow. Plays for the ist XV, and is Cricket Vice-Captain in his Fifth Year, so we assume he is some sort of sportsman. Has met his match at the Academy. Ian would like his locker door back—all of it.

"Amo, amas, I love a lass, As cedar tall and slender; Sweet cowslip's grace, Is her nom'native case, And she's of the feminine gender." J. O'Keef A. M. Hargreaves. Indescribable. Alastair was born to play cricket for Lancashire, but the chances of this are officially described as nil.

We are told he plays rugby like a gentleman, though what that could mean we don't know. Has no vices and no enemies which makes him unique.

"And all that hair, like an ornamented deformation of the skull."

A. L. Huxley "I'm only a beer teetotaller, not a champagne teetotaller." Shaw W. S. Hendry. Known in High society as the man who took Amelia McCarthy, 44 Forest Road, Tel. 37071, to the School dance, Wilson is our man on the Scientific Society Committee. Has changed considerably since entering the Howff, but can still do Archie's maths, refuses to change his werewolf hairstyle, and is responsible for introducing Abel into the Howff.

"I'm very good at integral and differential calculus, I know the scientific names of beings animalculus."

W. S. Gilbert "I could have danced all night." E. Doolittle D. A. Hewet. Although David has always maintained his aura of innocence, purity and naivety, he has created quite a stir at the Debater this term, with his assault on the Prosecution Counsellor with his teddy bear at the mock trial, and his impersonation of Raquel Welch in the balloon debate—no mean achievement for someone who measures only 36 inches tall. Public enemy number whum.

"And as he knew not what to say, he swore." Byron S. C. Inglis. Passed his driving test first time without taking lessons, but we like him really. Stephen also plays the piano, is Pipe Major, skis with style, but can't play Bridge without losing his temper. The only Prefect who skives advanced maths.

"Analysis kills love as well as many other things." T. Brown

Aberdeen Grammar School Magazine R. S. Keil. Having made a notable impression during his brief stay last term, Roy can now be seen doing David Coleman impressions on "Sportsnight". Acclaimed expert on "how to be suave" and renowned for his "Cool Patter", Roy introduced psychological warfare to the Howff Darts League, and was thereby unbeatable.

"Good luck, good painting and—rather nicely, I think—thank you."

R.S.K. "Whum Whum, Whum Whumwhum, Whum-Whumwhum Whumwhum, Whum Whum-Whumwhum." R.S.K. 102

M. M. Kerr. Another colourful character, who has a nasty habit of taking his smalls into the Howff. Comes to school in fancy dress every Thursday, much to our amusement, and also acquaints with Tom. Is reputed to be good at darts, but nobody's ever played him, so we don't know.

"When the military man approaches, the world locks up its spoons and packs off its womankind." Shaw E. J. Lawrence. Easily shaken, Euan swims for Scotland, and has been described by the—"Evening Express" as "a real gentleman of the pool". We don't know what this means, but can only assume that the reporter has never heard about Stephen Davidson's LP's.

"Apparent rani nantes in gurgite vasto." Virgil K. F. McLean. President of the Geographical Society, Ken is a keen botanist and recently extended his field studies to include an imitation of the Gipsy Rose. Goes to dinners every day, climbs hills and goes fishing. The sole member of the Curling Club.

"Angling I can only compare to a stick and a string with a worm at one end and a fool at the other." Johnson D. G. Morton. Has been seen with a fast lady, but makes light of everything except his Guinness. Has uncanny knack for knowing when Lesley is about to knock. His efficiency should embarrass many of his colleagues but doesn't. This note was written in the Winking Owl, which will bring back memories to Doug and others.

"We must learn to do Economic Work." M. T. Tung "He knew the taverns wel in every toun." Chaucer T. M. Naskret. This pole has a magnetic personality, despite his rather barbaric way of opening windows. Tom spends his time at home, reading odd books, taxi-ing other Prefects around town and with Sheila. Tom would like to invite you all to his wedding in July.

"Advice to persons about to marry.—Don't." Punch A. D. Nisbet. This quiet, red-haired Fifth-year Prefect has a dartsthrowing technique which only just stops short of lift-off. Belies his appearance by climbing Munros by the dozen, and swinging his hockey-stick and driving his scooter with equal disregard for life and limb.

"A rider unequalled, a sportsman complete." C. J. Whyte-Melville

Presenting the Prefects

103

N. J. Osborne. Enjon left in mid-term to take up a career as an hotel waiter. Unfortunately he had to give this up and is going to Cambridge instead. Probably the most imperturbable Prefect, Enjon spoke in the Debater and skis down the White Lady with great style.

Favourite duty—Pie Queues.

"For Englishmen are ne'er contented long." Defoe K. F. Park. A tall, dark, handsome Prefect, has been the sensation of Albyn Place this year. Meanwhile, back at the Howff, Ken has been living it up in other ways—dashing off to play hockey, speeding over to the CCF Hut, and going to Film Society.

"Such are the joys of youth." Anon A. T. Robertson. Certainly not a good fellow as he is the biggest skiver in the Howff. Is apparently doing a correspondence course in History. Plays hockey, bridge and Mahler. Has a preference for High School hockey players and disgusts everyone by taking seconds of School custard.

"Art hath an enemy called Ignorance." Jonson G. H. Smith. Geoff is the latest in a long line of Gaelic-speaking, duf₹ie-coat wearing, spider-breeding School Hockey Captains.

Also plays hockey for Scotland, but finds his advanced knowledge of bridge bidding completely useless in the somewhat unconventional version of the game that is played in the Howff.

"I can trace my ancestry back to a protoplasmal primordial atomic globule." Sir W. S. Gilbert G. Urquhart. The original psycho-analyst's nightmare, Gordon must either be mad or comes from another planet. Hooks, is hooked to Lesley, and keeps goal for Red Star. Nobody who saw his fifteenfoot painting of Neptune will ever forget it. The same might also be said of Gordon.

"The greater the fool, the better the dancer." T. Hook D. R. Williamson. A sort of compromise anti-establishmentarian revolutionary with distinct traces of dialectical materialism. Doug claims to lead the pupil masses, but has yet to make contact with his followers. Often goes out to paint the town red. We wonder how long he'll last.

"A light of duty shines on every day For all; and yet how few are warmed or cheered." Wordsworth

Staff Changes At the time of going to press, the flood of staff changes reported in the last issue of the Margarine seems to have subsided. The task, however, of saying farewell officially is not any the less melancholy and there are eight people to make mention of who have succumbed to the attractions of promotion or to the desirability of a change of post.

The longest serving member among those to leave is Mr. Neilan McNay of whom the Rector has written in a separate article. Let me just say here on behalf of the Staff generally that, while we all bemoan Bob's departure, we also wish him the very best in his future post.

Mr. Henry T. Neilan is also leaving to take the post of Principal Teacher of French and Spanish at Dumfries Academy where, of course, he will serve under Mr. McNay next session. Mr. Neilan arrived at the Grammar School in 1964, having previously taught for three years in Jamaica. An F.P. of the School and an accomplished guitarist, Harry has on occasion enlivened the staffroom with the strains of faint, far-off continental places. Another linguist to leave is Mr. Lionel T. Davis who came to the School in 1967 straight from the College of Education and has gone to Banchory Academy as Principal Teacher of Modern Languages.

The Technical Department is losing Mr. James G. Shand who has taught for five years at the Grammar, arriving from a similar post in Cumbernauld. An athlete in his own day, Mr. Shand had many interests in School outwith his own subject, especially in Cross Country, Badminton and Orienteering and these respective clubs shall miss him for his sensible guidance and great enthusiasm. Mr. Shand is going to Cults Academy as an assistant master.

Mr. Alexander H. F. Tough has left the English Department to teach in the Aberdeen College of Commerce. Alec arrived in 1966, having taught for a spell at Inverurie Academy, and immediately made an impression with his pleasant and easy manner accompanied by a sharp intellect. Suffice it to say that Alec is the only man ever to know exactly what happened to every novel in the English Department Bookstore! Besides being a keen rotarian and a fanatical cricketer, Alec is a talented bridge player, achieving status latterly as a National Master and is under the selectors' scrutiny. The Staff, and the English Department in particular, while knowing his loss to the School, wish him well in his new post.

The final member of the Secondary Department to leave is Mr. Arthur Johnson of the Biology Department. Mr. Johnson, who lives in Ellon and has been keen to return there, is going as Principal Biology teacher at Ellon Academy. Arthur has a degree in agriculture which is, of course, especially suitable for teaching in a rural area.

Two of the School's Primary Department, Mr. J. Montgomery McRoberts and Mr. Hamish B. Paterson, are also leaving in accordance with the authority's policy to run down the Primary. We wish them well in their new posts and Mr. Niddrie, the Primary Headmaster, has written the following: Because next year we will have only two classes left in the Lower 104

StaffChanges

1o5 School, the end of this session sees the departure of two valued members of staff, Mr. J. Montgomery McRoberts and Mr. Hamish B. Paterson.

Mr. McRoberts joined the Lower School staff in August 1963 and since then has taught classes PVI and PVII. A good-humoured, friendly teacher, he has always fostered and maintained a happy working relationship between himself and his boys. In his classroom there has always been an atmosphere of co-operation, stemming mostly from Monty's own friendly nature. Besides looking upon him as their teacher his boys have regarded him as an adviser and friend, which fact is very evident when one sees the number of his ex-pupils who come back to see him in the Lower School. A widely read person and a good conversationalist Monty has brought out the best in the abler boys and has encouraged the less gifted to greater endeavour.

Monty has always shown great interest also in extra-mural activities, being ready and willing at all times to coach the boys in cricket or undertake supervision of home or away games and for the past number of years he has been a familiar figure at School camp.

In February 1964, Mr. Paterson returned to the School which gave him his education from the primary stage to entering University.

While in the Upper School Hamish played for the 1st XV and at University, besides taking an honours degree in Geography, found time to play for the University ist XV. Before returning to the Grammar, Hamish had previous teaching experience at both primaryand secondary levels.

Since coming to the Lower School, Hamish has taught classes PVI and PVII. An experienced, understanding and capable teacher, he has always insisted on a high standard of work from his boys and he has devoted much thought to his charges both during and after school hours.

Hamish has been a valuable servant to the School not only in the sincerity and thoroughness of his teaching but also because he has given much of his energy, knowledge and time to extra-mural activities, e.g. cricket, School camp and rugby. The value of his work at field may be measured by the fact that in the course of a few weeks, from fifteen inexperienced boys, he produced a rugby team which can give a good account of itself, often against bigger and older opposition. Hamish was always willing to do that little bit extra and could be depended on to do it well and without fuss.

It is interesting to note that Hamish's departure coincides with the departure of the first boys he taught here, boys who are now in the sixth year. He will not be entirely severing his connection with the School as he is an active member of the F.P. Club.

We thank both Monty and Hamish for their years of faithful service to the School and offer them our best wishes for the future.

Finally, two internal appointments have to be noted. Mr. Ian T. Stephen and Mr. John A. Flett, both of the Mathematics Department, have been appointed Year Masters. These are newly created posts designed to cater for the educational, moral and social education of pupils, especially when the School goes comprehensive. Our congratulations go to Mr. Stephen and Mr. Flett.

i o6

Aberdeen Grammar School Magazine

House Notes Byron Officials elected for the summer term were: Cricket Captain, A. T. Robertson; Cricket Vice-Captain, S. M. Davidson; Athletics Captain, J. H. Christiansen; Athletics Vice-Captain, S. M. Davidson.

Although we had a strong hockey team, they did not play to their full potential and were beaten by a good Keith team in both the eleven-a-side and the six-a-side.

In the inter-House rugby tournaments, Byron had a good team which was unlucky to lose in extra time in the final to a Keith team which had a very powerful pack. However in the seven-a-side tournament we played excellent attacking rugby and swept aside challenges from Keith and Dun to win very convincingly.

This year Byron proved that they are the most consistent team in the Swimming Gala. We were fourth for the sixth successive year. There were, however one or two good individual performances but on the whole the general performance was very disappointing.

In June the House defends the Athletic Championship that we won last year and we are confident of retaining the championship, if we have an enthusiastic turnout.

We also have a very strong cricket XI and some trophies are expected for the team which is very experienced.

Lastly the House extends its warmest thanks to Mr. Baxter and Mr. Murray for their enthusiastic participation in the running of the House.

JON CHRISTIANSEN, Coptaili Dun Contrary to what was expected, Dun House has so far, failed to lift any of the Championships `wooden spoons'.

The first event to be decided was the Swimming Gala. As happened last year, the lack of swimmers in Dun in the Upper School resulted in a tussle with Byron for last place, and again we were third, thanks to younger boys in the House. In rugby Dun was second in the Junior XVs and third in the senior XVs and VIIs. However, it does not appear that this position is going to be improved on next year.

The House hockey side was thought to have a good chance, and this hope was proved a valid one, as they won the hockey sixes. This talent was not prominent in depth however, and Keith eventually won the elevens. In Hockey Dun's position will be maintained if not improved on by new players next year.

At the start of the Summer Term, there was another House meeting, and the following officials were elected: Cricket Captain, Alan Walker; Athletics Captain, Malcolm Kcrr.

Unfortunately, prospects in athletics and cricket do not appear to be very good and we can only hope that sufficient young boys come forward and some seniors show they have been hiding their true ability. Finally I would like to express our thanks to Mr. McLeod who, as ever, has helped the House all year.

SCOTT HENDERSON, Captain Keith At the house meeting this term the following officials were elected: Cricket Captain, A. M. Hargreaves; Cricket Vice-Captain, D. D. Bavidge; Athletics Captain, J. McDonald; Athletics Vice-Captain, R. J. Fordyce.

The last two terms have been very good ones for us as far as House sporting achievements are concerned. To start with, we won the Gala in a very close finish with Melvin. The result hinged on the outcome of the final relay.

School Sporting Activities

107

On the rugby pitch the house showed excellent teamwork in winning the fifteen-a-side but were not mobile enough to enjoy similar success in the seven-a-side tournament. Teamwork was also the outstanding feature of the hockey team's victory in the senior eleven-a-side. In the six-a-side competition we suffered a disappointing defeat by Dun in the final.

We hope to continue our success by doing well in the sports and the cricket tournament. We must extend our gratitude to our House Master Mr. Stephen for his aid during the year.

