scottish news...scottish country dance club hopefully winter is almost over and we are heading into...

Scottish News

June 2014 No. 136

Forthcoming Events

Sunday 19th October – Scottish Heritage Council Kirkin o’ the Tartan – St Andrews at Rangi Ruru 2pm afternoon tea afterwards. Friday 31st October – Halloween Quiz Night – Scottish Hall 7pm more details in newsletter. Saturday 8th November – Hororata Highland Games, Hororata Domain, all day from 9am. This is a great day plenty of entertainment and food and drink, children’s entertainment. Saturday 29th November – Gathering of the Clans & St Andrews Day Céilidh – Scottish Hall 8pm – supper provided BYOD Saturday 6th December – Victoria Square Day, Pipe Band and Highland Dancing Competitions, Illam University, all day from 9am.

See us on facebook: www.facebook.com/chchscottishsocietyofnz

Who’s Who 2013/2014 Chief Graeme Matheson Ph:355 4391/0212622300

[email protected]

Senior Chieftain Dawn Satherly Ph: 355 8650

Chieftains Margaret Birse Ph: 021 2535845 [email protected]

Ross Fraser Ph: 981 9938 [email protected]

Secretary Geoff Tyson Ph: 359 6279 [email protected]

Treasurer Christine Seaton Ph: 354 6967

Councillors Rosalind Reece Ph: 342 4277 [email protected]

Stu Gordon Ph: 981 1356 [email protected]

Isobel Kinzett Ph: 332 9366

Cushla Piesse Ph: 352 7251 [email protected]

mailto:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]

The Chief’s Report Our hall has continued to be well used each week. I would appreciate any member when passing the hall to look

and see if anything is amiss e.g. graffiti on the building, windows left open etc. Reporting this to me or another

council member would be very helpful as we want to keep the facility in good order and of course secure when not

in use.

Ellen and I spent July and August touring in the northern hemisphere. The Matheson Clan gathering at Kyle of

Lochalsh was our main focus. We joined Matheson from Australia, Canada, Great Britain, Norway, USA, and of

course New Zealand. The Clan members were invited to the Lochcarron Annual Highland Games at Attadale Gardens

and in the march past we were led by the Ullapool Junior Pipe Band. This was of great interest to me as my

grandfather emigrated from Ullapool to Sydney and thereafter to New Zealand in 1895. Our Clan group was led by

Chief Sir Fergus Matheson of Matheson and created quite a presence in our tartan, national flags and individual Clan

flags. Despite the occasional skiff of rain the games were very competitive in all events to include tossing the caber,

heavy shot, a hill race, track events, relays, tug of war plus piping and highland dancing.

Following the games we headed east to Inverness spending a day at Ardross Castle that had been built by a

Matheson whose fortune had been partly funded by the opium trade in the Far East. There is still a Jardine

Matheson company trading out of Hong Kong. The original company established in China in 1832 amassed a

substantial fortune. The Castle is in private hands and being used as a venue for weddings and similar gatherings.

Renovations are continuing and happily the owners allow the Clan to use the facilities and enjoy the grounds. The

Clan meeting addressed what is a worldwide issue for organisations such as ours and that is “how do we attract new

and younger members”. The closing dinner was a fine affair with guests being greeted by the piper as we arrived

and then entertained by him during the event.

Highlights from our tripping prior to the Clan gathering were being met off the train by friends in their 1934 Rolls

Royce Open Tourer and being driven around the narrow byways in the hills of north Wales. Then we took the

chance to travel on the Fort William to Mallaig steam train and this proved another memorable day. Subsequent

travelling had us eating our way around Spain and Portugal sampling the delicious food and drink in local bars and

restaurants that typified the locality. Santiago de Compostela in northern Spain was awash with pilgrims who had

traversed all or part of the 500km Camino de Santiago that was the way of St James. Our time in Barcelona

was dominated by Gaudi as we viewed his amazing architecture, the Sagrada Familia was astounding but another

super experience was being on a catamaran at sunset then viewing the super moon (when it is closest to the earth)

rise. Visiting with family in USA dominated the remainder of our tour as we tripped from the east to west. Enjoying a

beach in San Diego, hours before we departed typified the glorious weather we had experienced throughout our

journeys.

