CALEDONINAN CONCERT

Dominion, Volume 14, Issue 79, 28 December 1920, Page 6

CALEDONINAN CONCERT

The Caledonian concert, given an tho Town Hall lust night, under the auspices ol the Wellington' Caledonian Society, was deserving oi' a larger audience than it actually attracted. The hall was nut nearly lull, hut what the attendance lacked .in numbers it made up 111 entnusiasiu. The programme was tairly lengthy, and as recalls were the order of the nigh't, ,the concert lasted perhaps a little longer than many had expected it to. The duuoiiig was tlij> must enjoyable ieatuie ot the eutu-tuiiuuent. Tho standard ol' performance.in this lino of artistic effort was remarkably high, aiid the spectators' were not slow to evince their approval. Two important competitive events belonging properly to tho sports programme that tho society had presented in the afternoon, were decided during tho evening. 'L'iiey wero the dance lor' the M'Grcgor Challenge Cup. and the dance for tho aggregate medal lor hoys under sixleen years of age. i'ur Che former . trophy, the contestants were Hiss Jean M'Kenzie (of ■Wellington) and Mr. Duncan M.'Keuzie (of DannevirkeJ, who had the higho-.t aggregates of points ill the ladies' and men's dancing respectively. The twu electcd to have their fale decided by their success in thu sword dance. Mr. M'Ken/.ie had the misfortune to displace the sword, 110 retired, ami left Miss il'Kenzie, who had scored 1)5 out of a posible 100 points, I the winner of tho cup. .Master Willie Brown and Master Dave Thomas having tied in the contest for the aggregate medal mentioned above, "danced oil'," and Master Thomas .took the prize by the unanimous decision of Uio judges. The solo singers of the evening wero Mrs. Wilman and Miss Eileen Connolly. Both ivoro accorded an oxcelltmt reception. Miss Connolly sang "Scotland Yet" with real artistry, and also contributed scvoral othor numbers. Tho Harmonic Quartet (consisting of Messrs. Bennett, liowc, Foilding. and Svensen) captivated tho audience with a rendering ut "Allan ■\Vator," in which all the pathos of tho song was expressed without tho slightest tendency to exaggeration. In its other numbers, the quartet was equally happy.

"Turn o' Shnntcr," as recited by Mr. Fleming, must havo warmed the hearts of all gonuiiiu Scotsmen present. Mr. Flaming missed nono of the humour of tho piece, and was supremely at hisicase in it from start to finish. As an encore, lie gave liurns's verses in praise of haggis. Mr. Hurry Jlnll scorc<l rather woll ill one or two items after the llarry Lauder style. 110 demonstrated how "tho hardest work and the poorest pay" was "to steal fTom a Ifiebui'mnn," and he also ronderod tho familiar song regarding tho questionable delights of early rising. At the end of the programme, Miss Connolly sang "Auld T,ang Syne," and the audience joined in the refrain.

During tho evening, the chiof of tho society (Mr. David Clark, sen.), presented cups and medals to successful competitors