HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Seaforth News, 1932-05-12, Page 3TIBURISD'AY,MAY 12; 1932.'
I'n our last issue tinder Items,'
'of 25 years ago, reference was'
made tee, ah honor conierr!ed upon'
Dr, John Campbell of 13rooklyi
' and formerly of Seaforth. The
Sealfiort1i News is indebted to
tMrs: George Brown of this ton,
for a book entitled. "The Land of
(Burns,,, 'pub'lished .by Dr. Camp-
lieil,;wh'iie residing in Seaforth;
This old world has seen 'many
chaeges''in the 'fifty 'years since
these le!tt'e s wiete written, but
iDr Campbell's theme is the sub-
ject of as much sthdy and discus-
sion as' it ever was.
* *.*
IAt the 'request o'f'alarge number of
p(ijiends in the .Counties df Hurotr,
l ti'erth and Oxford, we •have consented
. to publisih'our letters en "The Land of
(Burns," as well a few of our sketches
.' from the "old land," and we now
present. *the modest little volume for
their perusal. The letters sent from
the old country were written hastily
oil the spot, by way of 'carrying out a
promise made to our 'friend, 3. S.
Porter, ,Esq„ of Seaforth, wiho handed
them to our. 'friend, Mr.. .F. 1G. Nadia,.
of the 'Seaforth Sun, who considered
them worthy Of a place in the columns
of his paper, and by this means they
.first ' saw the light 'of day, Of the
letters sent (from ]Scotland our esteem,
ed friend„ the 'Rev. ',iWm. Robertson,
M.A., of Chesterfield, Ont.., a finished
scholar,. wrote us: "The description's
are very admirable. The style o'f
writing is both rich and, pure. When
completed the narrative sho'dld'be pact
in 'book .form. it is certainly well
worthy of receiving this pepmanent
shape. The ,quotations from 'Scotch
poetry are so apposite as to surprise
me. 'They greatly add to the beauty
of the composition!" ,Our descrip-
tions Of "The Land of Burns" were
'written at the special request of Mr,
,Aller, Matheson, •o'f the Stratford Bea-
'-•veson, . in the cdlurnns of w'hieh paper
they first appeared. They were writ-
ten in Seaforth at intervals, as we
could find a few momen'ts' leisure
during a laborio'u's practice. They were
intended to be purely descriptive of
our trip to Ayrshire, and were ,ela'b-
'orated from notes takes on the spot.
!These, as our readers will' see, con-
stitute the first ,six of the 'Burns let-
ters. At this point we called a ]halt
:and told Mr. Ma'thes'on.• that aur
'labors were ended. That gentleman
wrote to us saying that the 'letters
were literally devoured, and that surely
'We had a few more shots in thealock-
'er, and he urged us to write a deifence
of the Life and character of the
poet, which would make the subject
'complete and very acceptable. I never
"!+aught that the life and works of
Robert Burns needed a defence, if
properly understood, but that was the
point. How few understand either
aright? We ,thought we did, therefore
we acceded 'to Mr: Mathe'son's request
• feud have the satisfaction of •knolwing
that we 'have pleased one man at
least, 'for that gentleman •told us per-
sonally- that it was the hest ,and most
eonci'se.: defence 'of the Scottish' poet
that he had ever seen „'in. print. We
'have duly picked 'out "a few of the let-
ters sent, from Great Britain during
our sojourn 'there; as ';the volrme.
would be too large—The Author.
THE LAND OF BURNS.
'Glasgow ^ IZi1'w'innling - The Castle
0' Montgomery — Highland
,Mary's T•hr'oit, etc. etc;
"Hail land of song where count-
less bards
Have tuned the heavenly lyre,
Where Tannehill's mild strains
are heard
To 'blend with' ;Burn's fire,"
;On the 29th of April, 1188'21 I took
my ticket at "Auld iReekie" .for Glas-
gow, at which place I remained for a
few h'oar+s, and went on to :Kilwinning.
IWe elected to .step off • the cars•at this
place on account of its connection
with our favorite ,pont, Robert B'tims.
