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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Lucknow Sentinel, 1985-11-27, Page 6Page 4-ttuclutow Sentinel, 'Wednesday; November 27, 198S tished 1873 P C 528 2822 "The Sepoy Town" BLUE RIBBON AWARD 1985 PAICI Thomas Thompson James Friel Pat Livingston Joan Helm Merle Elliott -Advertising Manager -Editor -General Manager -Compositor -Typesetter • Second plass mailing reg. no. 0847 Advertising is accepted on the condition that in the event of a typographical error, the portion of the advertising / space occupied by the erroneous item together with a reasonable allowance for signature, will not- be charged Subscription rates in advance:. $1 7." Outsioe Canada 560." $14." Outside Canada 558.00 Senior Citizen for, but the balance of the advertisement will be paid at the applicable rates. Summit is a success The first Soviet -U.S. surnmitAn five years is an unqual- ifiei success. Many are saying that ‘the. people in the world should not hold our collective breath. They say there is still much to be gone over: the summit has done little more than give U.S. President Ronald Reagan and Soviet General -Secret- - ary Mikhail Gorbachev the chance to soothe their paranoic xenophobia. The two have met, and if the propaganda spewed by press secretaries and the hype created by the media can be cut through, they even like each other. They like each other at least enough to agree to two more summit , meetings, the first in the U.S. in 1986, the second in the U.S.S.R. in, 1987. Reagan himself says the two are still far apart on arms control,„and ideological differences will always be present. However, both leaders have ordered arms negotiations resume on Jan. 16, 1986 and some observers have suggested both now want results. . ' A • .Cultural exchanges will be accelerated back to former levels achieved before they were largely ended 4t a response to the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. But eclipsing all the positive and 'pegative reaction is just the simple fact that they met. They talked for 15 hours and they have lost some of their gut fear. • •Perhaps as a result,- our young people will start believing that they will'have a natural lifespan in which to. accomplish their dreams. , J.F. Water hike justified Council's recent decision to hike water bills to non-resid- ent customers has upset at least one township citizen., and it isn't hard to figure out why. Nobody likes to face a 50 per cent hike on any bill even if it is only the lowly water. bill. Weve developed an economy in which four to eight per cent hikes are ,the norm: 50 per cent is a bit of a shiocie: . While the amount of the increase may be excessive, the idea Of increasing out-of-town user fees is justified. Non-residents get ' the benefit of the . water system -Lucknow taxpayershave built. • Non-residents have escaped financing water projects and council has raised the rates to township users to try to make the system fairer to their first responsibility, the people of the village With small municipalities across the province facing crises with the inadequacy of recently built water systems, it isn't unreasonable for council to try to protect citizens even in so insignificant a way. , J.F: 1 Holdovers During the Highland Clearances, when poor crofters were turned off the land to make way.for extensive sheep farming, thousands of bewildered Scottish people emigrated to the "colonies", including Canada. But the dispersal of the clans really began, after the Battle of Culloden in 17461L the last futile attempt to regain the Scottish throne for the Stuarts. The man who hoped to be made king was Charles Edward Stuart, BOnnie Prince .Charlie or, as the English called him, The Young Pretender. Everything was lost in the brave butdesperate claymore charge of the rebel clan's against the English cannons and muskets of the redcoats - everything' except— the eternal pride, indestructible courage and dogged determination which still flows in the veins of their descendants. Now, only Gaelic/ names remain to whisper the glories of the past and amongst them the revered MacCrimmon. It is not by accident that we Canadians prefer the bagpipes over any other instrument to express our joy and pride. The pipes are synooymous with the name MacCrimmon. According to ancient beliefs, "it takes seven years and seven generations to produce a piper". ,Little James MacCritri- mon came from a tine of countless pipers and he began to show proficiency long before seven years of practice. Unfortun- ately, James was an only child and his mother, Fiera, had a tendency to'spoil him. Neil, however, balanced his wife's natural maternal weaknesses and gave • the, boy strict training from the .moment he could - differentiate between right and wrong. ' "Discipline yesel' lad," he told his son. "Or ye'll no play a pibroch like a'MacCrim- mon." Young James's training was not confin- ed to the fingering,of the chanter. He was taught the cbrrect way to breathe when filling the bag and how to march in keeping with his music. Neil had the boy's kilt and regalia specially fabricated in the Clan MacLeod tradition and shipped to Redtrees' from Hamilton. But few in the community had seen the boy dressed in his .finest or heard him play. As Neil said: "There is a time frae everything, an' the time frae a• piper tae play frae the public is when he has little mare tae learnl" About the time Jarnes.was finishing his apprenticeship on the pipes, the greatest interest ot 'the community was centred around the new church. It was a magnificent stone structure with a steeple to house the bell which had once travelled with that fateful ship "Mavis". There was adequate room to acCommodate the con-* gregation of Redtrees for many decades to come. On the never -to -be -forgotten Sun- day when it was finally dedicated to the , glory of God, every man, woman and child was present to hear the Reverend Duncan MacLeod give the inaugural address. "We have laboured for many years to build this place we call Redtrees. But only now with the completion of a House of God more.worthy of our Creator do I feel that we are' well and truly established and deserving of all the blessings of our new home, Canada. Let us take pride in our community and hand our religious beliefs to the sons who will till this hard-won soil after we are gone. There is nothing More gratifying than to witness our seed emerge into blossom, . Our Redeemer Himself took great satisfaction in seeir.,-; His son carry on His work when He said: "This is my beloved son in whom I am well pleased." The minister's words were the signal for the .church doors to open wide, and striding into the .midst of that glorious new edifice was young James MacCrimmon. The sound of his pipes was like a choir of angels. "Amazing grace, how sweet the sound, Which saved a wretch like me." By' the open doors, Neil watched his lad perforhi .a ceremony which had hitherto been reserved only for him. There was indescribable pride in his breast and a lump in his throat. He followed the boy's every movement and was satisfied that he was executing his art as only a MacCrim- mon cOuld. Tears streamed down his face as he recalled the words spoken by the minister only a few minutes ago. Nothing 'Seemed more appropriate to Neil to destribe what he felt at- that Moment. "This is my beloved son iti whom ,I am well pleased".