HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Seaforth News, 1932-06-09, Page 3•
,T413', IRSIU41r'„ J,UiNE 9, '1932.,`
The Browne }lull cel Carrick — Robert
°!Dlhe'•B.rlree lDistant Viiew, of Ayr
1Art•aii. ni IArgyle 1The •Wal -
Tape Tower—Thee Auld ,Brig
orf ,AYF, &Jc, &'c. •
{Lm'orvg'the bonny winding barks'
Where D10 h _nip's, wimplia',
iWthcre;Bnuce anloe ruled the
inartiaI1 ra'tjiks, • r"
.'And shook his Carrick spear.
,
• yBnries:
At biceeo:ilclusion of my last letter
awe had just comlm'enced the ascent of
the "Brawn Hill, '.'of ' oarriek," once
.owned •attd• orhteiv'trod by the hero ling
of ,Sootl'and—the immortal Bence. To
this histol ic•al ,fact. our poet refers in
the above, quotatioi%,frain'his 'poem df
ffllallolwe'en, the quoita'tion co•nsltitutin;g
did •one of, those"beilliant flashes ,of ,genius
j'!which' illumine the more cominnaniplace
b;•*i descriptions :,with which the poem
abounds just as a sudden discharge of
,olectrici,ty lights :up rfer an,instanrt the
scn!bre sky. We realized 'the ,fact,
'however, that we were now treading
onthe )ground once trccl by the mighty
• Bruce as well ;as ,'by, the immortal
gums, the greatest = king and the
greatest poet ever 'produced by "the
Sand of brawn health and shaggy
woad." 'What more do we require to
,stimulate the) heart and. fire 'the soul.
• We ascended the rising ground about
a:quarter df a mile and'"'were so For-
tunate as to oveylke a'gentl'emtan able
and wi'11'inig, to show the ,various ,poinits
df•'interest in the glorious scenery
which now burst upon our admiring
'eyes, a view which I feel certain can-
ssot, be surpassed, if in:ded equalled, in
this land :so rich in bright prospects,
lovely scenes and magnificent 1and-
soapes. In the immediate ' foreground
we beheld the monument already'' de-
scribed, the "aul'd' brig" and the "Al-
loway Kirk," 'while a little further on
is the cottage with its thatch covered
roof where our poet was born.' Con-
tinuing our gaze through massive', trees
away beyond the "auld clay biggin"
eye beheld the town of Ayr,' sleeping
iri a calm little hay, the country
stretching from "bonny D'oon" to :the
'"bonny banks of Ayr," being dotted
with m'odest cottages for the huntble
poor aid elegant mansions for the
rich, the ornate grounds around the
latter giving the landscape a sweet
sylvan aspect in keeping with that ad-
' mired so much on the "banks and
braes o' bonny Doan." Lifting our
eyes above the glorious foreground
and turning theist to the left we • ob-
%Mem the blue Firth of Clyde, sparkl-
ing and gleaiuing in the rays of the
setting sun like a silver seaand
stretching away as far as the eye can
reacts along a coast line broken and
deteed .with hamlet, town and glittcf-
ing spire, till the fleecy clouds above
21,40 1' the waves of "oldocean" below
became blended in one. Vision fails,
and we close our weary eyes for a
moment upon one df the finest sights
we' have ever beheld. Curiosity at once
prevails. 'We open our eyes again and
' for relief Poole behind us, where we
behold the 'Brown Hill of Carrick"
and the storm , beaten Ailsa ' Craig,.
While aw'ay.to our eight are the Craigs
•of Kyle, 'and, in the distance the Cun-
sock and Mutrkir:le hills. To the left,
looking straight across the. Firth, with
strainin;g'eyes, we'oleserve amidst set-
tling mist below and 'clouds above,
the lofty :and heather -clad hulls of Air-
ran in the shire' of'Argyll, bite land of
rnty Iforefarehers, the only glimpse
eyere got of Argyll being snatehe'd
a'mid'st 'clouds and nmist,'which .•recall-
ed vividly to my mind the lines of
Byron o'n Loichnagar:
IRo•untl, Lochnialgar' while ,the:
' stormy mist gathers,
*inter ,presides fn his cold icy oar,
Clouds •there enlcircie'the forms o,f
• my fathers:
They dwell in the tempests of
' dark ,Lochn'agar.