A. M. I IARGREAVES, Captain

Melvin Officials elected for the summer term were: Athletics Captain, T. M. Naskret; Athletics Vice-Captain, E. J. Lawrence; Cricket Captain, R. Gamblin; Cricket ViceCaptain, A. Christie.

At this year's Gala the House put up a very creditable performance, finishing a close second to Keith. The final result was still in doubt until the last race, the Group I relay in which Melvin finished third. Thus, the final result was Keith 139f to Meivin's 132. This performance was a credit to the swimming captain, Euan Lawrence, who won the premier individual award, the Rector's Cup, which is awarded for winning the Group I Championship. Credit must also go to C. Paterson, runner-up in Group 2; D. Murray, winner Group 3 and D. Fleming, joint runner up; C. Murray, winner Group 4.

In the fifteen-a-side and seven-a-side rugby, despite considerable enthusiasm, we lost all our games. In the hockey eleven-a-side and six-a-side, to some extent because of injuries, we had some disappointing results, four times going down by i-o We hope, however, to do well in the House cricket matches this term, under the captaincy of the school cricket captain, R. Gamblin. Our hopes in the Annual Sports must lie with the younger years to remedy our recent bad performances.

I should like to extend our thanks to Mr. Will and his colleagues for their advice and help throughout the year.

THOMAS M. NASKRET, Captain

School Sporting Activities Rugby 1969-7o Once again the weather proved to be the winner far too often.

But in spite of this a good standard of play was maintained throughout the School. Competition for places in the younger teams was keen and it was good to see how often those who were not selected turning out to support their comrades. Such a spirit is an encouragement for the future.

The School XV had only a moderately successful season, because of a failure to apply consistently the same determination to overwhelm their opponents in every game they played. If they had displayed the same single minded, energy sapping, team working drive to win that they showed in their games against Gordon's for example, many lesser sides might have been surprised.

t o8

Aberdeen Grammar School Magazine

This is a lesson which must be learned by all sides in the School.

No matter how skilful your team or how fit, without concentration and a consuming desire to win, your labour is in vain. "You owe it to your opponent to beat him."

1st XV Results Following a miserable first half to the season, we returned after Christmas determined to prove our true capabilities. We had suffered as usual a long lay-off during the bad weather, but continued training and slightly altered our game, employing more destructive tactics, particularly in the pack.

The first game was against Aberdeen Academy. Once again there were only short spells when Academy looked like coming into the game, but partly because of the long lay-off and partly because of bad finishing we failed to force home a decisive victory against a much poorer side. Indeed we ended the game without a try, winning by two penalties, one by Christiansen in the first half and another by Goodfellow in the second half. Score 6—o.

We next travelled to Glenalmond. This side had proved itself one of the best in Scotland, and although they lost one or two players over Christmas, they were still a formidable side, particularly on their home ground.

The game was played with snow on the ground, but this did not prevent a well contested match from taking place. Right from the start Glenalmond showed their ability to attack and it was not long before one of their back row crashed over for a try which was not converted. This pressure was kept up for the whole of the first half, their pack winning virtually every ball from the set pieces, but as happened in our own game against Academy they failed to score again, partly through bad handling, but mainly because of very stout defence by every member of our team. In the second half they once more made good use of set ball, but our forwards, gaining confidence in our defence were getting more ball from loose play. It was this that brought our score. We forced our way down to their half by continually harassing, and finally Gamblin charged down a hurried kick and scored a try which was not converted.

However, as expected, Glenalmond soon came back into attack as the weight of their pack took its toll, and managed to score once again, to make the score 3-6. Following this try, Davidson who had received a bad knock on the head, went off and we hung on to the end with fourteen players. Naturally we felt disappointed at losing such a close match, but were generally satisfied with our performance. Score 3-6.

Unfortunately this match left us with injury worries. Davidson it was discovered later, had cracked a bone in his neck and many others received bad knocks. Therefore, it was without Davidson and with some handicapped players we met Dundee High School.

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Aberdeen Grammar School .Magatine Because of the similarity in play between ourselves and Dundee this was not an attractive match. Stalemate was produced with both sides playing some poor rugby and making little or no use of any good ball produced. Indeed it was a mistake rather than positive play which decided the result, as we scored from a Goodfellow penalty kick early in the first half. Score 3—o.

This was the reversal of the score at Dundee when they won by 3 points to nil in a similar game and I don't think anyone could disagree with the 3-3 aggregate.

Following the Dundee game we had five games cancelled. This meant the loss of some valuable fixtures and particularly disappointing was the cancellation of the Glasgow High game, because of frost, after we had travelled down the day before.

In some ways, however, these games being off was a blessing as it game some of our players time to get rid of small injuries before what is generally regarded as the most important fixture, the game with Robert Gordon's College. The game was played in remarkably good conditions. We had a team back to full strength and were confident of success after the close match at Seafield.

There was, however, a surprise beginning; Gordon's took the kick off, the ball was knocked on and from the penalty awarded we found ourselves 3 points down almost before the game had started.

Fortunately, instead of knocking us off our stride, it shocked our forwards into one of their best displays. At the same time it had given Gordon's false confidence and it was they who received the shock when they found themselves bundled off every loose ball. This meant we were getting some excellent ball from loose play, and, although there was little hope of getting the ball from set pieces, our pack succeeded in disrupting their service to the scrum-half and Gamblin used this effectively to cut off the supply of the ball to the Gordon's back division. As a result play was kept mainly in their half, their main saviour being a long kick for touch. However, our constant pressure paid off when the ball was handled on the ground and we were awarded a penalty which Goodfellow kicked to put us on level terms. There was no more scoring in the first half, but when we resumed after the break, we again, in spite of heavy pressure, went behind from a penalty.

However, there was no giving up and continual worrying resulted in Gordon's making more and more mistakes. It appeared only a matter of time before a serious one was made, and when it came, it was at the expense of their full-back. He failed to take a ball cleanly, and as the ball came loose, Bavidge was following up to kick on and touch down.

The score was now level, but we had the upper hand and again the pressure was on the opposition. We forced our way down to between their posts and won a penalty when their back-row were caught unawares by a wheeled scrum. We expected to go ahead for the first time, but the kick went wide giving Gordon's a second life. As it turned out they made good use of this, scoring almost at the end of the match from another penalty. Score 6-9.

Naturally we considered ourselves unlucky, we had all the pressure and the only try but went down to three penalties.

I I1 School Sporting Activities On the Saturday we had to play Morrison's Academy and the less said about this game the better. As expected, there was a reaction after the Gordon's game, but apart from that, there can be no excuse for the lack of urgency and ability to do the basics that was apparent.

By half-time it was 3 all. They had scored a try and Christiansen had kicked a penalty. Coming on for the second half, we again failed to get going and when Morrison's finally discovered they could run outside us, they fed the wings. As a result, their right winger scored three more tries and they also scored from a drop goal. In consolation Christiansen put over another penalty close to full time. Score 6-15.

The last game of the season was down at Glasgow against Hutcheson's Grammar. In keeping with previous seasons, this turned out to be a very close game on a very wet pitch.

We did not make a very inspiring start, but as the game progressed, it appeared that Hutcheson's had lost their chance by not scoring early on. Indeed by the end of the first half we were completely on top both on score and pressure. Our try, the only score of the first half, came when one of their players was caught in possession. Urquhart smuggled the ball, and came out of the maul with no one between himself and their goal line.

In the second half we again started poorly before gaining command.

This time however a little over confidence crept in and Morrison's grabbed a quick 3 points from a penalty with very little time remaining. That made it 3 all, and the score stayed that way in spite of a final heavy attack and a long Christiansen penalty which only just slipped under the bar. Score 3-3.

On the way home from Glasgow we went over to Murrayfield to see the Calcutta match. This proved a very satisfying journey as Scotland beat England by 14 points to 5.

In all the season can best be described as disappointing. We lost matches needlessly through stupid mistakes, and although on occasions we were unlucky to lose, we also had some lucky wins. On top of this there is the final tally of 74 points for and tz9 against which shows up our inability to score but does not do justice to our all round performance, particularly in defence.

Again I must thank Mr. Falconer for devoting so much time and interest and coaching throughout the season.

Finally I would like to express our gratitude to our groundsman, Mr. Matthew, and his staff who play such an important but seldom realised part in the maintaining of all the school rugby teams.

S. HENDERSON, Captain Who's Who in the 1st XV S. Henderson. (5 ft. 6 in., 149 lb.). Came to be known as "our personal example" and, if he couldn't win games on his own, he certainly reduced our chances of losing. Full colours.

Is a

Aberdeen Grammar School Magatine A. M. Hargreaves (6 ft. 1 in., 177 lb.). Vice-Captain. Again wing forward proved to be his best position especially when he appreciated just how far he could legally sneak up on 'em! Showed a good example by being oblivious to enemy criticism. Full colours.

D. D. Bavidge. (5 ft. 11 in., 17o lb.). In the best possible spirit he could accurately be described as the willing horse! A very good club man who often turned out when others would have called off. Didn't like losing. Half colours.

J. H. Christiansen. (5 ft. 8 in., 147 lb.). Played only part of the season, but never really produced the quality game that his talents indicated he should.

G. M. Clark. (5 ft. 9 in., 138 lb.). A most encouraging start for the youngest member of the team. Stuck tenaciously to his task and never gave up.

A. Cook. (5 ft. ii in., 165 lb.). Came into the side later in the season and should do well next year if he concentrates and consolidates. Hard to dispossess in the mauls.

S. Davidson. (5 ft. io in., 155 lb.). Another good team man. In some ways not the fastest man in the side, but then he did have problems with his neck!

J. L. Duncan. (5 ft. 6 in., 161 lb.). A most reliable, hard working forward. Usually to be found in the middle of things. In two matches he was able to look the opposing scrum half straight in the knee caps! Half colours.

M. G. P. Falconer. (5 ft. 11 in., 169 lb.). A boilerhouse man who, like all of his trade, did his best work silent and unseen.

R. Gamblin. (6 ft. 1 in., 15z lb.). He did some first class work at the base of the scrum where his kicking and spoiling play helped to reduce the advantage to opponents' set possession. His scholarly stoop was caused by trying to see under our dwarf front row! Half colours.

J. Goodfellow. (5 ft. 8 in., 141 lb.). A very safe and sound full back who gave confidence to everyone up front. Was sometimes displeased with his place kicking! Half colours.

M. M. Kerr (5 ft. 11 in., 168 lb.). The most improved player in the side. He has been consistently hard and effective in both tight and loose.

His training and playing were aimed at winning. Full colours.

J. R. Macdonald. (5 ft. xo in., 153 lb.). Primarily an attacking forward. He went through a bad spell, but should be much better equipped next season.

T. M. Naskret. (5 ft. 11 in., 163 lb.). Willing to try any position if it would help the side. Although not really big enough for some of the jobs he had to do in "the thick", he did a good job. Half colours.

G. Urquhart. (5 ft. xi in., 158 lb.). A very good if somewhat worrying hooker. Relaxed enough to enjoy a romp with the ball!

Half colours.

J. Watt. (5 ft. 7 in., 163 lb.). Shifted to the wing at an early stage to help a team weakness, he played out of position most of the season, but all the same he made the most of his few chances.

, , .

1st XV Rugby, 5969-70

Row (left to right): M. I. P. Falconer, D. D. Bavidge, J. R. MacDonald, R. Gamblin, T. M. Naskrct, M. M. Kerr, A. Cook, G. Urquhart, J. Watt.

FRONT Row (left to right): S. M. Davidson, J. H. Christiansen, A. M. Hargreaves (vire rapt.), S. Henderson (rapt.), J. L. Duncan, 1. Goodfellow, G. M. Clark.

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FRONT Row (left to right): J. G. Rennie, A. T. Robertson, G. Ii. Smith, W. G. Fraser, B. T. Cockburn.

In Absentia: K. Park, H. Rankin.

F.P. Rugby XV, 1969-70

BAcK Row (hft w right): C. Ritch,e. 11. R. Millar, P. N. I.ove, R. A. Craig, D. W. Smith, G. F. Webster, P. Fraser, B. A. Keil, .

J. Smith, G. F. R. Anderson, S. C. Ghvcr.

FRONT Row (hid to nig!): P. M. Collier, F. Stuart, I. Gra, D. G. Fowl ic, J. A. Banks, G. G. Ilutcheon, D. Marr.

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School Sporting Activities

113

Hockey This has not been a vintage year in School hockey and yet it has been difficult to pinpoint the reasons for the team's partial failure.

Certainly, lack of punch in the forward line was an obvious weakness but the will to win was far too often missing and perhaps there was a lack of confidence in their own ability. Individually there were a number of fine players and, of course, we were very pleased that Geoffrey Smith, our captain, was capped for Scotland and played in Belfast against England, Ireland and Wales, thus maintaining the School record of always having a representative in the Scottish Schoolboys side. It was one of the worst seasons on record for weather and twelve games were cancelled, which, in itself was not conducive to producing a team spirit and improving the side's technique. Players who could be an asset to F.P.s and should make their mark in Men's Hockey are Kenneth Walker (goal), Alan Christie (back), Gavin Fraser (half back), Alfred Robertson (forward) and Alan Walker (forward). It is strange that the team's best performance of the season should be in defeat.

Against probably one of the strongest Abbey sides to come out of Fort Augustus, the School shook the opposition by taking an early two-goal lead on Abbey's own pitch. Although by half time Abbey had recovered to lead 3-2, a very even second half saw the opposition score a narrow 4-2 victory. When one considers that a strong Gordon's College side had gone down to Abbey by 7-o on the previous Saturday, it makes one wonder about the enigma of this year's team.

Colour Awards. Award of Cap: Geoffrey Smith. Re-award Full Colours: Gavin Fraser. Award Full Colours: Kenneth Walker. Re-award Half Colours: Alan Christie.

Regular Team. Walker, Brock, Christie, Fraser, Smith(Captain), Rankin, Rennie, Cockburn, Walker, Robertson and Park.

Results 1969 Sept. 23 v. Academy F.P. z7 v. F.P.s "A" 3o v. Aberdeen "A" Oct. 4 v. Ruthrieston 1 i v. Grove Academy i c v. Highland Brigade 18 v. Gordon's College 22 v. H.M.S. Fulmar Nov. 1 v. Dundee High 12 v. University "A" 22 v. F.P.s "A" 29 v. Grove Acad.

