AGS Magazine October 1908

OCTOBER, 1908.

Vol. XII., No. i.

Educational Books.

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CONTENTS. PORTRAIT OF THE SCHOOL CRICKET IST XI., 1908. Frontispiece - Facing page 46 PORTRAIT OF SAMUEL POPE, Esq., A.C.T.C. _ .. _ _ .

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37 RUGBY FOOTBALL .

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THE ABERDEEN

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Vol XII.

OCTOBER, 1908.

No. I.

It is customary in this, the opening paragraph, to give a graphic account of the frantic mental struggles through which we have had to pass before we succeeded in framing the first sentence of these Notes. These struggles have not been lacking in our case any more than in the case of our predecessors, but, out of respect to your feelings, gentle readers, we shall refrain from describing them in detail, and shall, instead, proceed straight to business.

Our first duty is to offer to our masters, to our schoolfellows, and to all readers of the Magazine our heartiest greetings upon the opening of session 1908-9. The new session brings with it fresh responsibilities, but we are sure that Grammar School boys, one and all, will do their utmost to keep up the reputation of the old School.

"The old order changeth, yielding place to new."

This line must have suggested itself to many minds during the first few weeks of this session. It did seem

2

Aberdeen Grammar School Magazine.

very strange that there should no longer be a VII. Classical.

Many mistakes were made in consequence of the changing of the scheme of classes, but now we are getting accustomed to the " new order." We venture to think, however, that there is not the same dignity about the name " VI. Class " as there was about the old " VII." This may be merely our own imagination, but it brings up the old question, " What's in a name ? " With this number we present as a frontispiece the photo of the 1st XI. of last session. We have not the slightest doubt that it will meet with general appreciation.

Wonderful to relate, the team was exceedingly fortunate as regards the weather. Not even one match had to be put off on account of rain. Although no brilliant achievements fall to be recorded, still, we had the satisfaction of beating Gordon's College in all three matches played against them.

We are extremely pleased to be able to present also another plate which, we think, will arouse very widespread interest. We refer to the photograph of Mr. Samuel Pope, A.C.T.C., the much-respected drawing-master of the School. Few masters are privileged to have such a record of service as Mr. Pope has had. For forty-one years he has been a teacher in the School, during which time he has gained the respect and the love of all his pupils.

Surely he is the " grand old man " of our School, and our only desire is that many happy years may yet be his.

a

Although a description of the Sports by the Editor for Sport appears elsewhere, we may be pardoned for adding a few words on this subject. In the first place, the weather on both days was all that could have been desired, and, consequently, there was a splendid attendance of visitors, whom we were delighted to see. We desire to congratulate A. Macneill and J. I. Watson on being the most successful competitors, and also J. G. Brown on winning the mile.

This competitor was rather unfortunate in just missing a record for the mile by something like two seconds. We must also congratulate the Sixth Class (or Seventh, as the programme had it) on vanquishing the School in the tugof-war. We noted with interest the rush that was made

School Notes.

3

by some of the Sports Committee (no less!), after the obstacle race, to see if perchance any apples were left in the tubs. Great was their chagrin to find that someone had been there before them.

The results of the Leaving Certificate examinations held last April were, on the whole, very satisfactory, in spite of the fact that we had three months less time than usual in which to prepare for them. Since there are now no Honours examinations, we have no longer winners of Honours Certificates to congratulate, but all who gained the Higher and Intermediate Certificates deserve their meed of praise. A detailed list of the results will be found in another part of the Magazine.

11.9.

It is very gratifying to teachers and pupils alike to find that one section at any rate of our School is filled to overflowing. We refer to the number of applications which were made for entrance into the Lower School upon the reopening of the School after the summer holidays.

Parents are now realising the advantages to be obtained by sending their boys straight to the Grammar School, and such was the rush lately that several applications could only be accepted provisionally. The largest class, Lower III., has now been subdivided, Miss Innes having joined the staff, to take charge of one section. : 9.

LU

The football season is now with us once more. W. McGavin is Captain, while D. C. Duncan occupies the post of Secretary. We wish all success to the 1st and 2nd XV.'s during the season. New goal-posts have been provided for the large field, the old ones doing duty on the small field. Although school is now continued till four o'clock on Wednesdays, yet the practices are still played on Wednesday afternoons, and the players are turning out well. We cannot say how this plan will work in winter, when it is dark shortly after four o'clock.

While on the topic of football, we should like to thank those youngsters who, during most of September and the early part of October, gave us, with the aid of a twopenny ball, daily " exhibitions " of " Soccer " near the west door

4

Aberdeen Grammar School Magazine.

of the school. They did not seem to realise in the slightest degree the nuisance they were, but we can assure them that they will do very well if they practise " Rugger " now as assiduously as they practised the " other game" formerly. t,f1 0 A general meeting of the Swimming Club was held on Monday, the 5th October, for the purpose of filling up some vacancies in the list of officials caused by pupils leaving School. Mr. M. H. Mackie, Treasurer, presided, and J. Mackintosh was unanimously elected Secretary.

We hope that this Club will be as largely patronised this session as it was last session.

0 0 O Accounts have reached our ears of a rather interesting experience which a " Grammar " schoolboy had during the summer holidays. This boy was spending a holiday in France, and while visiting a certain town he, with true patriotic spirit, insisted on wearing his kilt. This was evidently the first appearance of the Scottish national dress in that place, for no sooner had our hero sallied forth than he was surrounded by a group of children, who gazed in open-mouthed astonishment at this strange creature who, in their eyes, seemed to be neither a boy nor a girl. This scrutiny he bore for a whole day, and on the morrow our valiant schoolfellow set out again arrayed in his kilt, thinking that the novely would have passed off.

But no, it had not. He was still pestered by this gazing— admiring, perhaps—crowd of children who dogged his steps. In the end, to secure peace for himself, he was obliged to don the much-less-romantic " pantaloons."

The Debating Society has already commenced operations. At a meeting held in Room I., and presided over

by Mr. Murison, H. T. Sorley was elected President and J. H. Ritchie Secretary. An interesting and varied syllabus has been arranged, which includes lectures from Dr. M'Leod, Mr. C. Davidson, Mr. P. G. Allan, Mr. W. Murison, Mr. M. H. Mackie, and the Rev. J. I. Still. We feel sure that the whole School will join with us in wishing the Society a most successful season.

a a e

So far, the Editor's Box has been graced by only one contribution, and it we did not consider worthy of publi-

School Notes.

5

cation. This is surely not as it ought to be. If any of you happen to have had an out-of-the-way experience, or if you know that such an experience has befallen any of our F.P.'s, let us know about it. Our desire is to make the interest of the Magazine as great as possible.

0 O We are sorry to have to make the usual complaint about the small membership of the Library (Lending).

The Library is not supported as it ought to be.

This cannot be for want of books, for there is a good selection of works: no one can complain on that score. We hope that this reminder will have the effect of bringing in many new members.

0 0 0 We cannot lay down our pen without making reference to the expiry of our present Lord Provost's term of office, which will have taken place before the next number of the Magazine appears. Sir Alexander Lyon has always shown himself keenly interested in the affairs of the School, and he will be long remembered as having been Lord Provost of our city at the time of the celebration of the School's six hundred and fiftieth anniversary.

We offer him our congratulations, then, on his successful term of office, and hope that, though he will no longer appear at our prize distribution as Lord Provost, he will not forget the old School. .

0 0 4.4 And now we have " told our tale " (not in the Miltonic sense), and are glad to rest from our labours. Christmas and the New Year as yet loom far ahead, but in joyful anticipation we offer all the old, old wish, "A merry Christmas and a happy New Year."

a a a Owing to great pressure, a contribution by " G. A. C.," entitled " The Piracy of the s.s. ' Sainam,' " has had to be held over until next issue

6

Aberdeen Grammar School Magazine.

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

Our School has been highly honoured in receiving the Diploma for Grand Prize from the Franco-British Exhibition for its educational exhibits. Only two other awards have been made in Aberdeen—one to the University, the other to the Girls' High School.

Among the recipients of Birthday Honours this year is William Watson Cheyne, M.B., C.M., C.B., F.R.C.S., F.R.S., Professor of Surgery, King's College, London, who has been made a baronet. Sir William expressed his desire to be present at the Club dinner, but found that the date would not suit him. Perhaps he will be able to . be present next year.

Another Old Boy honoured by His Majesty this year is James S. Meston, of the Indian Civil Service, who received the Companionship of the Star of India. He is a former dux and gold medallist of the School, and is now Secretary to the Government of India in the Finance Department. Some time ago he was selected as an expert to reorganise the Civil Service at Cape Colony, a duty which occupied fifteen months.

Yet another recipient of a Birthday Honour is Lieutenant-Colonel Johnston Shearer, D.S.O., of the Indian Colonel Medical Service, who has been made C.B. Shearer is the principal medical officer of the Derajat and Bannu Brigades. He graduated M.A. in 1873, with Honours in Natural Science, and M.B., C.M., with Honours, four years later. He was Maclaine Prizeman in Military Surgery in the Army Medical School, Netley, in 1881, having

Notes about Old Boys.

7

joined the Indian Medical Service the previous year. In 1882 he took part in the Egyptian expedition, for which he holds the medal and bronze star. He accompanied the Burmese expedition in 1887-8, and received the medal and two clasps. He holds clasps for the Hazara expedition of 1891, the second Miranzai expedition in the same year, and the Wazaristan expedition of 1894-5, and fo; his services in the last-named was mentioned in despatches.

His gallantry with the Tirah Expeditionary Force in 1897-8 won for him the D.S.O., in addition to a medal and two clasps.

Sir James Thomson, K.C.S.I., has been appointed by the Secretary for India to be a member of the Council of India. Sir James was created a C.S.I. in 1902, and was promoted K.C.S.I. three years later.

Sir William Macgregor, the Governor of Newfoundland, recently returned from a two months' cruise to the Labrador coast, during which he determined the geographical position of various points of the region bearing on the boundary dispute between Newfoundland and Quebec. He also visited Hudson Strait, where he carried out similar work.

The Aberdeen University Calendar contains the names of some no Former Pupils resident in London and the environs, besides 7 or 8 whose address is the War Office or the Admiralty. Of these 110, no fewer than 54 are medical practitioners; 7 are journalists, including 3 editors; 6 are in the practice of the law, including 2 judges ; 6 are ministers of religion ; 4 are teachers and professors. The list also includes the head of the Zoological Gardens and the head of the Royal Botanical Gardens at Kew. As usual, the great majority of officials in the various University societies is composed of F.P.'s. We have so many flourishing societies in our midst that our members get good practice in managing such, and the result is that our Old Boys "run" the University. We congratulate them on the splendid public spirit which they show. Long may it continue !

On the Staff of Alma Mater, F.P.'s are the Editor, R. N. Gilchrist, and the Business Manager, H. R. Souper.

The Treasurer, J. S. Shewan, is a former master. Only two officials are not of ours.

8

Aberdeen Grammar School Magazine.

In the Choral Society, we have the Chairman, H. R. Souper ; Secretary, R. Semple ; Treasurer, A. T. Cruickshank ; Librarian (Orchestral), Percy Kirby.

In the Union, the President is W. W. Jameson ; VicePresident, G. S. Melvin ; Sub-Secretary, John Macpherson ; Treasurer, J. B. Rennett. The other societies we have not yet heard about, but, doubtless, in them we shall also find the same preponderance of F.P.'s.

We spent an interesting afternoon and evening with W. G. Smith, who is on a short visit to this country from New Guinea, where he is engaged in planting. He has visited New Zealand, the Solomon Islands (where they dare not land on certain of the islands for fear of the cannibals), Fiji, Samoa, and the Philippine Islands. Arriving at Vladivostok in the spring, he found the place icebound, so one day he penetrated within the forbidden gates of the naval arsenal on the ice, camera in hand. He was about to take some snapshots when some of the Russian authorities rushed up and hurried him off to the naval commandant. Being able to satisfy this gentleman of the innocence of his intentions, he escaped imprisonment in the fortress. Joining the Trans-Siberian Express, he arrived at Moscow a fortnight after leaving Vladivostok. He relieved the tedium of the journey by taking many interesting snapshots, but, speaking no Russian, he found himself reduced almost to the language of signs.

The only thing he could read was " Cerebos " on the saltcellars. On arriving at Moscow, where he spent three days, he joined the Nord Express for Paris, and the first thing that met his eye in the carriage was " King's Cross to Aberdeen by the East Coast Route "! Aberdeen and the " twal' mile " limit again.

We tasted the strange Fijian drink, kava, made from a bruised root. The taste of it is neither pleasant nor unpleasant, with a flavour of pepper.

Another F.P., Wallace Westland, is also in New Guinea, near Port Moresby. He is engaged in planting.

We regret to report the death of Dr. W. I. Moir, son of the late Rector. He had been in the Transvaal for several years.

The Natal Witness has an appreciative notice of the Rev. Dr. John Smith, of St. John's Presbyterian Church,

Notes about Old Boys.

9

Pietermaritzburg. Going to Natal in 1865, he was the first Moderator of the Presbyterian Church of South Africa, and has been more than once President of the Free Church Council. According to the Witness, he is " fluent, eloquent, and homiletical as a preacher, whilst as a man he is kind and courteous."

William Smith, who was at School from February, 1742, to May, 1744, was the first Provost of Pennsylvania.

University.

The Rev. Dr. George M'Innes, minister of St. David's Presbyterian Church, Ashfield, N.S.W., died in Sydney in May. He was a bursar both in Arts and Divinity at Aberdeen, and, on taking his B.D. degree, he gained the Brown Divinity Travelling Scholarship. In 1875 he was presented by the Crown to the parish of Tongland, in Kirkcudbrightshire. The document of presentation, given under the Privy Seal, was the last of the kind to be signed

by Queen Victoria. While on a visit to New Caledonia, he had the rarely granted privilege of gaining admission to the great French convict settlement there.

A. K. Williamson has obtained a clerical scholarship at Glenalmond.

Robert Robson has left Aberdeen to study gardening near London.

Harry Emslie Smith has been appointed assistant in the Chemical and Analytical Department of Calcutta University.. He has gone to Rangoon temporarily to relieve a man on furlough.