I thank all council members who shouldered many responsibilities in my absence. The Band is back practising and

looking to another very busy season, we wish them well in all their activities.

Robyn Richardson partner to Geoff our secretary is making steady progress following her accident and we wish her

well in making a full recovery.

Yours Aye

Graeme

Editorial

This time of the year it is fairly quiet on the Scottish Scene apart from the Pipe Band evening in June, the

Piping & Dancing Assoc Céilidh in August. I trust that you will enjoy the articles further in the Scottish News in regard to the Society History and I would dearly love to hear from any members who may well be able to add to this section.

Editor

Membership

It is with sadness we report the deaths of three stalwarts of the Society, all life members;

Bruce Anderson Oliver Bruce joined the Society with wife Margaret in 1988 and went on to join Council and to Senior Chieftain.

He will be remembered by many as truly “a man’s a man for all that and all that”, a gentleman to a fault and

a tireless worker in regard to maintenance at the hall. To Margaret and family, Bruce will always remain part

of the Scottish Society, our condolences.

Kerry Ayers Kerry joined the Society in 1978. He was a member of the Country Dance Club and he and his wife Barbara

regularly won the Highland Schottische competition at the Society’s Highland Balls. Kerry was a talented

musician and played several instruments. Kerry was secretary of the Society for quite a long time as the

minutes will show. He was a highly respected lawyer in Christchurch and will be sadly missed. Kerry

leaves his wife Barbara and daughters Morag and Charlotte.

Kerry was only 62 years old when he died, far too young for such a talented person.

Denis Pratt Denis joined the Society in 1964 was a playing member of the Society’s Pipe Band before becoming the

Treasurer for many years. He acted as Drill Instructor for the band and was very involved with the Royal

Pipe Bands Association both at the Canterbury Centre level and the National level. Denis held very strong

opinions about what was right and wrong; he was a complete role model for younger members of the

movement. Denis was 90 years old when he died.

Scottish Country Dance Club

Hopefully winter is almost over and we are heading into some nice spring weather. Throughout the cold

winter our numbers have been maintained, with members enjoying being able to keep warm while learning

new dances. In May the Tam O’Shanter Club visited our Club night, and we in turn visited their Club night

in August. Open nights have been held over the past few months, and members have attended these

enjoying the hospitality, dances and friendships made; Clubs visited are Tam O’Shanter, Oxford, Burnside,

Hoon Hay, Rangiora, Christchurch, and Caledonian. A number of our members attended the International

Ceilidh held on 21 June. We celebrated mid-winter with a fancy supper one Club night, a nice time to

socialise with all members. We would love to have some new members, so if you know of anyone interested

please tell them we met on a Tuesday night at 7.30pm.

Maree Comfort

President.

Highland Dancing Class

CONCERT AND COMPETITIONS TO END ANOTHER WINTER TERM OF FUN AND LEARNING The winter term of 2014 at the Scottish Society Saturday morning dance class was again enthusiastically embraced by children who have attended for many years and the children who came for the first time. The tutors, Jamie-Le Tuuta, Mary Gannaway, Jeanie Borsboom, and I take pleasure in watching children improve from year to year and in their willingness not only to learn new dances, but also to focus on getting the technique right. This year we had several of our Senior dancers helping out with tutoring. This gave them an insight into all aspects of teaching and I am sure they all enjoyed the experience. The concert to celebrate the end of the winter term was a great success as always. This took place on Sunday afternoon 24th August at the Scottish and all who participated loved dancing for family and friends. The concert concluded with presentations and a most wonderful pot luck afternoon tea. Prizes awarded were: Joyce Stephens Memorial Trophy for Diligence and Commitment - Alice Aldhamland Wakefield Trophy for most promising under 12 – Danielle Joy W. T. Lindsay Trophy for most improved under 14 – Sophie Popham The competitions which took place on Saturday 30th August also at the Scottish were enjoyed not only by Scottish Society dance class participates but by children from other dancing schools. There were record entries and the hall buzzed with a relaxed friendly atmosphere. A very big thank you to all those families who supported the dancing class through the winter term and to all those parents who willingly sponsored classes on competition day. 2014 Scottish Society Junior Champion - Kate Watson Runner-up Junior Champion – Kennedy Jones 2014 Scottish Society Senior Champion - Samantha Van den Broek Runner-up Senior Champion – Jordan McIvor Cushla Piesse - Dancing class tutor and Councillor for the dancing class.