Jan. to v. H.M.S. Fulmar 17 v. Gordonians "A"

Scorers 0-3

o-6 I-I

0-3 2-I

Cockburn

Christie, Robertson 6-1 Park, Christie, Walker, Robertson, Cockburn and Turner 0-1 Cancelled.

3-0 Park, Walker, Robertson.

2-3 Robertson (2) 0-4 Cancelled Cancelled Cancelled

Aberdeen Grammar Scbool Magaine 114 Cancelled Jan. 24 v. Gordonstoun 31 v. Ruthrieston Ramblers o-i Cancelled Feb. 7 v. Perth Academy 2-2 Cockburn, Robertson 1 1 v. University "A" 14 v. Gordonstoun Cancelled Cancelled 21 v. Dundee High 28 v. Abbey School 1-4 Cockburn Cancelled Mar. 4 v. Gordon's College Cancelled 7 v. Strathallan o-i 13 v. Melville College 0-5 14 v. Fettes College 2-4 Smith, Robertson 21 v. Abbey School 2nd XI. This team, under the captaincy of Gerald Towns, continued to do well and produced some worthwhile results. Against senior sides they defeated University "B" 3-I, College of Education 3-1 and Hilton F.P.s "A" 2—t, while their best result against other Schools was to beat Harris Academy 1st XI 4-o. The defence was a particularly strong part of this team but the forwards, by energetic rather than skilful play, upset many of the opposing defences. Nisbet (centre half) and McLeod (left wing) should be good prospects for next year while Alan Archibald (goal), Richard Abel (back), who might be even better if he got his hair cut, David Hewet (back), Gerald Towns (half back), Christopher Young (forward), read as for Abel, and John Fletcher should do very well in senior hockey.

Regular Team. Archibald, Abel, Hewet, Catto, Nisbet, Towns, Henderson, Young, Zanre, Fletcher and McLeod.

Results Played 17

Won 8

Drawn 2

Lost 7

Cancelled To

For 43

Goals Against 24

3rd XI. As the 3rd XI met too many teams who were just too good for them both in experience and in hockey skills, their victories were few. However, the boys were never beaten by too great a margin as the strongest part of the team was the defence of Brockie in goal and Draper and Wood at back.

The forwards were often unable to take the pressure off the defence which too often contributed to its own downfall by a tendency to clear too weakly.

Brazendale, Boyd and Begg were consistently useful players who were prepared to work hard. Wilson, whose distribution of the ball was good, returned to hockey too late in the season to make the mark he could have in the team, while McIver was a keen and able captain and centre half.

4th Year XI. This team has had a most successful season suffering only one defeat. They recorded one of the few wins a 4th Year XI have had against the corresponding Gordonstoun team. In this game,

115 School Sporting Activities the team played good attacking hockey unsettling a rather solid Gordonstoun defence. G. McNay scored the goal in a i—o victory.

The players continued to develop their skills but some of them still show immaturity in being unaware of their responsibilities to the team and to the authority of the captain on the field. This caused their one defeat in the season to Northfield. A team is only as good as its loyalty makes them and that is an essential credential for ist XI team status in the Grammar School Hockey section.

Colts. Due to adverse weather conditions all but three of the Colts fixtures this term against other schools were cancelled. After a hard practice match against the School 4th Year side, when the Colts achieved a draw, the team were narrowly beaten by a heavier Hilton School XI. In this game T. Davidson in goal, and Mills on the left wing were most impressive. A good victory over Powis School was followed by a commendable performance at Inverurie against a 4th Year XI, resulting in a 6—o victory. All the forwards played well and Lamb was outstanding in a competent defence. Although the Colts have played comparatively few games promising players are emerging in T. Davidson (goal), Lamb (half back) and S. Davidson, Adamson, McHardy and Mills (forwards). The team was chosen from the following players: T. Davidson, Lewis Paterson, Milne, Anderson, Law, Lamb, S. Davidson, Adamson, McHardy (Captain), Craig, Greig, Mills and Stephen.

House Hockey The Hockey Cup was strenously contested by Keith, Dun and Byron, and was deservedly won by Keith captained by John Fletcher.

The hockey was not of a very high standard but the enthusiasm and will to win compensated for the shortcomings in technique.

In the six-a-side tournament Dun, captained by Alan Walker, emerged as clear winners with i s pts out of a possible 1 z. This cup involves 3rd and 4th Years as well as the seniors and has created great interest in the hockey section.

Again we offer our congratulations to Fred Lawson and Denis Hay whoagain gained this season all possible caps for Senior Scotland. These F.P.s bring great credit to the School. An interesting innovation this year was our first ever match with Melville College on the Friday prior to the Fettes match in Edinburgh made possible by the fact that Denis Hay is Physical Education Master in that school.

We have to thank, as usual, many masters for all their work in the section and we are particularly grateful to Dr. Sandy Inns and Fred Lawson for their active participation in the coaching. Few schools can be so fortunate in having the Chairman of Selectors for Senior Scotland and a well known international as their ist and znd XI team coaches.

May I be permitted to add a personal note to this column by saying how sad it is for me to write this for the last time. Grammar School Hockey has been part of my life in Aberdeen and I am grateful for the happiness it has given me. I wish all my hockey boys past and present the best of good luck and may Grammar School hockey continue to flourish in the future.

R. McNAr

116

Aberdeen Grammar School Magazine

School Tribute The boys who have played hockey in the School appreciate the interest that Mr. McNay has taken in the sport, the time he has spent and the efforts he has made on their behalf.

They realise their indebtedness to him and wish him every success in his new post.

G. SMITH, Hockey Captain Staff Tribute The members of staff who have been associated with Mr. McNay in the Hockey Section are very conscious of the tremendous amount of hard work in which he has been involved in furthering the fortunes of hockey in the School. His enthusiasm is total and infectious. His drive, organisational ability and good humour arc a loss the section cannot easily bear.

We all wish him well in his promotion.

Swimming Notes This year the School has started on the new joint Scottish Schools Swimming Association/Scottish Amateur Swimming Association speed swimming, distance swimming and also personal survival awards. These awards are indeed a challenge for the boys. At the moment the sports department are waiting for the badges.

This year's gala was a great success with the attendance being much larger than last year's. The gala was won by Keith for the third year running beating Melvin by 7f points. It was very exciting with the lead changing hands several times and the gala result depended on the last relay. The event was won by Keith and so they carried off the House Championship. The Rector's Cup was won by E. Lawrence with R. Fordyce runner-up. The other group champions were: Group a, E. Rose, Runner-up C. Paterson. Group 3, D. Murray, Runner-up D. Fleming, A. Sim and J. Wyness. Group 4, C. Murray, Runner-up C. Gallon. Primary, G. Allan, Runner-up R. Diamont.

I would like to thank all those masters who made the running of the gala possible.

The School had a triangular swimming match against Gordon's College and Stirling High School. This match gave some of the younger members of the swimming club an opportunity to show their paces and the times recorded were very encouraging for the future. The match was exceedingly close between Gordon's and ourselves throughout the contest and by winning the final race Gordon's drew level with us, each team having 76 points. The Stirling team were well behind.

At the Scottish Short Course Championships the School had four representatives in E. Rose, D. Murray, E. Lawrence and R. Fordyce.

These championships are mainly for swimmers over 17 years old but

117 School Sporting Activities swimmers under this age can enter if they wish. D. Murray swam very well to reach the final of the 160o yards freestyle. This, at the age of 14, is very good and augurs well for the future. E. Rose qualified for the final of the zoo yards backstroke and, as he is only 15, this is also very good. Unfortunately he had a bad swim in the final and was pushed out of the medals. E. Lawrence qualified for the too and zoo backstroke and in the latter he came second. He also qualified for the 400 yard individual medley. R. Fordyce gained two znds and a 3rd in the too and zoo yard butterfly and the 400 yard individual medley.

The Northern District Age Group Championships will be held in May and many of the club's younger swimmers, e.g. G. Allan, J. Wyness, D. Fleming and J. Murray are entered and all are in with a chance of a medal. I will print the results in next session's Magaine.

I would like to thank Mr. Spence, who has forfeited much of his spare time to train and encourage the boys, and also Mr. Falconer and Mr. Paterson for their help.

Colour Awards. Caps to R. Fordyce and E. Lawrence and Half Colours to E. Rose.

RANALD FORDYCE, Swimming Captain Badminton Club The Christmas term concluded with what is probably the highlight of the year when the Boys beat the Masters by eleven games to five and then the mixed team, playing with four High School girls, beat the mixed staff team by twelve games to four. Both these wins were the first that the boys have had in these fixtures. In the Easter term, however, the Masters beat the Boys by nine games ts, seven, but as it has not been possible to arrange a deciding fixture, the Boys have won this year's matches by eighteen games to fourteen.

The School team also did well against the other schools. We completed the double over Gordon's College by beating them five games to four, and the mixed team has had two good wins over the Academy and two wins over Bankhead Academy.

The usual matches were also played with St. Margaret's and Albyn. A Junior team, however, was unable to hold a strong Rosemount team, and lost by nine games to three.

This year, the club ran three tournaments, a Senior Singles and Doubles tournament, and a Junior Doubles tournament. Some good play was seen in all three events and all culminated in exciting finals. In the senior singles, Alan Walker (VI) dropped the first set to Andrew Stephen (VI), but went on to win in three sets. The senior doubles produced a closely fought final, but it was eventually won by Walker and John Ellis (VI) who beat Stephen and Gregory Johnston (VI) in straight sets.

The Junior Doubles produced the closest final of all, with both couples scoring the same number of points, but F. Black (II) and G. Paterson (III) had the better of the exchange, and managed to beat A. Kay (IV) and G. Sutherland (III) in three sets.

In the North East Schools Tournament at Christmas, none of the Seniors got past the second round, and although several of the juniors played well, there were no outstanding performances.

In general, the standard of play by all years has been good, but the play still shows a lack of coaching. This term, a number of members from all years attended a coaching evening with Colin Glegg, the N.E. Group Coach, and we feel that if this practice were continued, the standard could rise to a very high level, as there is a great amount of potential in the lower years.

I I8

Aberdeen Grammar School Magazine

Once again, our thanks go to Mr. Shand and Mr. Wilson for their guidance, Mr. Falconer for his help with shuttles and equipment and the Janitor for his continued toleration and patience.

JOHN ELLIS, Secretary

Curling Club

The numbers attending the Club have diminished disappointingly this term so that at the end of the season there was only a small nucleus ofsixth-formers attending.

However, despite the lack of numbers, those who did attend greatly enjoyed their curling for a little of the basic skills have now been mastered and we are beginning to show cohesion as a team. Unfortunately, we were unable to play against any other school side, mainly because our associate dub at Gordon's disbanded halfway through the year. We came close, however, to arranging an away game with an Inverness school but the season terminated before arrangements could be finalised.

Prospects for the Club next year are bleak as all its present members will be leaving School at the end of the session. However, the Club has survived such crises before and it is hoped that an influx of new members next term will guarantee the continuance of the Club. For any at all interested in joining, meetings are held most Tuesdays in the icc rink at Spring Garden and an hour's curling can be had for the modest charge of two shillings. Finally a word of thanks is due to Mr. Waters for his interest in the Club and in particular for his attempts to arrange a fixture for us.

KENNETH F. MCLEAN

Hillwalking Club After an enterprising and eventful Autumn term, the Club hopes to maintain its high standard of success in the coming Summer term. Although the majority of

sixth year pupils, upon whom the Club had depended so much in recent times, will have left School by then, this will be no disadvantage, for we have a reliable group of fifth and fourth year members coming to the forefront.

Planned for the Summer Term are excursions to Aviemore, an all-nighter and a long week-end at Ullapool with its wealth of climbing areas.

Congratulations should go to Andrew Nisbet, V, who has become the second member to achieve his century of Munro's, and to David Davidson, IV, who has reached his 5o.

The Club has produced its second magazine Mar Bbeisn, a literary testimony to the worth of the Club, and this will be ready for distribution in May. As always, we must express our gratitude and appreciation to Messrs. Stephen and Will, who run the Club.

DAVID CORMACK

Ski Club This season was one of the best the Club has ever had. As well as the usual daytrips to Glenshee we organised a week-end trip to the Aviemore Youth Hostel near the end of March. Again we must thank Mr. Walker for his help and patience in organising the outings and also Mr. Scott and Mr. Rae for assisting him.

PAUL SEATON, Secretary

School Societies Literary and Debating Society Among the many meetings held this year there are certain events which stand out as the highlights of the season.

First of all there was Roy Keil's inimitable rendering of "How to be suave" at the Hat Night. Without a doubt, this was one of the best Hat Night speeches in many years and helped to crown a memorable meeting. Stephen Davidson, John Osborne, David Cormack, Campbell Kerr and John Ellis also did well even if the latter's ideas on the perfect woman left something to be desired.

Although the number of debates was less than in previous years, the standard of debate was high especially at inter-school debates. A large number travelled to Gordon's College, the Academy and St. Margaret's and the debates with St. Margaret's were particularly successful.

The outstanding event of the session was the Mock Trial which was a triumph for the efforts of no less than two dozen people. An account of this is given elsewhere. The Balloon debate was also very amusing and was won by David Hewet, the discovery of the year, whose impersonation of Raquel Welch raised the temperature in the Library by several degrees. I should also like to thank David Hewet for taking on the duty of secretary half-way through the session.

There were four talks by outside speakers—Mr. Donald Lamont, an ex-President who spoke on modern Russia, Professor Illsley on Student Unrest, Sir James J. Robertson on Education in Developing Countries, and the Rector on his experience in war-time counter-espionage. The standard of speaking was exceptionally high but the audiences were disappointingly small which reflects the apathy of the School.

Too many people seem to have a preconceived notion about the Debater—that membership is restricted to "intellectuals" and hockey practice seven only. This is quite wrong and in the past year we have had a good cross section of the Upper School. The Society has been much the better for it.

Our thanks go out to Mr. Tait, Mr. McDougall, Mr. Tinto and Mr. Meilan who all participated in the Staff Debate. I should also like to thank Mr. Tait, our Honorary President, who was always very helpful and gave much valuable advice.

Finally, an apology on behalf of the Executive Committee who, because of pressure of work, have not been able to devote as much time to the Society as would perhaps have been desirable. For this reason the meetings were run on a week to week basis and the Syllabus became somewhat disjointed which was unfortunate but unavoidable. Next year, members of the Society can look forward to a successful session.

GRAHAM WArr, President Radio Construction Club A quiet fruitful session in which some have worked on their own pursuits while a number have joined together on an electron flow project. The weather has been very much against the aero section so that there has been little or no flying of models.