Major James A. Black, of the Indian Medical Service, was recently appointed head of the same Department in Calcutta.

John James MacBean, managing director of the engineering firm of Howarth & Erskine, Singapore, died in June. Educated at the old building in Schoolhill, he served his apprenticeship with Blaikie Brothers and afterwards in Glasgow. Early in the " seventies " he went to China, where he served for two years in the arsenal of Shanghai.

Afterwards he went to the Straits Settlements, where his firm became one of the leading engineering companies in the East.

We deeply regret to record the death of Edward W. Barry as the result of a shooting accident at Richmond.

to

Aberdeen Grammar School Magazine.

•

He was only twenty-two years of age, and had just taken his B.A. degree, with Honours in Classics, at London University. We give the following account from a Richmond paper :—" Mr. Barry was residing at the Cheshunt mansion of Mr. J. Macintosh, acting as his private secretary and tutor to his two sons. On Wednesday morning he went out shooting with a friend, and, on returning to the house, they sat on the verandah to rest. Mr. Barry read a book; his friend, in preparation for a further shooting expedition, reloaded his gun, and having, as he thought, placed it at half-cock, laid it on a chair near by.

Later, he accidentally touched the trigger of the gun, which went off, the charge entering Mr. Barry's thigh.

Help was at once forthcoming, and Mr. Barry was conveyed to his room and every attention paid to his injuries. Unfortunately, however, he had lost so much blood and the shock proved so severe that he gradually sank, passing away at half-past ten on Thursday night." Our sincere sympathy goes out to his family. He was a boy of a bright, lovable nature, and was a great favourite at School both with boys and masters.

The Rev. W. G. Robertson, M.A., of the Wilson College, Bombay, has been appointed Principal of the Gujarat College.

About his brother the Calgary Daily Herald says : — " James Robertson, M.A., B.L., second son of the late Rev. Professor James Robertson, M.A., D.D., United Free Church College, Aberdeen, Scotland, has been admitted a barrister and solicitor of the Law Society of Alberta.

Mr. Robertson was educated at the Aberdeen Grammar School, which is the premier educational seminary in the city of Aberdeen. From the Grammar School, which he left as one of the best students of his year, he passed to Aberdeen University, where he had a distinguished career He is a Master in Arts and in both Arts and Law. University. Since coming Aberdeen Bachelor of Law of to Calgary, Mr. Robertson has been in the office of Messrs.

Reilly & MLean, barristers, etc. In addition to being a good student, Mr. Robertson was a first-class athlete, having been captain of his school at Rugby football and cricket, and while at Aberdeen University he obtained his Since coming to `blue' in both football and cricket.

Notes about Old Boys.

Calgary, he has been a regular member of the Calgary League cricket team."

William S. Mackie, M.A., Christ Church, Oxford, was the only student this year to gain a first-class in the Honours examination in English Literature.

Robert M. Williamson, M.A., LL.B., has been appointed Lecturer in Constitutional Law and History in the University of Aberdeen, and has now entered upon his duties.

The Echo de Paris of June 26 contained the announcement that the French Academy had awarded one of the Saintour prizes of i,ooo francs to R. L. Graeme Ritchie, M.A., for his recently published doctorate thesis on the conjunction " que." The distinction is a fitting recognition of a laborious piece of work. Dr. Ritchie contributed an interesting article on "Post-graduate Research in France" to the first number of the current volume of Alma Mater.

Dr. W. E. Henderson, M.A., of Kirkcaldy, has been appointed medical officer under the Education Committee for Westmoreland, with headquarters at Kendal.

William Andrew M`Queen recently received the degree of Bachelor of Science in Mining at the University of Birmingham, after a three years' course of study.

The death was announced in July of Rev. Alexander Bisset, M.A., for some time Free Church minister at Peterhead, and afterwards minister of Gilcomston Park Baptist Church, Aberdeen. About six years ago he left Aberdeen for Alexandria, Dumbartonshire, where he acted as pastor of Fyvie Vale Baptist Church.

James M. Hector, B.Sc., lately assistant lecturer in Biology in the Aberdeen and North of Scotland College of Agriculture, has been appointed lecturer in Agricultural Botany in the University of Leeds.

Alexander Bain, who recently graduated M.A. at Aberdeen University, has been appointed second master in Bishop Feild College, St. John's, Newfoundland. He is to have charge of the cadet corps of the college, a duty for which his experience in the University Company of the 1st V.B.G.H., in which for a time he held the rank of sergeant, ought to come in handy.

12

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Aberdeen Grammar School Magazine.

Gordon G. Stewart, M.A., has received an appointment under the Kirkcaldy School Board.

The death occurred on September 14 of our oldest "coy," James Wallace, for many years inspector of poor for St. Nicholas Parish, Aberdeen. Mr. Wallace, who was in his ninety-eighth year, was also senior alumnus of the University of Aberdeen.

Rev. Thomas B. Robertson, M.A., has been chosen as minister of Kingswells United Free Church.

Dr. Walter C. Smith, senior minister of the High U.F. Church, Edinburgh, died in September. His verses have made him one of the most widely known of our Old Boys.

It was only in the last issue of the Magazine that we recorded having received a letter from Frank W. Watson, and now we have the melancholy duty of recording his death from enteric fever at Baroda on September 19.

After passing the examination for the A.M.Inst.C.E., he was appointed, eighteen months ago, assistant engineer on the staff of the Bombay, Baroda, and Central Indian Railway Company. His death at the age of twenty-seven will be deeply regretted by many.

Rev. Charles Dunn, M.A., D.D., senior minister of Birse Established Church, died on September 24.

George Herbert Mair, M.A., Christ Church, Oxford, has recently taken first-class Honours in the School of Modern History. He is to continue his studies at Oxford for another year.

Herbert E. Wiseman, M.A., after a year's study under Sir Walter Parratt at the Royal College of Music, has been appointed music master at Madras College, St. Andrews.

We learn from the New Zealand Herald that P. M. Mackay has, for the tenth time in succession, been reelected chairman of the School Committees for the city of Auckland, in which he is now a magistrate and leading citizen.

Alexander Christie, M.A., B.L., writer, has been admitted a member of the Faculty of Procurators in Glasgow.

The death took place recently of Archibald Watson, Invergordon, a life member of the Club.

W. J. Scott, resident secretary at Aberdeen of the

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Royal Insurance Company, has been appointed the company's local manager at Edinburgh.

Dr. Charles Murray, for some time assistant to the Professor of Physiology in Aberdeen University, has been appointed medical inspector of schools for Preston.

Rev. Peter Smith Bisset, M.A., B.D., of Oyne, has been elected minister of the parish of Craig.

Peter Grant Hay, M.B., C.M., died recently at Drumblair Lodge, Forgue, aged 6o years.

Professor W. Riach Cassie, Instructor of Physics at Holloway College, Egham, London, died suddenly a short time ago after delivering a lecture to the college students.

He was honorary secretary of the Physical Society of London, and was the author of several scientific publications.

Lieut. John Gray, of the 36th Sikhs, has recently been in Sialkot, instructing a mounted infantry class. He informs us that he is studying Pushtiu, and declares it an awful language.

James A. Wattie has gone out to British Columbia with a view to taking up fruit-growing. From all accounts he is as lively as ever.

In the last issue of the Magazine we chronicled the appointment of George Robertson Watt to the Professorship of English and Philosophy in the Presidency College, Calcutta. Scarcely had the Magazine been printed, when the news arrived that Professor Watt had died suddenly at Darjeeling, where he had gone to spend a few weeks prior to entering on his duties at Calcutta. The School has lost one who gave promise of having a brilliant career in the educational service of India.

Captain Hector Edmond, 28th Mounted Rifles, was in active service in the Indian campaign last May. He ran across W. Manson Rennie and Kenneth W. Mackenzie, who are both in the Indian Medical Service.

Dr. Alistair S. Garden, whose elder brother William is on the staff of a large asylum near Leeds, has been a ship's doctor for the last six months. He has now determined to settle in Colombo, Ceylon, and he thus adds to the already large number of our Old Boys who have made the island of tea and rubber their home.

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Aberdeen Grammar School Magazine.

Siang Hye Eu has become a life member of the Club.

He informs us that he has passed various examinations at the Redruth School of Mines, Cornwall, and that he is going to Kuala Lumpur, in the Federated Malay States.

Fred H. Fraser, who is home on leave from Ceylon, is at present residing in Aberdeen, and will not return to Ceylon until the end of November.

Alick Watt has arrived home from his second voyage round the world in a sailing ship. He is on one' of the Inver Line boats, and has promised to send us some account of his experiences.

Douglas Mortimer has obtained an appointment in a large Glasgow legal firm.

J. C. H. Macbeth paid a flying business visit to this country in June from Penang. He is getting on very well in the Straits.

L. H. Ross, who has been for the last two years in the Glasgow office of Messrs. Barnett Bros., architects, has been promoted to their London office.

Arthur A. Strachan has received an appointment on the Burmacherra tea estate, Kalighat, South Sylhet, India.

W. J. Macintosh, who has been for the last two years at the Cork office of the Royal Assurance Company, has been appointed resident secretary of that company at Aberdeen. Cricketers will welcome his return.

The following Old Boys have been admitted life members of the Club : —W. R. Myers, Professor A. R. Gordon, D.Litt. ; S. H. Eu, and W. M. Bulloch.

Dr. Arthur J. Milne has left for Mauritius to again take up his duties in the Colonial Medical Service.

George Ledingham has, we understand, gone to the Glasgow Technical College.

James A. Butchart, R.F.A., has left for India, after having been on furlough for a few months. As aide-decamp to the Governor of Madras he had a splendid time.

Fred W. Galloway has also left for India to resume his duties in the Indian Police.

T. J. Wilson, who was the only local candidate to pass the final examination of the Society of Chartered AcHe is to countants in Scotland, has gone to London.

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endeavour to form a branch of the Club there, and as he has always been a very enthusiastic supporter of the Club, we have no doubt he will succeed in his object.

He will be greatly missed by the Orchestral Section of the Club.

James Cooper Clark, who is now resident in Mexico City, and engaged in the cotton-silk industry, is at present on a visit to this country. He has bought a house in Elgin.

Professor W. L. Davidson, LL.D., our President, has returned from a visit to Canada. He had the pleasure of meeting Sir W. Mortimer Clark, Lieutenant-Governor of Toronto, who is retiring shortly. We hope to have Sir William present at some of our Club functions when he comes to Scotland.

The death occurred, on June 28, at Ernakulam, Cochin, West Coast, India, of D. M. Cruickshank, M.A., for several years Principal of the Ernakulam College. " Mr. Cruickshank," says the Madras Mail," retired from the Cochin educational service in January, 1903, after more than twenty-five years' service.

He was well known in the Madras educational world as a teacher and an examiner.

For six years he was principal of Pachaiyappa's College, Madras. Subsequently he returned to the Cochin service, where he held the combined office of principal of the Ernakulam College and educational secretary for eleven. years. He was responsible for placing education in Cochin on the sound footing in which it now. is, and Lord Curzon, in referring to this aspect of Mr. Cruickshank's work, as well as to the splendid results that he achieved at the Ernakulam College, paid the following compliment to his nationality I think I shall not be far wrong in attributing these gratifying results in a large measure to the influence and teaching of your principal, Mr. Cruickshank, for whom, I understand, the durbar went all the way to Aberdeen. There is not much exterior resemblance between this land of perpetual summer, of the feathery palm and the land-locked lagoon, and the Granite City of the Scottish coast, but character and grit appear to be capable of producing good results in the one as in the other.' " • A. R. MacRae passed 1st in the examination for the Indian Police Service, leading by some 300 marks ; and Fred. W. Gerrard passed at the same time.

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Aberdeen Grammar School Magazine.

Robert Munro, M.A. (Edin.), LL.B. (Edin.), counsel to the Board of Inland Revenue, has been appointed Advocate-Depute for Scotland. At present he is one of the busiest juniors at the Scots Bar. Allan Sutherland has been awarded the Brough Scholarship ofga. This is a travelling scholarship, so we expect our F.P. to return from Paris and Rome to win fresh laurels in the fields of Art. The Rev. P. J. Beveridge, M.A., B.Sc. (Lond.), has been appointed incumbent of St. John's Episcopal Church, Lonmay.

John Urquhart, M.A., has been appointed English master in Gordon's Schools, Huntly; Geo. MacDonald, M.A., to Dundee ; A. C. Hay, M.A., to Fraserburgh ; Geo. Shepherd, M.A., to Rhynie; F. M. M. Pickford, M.A., to Montrose.

Random Notes.

These pages are set apart to record any event of importance that may take place throughout the School.

Now, although there are no marvels to announce, there are some things sufficiently wonderful to demand attention.

In the first place, a passion for reading is abroad: six fellows have joined the School Library! Only after care• ful deliberation have we decided to publish this statement, for we have no desire to spread envy among other public schools. Notwithstanding this magnificent membership, there are still a few books left on the shelves, and the Librarian and his triumvirate are by no means overworked.

Our warmest thanks are due to a member of the Sports Committee for the efficient way in which he, ably assisted by an F.P., whitewashed the flagpoles and the hurdle-posts (and himself) before the Sports. We expect to hear of these two soon as R.S.A.'s. The whitewashing was really a great improvement. The Janitor, however, desires us to state that taking down the hurdles was a different matter.

Alas! it is impossible to please everybody.

A prominent member of the Games Committee wound Pp the Sports in a highly artistic and skilful manner by falling off the set of steps up which he had gone to fill the pail for " tilting the bucket." After his performance, he was accorded enthusiastic applause for his artistic and

Random Notes.

T7 finished " turn." It was a star turn in more ways than one.

Probably he was once a member of the above-mentioned Acrobatic Club.

The " callow youths of the Fifth," unlike their seniors of the Sixth, showed very little interest in the Sports. The Sixth, on the other hand, entered en masse, and carried off many prizes ; in fact, the Sixth's success was the most noticeable feature of the Sports, which passed off exceedingly well—thanks to the good conduct of the pistol.

"When Greek joined Greeks, Then was the tug-of-war."

Be not afraid, gentle reader, it was only the annual tug-of-war between the Sixth and the Rest of the School.