Samantha Van den Broek & Jordan McIvor Kate Watson & Kennedy Jones Niamh & Sophie Popham

TARTAN CEILIDH

On Saturday evening 30th August the Canterbury West Coast Centre of the Piping and Dancing Association had a wonderful night dancing to the beat of the Charlie Jemmett Ceilidh band. With many people wearing kilts and some with a little tartan on their dresses or jackets one hundred people filled the hall and celebrated céilidh dancing. “Strip the Willow” featured more than once. The balloon raffle went off with a “bang” and we enjoyed a most delicious supper. Cushla Piesse.

A TRIP TO THE VIRGINIA TATTOO 2014

It was my good fortune to have the opportunity to attend the 2014 Virginia Tattoo. With 27 young dancers from all

over New Zealand and another dancing colleague, we took off on Thursday 17th April to our final destination,

Norfolk, Virginia in the U.S. The tattoo is part of the Virginia arts festival and is a world class international event held

every year. This year the tattoo was in honour of U. S. veterans and their families. The performances take place over

four days in a large arena called the “Scope”. This is a huge imposing cultural, entertainment, convention and sports

complex and the buzz that you get when it is full and the tattoo is in full swing is amazing and unforgettable.

Some of the items included: the Pipes and Drums 1st Battalion Scots Guards from the U. K., Pipes and Drums of the

Royal Army of Oman, U.S. Air Force Honour Guard Drill Team, U.S. Coast Guard Maritime Security Response Team,

Irish Dance team from Virginia and many more. The 27 girls from the New Zealand Academy joined forces with the

Scottish Dance Theatre of Virginia and gave two items. They performed a “Kilted Kaleidoscope” with the combined

bands to the music of the Gael as part of the Grand Opening and then later in the show the arena was transformed

into Granby Street as they performed “Norfolk Ladies”. It was truly a spectacular event.

Norfolk is a pretty place with tree lined streets, not too busy and very tidy. It was just coming into spring, so the

blossom trees and the spring bulbs were everywhere.

One of the days that wasn’t too busy with practises some of us took a short trip on a paddle steamer over to Portsmouth, a naval shipyard. A lovely little interlude taking us across the River Elizabeth. Some of the girls performed a couple of Sailors Hornpipe steps on the deck, much to the delight of other passengers. On the way home we stopped off at Disneyland for two days. This was certainly entertaining and we all had a lot of fun. It was a wonderful experience and I enjoyed every moment of my time away. Cushla Piesse Dancing Class Councillor

Closing Ceremony Some of the 27 strong Kiwi contingent

Scottish Society Pipe Band We are now officially the Scottish Society of New Zealand Pipe Band! The name and rule changes were ratified at a

Special General Meeting in June. Pipe Major Nick Eagle and Drum Major Nathan Harris were appointed at the

following AGM. Stu Gordon remains as President and Geraldine Duncan as Treasurer – Rachal Aspinall returns to the

Secretary position which Trish Rasmussen very ably filled for a year. Other band officers and executive members

have subsequently been appointed. The fundraising committee headed by Kim Eagle has lots of ideas for some fun

ways to raise money – look out for the Quiz Night on 31st October at the Scottish Society Hall.

Nick and his musical team have put a lot of effort into compiling dynamic competition pieces which challenge us and

will lift the band into a higher level of contesting in the 2014/15 season. Over the winter pipers have been working

hard on “back to basics” as well as lots of enthusiasm for learning the new tunes. The drum corps have also been

working with their tutors Mark Weir and Cameron Love to improve basic technique and develop technical

understanding and musicality in drumming. Mark has written new music with their abilities in mind and he has high

aspirations for them – this leads them to work with intensity and focus as much for the Band and Mark’s dedication

as for themselves.