The Club would be very pleased to receive any Meteano and Lego parts which are no longer required for home interest.

119

Ito

Aberdeen Grammar School Magazine Mock Trial

On Friday zx November 1969, a capacity audience of zoo witnessed the historic trial of the notorious Robert McNay, who, thanks to the efforts of the Literary and Debating Society Vice Squad had finally been brought to justice.

The entire hearing was broadcast to the nation by B.B.C. reporter Roy Keil, from the press-box. The tenseness and awe of the entry of the Judge, the Right Honourable Graham Watt, J.P., H.S. and V.P. was recaptured by Keil as he took us step by step through the action replay of the sequence.

His worship was followed to the Bench by the Prosecution Counsel, David Cormack and Eric Crockart, and the Defence Counsel, Craig Clunas. The prisoner was escorted in under armed C.C.F. guard, and Justice Watt ordered the charge sheet to be read. This was as follows: Impersonation, Corruption, Egotism and Gross Efficiency.

• The prosecution Counsel built up a strong case on the first charge. The defendant had, it was alleged, developed his accent to be exactly similar to that of one Grant Smith, who, as a result of the unwarranted shame incurred upon himself, had been forced to leave school, and go to University, where he studied Law in order to secure legal revenge in the future. With marvellous ingenuity, and with the Court's permission, the Prosecution demonstrated the way in which the prisoner had copied Smith's voice exactly, by calling Smith as a witness, and asking him to repeat the phrase "You there in the gallery". The phonetic similarities and inflexions were, Counsel showed, similar in both voices.

The second accusation was supported by Exhibit Number One, a cardboard representation of Prefect Stephen Davidson as he was, innocent, pure and charming.

This was compared with Exhibit Number Two, Stephen Davidson as he is today, savagely straining at the Public Gallery, late-book in hand. The reaction of the Public clearly showed the convincing effect of this exceptionally brilliant piece of judicial subtlety.

The third charge was built on statistical evidence, which showed that while the rugby ist XV had crumbled under a multitude of defeats, McNay had deliberately led the hockey ist IX to score an excessively high success rate, much to the degradation of the Rugby Club and to his own esteem.

The fourth and final charge of Gross Efficiency required little evidence. It was common knowledge, the Prosecution stated, that previous to the meddling of the defendant, the Sixth Year Timetable had never been ready by mid-term; but since the defendant's take-over, it was always ready before September.

On these damning allegations, the Prosecution rested. The Counsel for the Defence opened his case with a strong counter, namely the insanity of his client.

On his knees, to a pitiful rendering of "Hearts and Flowers", in an oration that brought tears to the eyes of many, he pleaded for leniency, compassion, and, above all, a decent burial.

However, with a stern look, his hammer and a revolver, His Worship brought the court to order, and turned to the Jury. It was their duty, he informed them soberly, to weigh up the evidence, to consider the facts, to disregard irrelevancy and to return a verdict of Guilty. He then ordered them to retire, which they did in dignified solemnity, returning three seconds later, with a unanimous verdict of Guilty on all counts.

The Judge, his countenance a grim sight to behold, commanded the prisoner to rise. In a voice that embodied the true principle of British Justice for which he stood, he began to pass sentence. Suddenly he was interrupted by the Defence Counsel, who leapt to his feet demanding an appeal to a higher authority. Judge Watt then stood on the Bench and asked him if this was high enough. McNay's features remained expressionless, as if he could not believe that all this was actually happening to him. His Worship donned the Black Cap and pronounced sentence.

School Societies

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The prisoner was to be taken to a place of detention, and thereafter to the School dance, where, before the public, he would lead one of the dances.

As the prisoner was led away to begin two months enforced Two-step Practice the court filed out, satisfied that Justice had been done.

Stamp Club The Stamp Club, this year, has been slightly more varied than previous years; this is due to many new ideas submitted by Club members, the most important one being the idea of having slide shows. The slides which were hired from Stanley Gibbons Ltd. were on the whole quite interesting. Also later in the year, there was a fine exhibition of British stamps, most of which were kindly lent to the Stamp Club from a member of the staff.

As always, the Stamp Club would like to thank Mr. P. Scott, for his great help in organising the meetings.

DONALD GEMMELL IIA

Listening Circle A varied and illuminating series of meetings characterised this term's activities in the Listening Circle. An enlightening insight into Theatre Organ Music was afforded us by Graham Fraser and a first introduction to early nineteenth-century Clarinet Concerti by John Scott. The programmes of Douglas Kennedy and Marshall Winos centred round the music of Stravinsky while the "Life and Times of Richard Wagner" was, predictably, the presentation of David Cormack, our fervid Wagnerian. The term's listening was rounded off with a musical "happening" presented

by Eric Crockart in a wide-ranging programme of music from "Corelli to Cream".

Our thanks go once again to Mr. Hawksworth for the use of his room and its equipment and to Mr. Will for designing our posters.

J. LP.NINOX IVACKF.NZIF., President

The Folk Club This year has seen a continued support of the School Folk Club with the help of Mr. May. Although some membership has been of a causal nature a hard core of staunch enthusiasts has shown sustained interest in the Society's activities. Guest artists of high calibre have been introduced and sessions have been enrichened by their performances. The Club looks forward to another successful year and it is hoped an even greater membership will participate.

GORDON TAYLOR, President Scripture Union Numbers have remained small throughout the term but it is encouraging to see the younger boys showing more interest in the running of the School branch.

As was hoped, we have had more talks from guest speakers, including one from Mr. J. Clunas, a well known local evangelist. Others who have spoken have been Mr. W. Taylor, Mr. I. Burness, Mr. J. Cordiner and Mr. C. Stewart.

Our thanks must once again be given to Mr. Duncan and Mr. C. Stewart for the help they have given us throughout the term.

A. SMITH, Secretary

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Aberdeen Grammar School Magarine Film Study Group 1970

After a lapse of almost a decade the Film Study Group is once more alive and well.

This has been mainly due to the large response from the Upper School, which produced one hundred paid subscriptions. Thus, with £So in the bank, we could proceed to book a programme of four modern films some of which were quite expensive.

We must thank Messrs. Baxter and Will who allowed us much freedom in running the Group, in particular for letting a committee of seven members choose the programme of films. With the Rector's approval the following films were ordered: Features: "Kwaidan", Japan colour Cinestnascope; "Repulsion", British B/W; "Vindiana", Spain/Mexico B/W; "A Night in Casablanca", U.S.A. B/W; Shots: "The Running, Jumping, Standing", Still Film, Peter Sellers; "Abel Gance, Hier et" Demaln; "Tom and Jerry".

The term "Film Study Group" was perhaps a misnomer since there was no attempt at serious film study. In many ways we have been more of an Upper School Film Society and in this light, the year was quite successful. The Film Society does not really cater for the Upper School and to some extent the Film Study Group has bridged that gap.

Next year, the accent will be put on film study and there will be more of the older, classic films by Eisenste in, Flaherty and Griffith. Next year's fifth and sixth years will be wise to take advantage of this opportunity to see great film masterpieces at a relatively inexpensive cost.

Finally I would like to thank the Rector who gave us his approval, Mr. Baxter who showed the films with the help of John Cullis and David Boyd, Mr. Will who freely gave his advice and the office staff who helped to duplicate the programme notes.

Also, on behalf of the present sixth year, I should like to wish the Film Study Group continued success in 1971.

GRAHAM WATT, VI

Film Society The Film Society continued to be well supported by the middle school this year.

The most popular films were "The Devil's Brigade," "You Only Live Twice" and "The Blue Max". We were unlucky on parents' night in that the copy of "The Magnificent Seven" turned out to be extremely badly damaged which spoilt our enjoyment of an otherwise excellent film. We would like to thank Miss Matheson and Miss Boyd for providing the refreshments on this occasion. As an experiment discipline at the meetings was taken care of by the prefects but we must thank Mr. Will for his support and for choosing and ordering the films. We are also very grateful to Mr. Baxter and his assistant projectionists John Ellis and David Boyd.

Bridge Club This is a new Club which was set up at the beginning of the year. Most of its members are from first and second years and therefore the Club has excellent chances of continuing for some time.

Meeting on Mondays after school there has been an average of sixteen players each week and this has provided some experience which is necessary for good Bridge play. At this point I would like to thank Mr. Tough, an established bridge player in Aberdeen, for attending the meetings both to teach beginners and give help in any problems which may arise during a game.

No games with other schools were arranged because of the inexperience of most members who were beginners to the game.

G. SMITH, VI

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Chess Club This term has been one of mixed fortunes for the club, for although our teams and individuals have performed well in the various competitions, we have not yet produced a winner. This cannot be put down to lack of enthusiasm, for membership has now reached the eighty mark, including a large number from the lower-school, and the attendance at meetings has been good. However, as the club consists mainly of boys from the second year and lower, there is an undoubted lack of experience and match practice. However, time is the cure for this, and there is plenty of time for them to become good.

The School progressed further than usual in the Sunday Times National School's Tournament, reaching the Scottish Quarter-finals with a win over Madras College, but we were then narrowly defeated by a very strong Gordon's College team. This same team also managed to beat us in the Aberdeen Schools League Division One title, where we finished second. Our second team also did well by coming third.

The running of two teams, and our policy of changing the composition of the teams has meant that some twenty boys now have some match experience which should stand them in good stead later on.

We were unable to send a team to the Paisley Chess Jamboree this term, but five of our members combined with Gordon's College to send a team. Our five players scored four points out of the team's five and a half, giving the team eighth place out of twenty-five entrants.

The North East Schools Chess Association has continued to function this term, and in a Lightning Tournament played in the School, David Sweeney (IV) took second place and David Murray (II) came third. Christopher Morrison of the Lower School was awarded a special prize.

In the North East Schools Easter Tournament, Murray came third and Sweeney and David Watson (II) fourth equal. This tournament was a good practice for the Scottish Schoolboys Championship which is being held in Aberdeen this year, and we have hopes for some success from our large entry. The School will also be well represented in the Aberdeen Schools team to play Dundee in May. With an eye on the future, we have started to have talks by eminent local players, the first of which was given by Mr. Ben Sauve, President of the North East Schools Chess Association. It is hoped that these talks, along with our own internal competitions, such as our handicap and ladder tournaments, will help give some much needed experience and knowledge to the members of the club.

Finally, I must thank Mr. Galloway for his guidance and the Janitor for the use of the dining hall.

JOHN ELLIS, Presden:

Scientific Society The meetings this term have been limited to two, since it has been very difficult to find lecturers, who find spare time very scarce during the University session.

The first of these, on forensic medicine, proved very interesting and included some rather gruesome tales! The second was a talk given on "Marine Research" which described the work being carried out in the Marine Laboratory in Aberdeen. This was accompanied by a very good film shot by members of the Marine Laboratory.

In February a dance was held in the School Hall which was a very great success.

However, the committee would like to apologise to members for the lack of lectures.

To make up for this we are planning to have at least one excursion, probably at the beginning of June.

Finally, I would like to thank Mr. Bruce who has shown interest in the Society throughout the year.

WILSON HENDRY

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Aberdeen Grammar School Magazine

Geographical Society This term has again been a prosperous one for the Society and we have had a series of slide-illustrated lectures and film shows given by both members of staff and lecturers from the university. Though attendances have decreased slightly, we are always guaranteed an audience of about forty boys to lectures and about twenty to film shows.

Our syllabus this term has covered many topics, some purely geographical, others of general interest but all have been entertaining. Mr. Will gave an artist's impressions of "Mountains" while Mr. Hawksworth took us on an illustrated "Journey Round Britain". Mr. Baxter gave a very interesting account of his travels in British Columbia and in addition we had two films on life in that province.

Besides these three, we had a lecture on glaciers in Greenland and a varied selection of film shows. Though no meetings have as yet been arranged for the Summer Term, it is hoped to organise an excursion, time and weather permitting. Finally, I would like to take this opportunity of thanking all of our guest speakers, the geography staff of the School and in particular Mr. Gelly upon whose co-operation and assistance the smooth running of the Society depends.

KENNETH F. MCLEAN

Historical Society Aftcr a good start to the session, the Society began to find that the enthusiasm it expected was gradually declining. Eventually, only a "hard core" of faithfuls turned up for the meetings in the latter part of the session. This was made more disappointing by the fact that the programme was one of great originality and of such widespread interest. Next session, however, a renewed effort will be made to attract members, with the attraction of an excursion to some place of historical and unusual interest. Mr. McCombie is to be thanked for his support as our Honorary President.

DAVID CORMACK, Acting President

Motor Club During the past season, the Club, I regret to say, has become rather inactive.

There have been, however, several very interesting and entertaining film shows run by the dub, these proving successful and well attended. The Club's "cat" has surprisingly survived the gruelling winter and we hope to do more during the summer term. We would hope that the present IV and V years will continue to support the Club in the next School year with the same enthusiasm. Finally, our thanks to Mr. Dinnes for his help and continual support.

W. WArr VI, Treasurer

Railway Society This year has been quite a successful one for the Society. We have at last found a permanent room for the model railway. We have also been fortunate in acquiring the services of several outside speakers who gave illustrated talks on a number of subjects. The Society is very grateful for the help given by the Art Department in the building of scenery for the railway. We are also indebted to Mr. Bruce and Mr. Coull for their advice and assistance.

IAN R. GREIG, President

C.C.F. Notes

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Dramatic Society The Society has, this session, been thrown out of its stride by the unforeseen problems encountered with our original choice of play. When the reversal of our plans took place, time left for rehearsal and designing was so short that it was decided to suspend the annual production this year. However, the interval has left us time to refurbish and re-examine our position, so that we enter next session prepared and sure. Indeed, the choice of play for next session—"Strife" by John Galsworthy—has already been made, and this should ensure an enthusiastic and ready response.

DAVID CORMACK, Treasurer

C.C.F. There is a lull in activity at the time of writing told-way between a busy Easter, the exams and the usual rush of the Summer Term. At Easter, the Cadets completed a week of training in the Cairngorm's area, eleven Cadets along with the Officer Commanding spent an interesting eight days in Germany and two Cadetssuccessfully qualified for the "A" and "B" Gliding Certificate at 662 Gliding School at Arbroath.