Although the Sixth lacked the services of member, they soon pulled the School team their burliest by reason of their greater avoirdupois.

After the Sports, the field presented the appearance of a rubbish-heap.

Public opinion has it that the Junior School, with its stowing-away abilities, was responsible for this, but it would be unfair to blame the Juniors when (noise it not abroad !) several members of the Games Committee were seen vigorously applying themselves to packets of " Halton's."

Soon after that event, the School was agreeably surprised to find the goal-posts up—and new goal-posts, too.

These were duly criticised and climbed, after which the • verdict was passed that the posts were not guilty of being there.

The Sixth are always eager for a joke—in fact, sometimes too eager. A short time ago they had a good one at the expense of one of their colleagues.

It was in the French class, and an out-of-the-way place mentioned in the lesson. The master, to happened to be make the thing more clear, gave Insch as a parallel in Scotland, whereupon a member of the class, a native of that wax exceeding wroth, and in answer " braif toon," did his colleagues could only ejaculate: to the laughter of What about Drumoak? " But this last"Insch, forsooth! remark was lost on the Drumoakites, firstly, because they were not in the class, and, secondly, because they claim that their district is within " Aiberdeen an' twal' mile roon."

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Aberdeen Grammar School Magazine.

Our Letter=Box. •

With an Indian Frontier Expedition.

Kenneth W. Mackenzie, of the Indian Medical Service, in reply to a letter from the Hon. Secretary of the Club. writes as follows : " ROWBURY'S HOTEL, MURREE, 8th July, I908. " You asked me in your letter for some experiences of the Zakka Khel expedition, but I am afraid the field hospital I was attached to was only in the 3rd Brigade, and did not get nearer the enemy than Nowshera, though we were expecting orders to march every day. " Perhaps, however, some reminiscences of part of the Mohmand expedition may be of use for the Magazine.

I was fortunate in going on it with my regiment, the 4oth Pathans, for, of course, one sees more of the actual fighting with a regiment than with a hospital.

"We were placed in the 3rd Brigade, and, as luck would have it, the night before we were to leave Peshawar for the Mohmand country, news came of the appearance of a lashkar near Laudi Kotal, some thirty miles from Peshawar, on the other side of the Khyber Pass. Our orders arrived after midnight, and we presented a quaint sight, as all the officers sat in a semicircle round the Colonel's tent, in pyjamas and the light of a hurricane lamp, and received our orders for the march next morning.

"Next day the Brigade marched to Jamrud, and camped round the fort. That evening we had our first taste of sniping, and, though only a few shots were fired, two of the Munsters were wounded. Here we came into the region of fortified villages and towers. Each group of houses is surrounded by a wall, which is commanded by several square or round towers, usually of mud, and in most cases surmounted by a small gallery, and loopholed for rifle fire. Here, too, begins the country of blood feuds, and the inhabitants of one village may be at deadly feud with those of another only half a mile away. The main road is neutral ground, and one village we passed had cut a deep shelter-trench to the road, to protect its people

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from the fire of another village which overlooked it, while going and coming from the road ' Next morning we set out for Laudi Kotal through the Khyber Pass, a distance of eighteen miles, and a very trying march when the sun came out. On the way we passed a Banda or Pathan family flitting to the hills. In the cold weather they come down to the lower valleys, and many of them live in caves which we could see along the hillsides, but, as the hot weather comes on, they pack all their worldly goods on cows and asses, the women carrying baskets of cooking pots—perhaps a child in the basket as well—the men with rifles of every pattern, from old brass-bound jazails to more modern Martinis—and set out for cooler quarters in the hills. " We halted for an hour at Ali Musjid, where there is a stream and grove of mulberry trees, whose fruit and shade were most refreshing after the heat and dust of the road. It is here that the road to the Chora Pass and Zakka Khel country branches off.

"After this we entered the Khyber Pass proper—a winding road bounded by steep hills of greatly contorted shale, dotted over with scrubby bushes.

The pass is guarded by small blockhouses on commanding parts, held by the Khyber Rifles. " On arrival at I_audi Kotal we were ordered to camp outside the fort, and the first step was to entrench the camp, a barbed wire entanglement being put up outside the trenches. At the same time our orderlies set about digging shelters for the officers at night—being pits some three feet deep—as a protection against sniping.

The first impression they give is rather gruesomely suggestive of graves, and they are generally known as ' funk-holes.'

Over this you put a tiny tent—if you had one, but few had, as our whole kit only weighed thirty pounds, bedding, tentage, and all. I put our dhooly, or covered stretcher, into my ' funk-hole.' It makes a tent and bed combined, and is the medical officer's prerogative on such occasions, and an excellent thing it is. " We had little sleep that night, as sniping began soon after dark, and the troops had to be out and line the trenches in case of attack. It is an unpleasant sensation, when lying down, to hear the singing of a bullet somewhere near, and one tries instinctively to gather oneself

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into as small a compass as possible, though the bullet may be yards away. " We marched out at 5.3o next morning, with the Munsters, half the list Punjabis, and field and mountain batteries, to attack the lashkar, which held a ridge some five miles away, while the Khyber Rifles and half the 2 1st were ordered to cut off the enemy's retreat to the right.

We first saw the enemy about a mile and a half off, dotted over a ridge with several white standards. The field guns were the first to come into position, and their first shell burst directly over the hill, followed at once by another, and in a very few moments every man and standard had disappeared. The 4oth now came into touch, and soon there was firing all along the line, and one began to hear the fizz of bullets as they passed near by. Soon scattered groups of fugitives were seen scrambling up the sides of a steep range which shut in the valley, followed by the shells of the mountain and field guns, which could be seen bursting up the side of the hill wherever the men were in any number. " The regiment was fortunate in only having one officer wounded and no men hit, so I was merely a spectator, and attached myself to the Maxim or wherever I could see best. On our left, one of our Majors had a narrow escape from a ghazi, who, lying under cover, allowed nearly a whole company to pass him, and then made a rush for the Major with a long Pathan knife, but was, fortunately, shot down by the remainder of the company before he could do any damage. " The attack was pushed on until the 4oth held the whole ridge originally held by the enemy, and then began what was perhaps the most interesting and usually the No most dangerous part of the fight—the retirement. sooner had the last company of the regiment left its position than several men seemed to spring out of the ground, and ran out to fire on the retiring party ; but in a very few seconds the fire of half a company was turned on them before they could fire a shot, and we saw none go back. After this the regiment came under the covering fire of the Munsters and Khyber Rifles, and, as soon as a ridge was left by us, one could see the dust rise in a cloud as the hilltop was swept by a hail of bullets, and it was as much as his life was worth for an enemy to show his head above it.

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" The return to camp was uneventful, and the fighting was over as far as that laskhar was concerned, and rather a serious movement was checked, for, undoubtedly, this body contained many Mullahs and Afghans, who had come to try to raise the Zakka Khel and other tribes in that region in revolt, and add an Afridi to a Mohmand war. " We stayed at Laudi Kotal for a day or two longer, and then marched to Peshawar, on the way to Shahkadar, to take up a line of posts as reserve to the 1st and 2nd Brigades—which meant no more fighting for us. " I met quite a number of F.P.'s on the show : —Hector Edmond with his mountain battery, Ritchie in the R.A.M.C. with the Munsters, Rennie in the I.M.S. with a native field hospital, Tom Milne in the 55th Cokes Rifles, while Arthur Robertson was doing garrison duty with the 30th Punjabis at Nowshera. And I have just heard that Henry Lyall Grant is in Murree, and I am looking forward to a chat over old times with him ; and John Gray, 36th Sikhs, has also just come up on short leave. " I have just been appointed an X-ray specialist, and posted to Quetta, where we go about the middle of August.

At present we are enjoying two months' leave in Murree, in scenery that reminds me very much of Deeside. " I am afraid I have rambled on at great length, but hope some of it may be of some use for the Magazine; and any F.P.'s that may find their way out here will be sure of a very hearty welcome from those of us who are already here ; and, further, I hope that those in search of a career will not forget the Indian Medical Service."

"P.S.—A second copy of the Magazine has just reached me, which I have read with great interest.— K. W. M." Amongst the Dervishes.

We have received another letter from Ronald M`Kenzie Davies, who is still in the dry, parched land of the 'Sudan. It reads as follows :— " SUDAN PUBLIC WORKS, EL DUEINI, WHITE NILE, SUDAN, 6th August, I908.

"I was delighted to get the School Magazine, and, although having to contend with mosquitos, sand-flies, in-

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tense heat, etc., I have somehow managed to drop you a few lines. When last I wrote it was from El Kawa. I am at present in El Dueim, the chief town in the White Nile Province. I am not quite alone here, as there are a couple I live, of Britishers—the Governor and an engineer. however, a long way from them. This is the great centre of the gum trade. Camels carry the gum from Kordoofan over hundreds of miles of desert, barges and boats take it from here to Khartoum, whence it is taken to Port Sudan by rail, and then transported to Europe. At the beginning of the summer I had some exciting times here : you may have read something about it in the papers. Sir C. Moncrief's son was murdered, along with an Egyptian officer, in a place called Wadmedani, situated between the Blue and the White Nile, and about a day's journey from here. Some fanafical Arab chief, imagining himself to be a kind of prophet, took up arms, so the first thing he did was to murder the English and Egyptian representatives of the Government. This so-called Kalif a had a following of six hundred dervishes, all well mounted, and his intention was to cross the White Nile to get followers.

For a time the excitement here was great. We had only a small batch of native mounted police, and if he had succeeded in crossing the White Nile, I should have been a thing of the past now. However, a force of troops was Troops also early on the scene, and surrounded him. arrived here from Khartoum. In the dead of night, while the British camp except the guard and pickets was asleep, the dervishes, with their usual fanatical bravery, made a rush, with the result that many of our troops were killed or wounded. Major Logan, a fine officer, was killed, being speared as he rushed out of his tent. More troops came on the scene, and inflicted a heavy loss on the dervishes, and shortly afterwards the leader was captured by a friendly tribe and handed over to our troops. This ended the affair. What concerned me most was that my servants threatened to bolt, fearing that they would be killed by the dervishes. Servants cannot easily be got here, especially cooks, and I did not fancy the idea of having to cook my own meals over a fire. I was about half melted as it was with the heat-something like 113 degrees in the shade—and I think the cooking would have reduced me to a grease-spot. However, like Captain Kettle, I always

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carried my revolver, and I think this kept my servants from fulfilling their intentions. I have had some excellent shooting recently, having bagged several ' crocs.' and other game. Our wet season is on just now, and the Nile is very high. After a fall of rain it is beautifully cool. A few months back I had the honour of shaking hands and conversing with the Sirdar, General Sir Francis Wingate, who inspected the works, etc., in course of erection here, and also had dinner with Slatin Pasha, Inspector-General of Forces, who was a prisoner for so many years with the dervishes. Many, I presume, have read his book, ' With Fire and Sword in the Sudan.' I can assure you it was a great treat to hear him relate a few yarns about his past experiences. I have been reading Mr. Winston Churchill's article on his Uganda trip, in the Strand Magazine. We certainly can't boast of lovely landscape and foliage of trees, etc., as there, but we have a healthier climate, which The more vegetation, forest, and swampy is better. ground, the more deadly insects you have, which is the cause of so much sickness in Uganda. I have plenty exercise, such as riding and shooting, so am always fit.

I must now conclude this somewhat disjointed letter. I am anxious for it to catch this mail, as I am expecting word daily to proceed up country, and then it would be a long time before you would have my letter. Best salaams." " Reform" in the Celestial Empire.

W. R. Myers has sent the following letter to the Secretary of the Club:— " CUSTOM HOUSE, MENGTSZ, 26th June, I908.

(YuNNAN, via TONKIN.)

" I am writing to-day to the Hong-Kong and Shanghai Hong-Kong, to ask them to send you a draft for Bank, . .4.2 2s., on receipt of which I shall be glad if you will enter my name as a life member of the F.P.'s Club.

"Times have been troublesome up here. The Reformist Party has just paid a flying visit to this district, and, as they reform by taking off the head of every mandarin they meet, the local officials have been scared out of their wits. However, troops were sent in from all

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quarters, and gradually the Reformists have been driven back out of this province into the next one. That being done, they let the other man fight his own battles. The Viceroy made himself out to be, in a modest way, a hero, and he has been getting any amount of kudos for what he has done—and says that he has done. When the district had been effectively cleared, everybody was promoted over the head of everybody else, and then they all started to pay off old scores. It was a simple process. Any man against whom they had a grudge they merely denounced as a rebel, and if the poor wretch was a poor man he lost his head, if rich he lost his property, if neither he probably lost both. Over the west gate of the city one was always certain of seeing two or three heads exposed as a warning to people with revolutionary tendencies. I have no morbid curiosity about me : I have not seen an execution, nor have I any desire to see one. " We have fairly good shooting and riding here during the winter months. With a fourteen-mile plain round us, we have plenty of scope, and we make the best of our opportunities. There is not a river within forty miles of us, and the only running water we see is when the watercourses fill after heavy rains, and these stop almost as soon as the rain does. On the whole, we are not deserving of the pity which is showered upon us when we get orders for frontier work, and now that the Tonkin Railway system is within measureable distance of being joined with a line from the Chinese frontier to Yunnanfu, we feel as if we were right back in the world again. A journey which took me five days in January, 1907, is now accomplished in two and a half, and in another six or eight months we hope to be able to join a ship at Haiphong in a little over two days after leaving Mengtsz. The line is a French political enterprise, and it is hoped by this means to open up the country and obtain access to the riches of the province. The policy of obstruction, however, is carried on to an abnormal extent among the officials of .

Yunnan, and until more enlightened methods are *ntioduced, the railway will do little towards accomplishing its object.

"Will you remember me to all old friends when you see them? "

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Our Letter Box.

On Special Service at Bombay.

Stirring times in India, as will be seen from the following letter from Duncan Mearns, of the Bombay, Baroda, and Central Railway:— " MAHIM, BOMBAY.

" I am so sorry not to have written last mail, but was really too busy—not with the usual work, but volunteering.