England 1 thy- beauties are tame
avid dlomeestic
To o'ne!whd has ,roved on the
Mountains afar,
'Oh, for the crags, that are wild •'
and •ni'ajesbic
The steep frowning 'glories olf dark
•Tach n'agar. •
ITurni•nlg from the ,Highlands to She
Lowrlanrdle again, and taking another
glance at "Auld Ayr," with its lofty
spire and tower, we .gazed one minute
at the lovely ,panorama of hill and dale
that lay :between, then turning to our
obliging friend who had aided" us se
much, we said, "What a magnificent
landscape ,for an artist to paint — if
done to perfection it would be un-
equalled in the world." He :told) me
that a 'celebrated :Scotch artist had ar-
ranged to paint Ayr from Carrick hill,
but death paralyzed his hand all too
soon, and that it was one of the re-'
grets Of the gifted Horatio McCu'1'lac'h
as he sank calmly to rest, that he
would see "Brawn Carrick Hill" no
more. As the shades of evening were
gradually !flatting' out the grand pan-
orama •which we admired SO •much, we
bade our companion farewell and
slowly retraced our steps down the
hillside over the new bridge past the
inn, the monument amid the new Al-
loway Kink to my right and the auld
Alloway Kirjc to my left. We paused
a moment at the gate to take another
look at the :grassy mound which cov-
ered' the ashes. of William Burn's, "the
saint, the father and the .husband" of
the "Cotter's Saturday Night," which
is one of the best sermons that was
ever composed. Amidst night's gather-
ing gloom we repeated :the well-known
lines which his son, the 'famous Rob-
bie, had inscribed on his father's
tombstone, a worthy epitaph on a
worthy man:
P.1 .4 ,1•7.t15-71,11411rAfwv,F1D1'
0 ye, whose cheeks the tear of
pity stains,
Drew near .with piotu;s reverence
Mand attend
Here lie the loving: hus'band's dear
remains,
T,hc tender father and the gen-
-erous friend;
The pitying heart that Kelt for hu-
man woe. •
The dauntless heart that feared
410 huMan 'pride, •
The friend of magi, to vice alone 'a
foe,
"For even 'his failings leaned to
virtue's side."
•
THE SEAFORTH NEWS.'
„Taking a parting look at ,"Aliow-
ay's' auld haunted Icfrlc"—hoary' : relic"
of the' past -we ,turned our b'acics upon
the "banks and braes o' bonny Doon,"
perhaps forever; an'd •,quiekeniin'g our
pdce:*e some reached the "auld clay
biggin," dear to Scotchmeat and their
descendants tht',wbrld over, passed it,•
turned:routid and with uplifted hat
bade it adieu, solemnly for the sake of
hien who was born inside its 'walls.
May his memory still be 'fresh and
green` when the clay of, which, the
cottage is composed will have 'Moulld-.
Bred into dust and mixed with the
kindred' soil around it. 'We doulbt it not
for his is
One of the few, the" inipiortal'
names •
'That were- :not , born . to die:
1W'e pushed . on towards .Ayr — the
road leading through a beautifulgrove
—the branches of the trees overhang-
ing our pathway. It artist be a delight-
ful w'lailik•on a,euniener's evening when
the grove is vocal: with the melodious
notes' Of the feathered songsters, for
whi'oli this country is so'famous, That
night we needed plot the shade, for
the sun lead. gone, and we heard no! the
'birds; they boo had gone to rest. As
we grassed through the, grove an'd' the
lights of the ,town came in view, the
stillue'ss could be felt, silence reigned
supreme. We'•were rather pleased than
otherwise at this state .cif'things, for
we were calmly med'ita'ting on what
we had seen and heard during the few
eventful l' hours we had been in "the
land of Burns." We entered Ayr by a
very fine street in wh'a't; is called the
"New 'Town," there' being rows of
clean,comfortable, as well as com-
modious houses on each side, and sdon
reached R'arn'say's Lorne :Hotel, where
we had engaged )roams previous to
starting on our excursion to the banks
of the ,Goon. We ordered dinner, as we
only had 'a hasty lunch at Kilwinning,
and •our appelti.te being:' somewhat
shar'p•e•ned by .the exendise olf walking
as well ars by the fresh .r sea breezes
blowing over the hills of Car-
rick, we did fuulej.ustice to the eatables
which the good lady set 'before us, in
fact they disappeared before our vig-
orous attaohs like snow before an
April' sun. I have no doubt the good
lady at first sight took elle for an ,Eng-
lishman in disguise. I .had an English-
man's appetite at any rate for once in
my life. I wasenow nine o'clock at'
night and little more could he done bp
way elf sight seeing—we, haweyer, re-
solved to take a short walk and see
the "auld brig of Ayr" and: the new
one, and the Wallace Tower. An ag-
reeable Scotchunan-•and I have found
all Scotsinen agreeable—a guest at the
hotel, kindly volunteered to accom-
pany tis and away we went for the
"auld 'brig," We passed the Wallace
Tower on OUT way to the old bridge,
When there was as yet no monu-
ment dreamt of the people of Ayr
showed their gratitude to the 'Deliv-
erer of the 'North" by ,building this
handsome tower in the centre of their
town. It is 11113 'feet high and supports
a statue of Wallace, by Thom. On the
corner of the street opposite is an-
other statue of ,Wallace, :df a .ruder
kind, hut which evinces the same
grateful feeling to the brave patriot of
whom Burns sings in the following
lilies:
PAGE 'TIH1R E
(Wc'll sing auld 'OGila's plates' _'old
feld's,
Herr moors red, brown wi' hera-
ther lbellist
'Her' banks and braes, 'her' dens ..