This year's Inspection is a Whitehall one and the Inspecting Officer will be Colonel C. A. A. Crouch from Ministry of Defence. No doubt the Contingent will take this hurdle in its stride once we settle down to work again after the break. We are hoping to have last year's Senior Cadet, Ian Tait, now at R. M. A., Sandhurst accompanying the Inspecting Officer as an extra Aide. Cadets will be interested to learn that Michael Anderson, who went from school to Welbcck, is now at Sandhurst also. C.S.M. Kerr and C/Sgt. Watt have both applied for admission to Sandhurst this year. Sgt. Dempsey has been awarded an R.A.F. Cadetship and will start his R.A.F. Flying Scholarship training in June. Arrangements for the summer camps at Cultybraggan and R.A.F. Topeliffe are well advanced although the number of R.A.F. places allocated is disappointing. However, feelers have already been put out to get extra places elsewhere.

Finally, a word of praise to all the N.C.O.s who have worked hard throughout the rather difficult year and have had considerable influence on the young recruits.

R. McL.

Army Section On behalf of the cadets I would like to congratulate Sqdn. Ldr. McLeod on his recent promotion to that rank and Pilot Officer Brooks on his promotion to Flt/Lt. Our only cadet promotion was L/Cpl. Duffus to Corporal.

Training under the auspices of the 22 Training Team has been coming along quite satisfactorily and we hope to set a date for the Proficiency Board early in the next School year. Training other than with the training team has been restricted to one or two week-end exercises and our annual adventurous training which was again held at Kingussie during the easter holidays. Most of our exercises were either "snowed off" altogether or at least cut short. Mr. Ian Spence took us for three days hill climbing in what were mainly "white out" conditions. We are most grateful to him for his example of determination and leadership. We are also very grateful for Captain Galloway's efficient handling of stores and his general organisation of the camp.

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Aberdeen Grammar School Magazine

We are hoping to have a Range/Field day this summer and at least one long week-end exercise.

Annual Camp is at Cultybraggan this year and it is hoped that we shall have a large attendance.

The Annual Inspection is to be held on Friday 59 June. We are hoping that after the school exams the cadets will show a willingness to work and prepare for this inspection.

Finally I would like to thank our own Officers for their continued efficient running of the Contingent, in particular Sqdn/Ldr. R. McLeod, also S.S.I. Rogers and the zz Cadet Training Team for their continued support to the Contingent.

MALCOLM KERR, C.S.M.

R.A.F. Section In December Flt/Sgt. Park and Cpl. Reid gained Flying Scholarships, and Sgt. Dempsey an R.A.F. Cadetship thus enabling them to receive training for their Private Pilot's Licence.

This session the two new six-man dinghies were tested in the swimming pool with reasonable success and are regarded as being seaworthy.

In February Chipmunk flying was arranged but had to be cancelled at short notice owing to very severe weather conditions. Despite this lack of flying, cadets are still optimistic that it can be arranged later.

There have been two exercises this session, one on Brimmond Hill and the other on Bennachie.

The Bennachie exercise was an escape and evasion exercise with eight R.A.F. N.C.O.s trying to avoid capture. Although the N.C.O.s crossed over Bennachie without detection, they found that owing to a misunderstanding the transport had departed without them, but the error was eventually rectified.

In April during the Easter vacation eleven cadets spent a week at R.A.F. Bruggcn in West Germany. Here they were shown a wide variety of trades in the R.A.F. As well as visits to sections of the airfield they went to some important places in Germany and Holland.

The annual camp in August will be at R.A.F. Topcliffe in Yorkshire. This airfield serves as a base for communications aircraft.

Once again our thanks go to Squadron Leader McLeod and Pilot Officer Brooks for their support of the section.

ALISTER GRANT, Fliggi.

Pipe Band The band has improved considerably this term since the arrival of a new Piping instructor, Mr. William Fraser, from the O.T.C. pipe band. We have a small number of new members from the younger years, and these should provide a nucleus for the band in years to come. We have three engagements during the summer term and it is hoped that our programme will be extended further. We thank Messrs. R. Gray and W. Fraser for their tuition and Mr. R. McLeod for his help and advice during the session.

STEPHEN C. INGLIS, Pipe Major

INFORMATION In order to maintain the standard of previous editions of the Magazine, in particular the "Notes About Old Boys" and "Marriages" Sections, the Editor urgently requests F.P.s to complete the following : (t) NAME AND ADDRESS (Block Letters)

(2) PERIOD AT SCHOOL ....

(3) INFORMATION ABOUT CAREER

(4) NOTES OF INTEREST

When completed this form should be forwarded to the Notes Editor, J. B. Rennie, 220 Union Street, Aberdeen, who is anxious to hear of the activities of ALL F.P.s.

THIS INCLUDES YOU!

1

Use This Space

Photographic Society We are still employing the system adopted during the winter term whereby each of the VI year members took a group of five or six younger members and gave them instruction and practical demonstrations in all aspects of photography. This has proved to be a better system from the point of view of both the instructed and instructor!

In January we learned once again of the success of the Society in the Photographic Information Council's "Junior Photographer of the Year" competition. Alan Smith of third year won third prize in Scotland making him a regional finalist and the Society also gained two highly commended awards. It is hoped that younger members will start now to photograph all types of subjects to ensure that there will be even more entries next year than previously.

During the Spring Term we presented several slide shows one of which was on transparencies of America supplied by Mr. May. The Society taped a commentary of speech and music to accompany these slides which made them very interesting and enjoyable. Also at the School dance a few members of the Society made a tape recording of the music and other sounds throughout the evening; at the same time a number of colour transparencies were taken to obtain a visual impression of the occasion. An opportunity was later taken to present both slides and tape at one of the meetings of this year's Film Study group.

During the Summer Term we presented a small exhibition in School, involving the work of senior members who each contributed a small project. These included wild-life, sport and aviation.

For the other sixth-year members and myself, this is perhaps the time to remember the enjoyable hours we have spent at the Photographic Society over the past few years with Mr. Will. To him we extend our thanks for his help and advice so freely given.

KEVIN R. RENNIE

The School Dance The first School dance to be held in the new School Hall took place on Tuesday, i6 December 1969. A measure of the success of that dance is that another dance is planned for Friday, tz June. The Executive Dance Committee anticipates that this will be the social event of the year.

On a night when so many things were successful, a special mention must be made of the decor which was most spectacular and made an immediate impact. Indeed, when the special lighting was switched on, the atmosphere was set for the evening and it seemed hard to believe that only thirty hours before, there had been a school assembly in the same hall. There is, however, no purpose in describing all the dance, since these who were there need not be told and there is little point in increasing the misery of those who did not attend—such was their misfortune.

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Aberdeen Grammar School Magatine The Executive Dance Committee would like to extend their wholehearted thanks to the Rector and the many members of the staff whose encouragement helped the occasion to be such a success.

Finally, with the proven success of this dance, we would expect future sixth years to carry on with at least one dance per session. From experience, we have found the preparation as enjoyable as the dance itself, and there seems no reason why the dance should not continue.

It should not be allowed to lapse as before.

130

Music Notes The end of 1969 saw the School Choir and Orchestra in St. Machar's Cathedral for our Carol Service. The main item was the Christmas music from Handel's "Messiah", ably directed by Mr. Andrew Dinnes.

197o is Beethoven bi-centenary year, and, thanks to the courtesy of the Art Department, Beethoven has been scowling upon us from many odd corners of the School. Our programmes at the spring term lunch time recitals have featured his music. We heard movements from two of his violin sonatas at the first of these, played by Marshall Willox and Lennox Mackenzie. We also had part of his Horn Sonata (Eric Crockart), a song (John Ellis), and the Equali for four trombones (directed

by Mr. Charles Foster). His programme also included two motets for brass and baritone by Schutz, for which we welcomed back a former pupil, Hugh MacLeod. Other visits by F.P.s were made: Thomas Wilson played us a Beethoven Piano Sonata, and Nigel Murray came along with a fellow artiste, David Ward. Their visit was a particularly pleasant occasion, and besides playing Beethoven and Debussy for us at lunch time, they also gave a very enjoyable recital to the Lower School and first year boys. Other recitals were given by the Madrigal Group, Mr. Spittle's Clarinet Quartet, and we also heard the variations from the "Trout" Quintet. Attendances have been quite good, although the only packed houses happen when either a blizzard is blowing outside or a visit by Aberdeen Academy brings an element of feminine charm on to the scene!

Other schools seem to follow our pioneer example in the realm of lunch time music, and we have been particularly busy this season visiting other places to give recitals. We have been to Frederick Street, the High School, the University, the College of Education, and, for an evening recital, to St. Ninian's Church for the Organists' Association of Aberdeen. This all testifies to the very hard work put into music making by many of our boys, and the fact that we are in such demand should give us a sense of pride at our spreading fame and reputation. At some of these recitals, very unusual instruments were used—tuned milk bottles. These were used for the performance of experimental contemporary music for children by David Bedford.

Another of his works necessitated our borrowing some stop clocks from the Science Department, and these were operated with splitsecond precision by some boys from zA.

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Eric Crockart has joined Marshall Willox and Ian Anderson in the National Youth Orchestra, and we congratulate all these boys on their success in achieving selection for this fine orchestra.

At the time of writing the Music Department is preparing for a concert in the Arts Centre, the main feature of which will be a performance of an opera for young people by Richard Rodney Bennett, "All the King's Men". It is hoped to review this performance in the next Magaine.

Finally, a brief reference to Mr. John Dalby's retirement as Music Organiser for Aberdeen Corporation. Mr. Dalby has a connection with the Grammar School, for his son, Martin, is a Former Pupil, and is now a sufficiently famous composer to have had his First Symphony performed by the Scottish National Orchestra recently. This School owes a very great deal to Mr. Dalby's guidance and encouragement, and we wish him well on his retirement. His successor, Mr. Tom Devine, has already had to call on the services of Grammar boys, for some of our choir sang the small but important part of "Ragazzi" in Aberdeen Choral Society's performance of Orff's "Carmina Burana" recently. Many of our pupils will be playing in a special farewell concert for Mr. Dalby, to be given in June, and this will be one practical way in which we can express our thanks to him.

Lower School Notes Due to a long drawn-out winter, the Lower School boys missed many games afternoons but our Lower School XVs did manage to squeeze in a number of games on the few dry days. The results were: via XV v. Minors lost 6-o v. R.G.C. lost 5-x4 v. R.G.C. lost 18-3 2nd XV v. R.G.C. lost o-6 v. R.G.C. drew 6-6 Because of bad weather and difficulties encountered in arranging fixtures, our cricket XI has played only one game so far—against Dundee High which we lost by a narrow margin.

Lower School swimmers played an important part in the success of the Swimming Gala. Our Lower School Champion this year is Gary Allan of VITA and the runner-up is Robert Diament of VIIB. Towards the end of the spring term all classes of the Lower School gave a concert of French playlets to parents and friends. A great deal of hard work was put into this and the result was very gratifying and most enthusiastically received by a large audience. Our thanks are offered to Mrs. Grant who was the driving force behind it all.

The Choir has been as busy as ever this year, putting in many hours of practice for their share in "All the King's Men" performed at the Civic Arts Theatre in May. One memorable event of the Summer Term was our annual expedition to Lochnagar, which turned out to be a great success. Fifty out of sixty boys were able to reach the summit—to be rewarded with a magnificent view. The only mishap this year was that one boy,

Aberdeen Grammar School Magazine looking for a short cut back to the bus, chose to pick his way across the River Muick, and of course fell in. He had to make the rest of the trip back home minus his trousers, to the great mirth of his friends on the bus.

Preparations are now under way for the PVIls trip to Edinburgh Zoo on loth June and for our summer camp, to be held at Tarland School from 4-t 1 July.

J.N. 132

SIR JAMES J. ROBERTSON As we go to Press we learn of the tragic death in London of Sir James J. Robertson, Rector of the School from 1942-S9.

The death of Sir James, a figure much-loved and respected by his former pupils and colleagues, has shocked and stunned all who knew him.

With his passing a vital and important part of School tradition disappears.

A full tribute will be paid in the December edition of the Magazine to Sir James—the School Rector who meant so much to so many.

Former Pupils' Club Section (Club Founded I1 September 1893)

Club Office-Bearers, 1969-70 Honorary President: JOHN VASS SKINNER, M.A., B.LITT., DIP. ED.

(Rector since 1959)

Honorary Vice-presidents: ERIC Ros BIRKETT (1920-22), C.A. HENRY JACKSON BUTCHART (1890-99), D.S.O., O.B.E., T.D., B.L., LL.D., D.L. JOSEPH ROBERT CARRY (1918-30), M.H.E., T.D. DOUGLAS PATERSON COCHRAN (1906-15), F.INST.I.B., A.A.I.11.

GEORGE EDMOND CROMBIE (1916-21), C.M.G., M.A. ALEXANDER GRAY (1910-22), M.A., LL.B. THE HON. LORD JOHNSTON (1913-26).

JOHN ADAM LILLIE (1893-1903), LL.D., M.A., LL.B., Q.C. ERIC LINKLATER (1913-16), C.A.E., M.A., LL.D., T.D. IAN GOWANLOCK MCPHERSON (1910-17).

The Right lion. Lord NILs-roN (1901-02).

JOHN LENNOX RIDDELL (1907-16).

CECIL A. G. SAVIDGE (1913-24), M.U.E., M.A.

Sir JOHN WILLIAM TAYLOR (1906-11), K.B.E., C.M.G. , P.R.S.E. (Rector, 1920-21).

Sir JOHN MACKAY THOMSON, C.B., Sir LANDSBOROUGII THOMSON (1899-1908), C.B., O.B.E., M.A., D.SC., P.R.S.E., LL.D. ROBERT BERTRAM WILLIAMSON (1906-18), D.S.O., M.A., LL.B. EDWARD JAMES WOOD (1908-2I), M.A.

President : ALLAN CAMERON FRAZER (1925-30), M.A., LL.B., W.S.

Vice-President of Club and Chairman of Executive JOHN MAXWELL MILNE (1934-46), M.A.

Secretary and Treasurer : BRIAN K. CROOKSHANKS (19;4-46), T.D., M.A., LL.B.

25 Crown Street, Aberdeen.

General Editor of Magazine : ALISTAIR GEORGE GRACIE (1953-66)

Fernielea Crescent, Aberdeen.

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I 34

. lberdeen C•ramm,”. Vehool Maga.zine Secretaries of Centres :

Central Africa—GEORGE M. GROAT (1927-40), 2 Cornwall Lodge, Umptali Road, Beams Station, Salisbury.