I suppose you have seen in the papers that we have been having riots, etc., on account of that blighter Tilak. Well, it was expected that there would be some such thing, so extra military forces were called in, and we noble volunteers were told to hold ourselves in readiness to turn out at a moment's notice. Tilak was sentenced to only six years' transportation and a fine of Rs. i,ooo—a mighty short sentence; but as he has got diabetes he is not expected to see it through ; but even then, of course, if he dies in prison, we will be blamed for poisoning him— however! Well, on the Friday following, just at tiffin, I got a chit to turn out at once and proceed to Mahim Orphanage, which there was word was being threatened.

We had had our uniforms in office for the previous ten days, and also a stock of rifles in the strong-room, so sent over to stop the next train at the station, and had all the volunteers who were in the head office armed and entrained within half an hour. We got out to the Mission all right, only to find that everything A few hours before we arrived, a troop was quiet. of native Lancers had gone past, and the crowd, which had wrecked two mills and was hanging about, had An officer and six men were disappeared like magic. left to guard the place, and I marched the rest of the men back to Mahim Station, where I found D. arriving with reinforcements. As nothing further was to be done where we were, and having no further orders, we held a council of war, and decided that it would be a sound thing to feed the men! So we hoicked them into a train to Bandra, where there is a refreshment-room, and fed 'em and ourselves. Everything was rather at sixes and sevens, as both the C.O. and the Adjutant were up country, so, after waiting about a bit, we moved back to Parel to headquarters, where we were dismissed for the night. D. and next I got orders to relieve the guard at the Mission early

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morning, so I slept at Bandra that night, and we drove over early next morning, expecting to find the relief there, but got word they wouldn't turn up till i p.m., so moved into Parel to get a hold of them. When we got there we found the C.O. back again and things in better form, but as further orders were expected from the G.O.C., D. and I were kept hanging about till 3 p.m., when orders came that we were to guard all the stations, between Grant Road and Bandra. This was cheerful, as D. and I had had nothing to eat since 6 a.m., and my boy was lost somewhere between Bombay, Bandra, Mahim, and Parel, and I was now ordered off to Mahalukshmi. However, luckily, we didn't get off with our various parties till about 4 o'clock, and I picked him up at the station as I was starting, got the cigarettes and eyeglasses that I had sent him for, and packed him off to Andheri to bring dinner.

As I said, an officer and ten men were detailed off to each of the stations, and I was glad to get Mahalukshmi, as, if there was any scrap, it would probably be there. As it so happened, everything was perfectly quiet and mighty I had two sentries—one on each side of the stale. station—who had to be relieved every two hours, and visited once or twice in between, to see that they were O.K. My dinner arrived about g p.m., but, having had nothing since 6 a.m., I was almost too hungry to eat, and only wanted to sleep—but that was almost out of the I 'had turned the guard into the only spare question. room—size about 4 feet by 4 feet—and occupied the stationmaster's office myself—size about 2 feet by 2 feet, with room for a table, a lamp, and two hard-bottomed chairs, on which I tried to make myself comfortable— but as to sleep! When I wasn't visiting the sentries, the mosquitos were visiting me, and I had a lively time, what with that and trying to see if it was harder to sit on the hilt of my sword or the butt of a revolver. However, as I say, nothing happened, and my men got on O.K., although two or three of them had been on duty for forty-eight hours. However, I was mighty glad when I got orders, at 8.30 a.m. the next morning—i.e., Sunday—to take my party back to headquarters, and thought I was off for the day, but when I got back to Parel I got orders to relieve the officer on guard at Mahim Mission, and take over the guard there—now increased to twenty men—till further orders. However, I had time to get back to the bunga-

Our Letter Box.

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low, have a decent breakfast and two hours' sleep before starting. I got here O.K. last night, and am expecting to be relieved sometime to-day. The man who runs this place is an old Scotchman, and a very good old stick indeed, and he and his wife have made me most comfortable and my men also, and the old man is most grateful for the way we turned out, as he was in a terrible funk before we arrived last Friday, and even now they are a bit jumpy. As we were at dinner last night, a shot went off, but, as no challenge had preceded it, I thought it was an accident, but had to bolt downstairs, to find an ass of a sentry, while charging his magazine, had left a cartridge in the barrel, and hence the shot. I started off to tell him exactly what I thought of him, but had to break off in the middle, as I found myself surrounded by all the females of the establishment. It spoilt my eloquence, but I handed him over to the corporal—a regular in the Royal Scots—whom I saw biting his tongue to keep the words back, and I guess that sentry got more than I could well have told him, after we had left. Just before going to bed, two mill-managers of sorts turned up to see me, with a long and weird story of how the crowd had decided to go for the mill-managers. They told me that while in their bungalow, near at hand, three natives had come up, looked in, and then gone off in the direction of the bazaar, and they thought it was to call the mob. They wanted men or a sentry or something, which, of course, I couldn't detach from our guard—and, anyhow, a mob doesn't generally send out scouts, at least not an ill-reguHowever, as they lated lot such as they have here. evidently had a bad attack of jumps, I made them send over their wives and children here, which they did, but wouldn't come themselves, so I put a sentry on in front of our gate, from which he could see theirs. And, of course, the night passed quietly. But I don't know that I cared to go the round of those sentries at night: they sometimes get a bit ' nervish ' between midnight and daylight, so, as I had to go round twice during the night, I was careful to make a row with my feet or something, to give them plenty of time to challenge before they thought of popping off. " And here I am at the end of the week, and back in office again, and all quiet, but still writing on the rotten paper I got at Mahim. And now I will go on. They

28

Aberdeen Grammar School Magazine.

made me most comfortable at Mahim, but their kindness was a bit troublesome at times—e.g., on Sunday afternoon I heard hymn-singing going on in the schoolroom, so strolled down to see and hear, and modestly took a seat right at the back, but, alas! the superintendent spotted me, and I was dragged up in front of the whole caboodle, and enthroned in lonely state on a chair on a sort of platform—the observed of all observers—and asked what hymns, etc., I would like sung! Then, in a spirit of patriotic fervour, the crowd started singing, ' God Save the King,' and, being in uniform, I had to stand up and salute the whole time. This was too much for me, and after it was over, I bolted to turn out the guard or do anything for a change. The next day (Monday) I was again similarly entertained, this time to Scotch songs, sung with great spirit but rather a ' chi-chi ' accent. When with the superintendent, I discovered, curiously enough, that this same Scottish Orphanage was practically founded and the building built by Dr. Duncan Macpherson, of the Elgin and Monymusk family. I was shown a painting of him, hanging up in the hall.

He died about 1884, I believe, but seems, from what the superintendent told me, to have been quite a famous and tremendously popular man in Bombay. The superintendent was greatly interested when he heard that we were some sort of relations, and has now got a long list of folk who knew Dr. Mac. whom he wants me to see.

"I was relieved about 1o o'clock last Monday, and returned with my party to Parel, and was dismissed, as no further rows were anticipated that day—and, indeed, everything has been quite quiet ever since, the mill hands have returned to work, and all things are going O.K. Personally, I saw none of the rows at all, and it was nearly all confined to chucking stones, etc. I had just time to get back to the bungalow, change, and return to play a game at ' Rugger' that I had said I would, but, as I had had almost no sleep for three nights, I can't say I was much good.

"Nothing much been doing since, but yesterday the Agent, in consideration of the way the volunteers had turned out and generally bucked round, has declared a holiday on Monday, so I wired off to L. at Ahmedabad, and am off up there to-night for the week-end."

Trafalgar Day at the School.

29

Trafalgar Day at the School.

On Tuesday, 2oth October—the eve of Trafalgar Day —Lieutenant Garrett, R.N., lectured at the School. The Hall was crowded with an enthusiastic audience, several of whom were ladies. In the unavoidable absence of the Rector, Mr. Charles Davidson presided. The lecture was one of unusual interest, for Lieutenant Garrett had got most of his lantern slides specially from the Admiralty, and some of them were of high historic interest. He traced the rise of a ship from the primitive rafts and coracles, Egyptian galleys, and Greek biremes, right down to the modern " Dreadnought " and " St. Vincent." Some of the illustrations came from the Picture Gallery in Greenwich Hospital. The lecture was an entirely new one, and was better than any history lesson we could have got. A most cordial vote of thanks was passed at the close of the lecture.

Before commencing his lecture, Lieutenant Garrett presented a magnificent Union Jack to the School, to be flown on great occasions. We are deeply indebted to him for his kindness, more especially as we have already got a Royal Standard from him. The audience showed how heartily it appreciated his fine gift. .

The Museum.

Further valuable contributions of birds' eggs from Mr. Fenton have been received, including Diomedes fuliginosa (sooty albatross), Cape penguin, nightingale, melodious warbler, etc. ; also specimens of the Adula Simpsoni, a small, very rare shell, found attached to the skull of a whale brought into Aberdeen by a trawler from the Great Fisher Bank, about i so miles N.E. of Aberdeen.

From China, presented by Mr. Alex. Benzie—coolie teapot, charcoal stove, steam cooking-pot, two pairs of wooden sandals, one pair of grass sandals, table lamp.

From the Congo—the skull of a hippopotamus, presented by Rev. R. Billington.

From Louis Wilson, F.P.—negatives and photographs of the old buildings in Schoolhill, and of the present school, circa 187o, with the burn hollow in front still open ; also facsimile of Pope. Alexander VI.'s charter (1494-5), erecting a University in Old Aberdeen.

30

Aberdeen Grammar School Magazine.

The Athletic Sports.

The annual Athletic Sports were held on Friday and Saturday, 18th and igth September.

The weather on Friday, though dull, was more suitable for running than that on Saturday. As usual, the jumping and the trial heats were held on Friday, and this year throwing the cricket ball was also included in Friday's programme.

The chief events were the high and broad jumps, the former of which was won by J. I. Watson, the latter by A. G. Macneill. Special mention must be made of R. D. Lawrence's jump of 17 feet I r2 inches in Class II. On Saturday, the day of the finals, the weather was all that could be desired from the spectators' point of view, although it was rather hot for really fast running. The Oakbank pipe and brass bands turned up punctually, and enlivened the proceedings with their music. There was a good turnout of visitors, and the competitions were watched with great interest. The refreshment room in the pavilion was, as usual, well patronised. The chief event on Saturday was a very successful flag race, under the direction of Mr. Summers. The race open to those under 15 was won by Classical III., while that for those over that age was won by Classical VI. The most popular events were the tug-of-war and tilting the bucket. The tug-of-war between the Sixth and the School was well contested, and was eventually won by the Sixth, who had the advantage in weight. The one between eight of the Former Pupils and twelve of the School was won by the School after a hard pull. Tilting the bucket was, as usual, very successful. The entries were numerous. Many of the competitors were drenched to the skin. They returned the compliment to their partners, however, at their next venture.

Taken all over, the results are highly successful. In the half-mile (Class III.), J. Malvena broke the record, doing the distance in 2 minutes 39 seconds, while N. C. Proctor performed the same feat in the too yards (Class II.), covering the distance in I I 1-5 seconds. J. G. Brown won the mile in fine style in 5 minutes 31 iz seconds. It is a pity that more competitors do not enter for this race, as it is usually a case of one competitor having to do nearly all the distance without opposition.

Athletic Sports.

3I

In the open events, A. G. Macneill and J. I. Watson carried off the lion's share of the prizes, while in Class II., R. D. Lawrence and N. C. Proctor were most successful.

Special notice must be taken of the success of the In the open events, members of the Sixth Classical. almost half the entries came from members of this class.

Not only were the bulk of the entries from the Sixth, but a large proportion of the prize-money went to it, for in every open competition someone of that class had a prize.

Several individuals not on the Games Committee were specially prominent on the course. Our best thanks are due to Mr. Edward, who was referee ; to Dr. Macleod, timekeeper ; to Mr. Knox and Mr. Spiers, judges ; and to Mr. Summers, starter. The pistol, though at the start it sometimes refused to rise to the occasion, was far surer than we have seen it. Nor must we forget to thank Mr. James Davidson, who, backed up by a very energetic committee, carried out all the arrangements about the Sports, and who spared no pains to make them the success they were.

The following is the list of prize-winners and prizedonors :— Prize-winners.—High jump (open)—(1) J. I. Watson, (2) D. C. Duncan ; height, 5 feet. High jump (Class II.)— (I) R. D. Lawrence; height, 4 feet 8 inches. High jump (Class III.)—(r) J. Grant, (2) J. S. Johnston, (3) V. 0.

Bisset and T. R. Johnstone (equal) ; height, 4 feet i inch.

High jump (Class IV.)—(i) W. Fiddes, (2) W. Stott; height, 3 feet 10 inches. High jump (Class V.) (with springboard)—(i) G. Esslemont; height, 5 feet t inch.

Broad jump (open)—(i) A. G. Macneill, (2) J. I. Watson, Broad (3) C. H. Simpson; distance, 16 feet 8 inches.

R. D. Lawrence, (2) G. A. Carroll ; jump (Class distance, 17 feet 1 IZ inches. Broad jump (Class III.)-(i) S. Ross, (2) F. Conner; distance, 12 feet 93/ 4. inches.

Throwing the cricket ball—(i) A. Mackie, (2) J. H. Ritchie, (3) A. G. Macneill ; distance, 84 yards t foot. Throwing the hammer (open)—(t) A. G. Macneill, (2) H. T. Sorley, (3) J. Mackintosh ; distance, 56 feet 9 inches. Hurdle race (Class III.)-(i) S. Ross, (2) J. Grant ; time, i6 seconds.

Hurdle race (Class II.)—(i) R. D. Lawrence ; time, 15 seconds. Hurdle race (open)—(z) J. S. Collie, (2) J. I. Watson; time, 16 seconds. 6o yards race (under 6)—(1) J. I. C. Crombie, (2) J. D. Jackson; time, 16 seconds.

8o yards race (under 7) (I) E. G. Watt, (2) A. G, Walker,

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Aberdeen Grammar School Magazine.

(3) E. R. Sorley; time, 14 seconds. ioo yards race (Class VI.) (I) J. Lindsay, (2) S. Ellicock, (3) T. S. Cartwright ; time, 15 I2 seconds. ioo yards race (Class V.)—(i) J. Bell, (2) D. Bonner, (3) J. Peters ; time, 14 2-5 seconds.