and dells,
'Where glorious Wallace
Aft bete
`the � gr
ee„as•:stpry•tells
Free Southern 'billies.
IAt Wallace's name, what Scotttish
b'loo'dy
:But bolls ep in a springlide
flood,.
!Oft have . our fearless lathers
sibrode
IBy.•Wal:l'aoe's side,
Still pressing •onward, redewat
shod, 1,
Or glorious died.
The Wallace Tower,' we were told
by our friend, is built on the very`s,pot
where the house stood in which the
hero was once imprisoned and the
spot is also drown, marked by a round
stone in the sidewalk where his head
struck when he was thrown out of a
w'indo'w by the English soldiers. Our
Scotch friend was a great admirer of
Wallace and 'Bruce as well as . of
Burns, He quoted a verseor two from
"Slco!ts; rwha hae wi' Wallace bled,
and, asked what I thought elf that as a
war ode. I said that ifit might be call
ed an ode, it was ,the grandest one out
of the Bible. I told him I had recited
Bruce's'a'ddres's standing on the "Bore
stave” an the field of Bannockburn
and tried to realize the situation, the
two armies facing each other in order
of ,battle. It was life or death with the
Scots. In the deathlike 'repose before
the onset, Bruce's voice is heard clear,
shrill; loud as a trulhpe:t— •
'Scots wha hae wu' Wallace bled,
• It was enough to 'fan. the platriotic
flame within then into a dev'ouring
fire, and it did it. The result was, the
oppressors were overthrown, Sco'tland.
Was free! Rut a few paces further on
and we stdodupon. the "auld brig ell
Ayr." Our informant gave us the fal-
lowing hisltory of this edifice, ]it was
built in 14185 by two sisters, near what
bun's known' as the Ducat stream, a
ford just above it. I.t is narrow, rough-
ly causeway'ed, and still wears the
look of sturdy independence which
drew forth the admiration o•f Burns,
It was insufficient, however, to meet
the growing re'quirement's of the in-
creasing ,population, aml,in 1788 the
new bridge was completed at an ex-
pense of £5,000. Dfurin•gsome heavy
floods in. 1877 it gave way and a more
capacious bridge was erected in 1879
on the sante site at a cost of £15,000.
This, we were bold, is also giving way
on account of being built on a found-
ati,on partly composed of a sort of
quicksand. Horwever, even if this fine
structure stand's the floods .and .stornus,
Burns' prophetic words have already
Ince fulfilled, namely: "111 be a brig
when ye're a shapeless cairn." As our
enthusiastic Scotch friend and I stood
an the "auld brig" gazing towards the
new, .which stands about 100 yards off,
he recited part o8 Burns' poem on the
twa brigs.
IConceite'd.go'wkl 'p.uff'd up wi'
'windy pridel
)This mony a year I've stood the
flood and tide,
And tho' wi' crazy eild I'm sair
forfairn
1'11 be a brig when ye're a shape-
less cairns
ounter
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Any of the above lines we can give
you in strong and reliable companies.
If interested, call or write,
E, C. CHAMBERLAIN
INSURANCE AGENCY
Phone 334 Seaforth, Ont,
As yet ye' little ken about the
matter,.
