TEMUKA CALEDONIAN SOCIETYS CONCERT.

Temuka Leader, Issue 1805, 20 October 1888, Page 3

TEMUKA CALEDONIAN SOCIETYS CONCERT.

“ Hear Land o’ Cakes and Wither Scots, Frao Maidenkirk to Johnny Groats. # # * * * A chiel’s amang you takin’ notes, And faith, hb’ll prent it.’ L«at evening the. first concert held under the auspices of .-.-the Temuka Caledonian Society was held in the lirgc Volunteer Drill St cd. To. say that it wa, s a for wb6 ever heard of a toucatt hdJ in connection with a'Caledonian Society that whs hot successful ? It meiely a matter of comparison,. and that of yesterday eyening mat'facile princeps of its kind. The dr 11 shed for the! occasion was made to assume quite, a, different character. Its .ban wells were tastefully decorated with eyeigreens and draped with painted screens At the end of the building a commodious tt go was erected. This was fitted in proper manner with wings and a neat background [scene. On either side were evergreens, and two ajleudid specimens of the Arum li’y in full bloom, Largn drop scenes reaching from the stage to the wall served to form retiring rooms. Above the stage was a device ronsisting of the Shamrock, Rose, and Thistle, the latter, as is but; proper, .o; - cupying central position. Surrounding this fdevice was the Gaelic motto " Uuimhnich air na davine o’n d’thainig ihu,” which by the initiated is known to mean “ Remember the people you como from,” or a sentiment of similar effect Surmounting this waved the nation;! Banner of Scotland, which was supported on either side by the Union Jack and the green Flag of Erin. The seating accommodatibn was excellent. Down the centre of the bu'lding rows of chaira were placbd,* while on either side were chairs and seats (heed diagonally, so that from every-part of the bill a good view of the stage could be obtained. The decoration ■ and airangement of the hall was entrusted to ‘Messrs .Lawson, Henry, and Bayne, and their BUggestioDß were moat creditally carried eut by Mr J. Beri, the contractor for the erection and fitting up of the stage, i To say that everything was in. BVtllent, taste, is to speak .in very mild:. terms, of the arrangements.. The anticipations. formed by: the Society of a largo ittepdapce, were, fully, trealised, for before the bocceit ciminenced fully BQO persons were, present. , There was quite a large crowd at the door long before the time appointed for opening, atd it was wi h the nlmost difficulty that seats were foimd , for all. Aa it was, a large number of the male portion of the audience had to res-gn Iheir front seats and retire to the rear of the‘ hall. Very shortly after 8 bo'oek Mr A. M. Clark, president of the Galedonian Society, introduced a number of the performers, who, to the accompaniment of Mrs Foster, sang “ God Save the Queen.”; Mr A. McKay, of Ashburton, [qilowed with a bagpipe selection, which pui ; the audience ou bile' qui vive. IVji lection was all too short, but was wtTl received. t .The .next, item on the projramme.was to have a’ reading, but for this Mr turves substituted the song “ The Wee Thing that jjaggit them,, a,.’ Ihis was rendered in an inimitable manner, and the Scotch element of the audience fully appreciated its peculiar humor. For the benefit of the uninitiated it may be stated that the “ wee thing ” is I he Scotch thistle. Mr Clark then came forward and tendered apologies-for Miss LiUbrooke, who wasnnablo to be present Ibrough the lamentable lossof adear friend. MLessia Martin and Toshach at the last moment had also disappointed them, for what raison Mr Clark was unable to »y. Mrs Clark Very kindly supplied Miss Ladbrookes placoj and played t, selection of national airs, grave and gay, ih a most finished .and attractive manner. The item ■ received the applause it deserved. Mr Wood, of, limaru, accompanied by Miss of rimarn, on the piano, played a charming fantasia in Scotch airs on the vio'in. It is needless to say that bis execution w»s admirable, the instrument iu his hands almost speaking. Aa .encore was de □landed, but not responded to, Mia t3o.nnolly, although evidently somewhat nervous, ■ sang “Jessies Dream’ vry - sweetly, and was applauded. The merry “ lilt” of the pipes