Jo° yards race (Class IV.)—(i) C. Mulligan, (2) H. Fiddes, (3) M. C. Wright; time, 13 4-5 seconds. loo yards race (Class III.)—(i) L. Ross, (2) F. Conner, (3) R. D. Lyon ; time, 12 4-5 seconds. Ioo yards race (Class II.)—(1) N. C. mo Proctor, (2) R. D. Lawrence ; time, I I 1-5 seconds. yards race (open)—(i) K. M. Tomory, (2) J. S. Collie, (3) A. G. Macneill ; time, II seconds. Half-mile (Class III.)— (I) J. Malvena, (2) F. Conner, (3) B. Thomson; time, 2 minutes 39 seconds. Half-mile (Class II.)—(i) N. C. Proctor ; time, 2 minutes 51 seconds. Half-mile (open)— (I) J. G. Brown, (2) J. I. Watson; time, 2 minutes 2I seconds.

30o yards race (Class V.)—(I) J. R. Bell, (2) 30o yards race (Class H. Ritchie; time, 56 seconds.

III.)-(I) S. Ross, (2) F. Conner, (3) B. Thomson ; time, 47 seconds. Putting the weight (open)—(i) A. G. Macneill, (2) D. Macdonald, (3) J. S. Collie ; distance 25 feet to inches. 300 yards race (Class IV.)—(i) P. D. le Lievre, (2) G. Craig ; time, 5o seconds. Quarter-mile race (open) ----(1) P. Diack, (2) J. H. Ritchie; time, 68 seconds.

Quarter-mile race (Class II.)—(i) N. C. Proctor; time, 67 seconds. Sword feats on bicycle (open)—(I) S. C. Still, (2) K. M. Tomory, (3) J. Melvin. Sack race (Class III.)— (I) K. Robson, (2) A. Gold, (3) W. C. Halley. Sack race (Classes IV. and V.)—(t) M. C. Wright, (2) E. Reid, (3) E. Irvine. Three-legged race (open)—(i) R. D. Lawrence and J. Mackintosh, (2) A. O. Gray and N. C. Proctor, (3) J. F. Ferguson and A. G. Macneill. Mile race (open)—(I) J. G. Brown ; time, 5 minutes 31 I2 seconds. Drop kick (open)—(i) A. G. Macneill, (2) W. McGavin; distance, 44 yards I inch. Tug-of-war—Sixth v. School ; won by Sixth. Obstacle race (Class III.)-(i) C. E. Saunders, (2) F. Conner. Obstacle race (open)—(i) D. C. Duncan, (2) J. I. Watson, (3) A. Mackie. Tilting the bucket (open)— (I) H. T. Sorley and J. I. Watson, (2) J. F. Ferguson and A. Mackie, (3) J. S. Collie and R. Lawrence.

List of Donors.—Miss Adam, Mr. P. G. Allan, Mr. Alex. Allan, Miss Anderson, Mr. A. J. Brander, Mr. Wm. Brownie, Mr. James Conner, Mr. Charles Davidson, Miss E. Davidson, Miss J. B. I. Davidson, Mr. James Davidson, Mr. Alex. Duffus, Mr. P. Edward, Mr. Go Khek Ghee, Mr.

Athletic Sports.

mi

33

James Hay, Mrs. Kelly, Mr. Theodore Knight, Mr. James C. Knox, Mr. G. Laing, Miss Ledingham, Mr. A. Ledingham, Rev. F. W. S. le Lievre, Mr. John M`Bain, Miss . Mackie, Mr. M. H. Mackie, Mr. G. M. Mackay, Dr. M`Leod, Miss Maydon, Mr. G. Middleton, Mrs. Milne, Mr. J. M. Morrison, Mr. W. Murison, Mr. S. Pope, Mr. G. N. Ritchie, Mr. A. Robson, Mr. James Scott, I.S.O. ; Mr. H. F. Morland Simpson, Mr. A. Speirs.

I

Swimming Sports.

t

t

On Friday, 12th June, the annual Swimming Sports were held, the Rector presiding over a large assemblage of parents and friends of scholars.

The opening event was the race for the Rector's cup, which was won by J. Wilson, who led all the four lengths, gradually increasing his lead till the end, when he put on a fine spurt. Galloway was second. The next item on the programme was the neat-diving competition, in which J. H. Reid gained the highest number of points, N. C. Proctor being second and D. M. Bisset third. The senior handicap race was won by Reid, who was followed closely by Proctor, Wilson being third. The beginners' race, for which there were four entrants, was won by A. P. Gray, W. S. Nicol being second. Wilson threw the polo ball farthest ; Reid was not far behind. The same two were also first and second in the back race, G. A. Buyers being third.

The junior handicap was won by C. J. Mackie ; W. N. Buyers and L. S. Thomson were second and third respectively. In the plunge, Reid went the longest distance, and Wilson came next. G. A. Buyers brought up most plates in the object diving; J. Melvin was second; G. Davidson, Reid, and Wilson were third equal. Reid won the 6o yards scratch race, and Wilson was second.

Handsome contributions to the prize fund were received from Messrs. H. H. Bower, And. Davidson, T. Lawrence, A. Ledingham, J. D. Mackie, A. Reid, A.M.Inst.

C.E. ; W. A. Reid, and W. Webster; and from members of the school staff: the Rector, Misses Adam, Anderson, E. Davidson, J. B. T. Davidson, Ledingham, Mackie, Maydon, and Messrs. Allan, Brownie, C. Davidson, J. Davidson, Dunbar, Edward, Laing, McLeod, Mackie, Middleton, Morrison, Murison, Philip, Pope, Speirs, and Summers.

34

Aberdeen Grammar School Magazine.

On Friday, 5th June, a match was played at the Duthie Park against an XI. from King's Gate. They batted first : Munro and N. Brown opened their innings to the bowling of J. Ritchie and Tait. This pair compiled 28 runs before Brown was caught in the slips by Tait off A. Ritchie. Thomson joined Munro, and only 4 runs were added before Munro was out to a hard catch by Fenton at mid-on.

No runs were added for the next wicket, but when Simpson came in some were scored. There was some good play by the remaining batsmen, who added 25 runs to the score before the innings closed for 71 runs. Duncan and Diack opened for the School, but did not stay in long. One wicket for 2 runs did not look very promising, nor did two for 4. When J. Ritchie came in he livened up things : his forcing batting made the score rise rapidly. Except for McAllan, who made 3 runs, none of the rest could master the bowling. Six wickets were down for 3o runs, and all the side were out for 33. Thus King's Gate won by 38 runs. Bowling for the School, McGavin had six wickets for 12 runs, and Diack one for 2.

On Wednesday, loth June, a match was played at the Duthie Park between the i st and 2nd XI.'s. Clyne and Tomory were the first to bat for the znd XI. Sorley (II) and Abbey (iO runs) batted best for that team, whose total score was 46. A. Ritchie took five of their wickets for 8 runs, J. Ritchie three for i6, and McGavin one for

t

t

School Cricket Notes.

35

•

4. Walker and Fenton, opening for the 1st XI., scored 8 runs and 5 runs respectively. McAllan was successful in getting 16 runs, Lyon got i i, Diack g, and McGavin 7.

The total score was 69 runs. Six of the wickets fell to Sorley and two to Abbey. The 1st XI. won by 23 runs.

On Saturday, 13th June, the team travelled to Aboyne to a match. Aboyne took first lease of the wicket, and Heaven, with A. Adam as partner, opened the innings.

The first wicket fell at 5 and the second at 7. Heaven and Smith added 7 runs for the third wicket ; the fourth partnership also yielded 7 runs. Heaven, who stayed in for half the Aboyne innings, was cheaply dismissed for zo runs. There were five wickets down for 3o runs.

Watson and Laing put on 1o runs for the next wicket.

Laing played steady Watson contributed 6 of these. cricket, and when the next wicket fell, at 46, he was still batting. Adam, who came in next, quickly made 6 runs, and was then bowled by McGavin. Dr. McIntosh and Laing together raised the score to 64 before the former was out. The innings closed soon after for a total of 75.

Sorley and Diack opened the School innings ; the score was at 7 when the first wicket fell. With Duncan at the At 14 two more wickets, the score continued to rise. partnered by and, bat, to wickets fell. McAllan was next wickets Four cricket. of exhibition bright gave a Duncan, for 39 seemed a good score, but then it did not rise so quickly; although Lyon and McAllan hit out pluckily, eight wickets were down for 54. The total score was 57, of which McAllan made 27. Bowling for the School, J. Ritchie took five wickets for 29 runs, and Tait three for 18.

On Friday, igth June, the School team played a match at the Duthie Park against the Y.M.C.A. The Y.M.C.A. won the toss, and batted first. Hoyle and Hood opened their innings. Hoyle's wicket fell when the score stood at 13. Soon afterwards the third wicket fell at 23. The score rose steadily till the fall of the eighth wicket, the score being 63. Sim had equalled Hood's score of 14, and Fearn had compiled 13 runs. The innings came to a close with the addition of I run. Diack and Walker opened for the School. They scored 6 runs, and then Diack's wicket fell. McAllan again gave a lively display of hard hitting, by which he made 16 runs. He and Ritchie being excepted, none of our batsmen made many runs. Although

36

Aberdeen Grammar School Magazine.

there were five wickets down for 34, the whole side made only 44 runs. This collapse was, no doubt, due to the fall of dusk before the innings closed. J. Ritchie had the very good bowling analysis of five wickets for 13 runs, while A. Ritchie took two at the cost of 7 runs.

The School travelled on Saturday, loth June, to Ballater, there to play a match against the Monaltrie C.C. It was a lovely day, and we much enjoyed the outing.

The School were the first to bat, Walker and Brown opening the innings. Walker made 6 out of 7 runs for the first wicket. Duncan joined Brown, but neither stayed in long, the score being three for 8. McAllan was for a while the only one who could score off the bowling. Wickets fell steadily, the score rising but slowly. Fenton made 6 and Lyon 5 runs. The total score for the School was 36 runs.

Smart and Young commenced the Monaltrie innings ; the score was 7 when the former's wicket fell. Young scored steadily, though he was not well supported by the next three men.

His partnership with Thomson yielded i4 runs. Thomson and Beattie added g runs for the seventh wicket, the score then being 39. Beattie's wicket was the iast to fall, when the score stood at 55. Bowling for the School, J. Ritchie had two wickets for 12 runs, McGavin five for 3o, and A. Ritchie three for 12.

Thomson bowled best for the Monaltrie C.C. The last match of the season was one played at King's College on Tuesday, 23rd June, against Gordon's College.

Forbes and Henderson batted first for our opponents.

The first wicket fell with the score at o. Smith was run out when the score was at 8. Cameron and Henderson added I o runs for the third wicket. The School was gratified to see the next three wickets fall with the addition of but i run. The partnership of Henderson and Booth produced 9 more runs, but 7 added to what they already had completed their total of 35.

The School innings opened by a partnership between Lyon and Diack, who scored 9 runs for the first wicket. Diack and Duncan hit out merrily, and added 12 runs before the former was bowled. Walker, with Duncan, raised the score to 34.

We required only 2 runs to win. These were soon made, amid the cheers of an enthusiastic crowd.

With six wickets down for 41, the end of our innings appeared tolerably near, but it was delayed. Law and McGavin

School Cricket Notes.

37

added 20 runs for the eighth wicket, and Fenton and Law made 14 for the ninth. A good innings closed for 79 runs. Thus we gained our third victory this season over Gordon's College. A. Ritchie distinguished himself by taking five wickets, only I run being scored off his bowling ; J. Ritchie also bowled well, taking four for 19.

Appended is a list of the matches played by the 1st XI. this year, with their results. The averages for batting and bowling are also given. McAllan very nearly completed his century.

Date.

Team.

Scores for.

Against.

Result.

May 16. Gordon's College 70 14 23. Ellon Gordon 43 51 3o. Gordon's College Joo (8 wk'ts) 56 June 5. King's Gate - 71 33 Jo. 2nd XI. 46 69 13. Aboyne 57 75 19. Y.M.C.A. - - - - - 43 64 20. Monaltrie - - - - 36 55 24. Gordon's College - - 79 35

Won. Lost.

Won. Lost.

Won. Lost.

Lost.

Lost.

Won.

467 4 Won. 5 Lost.

530

BOWLING AVERAGES. Runs.

Wickets.

A. A. Ritchie - - - 75 22

J. Ritchie - - - - - 136 W. McGavin - - - 115 J. W. Tait - - - - 99 Name.

Average.

3'4

28

48

22

5.2 6.6

15

BATTING AVERAGES. Highest Runs. Innings.

Score. Not Out.

J. McAllan - - - 99 P. Diack - 41 D. C. Duncan 66 W. G. Walker - 58 J. Ritchie - 58 J. W. Tait - 26 R. Lyon 35 E. W. Fenton - 26 J. E. Law - 30 W. McGavin - - 22 A. A. Ritchie - - 3 J. G. Brown - - o

9 6 9 8 9 8 9 8 9 9 9 3

27 15* 15 18 22

14* II

12* 15 7 2

0

o I O o o 3 I 2

I I I o

Average.

11 8.2 7.3 7.25 6.4 5"2 4'375 4'3 3'75 2.75 '375

*Signifies not out.

Rugby Football.

The Scottish Football Union have been persuaded that a match between a combined Aberdeen School XV.

38

Aberdeen Grammar School Magazine.

and a South School XV. would further the interests of the game in Aberdeen and district. Accordingly, They have arranged that such a game will take place alternately in Edinburgh and Aberdeen, and this year it will be played in Edinburgh on the forenoon of the Welsh International.

The Aberdeen School XV. will this year be chosen from the Grammar School and Gordon's College.

Think of it, Grammar School boys! Is not this sufficient to make boys, old and young, play as they never did before—the old to gain a place in this year's XV., and the young to gain a place in the XV. in future years.

It is hoped that the Aberdeen XV. will show the Scottish Union and the South XV. that they know more than a little of the game in the North.

We should easily have four XV.'s playing at the School, and we trust that this will soon be the case. There is no more healthy and unselfish game than Rugby football, and we trust that our boys will turn out, not as spectators, but as players.

" Debater " Notes.