Dundee—ROBERT S. RILLEY (1946-55), c/o Bank of Scotland, Blackford, Perthshire.

Edinburgh—DAVID A. BRIrrAIN (1943-49), M.A., LL.B., 2 Circus Gardens, Edinburgh.

Glasgow—JOHN G. M. BIRSS (1926-38), M.C., M.A., A.C.W.A., S7 Whittingehame Drive, Glasgow W z.

London—R. A. E. Mennie (1924-36), Rookery Cottage, Duck Street, Wendens Ambo, Saffron Walden, Essex.

Malaysia—BRIAN S. GRAY (1 943-49), B.SC., P.O. Box 207, Banting, Selangor.

Yorkshire—ARTHUR J. ADAMS (1919-3o), "Guyscliffe", Clara Drive Calverley, Pudsey, Yorks.

Ireland—ANDREW M. M. STEVEN (1936-50), M.A., C/O Secretary's Office, The Queen's University of Belfast, Belfast.

Secretaries of Sections : Cricket—ALEXANDER M. DAVIDSON (I937-45), B.L., 18 Golden Square, Aberdeen.

Golf- Cour' C. ALLAN (1 936-45), C.A., 63 Gray Street, Aberdeen.

Hockey—S. FORBES (1960-66), III Kings Gate, Aberdeen.

Rugby—CHARLES RITCHIE (1945-5 r), 25 Nethermains Road, Muchalls, Kincardineshire.

Executive Committee : The Vice-President of the Club, Chairman.

Vice-Chairman—IAN LEWIS SMITH (1918-30) The Secretary and Treasurer, and General Editor of Magazine, ex Offirlil.

The Rector of the School, ex officio.

ERIC CRAIG (1934-46) WILLIAM M. EWEN (1932-44) DONALD A. FOWLIE (1944-57) DR. DOUGLAS R. HARPER (1944-58) JOHN F. HENDRY (1951-65) PHILIP N. LOVE (1952-58) JOHN MCBAIN (1939-51)

NEIL L W. MELDRUM (1925-37) JoHN C. A. MICHIE (1944-59) W. WALLACE PORTER (1915-23) JoHN B. RENNIE (1 947-53) A. FROST TAYLOR (1929-35) MELVILLE F. WATSON (1942-56) ERIC D. WATT (1937-50)

Section Representatives Cricket—NIGEL G. M. WATT (1963-69) Golf—COLIN C. ALLAN (1936-45) Hockey—JOHN P. DRUMMOND (1947-58) Rugby—CHARLES RITCHIE (1945-51) Staff—ROBERT MCNAY Swimming—H. A. B. HARPER (19S0-S7) Hon. Auditors : Messrs. BOWER and SMITH, C.A.

The New President Allan Cameron Frazer, W.S. (1925-30) To map a man of merit in 6oo words or so is seldom easy. With a man so various as Allan Frazer it is almost impossible. Within such limits justice could be done only by a Scottish High Court Judge (perhaps another F.Y., Lord Johnston) passing an exemplary sentence in an upside-down dream about an F.P. Tribunal; and even then one speculates as to how he would set about it. The idea grows on one.

Might his Lordship not say something like this ?

"Allan Cameron Frazer, I have listened to all that has been said on your behalf but I cannot overlook the counts cm which you appear before me. First, it has been proved that you are a man of undoubted distinction—and we cannot have that sort of thing going on otherwise they might as well not start all those oddlynamed Academies. Second, you have not been content to be an idle F.P.—and this Court will not countenance younger members of the Club being exposed to the dangerous infection of a good example. Third—and I regard this as by far the greatest count— although in a long and varied career you have had every opportunity to do otherwise, you have never—God bless my soul, not even once—made a boring after-dinner speech! I need scarcely say that if conduct of that sort were to find general acceptance, the very roots of our civilisation would wither and the Club's Annual Dinners would come to an end. I shall now deal with these counts separately.

On the first, it is clear that throughout your life your exceptional gifts and tireless effort have combined to flout decent mediocrity and bring you to the top in all you have done. And, as if that were not enough, all this you did without ever forfeiting the affection and respect of your friends! In mitigation of sentence it has been said that you had your earliest education at Edinburgh Academy, but that is a misfortune which might have befallen anyone of us and I can not regard even so traumatic an experience as wholly excusing the career on which you embarked. I peruse your appalling record with horror and disbelief! First Class Honours in English. The Calder Prize for Verse (two separate convictions). Cricket, Rugby, Rod-fishing. The 1936 Student Show—book, music and lyrics. Bachelor of Laws. The Army— and what is worse, the Intelligence Corps and then a commission.

It has, I concede, been said to your credit that in 1940 your unit invaded and evacuated France so swiftly that it captured and held Dover Railway Station before the truth dawned, but even if that were so it could not alter this Court's view of the road you then trod. You were a mature man, but you became a Writer to the Signet and Secretary of the Sir Walter Scott Club. Rector's Assessor of Edinburgh University. Netherlands Consul in Edinburgh. A poet. The writer (under I perceive, a pseudonym) of some 135

I 36

Aberdeen Grammar School Magazine

of the most percipient pieces ever to appear in "The Scotsman".

Great heaven, the list is endless! And always one more step along the thorny path of worth. Facilir ascents glympi, indeed!

On the second count I say no more than this, that if you had only abstained for thirty years from keeping alive the Edinburgh Centre of the Club, of which ultimately you became Vice-President, the presentation gold watch which I see included in the list before me would not have been found in your possession. The Dean of the Faculty in his able plea on your behalf has sought to minimise matters by stressing that your long career as Secretary and Treasurer of the Edinburgh Centre was on an Honorary footing. In my view—for I too am an Aberdonian—that merely aggravates your offence.

But it is the third count concerning the lack of tedium in your utterance, private as well as public, which leads me to the conclusion that you must face a Higher Tribunal than this Court.

Many after-dinner speakers are content to be boring and unwitty and I see no reason at all why you should be exempted from the common lot. I shall now pass sentence.

Allan Cameron Frazer, as you are unlikely now to renounce your upward path, it is the sentence of this Court that you be taken from this place to the Annual Dinner at Aberdeen with the Edinburgh Centre's gold watch upon your wrist, your Presidential Badge round your neck, and that you there be condemned to an almost drinkless evening and a Presidential Speech. But see to it that your Speech is properly boring and preferably inaudible.

Otherwise you will be brought back here and dealt with far more severely. Take him down !"

That would cover some of the main points, I think. Great chaps these Judges!

R.J.M. (1918-193o)

Annual General Meeting The Sixty-eighth Annual General Meeting of the Club was held in the School Hall, Aberdeen, on Wednesday z5th March, 1970.

There were sixty—five members present.

Executive Report The Report by the Executive Committee of the Club for the year to 31 December 1969 was submitted by the Chairman of the Meeting Mr. John M. Milne, the Vice-President of the Club, and the following are extracts from the Report:

28.2.69 28.2.70

Life 1137 1130

-7

Membership Ordinary Honorary 1284 8 1256 7 -28 —I

Staff 25 20

—5

Total 2454 2413

—41

During the year forty-three deaths were reported in the Magatitie of whom twenty-seven were members of the Club. The highlight of the Club year had been the acquisition and development and eventual opening of the Club Centre which was in good heart. The response of members to the Appeal for funds had been disappointing but the Executive hoped that members of the Club would still rally round in support.

General Business The accounts for the year, duly audited and certified, were submitted and approved (they are reproduced on the next page).

Reports on the year's activities were submitted on behalf of the various Athletic Sections and all testified to the well-being of these Sections. The first Report on the Club Centre was submitted by Mr. P. N. Love, Chairman of the Centre Management Committee, who gave details of the very satisfactory returns experienced to date.

The appointment of Office-bearers then took place and the Chairman thanked Mr. George E. Crombie, the retiring President, for his interest in the affairs of the Club during his year of office. Mr. Allan C. Frazer was appointed President in succession to Mr. Crombie.

Future of the School and Club The Meeting then considered in general terms the future of the School and the Club in the light of the decision taken earlier in the year to change the name of the School. After hearing the Chairman and the Rector the members present raised a few points and thereafter clearly indicated their view that nothing should be done at the present time until it is seen more clearly exactly how the future is to develop.

137

Aberdeen Grammar School Magazine

r 38

GENERAL RECEIPTS AND PAYMENTS ACCOUNT RECEIPTS

1968 £203 314 107

Ordinary Subscriptions received prior to January 1969 Ordinary subscriptions received in 1969 . . .

Arrears recovered in 1969

.

.

.

.

•

£181 372 132

6 0 0

4 5 5

£685 14 £6z4 633 220 125

— 5

8 4 0

112 2 37 15 o o

LI,679

£1,607

REVENUE AND EXPENDITURE

MAGAZINE

6

I 622 1 221 14 II

. . . .

Revenue from Investments (Gross) . . . . . . . .

Transfer from Life Member Capital Fund ® 3% Surplus on Entertainments Account (after Honorarium to Entertainments Secretary) . . . . . . .

Interest on Deposit Receipts Miscellaneous

6

8

ACCOUNT

REVENUE £97 256

542

Sales .

Advertisements .

Transferred to General Receipts and Payments Account

.

.

.

.

£895

£91 16 243 8 767 6

O 2 4

£1,I02 10

6

BALANCE SHEET an LIABILITIES

1968 £7,087 255

1. LIFE MP MBER CAPITAL FUND Amount at credit at 31 December 1968 Life Members Subscriptions received in 1969

7,342

.

.

£7,121 13 270 0

.

£7.391 13 1 221 14 11 -----

Less: Transferred to General Receipts and Payments Account

220

I 0

£7,169 18

2

248 to

O

7,122

II.

OTHER FUNDS (a) Legacy—D. J. T. Jamieson (b) Swimming Pool Fund (r) Magazine Fund—Donation

£100 0 48 to too 0

0 O 0

148 III.

CAPITAL ACCOUNT Amount at credit at 31 December 1968 Add (t) Surplus on General Receipts and Payments Account for year ending 31 December I969 (2) Net Gain on realisation of shares . . . .

(3) Proceeds of sale of Script issue of shares and sale of Fraction

£384 1 3

4

54 6 2,423 1 4 44 15

6 I 7 2,907

385 IV. ORDINARY SUBSCRIPTIONS PAID IN ADVANCE Balance of Ordinary Subscriptions received prior to January 1969 . .

Subscriptions received in 1969 for future years .

245 5 197 10

VII. SUMS ON TEMPORARY LOAN 540

£8,926

VIII.

SUNDRY CRP D1TORS

-

.

.

•

•

.

.

.

442 1 5

6

423 1 5

4

£304 0 9 7 II II 112 2 8

. .

304 VI. BANK BALANCES Bank of Scotland—Current Account overdraft

6

6 0

427 V. ENTERTAINMENT RESERVE Balance at 31 December 1968 . .

Add: Bank Deposit Account Interest . .

Transfer from General Receipts and Payments Account

9

.

•

.

10,796

3 to

2,200

0

0

601

2

9

£24,789 1 5

_ -I

ABERDEEN, 9th March, 1970.—We have examined the foregoing Accounts for the year ending 31 December 1961 Balance Sheet correctly states the position of the Club as at 31 December :969. We have had exhibited to us the

F.P. Club Accounts

1 39

for year ending 31 December 1969 1968 £268 r r

4 245 22 30 9 9 8 zo 542 445

314

PAYMENTS Working expenses, including Honorarium to Secretary and Treasurer . . . .

Honorarium to Auditors for x968 ....

• • . . .

• Corporation Tax to 31 March 1968 . .

Income Tax paid by deduction from Investment Income . . . .. . .

School and Trophy Medals .

Capitation Grants London Edinburgh Glasgow Expenses of visits to Centres ..... ....

Sports Prize Fund ... ..

Transferred from Magazine Account . .....

Transferred to Entertainments Reserve . .....

• • • • Surplus for year

•

•

£303 12 II 11 O O

•

£6 7 244 II

6 7

0

0

£30 9 9

0

0

0

0

250 19 25 0

I O

•

•

48 87 20

O 1 O

O O O

•

•

767

6

•

•

IT2

2

4 8

•

•

54 6 6

£2,607

£1,679

8

6

926 176

3 7

3 3

£1,102 to

6

£3,850

8

8

20,678

7

O

148 i6

9

112

2

8

£24,789 15

1

for year ending 31 December 1969 EXPENDITURE 742 153

Cost of Printing Working expenses, including Honorarium

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

895

at 31 December 1969 ASSETS I. INVESTMENTS

31to Ordinary 5s. Stock Units, Standard Trust Ltd. (at cost) (Market Value £2,993) • • 4032 Ordinary 5s. Stock Units, Raeburn Investment Trust Ltd (at cost) (Market Value £4,083) (Formerly 3,600 Anglo Celtic . . . .

Trust Ordinary Stock Units of 5s. each) 270 Class 'kr Common Shares United Corporation Ltd. (at cost) .

(Market Value £2,322) 3290 Ordinary 5s. Shares, Scottish Northern Investment Trust Ltd. (at cost) )Market Value £3,084) 6,409

(Total Market Value £12,482)(1968 £16,473) Amount realised on sale of shares . . . .

Less Book Value .

Transferred to Capital Account II.

.

.

.

.

£990

z

6

999 ii

6

884

9

0

976

6

8

£4,982

O 10

2,558 6 £2,423 14

9 1

£7,000 0 18,073 19

0

£25,073 19 4,393 12

7 7

CLUB CENTRE

Sum advanced to Club Centre Sum advanced on Temporary Loan Less: Amount of Club Centre Appeal Fund at 31 December 1969

.

7

Note: The Capital Expenditure on the Club Centre was not com-

pleted at 31 December 1969 III.

CASH AND BANK BALANCES

(1) Aberdeen Savings Bank Ordinary Account . .

• • Special Investment Account (2) Bank of Scotland Deposit Account • • .

(3) Cash in Hands of Treasurer 2,280 237

£8,926

IV.

SUNDRY DEBTORS

. .

it 2 22

• •

•

6 5 9 11

£34 i6 4 ri is 8 7 9 102

and relative Balance Sheet as at 31 December 1969 and found the Accounts correct. We are of the opinion that the various Securities supporting the Funds at the close of the Accounts.