Mut two, three winters will inform
ye better,
When heavy, dark, continued &-
day ,rain's,
IWi' 'deepening deluges o'erflow
the plains;
iWheni from the . hills where
springs the brawling Coil,
Or stately Lugar's mossy foun-
tains bell,
Or where :the .Greenock winds his
moorland course,
lOr haunted Ganpal draws his
'feeble source,
Aroused by blust'ring winds and
spouting thowes,
In mony a torrent down the snow
bnoo rowel;,
iWhile crashing ice, borne on the
roaring spate;
Swedes dans, an twills, an' brigs
a' to the gate,
And 'from rGlenbuok down to the
1Ratten-key,
'Auld Ayr is just one ,lenlgthen''d
tumbling sea—
Then 'dawn ye'll burl, dell nor ye
never rise!
And ,dash the
gentle jaups op to
the pouring skies.
-Complete in itself, Mother Graves'
Worm Eo,terminator does not require
the assistance of any other medicine
to make it erffective. It does not fail
to do its work.
'Hereand There e
I l
1
Exports of Canadian • wheat
during the month of March totalled
9,920,634 bushels, of which only
71,288 bushels were routed through
United States Atlantic seaboard
ports.
•
Canada's butter exports to the
British Isles and other countries
totalled 10,681:,000 pounds in 1931,
as compared with only 1,180,400
pounds in 1930.
'ss Canada's bread and bakery pro-
ducts industry showed production
to a value of $73,594,894 during
1930, through 2,698 establishments
of which 1,071 are located in
Ontario and 868 in Quebec.
March was the year's best
month, to date, for pig iron pro-
duction in Canada, with a total of
17,989 tons, at a rate of 580 tons
per day, as compared: with 862
tons per day in February and 332
in January.
W. G. Chester, dean of Canadian
railroad veterans, has just retired,
in Winnipeg, after 25 years in thbe,
service •of the Canadian Pacifib
Railway and another 25 with the
Brotherhood of Railway Conduc-
etors.
Excursions run by the Canadian
Pacific Railway between various.
points in Eastern Canada have
met with unqualified success. To
date, some 17,000 persons have
been carried on visits and holidays,
over different week -ends, by this
means.
The 1931 census shows 728,244
occupied farms in Canada, or
17,154 more than were shown
when the count was taken in 1921.
Quebec, Manitoba, Saskatchewan,
Alberta and British Columbia are
responsible for the increase, with
the last-named in the lead.
Navigation opened in Montreal
on April 18 with the Canadian
Pacific freighter Beaverburn the
first trans-Atlantic ship in port.
Her master Captain E. Landy,
receiving the gold -headed cane,.
presented annually by the Harbor
Commissioners, for this exploit.
Passenger honors in the trans-
Atlantic service also fell to the
Canadian Pacific, when the liner
Montclare docked on the afternoon
of Tuesday April 19, as the first
passenger ship to arrive in Mont-
real. Thus the C. 1'. R. claims
double honors for the 1982 season.
Liverpool witnessed an unique
event on April 5, when 750 British
boys and girls disembarked from
the Canadian Pacific liner Mont-
rose, after a special cruise in the
Mediterranean. A great London
daily newspaper has offered prizes
for the best essays, written on the
trip.
Some weird stories have teen
told of feline sagacity, but the
open record would appear to be
held by a Siaihese cat, which
"stowed away" on the Canadian
Pacific liner Empress of Britain;
when she left England to go to
New York to begin - her , world
cruise last winter. Pussy finally
deigned to show herself when the
ship was half -way through her
long trip: The Empress got a
rousing welcome in New York
when her tripwas over, and the
much -travelled cat was delivered
to its owner, in the Southern
States, ' (887)
F WM REALMS OF SPACE ,
Dame Naturo s nIclle
Jolts af'PlayWhichOe Sheof Iser Litt
So Fond.
No sooner does Wren triumphantly,
announce that he has harnessed some
great force for his awn ,use than.
Dame Nature plays one of her littler
jokes of which she isso fond, says a'>
contributor to Tit -Bits;
,Recently expos-ilaents in long - d1s-
tance television have been conducted/
between the United States and Aus
tralia. So far as could be seen be-
fore the tests began, there was ne'
reason why success • should not be.
achieved, just as it had been over
shorter distances._ But when the
images came through they were blur-
red and muzzy,
Closer ,.inspection disclosed' tbal
this was due to the presence of
ghosts! In the viewing lend the
image pf the sitter ' appeared, but
close beside it was a second faint
image, and sometimes a third. These
ghosts come from the depths of space.