The Debating Society has again commenced its session, and we look forward to a very successful season.

We have been fortunate enough to secure a large number of papers, for which we have to thank the lecturers most heartily.

A general meeting was held in Room I. on the 2gth of September for the purpose of electing officials and officebearers for the coming season. Mr. Murison kindly consented to preside. With Mr. H. T. Sorley as President, and Messrs. P. Diack and A. F. Hyslop as Vice-Presidents, we can foresee a successful year. There was very close voting for the Committee, and we were compelled to add another member to that very important office.

Friday, 9th October.—On the above date a meeting was held in Room I. at 7.30 p.m. Mr. H. T. Sorley presided. The programme was intended to be impromptu, but, on account of the very poor and unenthusiastic debates that were suggested, a "hat night" was proposed and seconded. There were several good debates, those of most note being " Should there be a Channel Tunnel?" and "Are Limericks Lotteries?" The meeting, which was well attended, dismissed at 9.30.

.Vatural History Society's 2Votes.

39

June 6, 1608.—On this date the Society made an excursion to Cove. Only about a dozen members turned up.

They spent the morning on the rocks, and, though they did not find much of natural history interest, they had a very enjoyable excursion.

Excursions had also been arranged for Kintore and Durris, but did not come off.

June 8, 1908.—On the above date a general meeting of the Society was held in Room I. Mr. Chas. Davidson was in the chair. The business was the election of next year's office-bearers. The result of the election will be found in the List of School Officials at the end of the Magazine. R. S. Snowie was appointed a member of Committee, but has since left School, and D. Leith was elected in his place.

June 13, 1908.—By kind permission of Captain Hamilton, the Society was to visit Loch of Skene on this date, but, as the weather was bad, only a few members turned up. Some of these went to Walker's Dam, and found many botanical specimens.

June 20, 1908.—The Society held its last excursion for the season on this date. Favoured with excellent weather, the company, over thirty in number, left for Bennachie by the 10.5 train to Pitcaple, and from there set out to climb the hill. On the way, the " Maiden Stone," probably an early Christian relic, was visited, and, after much scrambling up a rather stony path, the Mither Tap (1,698 feet) was reached. This peak not only possesses a large and well-built hill-fort, but also commands an extensive view.

Here we were fortunate in meeting with Mr. Alex. Cop-

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Aberdeen Grammar School Magazine.

land, a former president of the Cairngorm Club, who identified the leading summits for us.

We then crossed to the Oxen Craig (1,733), and from thence descended the hill, making several interesting " finds," including a capercailzie's nest and eggs.

After a hearty tea at Oyne, we took train to Aberdeen, arriving about 7 p.m., after a somewhat "melodious" journey.

The Society owes its thanks to its Honorary President, Mr. Charles Davidson, who so ably led the excursion.

IAN G. INNES, Secretary (Session 19°7-8).

October 9, 1908.—On this date the Society in Room V. to hear a lecture by J. Bentley Philip, Esq.,met M.A., on "Stockholm and its Environs." The Rector was in the chair, and about forty members were present. Mr. Philip began by describing the various ways by which one could get to Stockholm from Aberdeen. He then showed many interesting photographs of places near and of the streets, public buildings, etc., in Stockholm, Stockholm itself.

He said that although Stockholm was on the Baltic, there were many small islands stretching out for twenty miles between it and the open sea. At the end of the lecture, the Rector proposed a vote of thanks to Mr. Philip, and Mr. Philip thanked the Rector for presiding. The meeting broke up at 7.15.

As the Debating Society has consented to hold its meetings at 9.3o instead of 7, the Natural History Society will meet from 6 to 7.3o in future.

It is hoped that members will make use of the small natural history library which the Society began last summer. The books are of two classes—works of reference, such as Howard Saunder's "British Birds," useful for members preparing papers, and popular books, such as those by bird photographers like Mr. Kearton.

This year, for the first time, there are several Former Pupil members. These are not eligible for election as officials, but can be ordinary members, and give papers, etc.

IAN S. THOMSON, Secretary (Session 1908-9).

Our Contemporaries.

41

Our Contemporaries.

The Editor begs to acknowledge with thanks the receipt of the following magazines : —" Arbroath High School Magazine," " Belfast Academical," " C.A.I." (2), " Courant," " Edinburgh Academy Chronicle " (3), " The Fettesian" (2), " Forum" (Ohio), " Glasgow Academy Chronicle," " Glasgow High School Magazine," " Jamaica College Magazine," " Kero " (Ohio), " The Olavian," " The Portmuthian" (2), " The Scotch Collegian" (Melbourne) (2), " St. Andrew's College Magazine " (Cape Colony), " St. Andrew's College Magazine" (Dublin), "The Yellow Dragon" (Hong-Kong) (2).

The " Kero" (Ohio) is one of the best of our exchanges. One feature of it is the large part of the magazine which is taken up by original contributions of the pupils themselves. Several very creditable short stories appear as their work. The magazine is beautifully printed, and brightly written all the way through.

We are pleased to welcome the "Jamaica College Magazine " as one of our newest exchanges. The magazine is well stocked with school news.

The July " Scotch Collegian " is a splendid production.

It, like the " Kero," encourages original work, and has a section set apart for this alone. From this magazine we quote a " howler " which we think is new : — " The sere and yellow leaf is a certain kind of tobacco."

We must give a word of praise to the " Arbroath High School Magazine." It is well arranged, and, besides containing much school intelligence, has several racy stories and articles of general interest.

From the " Yellow Dragon," a quaint little magazine, we take the following : — "Charon was a man who fried soles over the sticks." " Socrates died from a dose of wedlock."

The " Saint Andrew's College Magazine" (Grahamstown) contains a good article on " Hunting Experiences in British East Africa," and also an interesting list of the "times" taken for the various events in their athletic sports since the year 1889. This record of events is worth comparison with our own list.

42

Aberdeen Grammar School Magazine.

The Former Pupils' Club.

Notes.

At the commencement of our notes in this, the first Magazine of another year of the Club, we have to thank all who last year sent us articles, letters from abroad, and information regarding Old Boys, and we trust that during the coming year we shall receive even greater support.

The Editors, after all, have only limited sources of information, and, consequently, the larger the number of their correspondents, the greater, in all probability, will be the success of the Magazine. We have an insatiable appetite for letters from Old Boys and for notes about Old Boys, so, please, keep us well supplied.

The ordinary membership as well as the life membership has increased considerably during the past year, and we hope that during the present year there will be a further influx of members. The majority of the Old Boys who became life members before the new constitution was adopted have very kindly increased their subscription in accordance with the new rules, and we are sure that those who have not done so only require to have the matter brought to their notice.

The Executive decided to publish this year a Club Handbook, containing a list of the members, and it is being sent out along with this issue of the Magazine. Doubtless, some mistakes will be found in the list, and members will oblige by informing the Secretary regarding these, in order that the necessary corrections may he made before another Handbook is published. The Executive hope that members will fill up the form at the end of the Handbook with the names and addresses of old schoolfellows whom they find are not mentioned in the list, and who might be expected to join the Club if its existence and objects were made known to them.

With a view to making the next issue of the Handbook more complete, and to building up a reliable body of information regarding Old Boys, there has been enclosed with this number of the Magazine an addressed post card, which members are requested to fill up, stating the period of years during which they were pupils at the School. If the exact dates of entering and leaving have passed from memory, then approximate dates ought to be given. Only

The Former Pupils' Club.

43

a bare minimum of information is asked for on the post card, but if members are willing to supplement this with a letter giving a short sketch of their careers and any striking incidents, it will be highly appreciated. In any case, please fill up and return the post card at once. Do not lay it aside to be filled up in some prospective moment of leisure, for, if you do, you are almost certain to forget all about it !

The syllabus for the year has now been prepared, and will be issued to members on payment of their subscriptions. We subjoin a few comments on the various events.

The Club Evenings Committee have decided to begin their evenings on Saturday, 24th October, in the Palace Hotel. They have again made excellent arrangements, and they trust that even a larger number of members will enter for the tournaments than in previous years. They hope to arrange for several Bridge matches during the winter.

The Executive have arranged for a lecture on 3oth January, 1909, by Mr. Alex. Mackilligan, of the Aberdeen Free Press, on "A Journalist's Rambles in Town and Country." The lecture will be profusely illustrated by views, and will be of a very informal nature. A short musical programme will follow the lecture, and the Executive trust that there will be as large a turnout of members as at the lecture given by Mr. Garden last year, which was an emphatic success.

The Executive have also arranged 'for a discussion to be held in the Palace Hotel on Saturday, 21st November.

The subject chosen is " What form of recreation is most beneficial? " Cricket, football, golf, rowing, mountaineering, tennis, and military service will be discussed. The leaders in each subject are to be allowed only five minutes This is a new to set forth their claims for support. he a pleasant will evening that the hoped is venture, and it one.

This year the Dance Committee, at the suggestion of the Executive, have decided to hold the Annual Ball during the Christmas vacation, in order that the many Old Boys who are in Aberdeen at that time may have an opportunity of being present. The Committee have secured the suite of rooms in the Music Hall for Monday, 28th December, . and, no doubt, the arrangements will be as excellent as usual. The Annual Ball has been a pronounced success for

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Aberdeen Grammar School Magazine.

the last two years, and the Committee trust that the members will, therefore, keep Monday, 28th December, free.

They also desire to point out that it is impossible to send circular notices of the Ball to all members of the Club, and anyone who does not receive a notice should communicate either with the Hon. Secretary of the Committee or the Hon. Secretary of the Club. The usual Cinderella will not be held until about the end of February or the beginning of March.

The Dramatic Section have practically completed their arrangements for the presentation of the comedy, " The Judge," which will be given about the end of December in the School Hall. Last year the Dramatic Section were highly successful, financially and otherwise, in their representation of " The New Boy," and we have no doubt that, with the experience they obtained last year, their performance this year will be even more successful.

The Football Section of the Club held their annual general meeting a fortnight ago, and we understand that they have arranged to play at Mannofield again this winter.

They have a good list of fixtures, and it is hoped that, during the winter, they will receive encouragement by a large attendance of those interested. The Old Boys' Club always play good football, and their matches are generally of a most interesting character.

The Orchestral Section, which did such good work last year, meets this year in the School on Saturday evenings at 5.45 p.m., and Mr. James C. Lyon, Hon. Secretary, informs us that the Committee hope, not only that there will be a considerable increase in the number of Old Boys, but that some of the present pupils who are musically inclined will come to the practices. Mr. Warren T. Clemens, A.R.C.O., has again kindly consented to conduct the orchestra.

All who were present at the Dinner this year are agreed that it was a very pleasant affair. The catering was excellent, the surroundings were beautiful, and the speeches were piquant and not too long. Professor Davidson made a capital chairman, and Mr. Pope a guest whom the members were delighted to honour. By the way, Mr. Pope made reference to his having been immortalised in verse

by Mr. Mackie. Presumably he referred to the following lines which appeared in " A Retrospect," which was published in the Magazine almost ten years ago :—

The Former Pupils' Club.

45

And one (thou hast him yet)—the final link That thirty years have left unsnapped and sound— Old Pope : like soldier still, with hearty ways And gen'rous sympathy for youthful pranks.

A manly soul ; long may he live to write That fair, clear hand, the marvel of his time !

I

$

Attention may fittingly be called to the speech by the Rector, and especially that part of it in which he outlined his scheme for the providing of suitable playing-fields for the School. It is certainly high time that something were being done. It is true that foity years seems a long time for the debt to exist before belig finally extinguished, but perhaps some pious benefactors may be found among the Old Boys who will extend a helping hand. Verb. sap.-especially to those who are engaged in the pleasant duty of constructing their last wills and testaments!

Speaking of the playing-fields reminds us that we expected to come across more F.P.'s at the School Sports in September. Time was when Old Boys turned up at this event in large numbers, but this year, in spite of particularly fine weather, there were comparatively few present.

The Sports, in our opinion, ought to be a big social event in the annals of the Club. Splendid opportunity is given to Old Boys of meeting one another, and at the same time of renewing their acquaintance with the masters. Surely, too, it was not creditable that the F.P.s' race had to be declared off owing to there being no entrants. We hope that next year members will regard the Sports as a Club function, and that they will put in an appearance in order to show their interest in the School, and to encourage the pupils of the present day.

The winners of the Former Pupils' Club medals this year were :—English (Classical)—Ernest Main, (Modern) John G. Brown ; Science—Alex. Banks. The Scott-Riddell medals in Mathematics are awarded to : —Classical—Ian A. Clarke ; Modern—Frederic W. Morgan

46

Aberdeen Grammar School Magazine.

The Club Dinner.

Mr. Samuel Pope the Guest of the Evening.

The Annual Dinner of the Club was held on the evening of Saturday, 17th October, in the Palace Hotel. The President of the Club, Professor William L. Davidson, presided, and among those present were Principal P. T. Forsyth, D.D., Hackney College ; Messrs. H. F. Morland Simpson, C. J. Davidson, advocate; James Esslemont, Henry A. Davidson, C.A. ; A. G. Nicol Smith, W. Dickie Smith, advocate ; Charles Davidson, Charles Williamson, C.A. ; James \V. Milne, C.A. ; Baillie Alexander Milne, Messrs. Charles Watt, Theodore Watt, James C. Lyon, R. Buchanan Morton, Ian M`Laren, Fred Turnbull, A. M. Shinnie, Samuel J. Hally, Peter B. Simpson, John Cooper, H. J. Butchart, W. L. Cook, W. Macintosh, Ewen Macdonald, David A. Pope, Dr. John R. Levack, Messrs. Will J. Smith, William M. Alexander, John Ellis, John Pope, Samuel Pope, jun., solicitor ; Robert Bruce, John A. Dunn, James H. Gordon, George Shepherd, jun. ; J. W. Hutcheson, J. C. Taylor, Lawson Turnbull, John Hay, Ian Ogilvie Will, stockbroker; Alex. Mackie, John Munro, solicitor ; W. Keith Leask, R. J. A. Dunn, W. G. Wallace, J. Taylor Simpson, R. Norman Hally.

After an excellent dinner, expeditiously served in the banqueting hall of the hotel, the Chairman gave the customary loyal toasts, which were appropriately honoured.