This is an. ancient looking town of
some 3,000 inhab'itant's, The streets are
narrow, and many of the Ibu'ildinigs
p'o'or.. ft was raining steadily. We
•trudged on, and meeting with a young
roan on the main street of the town,
we asked hint the question. "Can you.
show 'me the building in which Burns
was trade a Mason?" He looked at
me in an earnest, simple, cluild-like •
ntann'er, ander said. 4'1 don't fthinle I
know him. ' Is he a tall man that'
teaches school?" He had never heard
of the poet B.urns'l I thanked him, tell-
ing him that my (Burns was not the
school teacher, and T did not think he
was very tall, but they niigli't be re-
lations. I passed on, saying to my-
self, "A prophet is not without 'honor,
save in his own country and amongst
his own kindred." However, I found;
i:ha't there was a good deal of coal
mining going ,on in the vicinity and'
the probability was that the ydtrng;
man in question was a miner, and this,
Class have not the reputation of being
very intelligent. As I passed through
the town I observed "Burns 'Hotel,":
and upon inquiry was told that this.
was •the tavern wlhieh the poet used
to frequent when be came 'into the
town. Inquiring about 'the Masonic'
(Lodge where Burns was made a Ma-
son and where he was afterwards
elected Master of the lodge, I was di-
rected to a Mr. Wylie, merchant tail-
or, who is at present Master of the
Kilwinning Lodge. Fie s'ho'wed me the
mallet which Bairns wielded while in
the chair This is the oldest lodge in
(Scotland. The lodge room is quite
venerable too, and ;an effort is being
made to build a new place of meeting
for the mother lodge: Mr, Wylie is a
very .gentlemanly man, and some time
ago received a 'handsome testimonial
from the -Masons of S•catland.f He had
been' a ,candidate for the Grant) Mas-
tership .olf Scotland, and had retired
in favor of another gentleman who
was elected to that position. We ex-
amined the ruins of a 'Franciscan Ab-
bey, which was founded by Hugh de
!Morville in 1140.'The church stands
THE SEAFORTH NEWS.
near: the old spire of the Abbey, the
last Alhbot of which was Gavin Ha-
milton. I was 'told -that while:'th'isr Ab-
bey was being built,+ the' Society of
;Scottish Free. Masons was first insti-
tuied. There' is a handsome bell tow-'
er, about 105''. feet 'highwhich was er-
eotedrin 11816,'Killwinn'ftig is celebrated
,for tl}e/ practice of archery, which has
'been described by Sir Walter Scott in
"Old Mortality." The Archery Club
was established in 1488' in which the
popinjay is held. Kiil'winning has in
its 'vicinity Eglinton castle, the mag-
uilficent residence of the Earl of Eg
iingtou, which' was the scene df the
revival of the ancient tournament in
11849, under,cir•cumstanices of unusual
splendour. We were told that it near-
ly reined this noble family.' We walk-
edout in the rain towards the seat of
the Montgomeries, and as there were
few people out' on account of the :in-
clemency of the 'wea'ther, we had to.
fall back on our own knowledge Of
the 'life and poetry of Burrs for the
associations which we understood it
presented. We had only two hours
until our train would arrive, hence we
only went in sight . df the castle,
which is situated one mile and three-
quarters front Kilwinning. We under-
stood that le the days of ,Burns this
castle was tiie residence of Colonel.
[Hugh Montgomery, ,great grandfather
of the present Earl, and, that 'Ildgh-
land Mary, or Many. •Campbell, was
dairy maid in .the family. This was
Burns' first and truest love. Had she
dived to become his wife, it is difficult
to say what his future course might.
'have' been., No doubt that h'anest, sim-
ple minded. beautiful Highland girl
held the big burning heart of the poet
all in her own keeping : She could.
have swayed the impulsive, passion-
ate mind of Burns as with the wand
of an enchantress. We •belae've her in-
fluence would .have been exerted for
good and that many of those indis-
cretions which clouded his after -days
would have !been prevented. A great
grief is often the turning point in a
m'an's. earthly fcareer, especially if the
man has wild passions like Robert
'Burns. Certainly ,Burins . loved 'her
with •a manly sinecrity,'and a tender-
ness which he alone was capable of
cherishing. This, too, was in his "glo-
rious youthful prime," when his. heart
was as yet unseared by the cankering
.care's of a troubles'o'me world, and we
Ifiad that alter the idol of his warm
heart ;had passed to that land
Where the. w'ic'ked cease from
. 'troubling
And the weary are at rest,
She remained to ''h'im a blessed pres-
ence and a holy inspiration. which
never failed to call 'forth ' his best
thbughits till .his sun went dawn amid
.lite lurid clouds of his brief and troub-
led day: The deep scar which.Mary's
early death made uip'on his Manly
heart, was never healed. Ilt opened
many a time in after life, and strain's
of soift, sweet,,m'eilodious sorrow gush-
ed 'forth, such as his address to Mary
in Heaven:
Thou lin'g'ring star, with 'less'ning
ray,
That lov'st to greet the early
• morn.