The waves which cause them have
travelled something more than two
million miles out from the earth and'.
back again.
The key to the presence of tele-
vision ghosts was discovered frons
the experiences of operators on long-
distance wireless services, for they,.
too, are very much troubled.
The ghosts that worry them ares
not visible forms, but queer echoes
of signals. What happens is this
Supposing that a Morse dash is sent
out, it arrives at the receiving end,.
and at intervals ranging front one-
seventh of a second to as much as
thirty seconds, echoes of the dash.
are received. These arriye on top vi%
other signals and cause confusion.
For long-distance wireless, vrbatin
known as the beam system is largely
used, for, like light rays, wireless
waves can be focused into a beam.
Most, but not all of the waves, cam
be directed forwards towards the re-
ceiving station; there is always a lit-,
tle leakage from behind. Now, sup-•
pose that a station in England 18:
transmitting to America, the signal'
duly spans the 3,000 odd miles of:
land and water, but about one-sev-•
enth of a second later there follows'
an echo caused by were which have
leaked from the back of the trans-
mitter and gone the other way round
the world.
We can understand these echoes,,
since they are caused by waves which:
keep pretty close to the earth and
travel round it. But what are the
echoes which occur at longer inter-
vals and cause faint ghests?
Wireless waves travel at the dizzy
speed of 186,000 miles a second;.
Some of the echoes occur at intervals
just about Iong enough to allow of a: •
journey to the moon and 'back. It'
may be, then, that the moon acts as -
a kind of gigantic mirror and that'
some of the ghost images or the-
ghostly echoes may be caused by ita
reflection.
The moon, though, cannot be re-•
sponsible for the echoes occurring at'
twenty-five or thirty seconds, or for
the faintest of the ghosts. In thirty'
seconds wireless waves travel 5,580,--
000 miles, They must, therefore, go'
out from the earth for over two andl
a half million miles and then be re-
flected back,
PRINCE OF I LEPIIAN;1'S.
Has a Bodyguard of Females to.
Protect Him.
Somewhere in the wilds of the
East African jungle there lives a
giant elephant, whose bodyguard of
female elephants protects -him From
the prying eyes of the white hunter,.
"The Crown Prince, as hs has been,
named," states Frank L. Puxley,
his recently published book, "In Afri—
can Game Tracks," "has become a';
legendary figure, even during his •
lifetime, He has never been seen by
a white man, so far as I know, but
the natives claim for him a pair of
tusks that exceed 300 pounds In
weight apiece.
An elephant's height is nearly -
proportionate to the dimensions of '
hts feet. Thus a 19 -inch spoor -
would point to an animal 'approxi
mately 12 feet in height,
"What must be the size of this,
monster? That he exists there is no
doubt whatever. I have myself meas—
ured these giant footmarks, and have •
found that they scale 29ys.
They cannot be mistaken, for one of
the toenails is missing Early this
year a well-known game ranger con-
firmed my belief that no white man.
has ever seen htrn,
"And no white man ever will," he
added, explaining that the Crown
Prince maintained an escort of fe-
males, who encircle him ata distance
of a mile, They were there for the:•
purpose of giving his lordship time•,
ly warning,"he said,
THINGS TO LEA RN.. • „
Learn to laugh. A good laugh is
better than medicine. When you
smile qr laugh, your brain for a mo-
ment is freed from the load that it
ordinarily carries.
Learn to tell a helpful story. A.
well -told story is as welcome as a
sunbeam in a sick -room,
Learn to , keep your troubles to
yourself; the world is too busy .to
linger over your ills and sorrows.
Learn to stop croaking, If youe
cannot see any good in this world, ,
keep the bad to yourself.
Learn to greet your friends with a
smile. - They carry too many frowns
in their own hearts to be bothered.e
with any of yours.
Wool.
The raising 01 sheep Mt their wool•
and mutton is as ancient as the ,early'
Scriptures. They were the earliest
form of wealth. The industry has
continued down through the centur-
ies.: It never fails, becauso the de-
mand for wool is continuons. It is
the principal industry of Australia
and one 'of Canada's leading sourcesa
of revenue. The romance of sheep
tending on the hills of Judea, inter
woven asit is with the stories 0f'
David, of Abraham; Isaac and Jacob;;
of the shepherds' who tended'. their•
flocks near Bethlehem—all this hast
become commercialized into dollars,
and cents. But the gentle sheep re
main: the sate: Animal Life,
11'