Principal Forsyth proposed " The City of Aberdeen," and Baillie Milne replied. Professor Davidson then gave " The Memory of Field-Marshal Keith," the 15oth anniversary of whose death had occurred two days previously, and the toast was pledged in silence.

SIR. POPE'S "ELIXIR VITAE."

Mr. Alexander Mackie, in proposing the toast of the It is my privilege to ask you to drink evening, said the health of that beloved man and much-esteemed teacher, Mr. Samuel Pope. It is more than forty years since Mr. Pope came to fill the position of writing-master in the Grammar School, and the duties of that office he He has seen many has most faithfully performed.

SAMUEL POPE, ESQ., A.C.T.C.

Club Dinner.

t

47

changes in the School—changes of pupils, of teachers, of rectors, and of janitors. He has seen more changes in the School than any man alive. It is as some small expression of our appreciation of his services that we have invited Mr. Pope to be our guest this evening, to recognise not only his teaching services, but his worth as a fellow-citizen of Aberdeen.

When I look back to the Mr. Pope of 1870, when I first saw him, and compare him with the Mr. Pope of 1908, I see very little difference in the outward appearance. Some of his pupils have become grey and bald and bent, but Mr. Pope is as stalwart and straight as ever. He is now as energetic, as hearty, and as human as he was in those early days, and I ask myself the question, `What is the secret that has kept Mr. Pope so youthful?' The answer is that the garden has been Mr. Pope's elixir vitae. There he has been employed in a most healthful recreation, cut off entirely from the sordid jealousies of the outside world. A teacher when he begins to grow old is apt to mar his work with occasional fits of crabbedness and crankiness, but I have never heard of that being laid to the charge of Mr. Pope. Mr. Pope is also an angler, and I have often met him at the waterside enjoying his favourite pastime, than which there is nothing more completely separates a man from riotous cares.

These two recreations have been in the forefront of abiding pastimes with him, and have preserved that large-hearted, genial kindliness and good-tempered humanity that have always characterised him.

"The day was, fifty years ago, when the writingmaster was an institution in every large school, but now the writing-master is almost as extinct as the dodo. Good penmanship is a thing to be proud of, and Mr. Pope made it an art, the ideal of beautiful work, which was the despair of his pupils. Nowadays we have no time for frivolities of this sort, but one wonders whether, after all, they were not more educative, or at least as educative, as many of the more pretentious substitutes we have to-day. You know Mr. Pope's sterling qualities as well as I do, and I am sure that I voice your sentiments when I wish him much happiness and long life. May the cunning of his pen never fail, and may he continue to cultivate those charming flowers, which have ministered so much to the happiness of his life! "

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Aberdeen Grammar School Magazine.

The toast was drunk with great heartiness, the company singing, " For he's a jolly good fellow."

REMINISCENCES OF FORTY YEARS.

Mr. Pope, in acknowledging the toast, said : —" I have to thank you very heartily for the kind reception you have given to the toast of my health. When Mr. Milne called on me and asked me to be your guest this evening, I esteemed it a very great honour, but I shrank from it as an ordeal which, unaccustomed as I am to public appearances, I could not face. I was reassured when he suggested that I should put what I had to say in reminiscent form, which he was sure would be interesting to the old pupils present. " At Christmas of this year it will be forty-one years since I was appointed writing-master in the Grammar School by the Aberdeen Town Council and the subscribers of £loo and upwards towards the cost of the School. About the same time the mathematical mastership was filled by the appointment of the Rev. George M'Arthur, from the Gymnasium, Old Aberdeen. There were two candidates, Mr. M'Arthur and David Rennet-better known as ' Davie.' Mr. Rennet declined to canvass the Council and the subscribers, •and the result was that Mr. M'Arthur was elected by a majority. The School thus lost the services of one of the best mathematical teachers that Aberdeen ever produced.

Mr. Rennet— afterwards Mr. Rennet, LL.D.—was a well-known teacher in Aberdeen, and only retired into private life about a year ago, after teaching with great success for nearly sixty years. " At the far-away time of my appointment, the staff consisted of a Rector and four Classical masters. There were only five classes in the School—I., II., III., and IV. being taught by the Classical masters, and V. by the Rector. The Rector was the Rev. Wm. Barrack, and the Classical masters were Alexander Martin, Dr. Beverley, Thomas Still, and the Rev. James Wilson Legge. These devoted their whole time to teaching in the School. Dr. Beveley and Mr. Still retired many years ago ; my friend Mr. Legge, after thirty-six years of service, retired about 1893, and died, very much regretted, in 1895. Besides these, there were three visiting masters-for modern

( \ 1

Club Dinner.

49

languages, Mr. Clem; for drawing, Mr. John Mitchell ; and for writing, myself. Writing was taught for two hours daily. My classes were open to the whole School, and were well attended by Classes I., II., and III. The classes above III. were beyond taking lessons in writing.

Each master was a little rector in his own classroom.

The Rector did not control the teaching, or the methods of teaching, outside his own class, and the teachers had a free hand to teach as they chose. He was responsible for the discipline in the corridors and within the School grounds, and the boys had a wholesome dread of the Rector's tawse when they transgressed either in corridors or grounds ; but pupils had to be very bad in the classrooms ere they were brought before the Rector to answer for their conduct and submit, if need were, to punishment.

In these `good old times' we had no surprise and other visits from Government inspectors, no grants, no daily and weekly marks, and no quarterly examinations to ruffle and sometimes worry teachers and taught. The Rector and Classical masters, doubtless, tested their classes periodically to discover their best pupils, but the examination-inchief for the whole School was a few days before the summer vacation, when two or three of the University professors and one or two scholarly ministers and D.D.'s examined the School in classics, mathematics, etc., and decided the order of merit. The writing and drawing classes were usually examined by members of the Town Council, and reported on at the prize distribution, but no marks were awarded for these subjects. The examiners did their work gratuitously, their only reward being a good supper after the examination, to which examiners and teachers sat down and did ample justice. At the supper, many a jest and lively story went round the table to drive dull care away. Notwithstanding some of the drawbacks of the old system, the School turned out many brilliant pupils who afterwards distinguished themselves in many walks of life-as doctors, professors, ministers, commercial men, soldiers, artists, etc." Mr. Pope then . named a few from the long list of the past forty years, and then continued : —" In all these years I have seen many changes. I have served under five Rectors, the Rev. Wm. Barrack being the first. He was appointed, later, rector of the Dollar Institute, and afterwards rector of the

so

Aberdeen Grammar School Magazine.

Kelvinside Academy, Glasgow, which office he held at the time of his death. He was succeeded as interim Rector

by Thomas A. Stewart, who was very popular, and took a keen interest in the outside sports of the boys.

He became well known later as Dr. Stewart, one of Her Majesty's inspectors of schools, and at the time of his death H.M. chief inspector for Scotland. On his retirement from the School, Mr. Alexander Martin, who had studied for and undergone an examination preparatory to being admitted, was appointed Rector, and held the office for about fifteen years. Both as Classical master and Rector he was highly esteemed as a teacher, and his retirement on a pension was regretted by his colleagues and pupils. He lived to enjoy his well-earned pension for more than twenty years, and died about a year ago as the result of a regrettable accident, at the advanced age of over eighty years. When he retired, the School was reorganised and remodelled, and many new subjects of study were introduced. A Modern side was added, laboratories were fitted up and equipped, a Lower School and Infant Class were started, to which ladies were appointed. The staff, too, of the School was largely increased to meet the new requirements, and included a new Rector, Mr. (afterwards Dr.) James Moir. He came with a brilliant reputation as a teacher of Classics, and his pupils are unanimous in the opinion that as a teacher he was second to none.

In 1893 Mr. Morland Simpson was appointed Rector, with Dr. Moir as co-Rector, and they worked together harmoniously for several years, until Dr. Moir's retirement a few years ago. Owing to an unfortunate accident, Dr. Moir was in failing health before he retired, and only lived to enjoy his pension for a short time. Two teachers of Dr. Moir's choosing—George Harvey and Alexander V. Lothian—were deservedly very popular, the one as Classical, the other as Science master. Mr. Lothian, besides being a first-rate teacher, was a splendid all-round athlete, took a great interest in the boys' outdoor sports, and played in their games. In an important cricket match, Masters v. Pupils, he was a valuable asset on the Masters' side, and saved them from ignominious defeat. I was last man in, and made 3. The Masters were defeated by 2 runs.

I have known three mathematical masters--the Rev. George M'Arthur mentioned before; Mr. Charles

Club Dinner.

51

Sleigh, who held the mastership for more than twenty years, and who was a good disciplinarian; and Dr. M`Leod, whom you all know, succeeded Mr. Sleigh.

There have been numerous changes in the English mastership. Mr. Forbes was appointed at the same time as myself, and died shortly afterwards. He was succeeded

by Mr. Stephen, a student for the ministry, who retired on being licensed, and is now a minister in the Established Church of Scotland. Following Mr. Stephen came Mr. A. F. Murison, a brilliant English scholar and capable teacher, but he resigned and went to London to study for the Bar, and became a barrister. He is now well known as a brilliant journalist, Professor of Roman Law in the London University, and at the last General Election as Liberal candidate to represent the Universities of Glasgow and Aberdeen in Parliament. For the honour of the School I hope yet to see him M.P. His brother George succeeded him temporarily, and was successful as a teacher. He too resigned on becoming the Rev. George, and is now a parish minister. Next came, I think, Mr. George Macdonell, who only held the office for a short time, and resigned to take up journalism. His successor was John Hector, a brother of Mr. Hector of the School Board, and a former pupil of the School. He was studying Divinity at the time, and shortly after being licensed was appointed a professor in the Madras Training College, of which he afterwards became principal. He is now retired, and lives in Aberdeen. Then came Mr. Beaumont, from Lerwick, who after a brief period was transferred to Commerce Street School as headmaster, and died quite recently. Mr. Hugh F. Campbell followed Mr. Beaumont, and held the mastership and taught with much acceptance and ability for seventeen years. He studied Law during the later years of his mastership, and is now in practice as an advocate in Aberdeen. The present English master is Mr. Murison ' III.,' who is well known to many here. " Of the present large staff it does not become me to say more than that I think they worthily fill the various masterships of their predecessors, and will uphold and increase the high reputation of the School. They have, I am sure, a kindly regard for me as the ' father' of the Grammar School. Three of them have been my pupils.

I cannot recall having punished any of them, but, if I

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Aberdeen Grammar School Magazzne.

have, they have the satisfaction of knowing that they richly deserved it.

"Regarding my department of drawing, many and drastic changes have been made. The old methods of teaching from copies, casts, and geometrical models have been condemned as antiquated and out-of-date. Nature drawing, nature knowledge, and drawing from real objects, clay modelling, etc., have taken their place, and I have endeavoured to keep myself up-to-date in this new departure. Drawing now holds a high place in the estimation of the Education Department, and is, in the language of a recent circular, 'an integral part of the Leaving Certificate examination.'

The work is responsible and exacting, and infinitely harder than it was under the old system of the Science and Art Department. I think I may say, without flattering myself, that I am in earnest with my work, and keep back nothing that I know about drawing from those of my pupils willing to receive it.

Many of my present pupils are sons of former pupils of mine, and though they sometimes annoy, worry, torment, perplex, and bewilder me, as their fathers did in the long ago, I have a kindly feeling toward them for their fathers' sake. I still feel myself ' very fit,' and am hopeful, after forty years of teaching, of doing some good work yet within the School before the curtain is rung down and I make my bow and retire from the stage. " It only remains to me to thank you very sincerely for the high honour you have conferred upon me, and to assure you that I feel profoundly grateful, and shall look back on this occasion as a red-letter day in my experience.

In one word, Mr. Chairman and Gentlemen, I have to thank you from a grateful heart for your exceeding kindness to me." " THE SCHOOL."

The Chairman gave " The School," and referred to the old schools in Schoolhill and Little Belmont Street and the masters of his time. He said the excellent work for which the School was famed in days gone by still continued, and the present staff fully upheld the reputation of the past. In his class at the University he found that Grammar scholars had their minds admirably developed and not crammed. They had been so taught that they could take in new discipline and new matter and assimi-

Club Dinner.

53

late it, and thereby grow and thrive under it. Any school that could produce scholars whose minds could still develop was certainly doing its work admirably and well, and that work the Grammar School was doing now.

WHAT ABOUT A PROPER PLAYING FIELD?

Mr. Morland Simpson, in acknowledging the toast, expressed pleasure at having with him two members of his staff—one a younger member, who was well known as a very loyal and ardent former pupil ; and the other, one to whom he looked up to very much, in the person of the guest of the evening. He owed to Mr. Pope a lifelong debt of gratitude for the loyal way in which he fell in with the changes which were rendered necessary at the time of his coming to the School as its Rector, and he hoped he might say, with all respect,•that he had all along valued the services of Mr. Pope very highly. Mr. Simpson proceeded to speak of the work of the School in the past, and said that there were on the register of the General Council of the University the names of 4,168 graduates, and of that total number, so far as he could make out, 1,044, or 25 per cent., were former pupils of the Grammar School. The older former pupils would naturally want to know if they were maintaining their position in relation to the University at the present day. He was grateful to Professor Davidson for the kindly words he had spoken of the quality of the boys, and he remarked that it was a great encouragement to him to know that Grammar School boys had the faculty of coming to the front. About two years ago he took a test over a period of about thirty-five years, and he found that the average number of former pupils at the University was from 23 to 25 per cent. of the whole, while in honours and prizes he found that these former pupils won from 3o to 4o per As to the future of the School, cent. of the total. there was a question about which he wished to speak, and it was one in which, he thought, was bound up the welfare of the School. It was the question of whether the Grammar School was to be provided with proper playing fields. He believed that the opportunity had come now. Years ago he was after a particular piece of ground which he coveted very much for the School, but the price asked,f or it put the project beyond the possibility of their

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Aberdeen Grammar School Magazine.

means. But the value of ground had deteriorated considerably recently, and there was now an opportunity of the School acquiring a portion of the estate known as the Bleachfield, which was offered for sale.

