DUNEDIN BURNS CLUB.'

Otago Witness, Issue 2894, 25 August 1909, Page 70

DUNEDIN BURNS CLUB.'

THE MINSTREL OF THE NORTH. On the 18th the amplitude of the attendance at the Art Gallery Hall- testified to ! the popularity of the monthly meeting- of _ j the Dunedin Burns Club. Among the ■ salient features of a well-chosen proI gramme was an address, " Sir Walter : Scott," by Mr A. Bathgate, who, the I President (Mr A. Bain) said, hailed, *-like i himself, from the country of Scott. Mr Bathgate commenced with a highly appropriate reference to Tweedfs fair river, which, he said, had been sung by many poets and had raised a wave of sentiment in thousands who were incapable of expressing it in verse. The Scottish Borderland was a region of romance. It was not always so, but had .been the scene of grlm-visaged war or border foray. Andrew Lang, himself a native of Selkirk, had well expressed in verse that atmosphere of romance with which the 1 valley of the Tweed 'was charged. Mr Bathgate gave several illustrations of the lasting impression given by the Tweed, and recalled the saying of a little old man he met at the goldfields, "^A* weel, in a' my travels I "have seen ao place sac bonnie as Tweedside." fie (the lecturer) had seen Te Anau' referred to by a writer in the Spectator as the finest water in the world, but the Tweed - stilt stood, highest in his affections. It was here that from infancy. Sir Walter Scott drahk in the old lore and legends. His- ambition was. to become a .landed proprietor. His father was a writer to the Signet, and his mother the daughter i of a doctor, both of Border blood. From his childhood he was a great reader, which probably handicapped him in boyish sports. Later he mastered foreign languages in order that he might read such' books. His memory -was - very accurate Then there was his meeting with Burns, of which a picture hung on the walls of our i Art Gallery. His person was robust, and | his eye alone indicated the poetic temperament. His conversation evinced perfect self-confidence without self-assertion. As an instance of Scott's memory there ! was the story of his reciting a friend's i poem after having heard it only once. ' During the Napoleonic-invasion scare Scott j joined, in 1797, the Edinburgh Light DraI goons as quartermaster. His first publi1 cations were translations from Che German. ! To him at first literature was a staff and > not a crutch. "The Lay of the LastMinstrel " achieved a success that astonished even the writer. Success followed success and brought him fame and money, | but hia pieces were written under adverse ; circumstances, Mr Bathgate then dealt with the purchase of Abbotsford ; the illfated moment when Scott joined Ballantyne's firm as a sleeping partner. He brought out skilfully that benevolent phase of Scott's character in .quoting Scott's re1 mark in bis .ruin, - pitying, those -for whom - bis prosperity ,meaat • daily bread. - Mr ■ Bathgate made -.passing reference to Scott's humour. One could .almost hear Scott j chuckle, said the lecturer, over Paddy's : remark on receiving a shilling and the | intimation that he was to pay back- sixpence: "May. yez live till I pay ye your honor." No one could read Scott's journal without discovering the kindly gallant gentleman he was. A leal true Scotsman. In support of this Mr Bathgate quoted : j " Breathes there a man with soul so dead," and sat down amid loud applause. ' I The concert was also a success, Mrs ! Morris, Miss "Vera James, Mrs Monkmau- i Dempster, and Mrs Robb being contribufc- j ing factors. Mr F. G-. Duncan scored with 1 his song, " The King of the Road," with "Trooper Johnny Ludlow" as -an encore, j Other - popular numbers were- sung by Misses W. Dickson, J. Henderson, E. G. t Priest, and" W. and E. Morgan. " The I Lass of Killicrankie " and " Tobermory," , I at the hands of Mr T. Flynn, were well j , received. Two excellent part songs were | well rendered by the choir. Mr A. M. j I Braik was musical director, and Miss E. Wright the accompaniste. Pipe-major. M'Callum's bagpipe selection was a stirring and meritorious performance. The proceedings at 10.30 merged into a dance. 1