heralded tl.e entrance of Mr Banks, who, full of life and vigor, danced the Highland fling, evident ! y to the satisfaction of all. A persistent encore brought him back, when he favored t!»e audience with a strathspey, danced equally as well. In the absence of Mr Toshach, MrPurvev sang “The Laird o Cockpen, to the pawky humor of which ha. did full justice. Hia dramatic action of the hird ••riding cannilee was particularly . comical. Miss Henry, of Ashburton, a niece of Mr Henry, of Temuka, established herself a favorite from the Brat. Her singing of “Mary of Argyle was full of expression, while her yoice, sweet and powerful, fairly filled the large hall. Responding to an enthusiastic encors, she sang with equal sweetness “The Last Rose of Summer.” “TheAuld Scotch Sings,” that most pathetic of melodics, received full justice from Miss Dunlop, who also had to respond 10 an imperative encore. jjShe substituted “The Scottish Blue Br h ,” a song of quite a different character but eqm lly well song." The next item was a Scotch reel in costume by Messrs Banks ant) Nanghton. It was a capital performance, and stirred the hearts of even the Sassenach portion of the audience. Mr Rosie followed with “ The Scottish Emigrant’s Faiewe'i,” a song which admirably suited his powerh 1 baritone voice. The song was evidently fraught with sad, but kindly, memorifs to many.present, but although efforts wore made to induce a repetition they were unavailing. The disappointment was fully atoned for when Miss Martin appeared. Although this young lidy had never before visited Temuka, a reputation won in Christchmeh had preceded her, and great things were expected. Every expectation was mote than realised. Th : > first few notes of “ Caller Herrin’ were sufficient to reveal to the most unmusical ear that a songstress of no mean ability Stood before them. The quaint costume, the beautiful voice, and, above all, the iedent. carried the audience by storm, tad the final “ Caller ou ” *«« the signal for a perfeit storm of apiLuso. Miss Maitin kipd y responded to fie recall, and Sang '* prell/ Sung ’* Taslp and Iry, Mr puryea, with infinite humour and admit, bl'e accent and action, tecitod “ Tibbie Leerie on Scau't J.’ Recited is scarcely the word for such a perlorinance as Mr Pucves . Suffice it to say that it airly “ fetched | his hearer* Another ;

treat was in store for the audience in Miss Andrews’ singing of “ Robin Adair, * the rendering of which pathetic song being only beaten by her singing of “ The Land o’ Urn Leal ” in response to an encore. This concluded the first portion of the programme. In the abaence of Mr Toshach, the accompaniments were played by Mrs Poster, a change in no wise regrettable. The second portion of the programme commenced with a march “ The Princea’ S late,’/ [liyed on the pipes by Al«x. McKay, whose appearance upon the stage was the signal, for a round of applause. A viilin duet in b'cottish airs was then fhyed by Mr Wood »nd his son. Mr Wooa’s previous p rformance was fairly ■eclipsed by thia, and the item was redemanded. The encore was not responded to. The inimitalle Mr Purvea, whose cornier! vein evidou ly increased as the evening wore on, then gave nr other of his intensely dramatic recitations, “The Moose and the Rat,” a selection that fairly convulsed the audience. A new song, “HillowEvo,” was rendered by Miss Dunlop in a very artistic manner. It was a difficult song in many respects, but it was most ably treated. Mr Hosie, whoso performance in the first part had not been forgotten, sang “The Standard on the Braea o’ Mar,” his powerful and mellow voice doing full justice to the martial character of the song. To a well-deserved encore, he responded by singing “ When hath Scotland Found Her Fame ?’’ Had the programme ended there, the audience would have been fairly satisfied, for it was a really excellent performance. :Miss Andrews sang, in good voire, “ Ijophnagar,” a somewhat difficult selection itoaiiy but finished performers, Ii was, however, well sung, and received the i applause it deserved; Then followed the dance of the evening. To the lively music of Mr McKays pipes, Mr Bank danced the sword dunce. In watohii g his twinkling. feet the audience forgot to applaud, but as the music livened up towards the <lose there broke forth such an acclamation as made the. h<ll.ring again. The dance is not one that a performer care* to repeat, and Mr Banks merely bqwed his acknowledgements. Miss Henry s reappearance hud evidently been watched for, and again the audience had a perfect treat. The pathetic stcy of “Aull Robin Gray” was perfectly tell in mus'cel language by Miss Henry. Hard indeed must hayo been the heart that did not feel the full force and beauty of that sweet song. In response to deafening applause she sang very sweetly “ Killarney,” whicti was also well reCfived. are lightsome ” they say, and evidently the framers of the programme thought so too, for following two pathetic songs came a merry foursome reel danced by Messrs Nanghton, Lyons, Batiks, and Maclean, the three former in all the glory of kilt and tartan, and the latter in the costume of the nineteenth century. He was not an ordinary emergency mau, however. Far from it, All were good, and the claims of Mr Banks are undeniable, but the representative of Laghmor Station was on terms of equaliiy with them all, and he gave a grand exposition of how a man can dance when his heart is in if. It was intended that Alex. McKay should have made the fourth, but his services were required at the pipes. Following the reel came a song by Mias Marlin, who, with admirable expression, sang “ Ken ye. the Glen,’ a song by a colonial composer, but one that we do not think is destined to long find favor among Scottish audiences. Every justice, however, was done to it by its exponent, and responding to an encore she sang “Kathleen Mavourneen” in a manner which entitles it to be fairly styled (he song of ihe evening. A dance followed, Mr Dan Angland displaying the intricacies of an Irish reel and jig in masterly style. His performance tlicited hearty applause. Mf McGrath followed, and he gave a capital exposition of the walk round and reel. Just, however, ns he was getting fairly into play his musician, Mr D, Burctt, gave in, his previous exertions with Mr Angland having evidently told upon him. Hr Hosie followed with “My Heather Hills,” and was again most successful. He barely escaped an encore. This conc'uded the second part of the programme. Mr A. M. Clark then, in a brief address, thanked the audience for their kind appreciation, and for the more than usually large attendance, They were as yet a young society, but the attendance that evening gave Them an assurance of success. They had been disappointed that evening in the absence of several of their promised performers, and had the concert 'been postponed they might possibly have don 1 ’ better, but the Committee had thought it wise to take advantage of the moonlight evenings, and be was gratified that their first concert had been so well attended. Pointing to the motto above the stage, he exp'aiuedi's meaning, which he said was probab y unknown to many, it wou'd, however, bring b ck to them many kindly remembrances. As it had been said, they were as yet a young Society, hut perhaps when they met again they would be “gallopin’.’ He desired to return hearty thanks to the performers, the accompan’st, and to all who had assisted to promote the enjoyment of the evening. Before parting he would ask them to join in singing “ Anld Lang Syne.” The stage was by this time crowded, and the audience rising en masse “ Auld Lang Syne ’ was sung with mud. fervour, . At the c©nclusion'"bf the concert the V. lunteer Hall was opened for a dauce. It proved not neatly large enough for ihe 1 .rge altendante. Messrs Wood and Son, assisted by Miss Lack, provided capital music, and refreshments of excellent quality were dispensed by Mr Tombs. The gathering breke up at a late hour. It is only due to the general management to say that perhaps never in the history of Tt-muku’s amusements has there been an entertainment so wdl organised and conducted. Every individual on th** Committee worked well, and Mr G. H. Mogridge,* the Secretary, was simply indefatigable, Messrs Lawson, Henry, Blylh, A'lau, McLeod, and Naughtoa also contributed largely to the success of the evening.