His idea was that, if the ground was to be properly controlled, it must be exclusively the ground of the Grammar School, and, therefore, if the ground were bought by the School Board out of the rates, every other school in the city would claim a right to the ground. He had put his proposal before the School Board, and they had approved of it to a certain extent.

His proposal contemplated that they should slightly raise the subscription to the Games Fund, and that it should be extended to the whole School. Such a small increase to the subscription would provide them with a sum sufficient to purchase the ground, and to extinguish the debt in a matter .of forty years' time. To lay out and fence the ground, and probably drain it, would require a considerable sum, but they had about £2OO on hand in the Games Fund, and he thought that, if the Former Pupils' Football Club could be induced to throw in their lot with the School, they would have little difficulty in getting the £boo or £loo that would be required. To him that did not seem to be a very large demand to make for something that would be a boon in perpetuity to the School.

Mr. A. G. Nicol Smith proposed "The Chairman," after which the proceedings terminated with the singing of " Auld Lang Syne."

Former Pupils' Club Notices.

The Honorary Secretary of the Dance Committee is Ian M`Laren, 44 Marischal Street.

The Honorary Secretary of the Dramatic Committee is P. B. Simpson, 54 Forest Road.

The Honorary Secretary of the Rugby Football Club is W. Shepherd, jun., 6 Marine Terrace, and all Former Pupils wishing to play should communicate with him.

Ties, hatbands, scarves, etc., of the Club colours may be obtained from R. K. Smith, I13-IIg Union Street, and W. J. Milne, 251 Union Street, on presentation of the membership card.

DAVI E S' STORES, •

RECOGNISED AS THE HOUSE FOR

GIFTS OF EVERY DESCRIPTION.

27I UNION STREET, AND

3 BON-ACCORD STREET

ABERDEEN GRAMMAR SCHOOL. (Founded previous to 1256.)

Rector—H. F. MORLAND SIMPSON, M.A. (Cantab.), F.S.A.Scot.

The School, which is one of the Higher Class Public Schools of Scotland, provides for Boys a complete course of study—Elementary and Secondary, Classical and Modern. The Lower School receives Boys of the Infant stage and upwards.

The School contains excellent Laboratories—Chemical and Physical, Art Room, Workshop, Botanical Garden, Gymnasium, Library, and Reading Room.

The situation of the School is open and healthy, within ten minutes of the Railway Station.

There is a Cricket Field, and there are separate Playgrounds for the various departments.

Boarders are received by several of the Masters.

Information as to Fees, Scholarships, etc., is given in the School Prospectus, which may be had free on application to the CLERK of the Scuool. BOARD, 22 Union Terrace, or to the RECTOR.

ABERDEEN HIGH SCHOOL FOR GIRLS. Head Master—JOHN M'BAIN, M.A. Lady Superintendent—Miss LUCY L. WARD, B.A. (Lond.)

The School, which is one of the Higher Class Public Schools of Scotland, is organised in Three Departments—a Junior, an Intermediate, and a Secondary—the last combining Modern and University Sections. The Art and Music Departments are under highly qualified Masters and Governesses. Pupils are received from the age of Five Years. The recent additions, consisting of an elegant Ilan, Cookery and Laundry Rooms, and a Suite of Laboratories of the most approved description for the teaching of Physics, Chemistry, and Biology, make the School one of the best equipped in the country. A Library and Reading Room and Luncheon Rooms are provided.

The School occupies a spacious site in the West End of the City, within twelve minutes of the Railway Station.

The LadySuperintendent can arrange for the Boarding of Pupils from a distance.

Information as to Fees, Scholarships, etc., is given in the School Prospectus, which may be had free on application to the CLERK of the SCHOOL BOARD, 22 Union Terrace, or to the HEAD MASTER.

BREAKFASTS, g'-9

.c

.

DINNERS, *

*

?fr

TEAS, 1

SUPPERS.

For Weddings otiand "At Homes" IT CAN'T "Replete with every Comfort."

BE BEAT.

CHAS. DAVIE, Proprietor.

Telephone 857.

For Best Value in

Footballs, School Bags, and Travelling Trunks of every Description, TRY

G. G. PETERKIN, travelling Bag manufacturer,

56 5choolhill, Aberdeen.

Please note that 56• is G. G. P.'s only Entrance.

The World's Greatest Art Treasures on your Walls at Trifling Cost.

THE "JASDON 99 SERIES OF

FRAMED MASTERPIECES, 7d., 1,-, 1 / 9 , 2 -.

Beautiful Reproductions after Reynolds, Romney, Gainsbro', Greuze, Millet, Burne Jones, Landseer, Meissonier, etc., etc..

Q.-ex

7:iN TO

BE

inEgb

GIFT. x-a,

HAD ONLY

FROM

Printseller, JAMES DONALD, Stationer, and Publisher,

395 Union Street, ABERDEEN.

The Place to get your Hair Cut at Popular Prices.

F. LANDERY, The UniVersity Hairdressing Saloon,

34 Schoolhill, Aberdeen.

—

prompt attention by Skilled )9ssistci'nts.

Large and Varied Stock of COMBS, BRUSHES, etc., and all Necessary Requisites for the Toilet.

Zchoot efficialz.

-

-

-

SESSION

-

-

1908-9.

Games Committee.

The RECTOR. President, Mr. JAMES DAVIDSON..

Secretary, Hon. A. MILNE. J. C. KNOX, Esq. P. DIACK. J. H. RITCHIE. LAWRENCE. D. R. D. C. DUNCAN. H. T. SORLEY W. MCGAVIN. Go KHEK GHEE. M. H. MACKIE, Esq. Football.

W. McGAviN. Captain, D. C. DUNCAN. Secretary, Swimming Club.

D. C. DUNCAN. Cafitain, J. H. REID. Vice-Captain, J. MACKINTOSH. Secretary, M. H. MACKIE, Esq. Hon. Treasurer, Committee.

W. GRIFFITH. P. DIACK. I N. C. PROCTOR. J. F. FERGUSON. H. T. SORLEY. Debating Society.

H. T. SORLEY. President, (P. DIACK. Vice-Presidents, 1A. HYSLOP. J. I-I. RITCHIE. Secretary and Treasurer, Committee.

J. I. WATSON. J. MACKINTOSH. D. EDWARDS. A. J. WILL. S. C. STILL. J. FERGUSON. Natural History Society.

W. R. TENNANT. President, f R. J. ANDERSON. Vice- Presidents, C. J. MACKIE. IAN S. THOMSON. Secretary and Treasurer, Committee.

R. D. LAWRENCE. R. S. CUMMING. D. M. W. LEITH. 1 FORBES. B. J. S. CHARLES MACKIE. Library.

A. MILNE. Reference, LendingH. T. SORLEY. P. DIACK. W. R. TENNANT. C. H. SIMPSON. Magazine.

P. DIACK. Editor-in-Chief, R. J. ANDERSON. Editor for Sport, H. T. SORLEY. Literary Editor, J. I. WATSON. Business Manager, .

.

.

McMILLAN'S, BESIDE THE BRIDGE,

The Place for Everything in Games and Gift Goods.

McMILLAN LTD., UNION BRIDGE, ABERDEEN.

JAMES D. DUNCAN, CHEMIST,

231 UNION STREET. 231 High-class Dispensing. Purest Drugs. Most Moderate Charges.

Patent Medicines, etc., Store Prices.

Telephone 311.

Telephone 2593.

GENTLEMEN, Please:

FORREST & RAFFAN, 82 UNION STREET. FOR Up-to-date Tailoring at Popular Prices. Conducted under personal supervision. Perfect Fit with Comfort in Wear and Best Workmanship is guaranteed.

A trial Order is asked front those who have not yet favoured us.

82 UNION STREET. N.B.—Agents for the celebrated " AERTEX" Cellular Shirts and Underwear.

HATS!

CAPS!!

NECKWEAR!!!

A How to: tie the Ascot or Hunting Scarf. i

W. J. MILNE,

Hatter, Shmaker, ad Hosier, =

n

251 Union Street, Aberdeen.

Telephone 1293.

->*•2-<-

The Royal Northern Club is opposite.

A How to. tie the Dress Dow.

Second = hand School See

Special

Books.

Catalogue.

" HOBBIES FOR BOYS." ILLUSTRATED CATALOGUE ON APPLICATION.

WALKER & COMPANY, (The Home of the Cinematograph),

19 Bridge Street, ABERDEEN.

Cfte fountainbead

ALL

FOR

FRESH FROM ELLON DAILY.

FINE BUCHAN BUTTER, FRESH FARM EGGS, FINE HOME-MADE CHEESE, FOWLS, CHICKENS, RABBITS, DUCKLINGS, JAMS (all own Make), HONEY (in Supers, I lb. and 2 lb.), (in Nice Tumblers).

99

MILNE, ELLON STRLLI NEW

MARKET.

TELEPHONE No. 204Y5.

M'COMBIE'S CYCLE DEPOT, 344 KING STREET,

ABERDEEN.

TO CYCLISTS. New Cycles built to Order.

Old Cycles exchanged for more up- to-date Machines.

Old Cycles thoroughly overhauled, re-enamelled, plated, and done up in first-class style.

All kinds of repairs promptly executed.

A Large Assortment of Tyres and Accessories always on hand.

All Orders entrusted to my care shall have my personal attention, and the work carried out with the utmost dispatch. Telephone Orders promptly attended to and sent for if required.

CHARGES MODERATE AND WORKMANSHIP GUARANTEED.

ALEX. ERASER, tUatcinnahcr ant 3ewe[Ier, Dealer in

1%1 eVrr

and Second-hand Watches,

Buyer of

Old Gold and

Sinter., etc.,

.

.

.

19 UPPERKIRKGATE, ABERDEEN.

DAVID WYLLIE & SON, (Established 1815).

- Fountain

Pert

Emporium,"

247 UNION STREET, ABERDEEN. EVERYONE WRITES—more or less : hardly a day passes without frequent occasions for it. Now, to write with any degree of comfort and rapidity, one wants a pen thoroughly suitable and always reliable.

The "SWAN" Fountain Pen combines all the advantages of the perfected pen, with a reservoir of ink sufficient to write continuously for hours. Prices Jo/6 and i6/6. Satisfaction guaranteed. Repairs speedily executed. Ink and other accessories. Fountain Pens by other makers also stocked. Prices i/- upwards.

Telephone No. 402.

GORDON,

WILLIAM

WATCHMAKER and JEWELLER,

7 ROSE STREET (ViVoITOMMI), ABERDEEN. American Waltham Watches, The World's Best Timekeepers, In Gold, Silver, and Gold-filled Cases, At Prices to suit all.

TO BE HAD FROM

GORDON,

WILLIAM

Ulatcbmaher anD jeweller, 7 ROSE STREET (rtIrTsfr,Z, ABERDEEN. Telephone 1945.

YOU

DO

KNOW

THAT

THOMSON makes Delicious CARAMELS At 2d. per Quarter. Fresh daily.

To be had only at

THOMSON'S TOFFY SHOP,

402 UNION STREET (sugg'grst.), ABERDEEN.

"THE DIVAN," lhigh.--class tobaccos, Cigars, Cigarettes, Pipes, etc., 504 UNION STREET, Aberdeen.

W. Y. MACKAY, PROPRIETOR. Note.—The Finest BILLIARD SALOON in the North. equipped with best Tables by Messrs. Burroughes SC,Watts, Ltd.

cRoWN -ra7x Roo

s,

5 CROWN STREET (Nelpoos l,Seffice), Where a good CUP OF COFFEE can, be had.

Chocolates, Confectionery, Cartes, ant) pastry IN GREAT VARIETY.

BONBONIERS a Speciality.

Proprietrix

=

=

-

-

Miss C. MACLEAN

(Late Manageress with Mr. KENNAWAY).

TRY

CHRISTIE & GREGOR, Traitors ant) 'boaters,

42 and 43 UNION TERRACE, For your CLOTHING, And you will not be disappointed with

Quality, Fit, or TELEPHONE 1620, ABERDEEN.

Price.

TELEPHONE 67, FRASERELTRGH.

GEORGE JOHNSTON, FLORIST, FRUITERER, AND . . . CONFECTIONER, . . .

473 UNION STREET, ABERDEEN. 1311reatbs.

Crosses.

Cbotce fruit.

Salads.

Branches-4 Broad Street, Fraserburgh, and 55 Barclay Street, Stonehaven.

FRED HARDIE, 'photographic Iiirtist,

146 UNION ST., ABERDEEN, For every style of In- and Out-door Group, Composite Groups, and General Portraiture, etc., Tdephone 851.

At Popular Prices.

PIANOFORTES.

-~

STEINWAY. STEINWAY. STEINWAY. BECHSTEIN, BECHSTEIN, BRINSMEAD "ANGELUS," "Piano and Piano Player combined."

Sole Importers for Scotland—

PATERSON & SONS, Music Sellers, 116 UNION STREET, ABERDEEN.

Bops' and Youths' Winter i

f

OVERCOATS.

f

ANY distinctive Styles are now being shown for the season made in the Newest Colours, specially made for our exclusive Sale. Every age has our special study. We are careful to advise you as to the most suitable shape. Our Coats have a handsome and smart appearance, well made, and perfectly fitted.

M

PRICES. i2/6 to 33/6 for boy, age 4.

14/6 to 34/6 for boy, age 7.

16/6 to 38/6 for boy, age zo.

19/6 to 45/- for boy, age 1,3.

23/6 to 47/6 for boy, age i6.

25/6 to 5o/- for boy, age 17.

R. K. SMITH, The King's Buildings, 113-119 UNION STREET, ABERDEEN, Telephone-677.

Telegrams -" Clothing, Aberdeen."

NEW SEASON'S GOODS

Are a rrivin g daily i n a u sha des of Leather at

JOHN A. DUNN'S, THE GLOBE BOOT AND SHOE HOUSE,

crane and have

All Goods

your Choice.

marked in Plain Figures

i

and at

<

The Variety is Lowest Prices.

Endless.

See

See

WINDOWS.

WINDOWS.

26 UNION STREET, ABERDEEN. Repairs a Specialty, either in Leather, Gutta Percha, or Rubber. Also, Rubber Revolving Heel Pads—Ladies', is., Gent's, Is. 3d, per Pair.

Telephone No. 158.

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0