Again thou usher'st in the clay
My Mary from my soul was torn.
'O'h, Meryl dear departed shade)
(Where is thy place of blissful
"•i
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SEAFORTH, ONTARIO.
News
PAGE TFIRFIE
"It ,
s
st to trust
tot $l; r,o
a
Great ships which go to sea
make doubly sure by , carrying
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In their personal finances, many
men 'rely chiefly on . the one
anchor of their regular earnings.
But the wiser ones prepare for
c '!
— Latin Proverb.
an emergency by creating a
second anchor — a Savings
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Seventeen Branches in Ontario
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AVINGS OFFICE
SEAFORTH BRANCH
rest ?
'See'st thou lover lowly laid ?
IHear'st thou the groans that
rend his breast ?
'We would have liked to have stood
on the spot where that tender meet-
ing between Burns and his Highland
Mary took place—that meeting which
was destined to be the last, and where
he delivered to her the two .!Bibles
with her name inscribed on them with
dais own hand—the same Bibles which
I saw preserved in the monument on
the banks of .Bonnie Doan, We would
have wished to have stood under
Highland Mary's thorn, where the
last farewell was taken — that thorn
which was destined to bloom forever
in immortal song, but the time for
retracing our 'footsteps had now ar-
rived, so I took a last. long look at
the Castle o' Montgomery, rear which
'Burns parted from his Highland Mary
forever, and as ray eye wandered over
the beautiful grounds by which it
was surrounded, I recited that glori-
ous lyric which I had learned 'wh'i'le
yet a boy im the backwoods of Old
'Lanark:
Ye banks and braes, and streams
around
IThe Castle o' 'Montgomery.
(Green he your woods, and fain
your flowers,
'Your waters never drumlie1
There s'im'mer first nnfauld her '
robes,
And there the langest tarry;
:For there I took the last farewell
0' my sweet Highland Mary.
How sweetly blooin'd the gay
green birk
;How rich the hawthorn's blos-
som!
As underneath their fragrant
shade,
I clasp'd her to my bosom 1
The golden hours. an angel wings,
Flew o'er me and my dear.ie;
'For dear to ine as light and life
Was 'try sweet Highland Mary 1
IWi' atony a vow and lacked ern -
brace,
Our parting was 'fu' tender;
And, pledging aft to meet again,
IWe tore ourselves asunder;
IBut, •oh 1 fell death's untimely
• frost, •
That •ftipt nay :Rower sae early!
New green's the sod, and 'cauld's
the clay,
'That wraps my Highland Mary!
;Ohl pale, pale now those rosilips,
'3 aft hae kiss'd so fondly 1
And dosed -for aye the sparkling
glance
That dwelt on me •sae kindly!
And mouldering now in silent
dust
That heart that le'ed. ire ,dearly-
IBut still within my bo'som's core
!Shall live my Highland- Mary 1
TITANIIIC DI'SAST'ER IN WHICH
1,513 PERISHED 20 YEARS AGO
TwenIty years ago Fibril '14, 1912,
title Titanic, then the largest' ship
afloat, rainimed an iceberg, While trav-
elling 'at full speed, sank, and car-
ried 1,513 of her complement of 2,224
to the 'bottom to a f watery death,
The great ship remained afloat Tor
two and one half hours 'after the
crash, and subsequent inquiries into
the disaster both in the United States
and in (Great ,Britain showed that the
huge loss of fliffe.was not due so much
to 'lack of equipment as to lack of or-
ganization for .their use at the time of
the ebrident, and inadequate inform. -
kion as to the necessity.
'The great ]White Star Liner was in
charge of Capt. E. 3. !Snaith, a' highly
'the
seaman for 38 years in
the service of the company, who was
:cast with his ship. The loss of life
was divided into 017 passengers, out
of a'passenger list 'of 1,3116 and 696 of
thle crew out of a total of 908.
The 701 survivors were picked up
by the 'Carpathia of .the Cunard Line
th'e first ship on the spot after news
of fh'e disaster 'had been wireless'ed
from the sinking ship.
]The -Titanic was a shop that rep-
resented 'the last word an .s'hip'building
at that time, and there was an ertra-
ordinrary sense of security engendered
in the p.as'sengers by stories of . her
great strength and seaworthiness.
Capt. S'mit'h apparently had something
of this sense of safety for, according
to many accounits. little was dole to
place people in the ship's 'boats until
some time after the impact with thle
berg.