(Sgd.) BOWER & SMITH, C.A. Honorary .4 editors

40

1

Aberdeen Grammar School Magazine

The Club Centre Just over eight months have now elapsed since the Club Centre at 86 Queen's Road, Aberdeen, was officially opened on Friday, 17 October 1969. The centre has gained in popularity since then and both the Cocktail Bar and the Sports Sections' Bar now have regular clienteles.

The last week-end of March, when the London Scottish Rugby Tourists were in Aberdeen, will not be readily forgotten. Both Bars at the Centre were full to capacity on the Friday, Saturday and Sunday evenings.

An important milestone was reached in the history of the Club Centre on 24 May 1970 when the Bar takings from the date of the Centre's opening reached a total of £1O,OOO. The occasion was celebrated in majestic style by the Club Secretary, Brian K. Crookshanks and the Centre's Steward, Joe Watson, helping themselves to a free half-pint of beer each after closing time. The Secretary had always held it against the writer that until then the writer was the only person ever to have received a drink "on the house" in the Centre—and that was the first pint ever pulled in the Centre l While our Bar takings have been encouraging, the return from our two one-armed "bandits" has been equally pleasing and our two machines have been living up to the descriptive term used of them.

The net profit accruing from our two "bandits" after payment of the rental, licence dues and prizes from the opening of the Centre till the end of May 1970 amounted to over £i5oo. In order to achieve this net profit members and guests fed a gross total of over £2850 into the two voracious "bandits".

In addition to the above mentioned activities, the Centre offers facilities for billiards, table tennis and darts. There is a fine T.V. Lounge on the ground floor and bedroom accommodation is available on the first floor. It is intended to extend and improve upon the present catering arrangements in our dining room.

Membership stands at just under Soo but many more applications are eagerly awaited by the Centre Committee.

Despite the plea contained in the last two issues of the Magazine the response to the appeal for funds remains disappointing. The Appeal Fund presently stands at £4710 and there have been only 274 F.P. donors out of a total F.P. Club membership of approximately 2000. It is not possible to over-emphasise the need for further donations to the Appeal Fund in order to avoid the necessity either of selling further F.P. Club investments or of borrowing additional monies so that the gap cxisting between the Centre's sources of finance and the total capital cost may be "bridged". Again, may I say, "Much or Little, it will all help!" Surely there are many F.P.s who could afford to give "much" to this eminently worthwhile project.

Although the Centre is flourishing and increasing in popularity, more support is needed from all F.P.s and particularly from the more senior members of the Club whose support, to date, has been lacking.

PHILIP N. LOVE, Chairman Club Centre Management Committee

Section Reports Rugby Season 1969/7o was not outstanding on the playing side at least as judged by 1st XV results.

The season opened promisingly with good attendance at Rubislaw during August. Doug Georgeson's coaching and guidance at that time gave added interest and usefulness to the sessions.

The 1st XV was rarely a settled side, and during the early season lacked confidence. However the team finished the Heriot's game well and should have beaten Stewart's. It gained in stature with a draw against Jordanhill College and a good win against Dumfermline.

With players and team settling a sudden erosion took place at Raeburn Place and somehow the side never quite recovered, although the team later played well against Glasgow Accies and finished with a good win against Musselburgh.

Locally we ran up big scores against everyone who would play us and it is a pity Gordonians could not fit us in to their busy schedule.

I think all who played this season in the first XV could make most Club XVs as individuals yet as a team we tend to feel inferior. There seems to be a certain lack of purpose and commitment to the game.

Indeed one occasional!), gets the feeling that some play as a form of punishment and I think this has been a notably poor year for sociability. When our facilities at 86 Queen's Road are so obviously enjoyed by visiting teams it's a great pity that more of our players don't take the trouble to get to know the opposition and indeed those who don't are missing an essential interest of the game and will regret it in future years.

Slight modification of attitudes could make a big difference to next season and the aspect of coaching and training will be reviewed by the new officials. My own view is that coaching and training and selection policies should attempt to steer a diplomatic course between the radical "if you don't train at official sessions you don't play" and the opposite extreme.

However, with Doug Georgeson's coaching experience I am sure some amicable policy can be contrived with the new regime.

Phil Love had an outstanding season since I started playing and Harry Millar was unfortunate not to get a game for North. Stuart Glover was consistently good and Pete Collier played 7o per cent of his 26 games well. Others acquitted themselves adequately.

Congratulations are due to Ian Gray who played for North Midlands v Scottish Universities and was nominated as reserve against the Tourists. He also captained the North Under 23 side and played for North Midlands under 23 v London Scottish. The Club was also represented by John Smith and Forbes Stuart both of whom finished the season as mature players able to face any opposition. Doug Fowlie 141

Aberdeen Grammar School Magazine played for North against the Springboks and reserves included Ian Gray and Charlie Ritchie.

The and XV was again a great breeding ground—thanks mainly to Doug Georgeson. He managed to get the best from younger players and the inexperienced side had some notable victories against tough opponents notably R.A.F. Kinloss and Montrose and of course Gordonians.

The third XV was at its usual standard and it was only a pity that we did not see more of some players notably Roddy McDonald and Graeme Reid.

The 4th XV turned out fleetingly and gave some "names" of the past a run as well as providing a game for our growing band of members who had not played.

142

Playing Records

Played ist XV

29

znd XV

z1

Won i6 i5

3rd XV

17

I2

Lost

Drawn

For

Points Against

13

6

2 0

442 3

160

4

I

317

188

2 97

D. G. FOWLIE, Captain

Hockey This has been a very successful season for the Section. The 1st XI won the local league competition and therefore retained the David Wood Memorial Trophy which we shared with Academy FPs last year. The only disappointing feature of the season was the 1st XI's single defeat, which unfortunately occurred in the vital Scottish Cup Semi-final against Inverleith! The total goals scored by the ist XI amounts to 103 for, and we have conceded only 17 which is a formidable record.

The ist XI results for the latter part of the season are as follows: Nov. 8 v. Highland at Inverness z-i W 4--o W 9 v. R.A.F. Kinloss at Kinloss 14- 0 W 9 v. R.N.A.S. Lossiemouth at Lossic 15 v. R.G.I.T. at Rubislaw 7—0 W 23 v. University at Kings 8—o W Dec. 6 v. Dundee Wanderers at Dundee 1—i D 13 v. Gordonians at Rublislaw 5-1 W I4 v. Academy F.P.s at Links (Scottish Cup) 4—o W 20 v. Ruthrieston at Rubislaw 5-1 W 1970 Jan. 17 v. Stepps (Scottish Cup) at Links 2-2 D 24 v. Ruthrieston at Links 5 —0 W 31 v. Highland at Rubislaw 5 —0 W Feb i r. Stepps (Scottish Cup Replay) z—o W 28 v. Inverleith (Scottish Cup) o-1 L

Section Reports Mar. 14 21 z2 z8 April 4 it

v. University at Kings v. Grove Acad. at Dundee v. Clydesdale at Links v. Avoca at Links v. Morgan Acad. F.P.s at Dundee v. Academy F.P.s at Links

1 43 6-1 W I-o W 6-1 W G-i W z-o W z-o W

The 2nd XI also had a very good season and won the second league, and the 3rd XI won their league to make it a hat-trick of league successes for the Section. This is a very fine achievement indeed.

The section has undoubtedly benefited socially with the advent of the new Club Centre, and our close liaison with the Rugby and other sporting sections is bound to strengthen interest in the F.P. Club as a whole. The hockey section has played a (friendly!) game of rugby against the Rugby Section and in the return match a hockey game was played. Both games enlightened the players from the respective teams about the hazards of these sports!

Fred Lawson again played for Scotland in all of the Home International series of matches and is to be congratulated for his fine performances.

Ian Middleton has achieved a unique honour in becoming our first International Umpire. He umpired the England v Wales game at Eastbourne, and by all reports this is unlikely to be his last honour.

This is a fitting reward for all of his enthusiasm.

Tour by Avoca Hockey Club The Avoca Hockey Club from Dublin enjoyed a marvellous weekend tour in Aberdeen at the Easter weekend as our guests. They stayed at the Earls Court Hotel a few doors up from the Club Centre but spent more time in the Club Centre than anywhere else! They had a young side over with them and their Captain Geoffrey Sarrat has said that it was one of their best ever tours.

Our thanks are due once again to Mr. R. McNay for his continued support of the Section, and we are viewing his leaving Aberdeen with mixed feelings. We are delighted at his new appointment, but feel that Dumfries Academy's gain is our loss. "Bob", as he has come to be called, has been a great friend to the Hockey Section, and his coaching and interest has produced a remarkable number of international and district players. The school team has always produced a flow of fine players for the Section under his guiding hand. We wish him success and happiness in his new position.

Our thanks are also due to the many team officials, and especially to Alan Pink for the fine work he has done as Match Secretary.

The following officials have been elected for next season: 1st XI Captain, Fred Lawson; Vice-Captain, J. Lyon; znd XI Captain, A. Prosser; Vice-Captain, A. Pink; 3rd XI Captain, D. Yule; Vice-Captain, J. Sim; 4th XI Captain, A. Milne. Secretary, S. Forbes; Match Secretary, A. Pirie; Treasurer, I. A. Middleton.

J. LEIPER, Captain

Martyn Aubrey Batchelor* (1959-65) who graduated M.A. Honours in 1969, has started on a Post-Graduate Course in Landscape Design at Newcastle University.

Scott Cameron (x9z1-34), M.B., cH.B., has become Medical Officer to the London Borough of Waltham Forest. For eighteen years he was in General Practice in Manchester until 1964 when he joined the Treasury Medical Service in London. Following a severe coronary in 1968, he was obliged to pursue the "more leisurely activities of his present position".

Kenneth Stroud Duncan* (1948-54), A.A.C.C.A., reports that he has been elected a Fellow of the Institute of Taxation, Cliffords Inn, London. He is meantime employed in the Tax Division of Texaco Trinidad Inc., Trinidad.

Robert Patrick Duthie* (1923-35) has been appointed Deputy City Architect by Aberdeen Town Council. Mr. Duthie has served all his working career with Aberdeen Corporation. He joined the City Architects Department in 1947 and became Chief Assistant Architect in 1955.

J. Peter Jeffrey (1944-59)* and R. Halsey G. Bradford (1951-65)* leave for Canada in July on the start of a two-year venture working their way round the world. They look forward to meeting a large number of F.P. contacts on their tour. Both are science graduates, and hope to experience as varied employment as possible manual or otherwise. (Any offers considered!)

Arthur Roy Handasyde Kellas (1926-32), M.A., has recently been appointed as Ambassador to Aden. He joined the Foreign Office and Diplomatic Service in 1939 and has seen service in Tehran, Helsinki and Cairo prior to his present appointment.

James Kincaid (1943-5a) has recently left Aberdeen to become Minister to a congregation of i,ooo Bantu people in Transkei Reserve, South Africa. Mr. Kincaid graduated from Aberdeen University and for a time was assistant minister at the North Church, Aberdeen. For the past seven years, he has been minister at Crossgates, Fife.

Alexander L. O. (Deny) MacIntyre (1943-48) has recently been promoted to the rank of Lieutenant-colonel and is now commandant of the School of Infantry at Gwele, Rhodesia. After leaving School he was commissioned in the Parachute Regiment and served in the U.K. and Egypt before going to Rhodesia in 1956. He joined the Federal Army in 1957, and in 1964 joined the Southern Rhodesian Army at the break-up of the Federation.

144

Notes on Old Boys

145 Dennis Trevor Llewellyn Marr* (193o-4z) was awarded the M.B.E. in the Birthday Honours List of June 1969 in recognition of his services in furthering Anglo-Venezualan relations. He is in business with the Royal Globe Insurance Group in Maracaibo and is in addition British Vice-Consul. He is a brother of John Angus Colin Marr (1936-43) who was formerly Clerk to the Council of Civil Engineers and is now a Senior Clerk with Lloyds Register of Shipping.

George Campbell Massie* (1924-38) has been appointed Headmaster of Bucksburn School. He previously held similar posts at Pitmedden, Craigievar and Kinellar.

Leslie Deane Mayor* (1922-33), A.F.C., C.B., in the recent Royal Air Force List became a K.C.B. He studied at Aberdeen University before going to the R.A.F. College of Cranwell in 1935. He is at present Commander in Chief R.A.F. Training Command, Brampton.

Thomas Ian Morrison* (1934-47) has been awarded the Territorial Decoration (Territorial and Army Voluntary Reserve).

Major Morrison, a Lecturer in Chemistry at Jordanhill College of Education has written several volumes on Chemistry which have been widely adopted as school text books.

He turns out for I.C.I. Grangemouth at Hockey and Stirling County and Grammar F.Ps. at Cricket. He is also co-selector of the Picts Hockey touring side.

Hamish Thomas Ellis Norbrook* (959-65) is engaged under the auspices of the Voluntary Service Overseas in Burundi, a remote part of the world, lying between the Congo and Uganda.

Alastair Fowlie Philip* (1953-64), B.SC., has gained a Caird Scholarship for post-graduate study and is at present studying for a Masters Degree in Aeronautics at the College of Aeronautics, Cranfield. He graduated B.Sc. Honours from Aberdeen University in 1968.

James Reid* (1924-34) has been elected President to the Scottish Amateur Swimming Association for the second successive year. This is the first time for fifty years that a President has had two years in office. Mr. Reid who has figured very prominently in the arrangements for the Commonwealth Games is a past member of the F.P. Executive and is a founder member of the F.P. Swimming Section.

Michael Carney Robinson (1958-6z), C.A., has recently emigrated to Trinidad where he will take up a position as Chartered Accountant in Port of Spain.

F. G. D. Smith* (1922-33). Our attention has been drawn by Mr. F. G. D. Smith to the entry concerning him in the last edition of the Magazine in which we stated that he was "Head of M.I.5". This statement was inaccurate and was printed without Mr. Smith's knowledge.

John Mackenzie Still (1947-60), M.A., C.A., has recently emigrated to South Africa where he will work for the Anglo-American Corporation. Since qualifying as a C.A. two years ago, he has worked for the Town & County Garage in Aberdeen. He formerly played rugby for F.P.s and is a member of Murcar Golf Club.

146

Aberdeen Grammar School Magazine

James Mitchell Williamson* (1948-51) is shortly to take part in Scottish Trials for the forthcoming Paraplegic Commonwealth Games.

Mr. Williamson who is a Director of Messrs. A. R. Gray, Ltd., Wholesale Grocers, represented Scotland at Archery in the 1966 Paraplegic Commonwealth Games in Jamaica.

Geoffrey Edward Wood* (1949-63) is now lecturing in Economics at the University of Warwick and is living in Leamington Spa. Missing Members Magazines sent to the undernoted Members have been returned undelivered because the Members have moved. Would anyone who has any information as to present addresses or whereabouts of any of these Members please contact the Secretary.

Name Addison, James Lochore (1959-65) Alexander, Eric Archie (1935- 43) Alexander, James (1916-28) Allan, Alfred Easton (b. 18/4/12) Anderson, Arthur James, Captain R.N. Anderson, David (b. 11/12/24) Anderson, Edmund Mitchell (1914-16) Bell, Dr. John Hamilton (1908-14) Bcnzie, Dr. Alexander Swan (1907-16) Black, James Henderson Dcas (b.

31/1/20) Booth, Malcolm (1950-55) Bowman, Charles Ogilvie Will (19101 5) Brown, Jack Leslie Keith (1921-25) Brown, Robert (b. 29/7/25) Brown, William Barton (1943- 57) Bruce, John Lamb (1921-23) Bruce, Brian M. (1947-52) Bryant, Ronald William Gower (192032) Buchan, Thomas Hill (1935- 47) Buthlay, Ronald Forbes (b. 27/7/20) Cairncross, William Lumsden (b. 23/10/ 21) Cameron, Henry Gordon (1955-61) Cardno, Harry Spark (b. 3/11/20) Chalmers, Dr. George Lovie (1945-51)

Lasl known address 47 Gairn Terrace, Aberdeen 47 Harrington Street, Pear Tree, Derby c/o P.W.D., Central Government Buildings, Lower Albert Road, Hong Kong to Ethel Terrace, Edinburgh 22 Eardulph Avenue, Chester-le-street Durham Celeste, Murtle i to Springfield Mount, Leeds z 55 Wood Street, Walthamstow, London, E.17 ;8 Tudor Avenue, Worcester Park, Surrey 6z Painswick Road, Hall Green, Birmingham, 28 27 Watson Street, Aberdeen c/o Ghana A.D.C., P.O. Box 2309, Accra, Ghana c/o Guthrie & Co., Ltd., Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia Royal Canadian Air Force, Ottawa 21 Roxburgh Street, Glasgow, W.: P.O. Box 70, Blantyre, Nyasaland 24 Homefield Avenue, Bradwell, Great Yarmouth, Norfolk L'Institut d'Urbanisme, Universite de Montreal, C.P. 6128, Montreal 12 Surrey Avenue, Camberley, Surrey 75 Cowley Road, Ilford, Essex 33o King Street, Broughty Ferry 58 Oldcroft Terrace, Aberdeen 78 Forbesfield Road, Aberdeen 29 Roschill Drive, Aberdeen

Obituaries David Adam* (1898-1904), B.SC. Mining, died in Johannesburg. Son of the Rev. H. M. Adam, he graduated B.Sc. Mining at Glasgow in 1910. Following war service as an officer in the Royal Engineers where he was mentioned in dispatches in 1916, he relinquished his commission on account of ill health caused by wounds in 1919. From 1923-33, he was Lecturer in Mining at Glasgow University and was thereafter engaged as mine manager and consultant in South Rhodesia and South Africa. Iie spent his retirement in Johannesburg and was a Life Member of the Club.

Dr. Robert Morrison Easton* (1894-1904), M.A., M.A., CH.B., formerly in general practice in Erith, Kent, died aged eighty-two. He graduated from Aberdeen University in 1911 and following a spell at Royal Infirmary, became House Surgeon at Albert Dock Hospital, London. From 1913—zo he was in the Indian Medical Service in an Indian hospital ship and in the East African campaign. After retiring from India he was in practice in Erith until his retirement in 1960.

Harold William Galloway* (1905-16) died in Aberdeen in February 1970 following a long illness. On leaving School he joined his father in the family business of Galloway and Sykes, Cabinet makers and Furnishers, with which he was associated throughout his life. A keen churchman, he was senior elder of Rutherford Church. His brother Eric John Galloway* (1908-18) and his son John Harold Galloway *(19O-55) are also members of the family business. His other son is David Brian Galloway* (1944-58), M.B., CH.B., who is meantime in London.

George Hay (1925-35) died in Aberdeen Royal Infirmary aged fifty. He became Assistant Harbour Master in 1953 and Harbour Master in 1967. On leaving School, he joined the British Tanker Co. and all his sea service from apprentice to master was with the same company. Captain Hay saw much of his service in the Persian Gulf and came to his first appointment at Aberdeen from the position of Harbour Master at Bandar-Mashar, Abadan.

Gordon Harvey Henderson* (1921-34), J.P., M.A., LL.B., died at Aberdeen on zo March 1970, aged fifty-four.

J. S. M. writes: Gordon Henderson had been a partner in the firm of Hunter & Gordon, Advocates in Aberdeen, since 1951 and was a sincere capable practitioner respected alike by the Bench, the Court Officials and his fellow lawyers. He served for a period on the Education Committee of the City of Aberdeen as an external member representing the Roman Catholic Church. I le was a keen supporter of the Progressive Association and served as Chairman of St. Machar Ward for several years. He was a legal representative for the Aberdeen Telephone Samaritans.

Although not enjoying the best of health for the last three years his death was sudden and unexpected.

Since the last war he had taken a keen interest in Club affairs and was a member of the Executive Committee for many years. I le was Vice-President of the Club and Chairman of Executive for 1967-69. The major effort he made on behalf of the Club was to achieve the realisation of the Club Centre. The idea of a Club "Club" had been talked about for many years (the Rugby Section had taken practical financial steps in an earlier modest way) but it was probably Gordon during his term of office as Vice President and Chairman of Executive who did more than anyone other individual to fit together the various details, rally the various supporters and press home the final effort. He foresaw the attacks to be made on the School as we know, and knew it, and felt strongly that the establishment of a Club Centre would be at least one tangible remembrance and focal point for Former Pupils.

That is the skeleton—what of the flesh? Having known Gordon from his early schooldays (we were near contemporaries and our parents before us were friends) I feel I knew what made him tick. Throughout the years we shared many things— the joys of camp as Cubs and Scouts: University life, academic, sporting and social: 147

Aberdeen Grammar School Magazine 148 the spell in the Second World War (though both in Royal Signals we met only occasionally but always most happily and, perhaps, even riotously). Thereafter as family men we maintained our friendship with our wives and children as our own parents had done.

In more recent years we were both members of a physical education club for middle-aged gentlemen. The instructor was Bill Lawrie recently retired Head of the P.E. Department of the College of Education and former Head of P.E. at the School. The Club is called the F.R.S. and the exact definition is unknown although generally understood to mean Fellows of the Right Sort. If that is correct, Gordon more than adequately filled the requirements.

Above all however, Gordon to me was a true example of a realistic ecumenist.

Son of a Scottish father and an Irish mother he himself went to the Emerald Isle for his wife. He was truly happy with his wife and family and was a devoted husband and father. His son Michael*, a Dentist in Aberdeen, was at School from 1948-60 and his daughter Elizabeth is also a law graduate of Aberdeen University. Like them and Mrs. Henderson, we will miss him, but we will all have happy memories.

Most of all I will miss that quizzical, almost hesitant, smile that was never far from his face.

Since being privileged to write this I was browsing through old copies of the Magatiste. An article in the issue of June 1934 (Vol. xxxvii, No. 3, p. 231) by Gordon when he was Senior Prefect and a member of Classical VI seems to exemplify what I have been trying to say. To me, it reveals the man the boy was to become.

Percival Robson Kirby* (1892-1901), M.A., A.R.C.M., died in Grahamstown, South Africa in his eighty-third year. Professor Kirby graduated at Aberdeen University and studied at the Church of Scotland Training College for Teachers in Aberdeen before emigrating in 1914. He was emeritus professor of music at the University of Witwatersrand, South Africa and was responsible for selecting the present South African National Anthem.

George Seton Simpson Leith* (1903-11) died at Poole, Dorset, aged seventyfive. He gained his diploma in Agriculture at Aberdeen University in 1913 and went to work as an agricultural valuation assistant with the Inland Revenue. Subsequently, he joined a firm of Jute Merchants in Calcutta until in 1937 he was forced through ill-health, to return to the United Kingdom. He entered the Licensed Trade and managed several hotels until he retired in 1959.

Major General Sir Thomas Menzies* (1905-10), C.B., O.B.E., M.B., CH.B., D.T.M. & H., J.P., died at Kirriemuir. Commissioned in the R.A.M.C. in 1914, he served in a hospital ship sailing between Bombay and Basisa, East Africa and was granted a regular commission in 1919. Much of his service between the wars was in India but in 1939, he was at the Queen Alexandra Military Hospital in London holding the rank of Major. He was promoted Colonel in 1942 and in 1943 was awarded the O.B.E. for services in North Africa. He was mentioned in dispatches for services in Italy in February 1945. In 1949, he was appointed an Honorary Physician to the King and was awarded the C.B. in the Birthday Honours List in 1950. He was a Life Member of the Club.

William McGregor Murray (1941- 47) was killed in a car accident on the M. 6 near Stafford. Formerly in insurance in Aberdeen, he was employed by a Birmingham printing firm at the time of his death. He was a keen rugby player and a member of the F.P. 1st XV of 1950-51.

Edward Walker* (1917-20) died in Aberdeen earlier this year. Prior to his retirement he was Assistant Branch Manager of the Scottish Union and National Insurance Co. Surgeon-Commander, Robin Vawer Williams* (1935-40; 1941-46), M.B., R.N., died on zi January 197o as the result of a road accident in Malta.

A. R. L. writes: By the tragic death of Robin Williams at the age of forty, the F.P. Club loses a distinguished member and the North-east a brilliant son. Robin

Obituaries

149

was one of the most popular of his time at School and took an active part in many activities being particularly interested in mountaineering, scouting and Rugby football.

His especial gift of humour, mimicry and caricature which were early apparent at School, developed more fully when he proceeded to University to study medicine.

His collection of drawings of the Professoriat and lecturers became a legend, as did his superb but not unkind imitations. Many a rather dull lecture was enlivened by his rapid production of a devastating cartoon or thumb-nail sketch and these form a wonderful and unique collection now held by a former classmate.

In due course Robin became one of the most able men of his class of medicine, and his interest and passion for academic medicine found full opportunity when he joined the Medical Service of the Royal Navy, after completing various appointments at Aberdeen Royal Infirmary.

Higher degrees were obtained, promotion was rapid, and, when the fatal accident involving his Lancia occurred, he was Senior Consultant Physician to the Royal Navy in Malta and personal physician to the Governor-General.

He was clearly ultimately destined for the highest Ranks of the Service and although his duties had taken him to many parts of the world with his wife and family, he never lost his love for his native North-cast and returned as often as duty permitted to savour the news of the arca and keep contact with his many friends and colleagues.

His impish sense of fun, his cheery presence, his kindliness to his patients and his sheer humanity will always be remembered by those privileged to have known and worked with him. Our deepest sympathies are extended to his wife, Sylvia, to their four children, and to his brother Harry Lyon Williams* (3920-36).

I 50

Aberdeen Grammar .Cebool Magazine

New Members of the Club (15 November 1969-15 May '970) Life Members CRIGHTON, Gerald Leslie (1942-54), Viewfar, Kingsmuir, Forfar.

HOWARD, Stanley Alexander (1947-58), to Chamberlain's Gardens, Leighton

Buzzard, Bedfordshire.

LAWRIE, Albert Douglas Victor (1943-46), 17 Kenfield Crescent, Aberdeen.

Ordinary Members ANDERSON, Gordon Forbes Rankine (1955-68), 24 Craigic Park, Aberdeen.

BATCHELOR, Neil Stuart (1956-7o), 44 Angusfield Avenue, Aberdeen.

Bon), Brian Stewart (1963-69), 3z Fonthill Terrace, Aberdeen.

BYIERS, Eric George (1963-69), 99 Balnagask Road, Aberdeen.

CRAIG, Ronald Slater (1940-52), 12 Monymusk Terrace, Aberdeen.

DAVIDSON, Graeme Leadley (1953-65), 14 Broomhill Place, Aberdeen.

FRASER, Ian Stuart (1967-69), 6 Ashgrove Road West, Aberdeen.

FRASER, William Gavin (1968-70), 7 Laurelwood Avenue, Aberdeen.

GRANT, David Gordon (1948-55), 39 Springfield Road, Aberdeen.

GROVES, Ian Bullock (1963-68), 21 Hilton Drive, Aberdeen.

HASTIE, Michael Campbell (1 959-63), cio 143 Blenheim Place, Aberdeen.

HENDERSON, Ian Gauld (1957-7o), 42 Cairnaquheen Gardens, Aberdeen.

HOUGHTON, Roger David (1959-64), 31 Woodburn Crescent, Aberdeen.

IRONSIDE, Charles N (19O- ), 43 Highlands Avenue, Gordon 2072, New South

Wales, Australia.

LErrs, George Christopher (1952-62), 42 Garthdee Road, Aberdeen.

LEVINSON, Stephen (1963-69), 8 New Park Place, Aberdeen.

McEwEN, Kenneth James (1961-68), 8 Westfield Terrace, Aberdeen.

MCGREGOR, David William (1963-69), II Valley Crescent, Kincorth, Aberdeen McIrrrosti, Ian Campbell (1951-55), 8z Bonnymuir Place, Aberdeen.

McIrvrosu, Robert Porter (1946- 52), 199 Holburn Street, Aberdeeen.

MARSDEN, Derek Keith (1964-68), 5 Fintray Road, Aberdeen.

MILNE, Alexander Ross (1954-66), 6 Colville Place, Aberdeen.

RENNIE, Kevin Richard (1964-70), 4 Stronsay Drive, Aberdeen.

RICHARDSON, John James Stewart (1964-7o), 140 Crown Street, Aberdeeen.

SANDISON, Hamish John Brookes (1963-69), 22 Woodstock Road, Aberdeen.

SIMPSON, Michael George (1963-69), 12 Mastrick Junction, Aberdeen.

WALKER, Alan William (1964-70), 15 Braemar Place, Aberdeen.

WATSON, Derek Daniel (1956-67), 1 Bayview Road, Aberdeen.

WESLEY, Iain Marshall (1963-69), 37 Bonaly Avenue, Colinton, Edinburgh, 13.

Woon, Frank Frain (1955-66), 25 Bright Street, Aberdeen.

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