Figures of t'h'ose rescued by the
Carpathia are illuminating,. women,
first class, 140 out +o'f '1.44; second
crass, 80 alit of 93; third. class, 76 out
o'f 175; children, first class, 6 out of
6; second class 24 out of 24; third
class, 217 out of 79; men, first class, 57
out 'of'1i75; second class, 14 out of 168,
third class, 75 out of 462,
The reason for the small number of
third class passengers saved is attrib-
uted'to •the fact that their quarters on
the ship were remote from the boat
deck, and also to the fact that few of
then spoke IEtrgllish.
The Titanic was the largest ship
afloat, 60;000 toils d'isp'lacement. Et
was built at Belfast, for the White
Star Line, and launched • May 31.
1911.
Its maiden voyage was its last. Lt
left !Southampton on April 10, 1912,
called at 'Cherbourg on the sante day
and 'Queenstown the next. In the aft-
ernooe it started for New York with
2;024 passengers and crew aboard.
Three days went by. The seas were
calm and the passengers amused
vhem'selees by exploring 'the great
ship, the last word in 'marine comfort.
At 'a'bout 11;15 p.m, on 'Sunday, April
14th, a .1'oolcout rang a bell thrice
sharply, ,a signal to the ;bridge that
an object lay dead ahead. The order
was given: "Wheel hard to starboard"
The engines were reversed. Too late,
The -submerged portion of a• treacher-
ous iceberg slid 'along the bottom of'
the ship like a huge can opener, slit-
ting its bulkhead and bilges.There
was a .belief that the great Titanic
was .unsinkab'ie and even when the
order cause 'for the passetrgeirs to put
on' life' flacks and come to the boats
there was tro 'panic, Women and ,chil-
dren were
chit-dren,were 'loaded 'first into 'life ,boats,'
Then came' mel into available places.
Same women refused' '_to leave '''their
husbands. They were drowned: At
2.20 a to 'two and a=;'half hours after
the collision, the great ship went
down, its captain at his post, the band
playing "Nearer stay God `!to Thee."
The steam in 'the boilers hissed a
gltiastly-, 'fa'rewe'll,
The disaster was marked by many.
instances of bravery and coolness on
the; part nt osdc'e'rs and passengers.
hllenpassoitgens were well aware ofi
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Any of the above lines we can give
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If interested, call or write,
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INSURANCE AGENCY
Phone 334 Seaforth, Ont.
their fate when the boats were sent
away and stood back to watch 'their
women' folk lIeave the ship's side and
them forever,
Second Officter Lightoller filled six
boats with 'women, children and pas-
sengers onto rafts when the ship went
down,
Asked at the inquiry if he deft the
ship he replied, "1\TO, sir."
"Did the 'slai'p leave you?" said the
counsel. •
"Yes, sir," said Lightoller,
What happened was that he was
sucked down one o'f •the funnels and
subsequently blown 'to the surface by
the explosion of the ship's 'toilers,
Many lessons in 'safety measures for.
big ships'were-lea'nned from the loss
of the 'Titanic, most of wlfich were
subsequently adopted in British ship's:.
One of these was that all members of
the crew should be trained in small
boat wade At 'the time the Titanic
was lost many Ships' stewards were
quite unable to pull an oar in a smal'1
boat lard their presence in some of?
thle boats, keeping ,passengers who,
could raw from a place, was a cause•
of much criticism at the American and:.
'British 'inquiries into the disaster. At
the present tin* all stewards on Bri-
tish ships are given a course not only
inrowing, but in small boat practice
generally, in the use of sa'il's and in
rudimentary navigation, 'so that wh'em
placed in boats they should be of mar.
terial service to the passengers ifr
them.
Blood Tested Chicks,
Hatchery and flocks are both in=n-
spected under the Dominion Depart-
ment of Agriculture's Hatchery Ap-
proval
pproval policy The testing of the
blood samples was done by Capital
Laboratories, Ottawa. 'The bred -to -
lay qualities of our birds are kept up-
to-date by the purchase of male birds
front high 'record 'R.'O.IP. hens owned'
by some of the most successful ba•eed-
er's in the country.
We expect to hatch about 1500'
Barred Rocks, 250 'White ,Rocks and'
500 Leghorns per week. Please order
about one month before you want the -
chicks if you can. Don't think too,
much about price; we will use you(
nigh t,
Caine and see us, or phone 97 r 4;•
Hensall. We will be glad :to talk
things over With you. Feed, stoves,
and other supplies kept on hand.
J. ELGIN 3feKONLEY, ZURICH