Our winter is also the time for the World Pipe Championships held annually in Glasgow in August. Max Middleton,

our youngest piper, played for the third year in a row with the Robert Malcolm Memorial Pipe Band which is based in

British Columbia and affiliated with the Simon Fraser University Pipe Band. This year the RMM band came 5th in the

Novice Juvenile World Pipe Band Competition. James Bissland again accompanied Canterbury Caledonian Society to

the Worlds as their official bagpipe tuner. They qualified for the finals and finished 9th position overall which is two

places up on their 2013 result.

The band has been very fortunate to again receive substantial funding of $8000 from the Canterbury Community

Trust – this will be used to upgrade our drums. We have also been awarded $500 from the Christchurch City Council

Small Grants Fund for bagpipe reeds. As always we are extremely grateful for any funding as running a pipe band is

not cheap!

The fourth Hororata Highland Games will be held on 8th November at the Hororata Domain – check out

www.hororatahighlandgames.org.nz for more information. Sure to be a fun day with so many Scottish events - hope

you can come support us at our first competition for the season.

Geraldine Duncan For the last few weeks we have been meeting every week to get a lot of idea’s under way. Our first event that we have planned is a Halloween Quiz Night. I have attached a poster for you. This will be held at the Scottish Hall on Friday October 31st 7pm onwards. $15 per person and teams to be made up of 4-6 Spooky dress is encouraged and prizes will be given. We have raffles coin toss and lots of other fun things organised.

Tickets can be purchased on eventfinder.co.nz or you can text Kim on 021 376282 and we will organise tickets to be delivered to you. As continuous background fundraising we are also looking for items that people are willing to donate to the band that can be auctioned off on Trade me. This is treated as a online garage sale and will continuously run throughout the year All proceeds going directly to the band. Trish Rasmussan is handling this and if anyone has anything to donate please call Trish and we can collect. Her number is Trish (0272727394) This year the band are also going to be getting special “fun” tea towels made and will be selling these closer to Xmas. If you do want to order one please contact Kim on 021376282 more details will be released on our face book page. The cost of these look to be around $10 each.

Kim Eagle

Band Manager

Society History The Culloden Tartan Concerning the display case with the “Culloden” tartan this is still work in progress and to date I have been

in touch with the National Museums Scotland and Scottish Tartans Authority. So far the NMS are still

investigating however the STA are incredibly excited with this. At this stage am still waiting for further

response and hoping we will discover the history of the tartan but am not holding out much hope in regard to

knowing anything about Alexander Symmers, but we live in hope!

The inscription on the bottom of the case reads “Worn by Alexander Symmers at the Battle of Culloden

1746”

30th August 2014- well I have now heard back from Peter MacDonald, Tartan Historian, Scottish Tartans,

Perthshire and it appears as though I should re-title the piece The Culloden Tartan Folly. So whilst Peter has burst the bubble the fact does remain that this is an important piece of Scottish Tartan history and I

quote herewith some of Peter’s latest reply;

“The density of the cloth, the width and importantly, the inclusion of white silk yarn, all point to this being an almost

complete Wilsons of Bannockburn’s plaid dating to the late 18th century, probably c1780-1800 and made from their

Old Superfine cloth. Wilsons pioneered the combination of wool and silk in tartan and there is no evidence of the

technique in tartan before they started producing this type of cloth c1780. It was never a feature of Culloden era

rural Highland cloth and so I’m afraid that the accompanying engraved text is wrong in my opinion. I have come

across several Wilson era specimens that family tradition associated with Culloden and often Prince Charles Edward.

Such claims are usually the result of the piece having been in the family for many generations with no record of its

origins and so over the years fact becomes myth often helped by a degree of wishful thinking and a desire to have a

Jacobite relic which re-enforces the supposed antiquity. But in every case the evidence proves that not to be the

case, as with your specimen.

I realise that my findings will be something of a disappointment but the fact that this is not a Culloden era plaid in no

way detracts from its uniqueness. Wilsons of Bannockburn can be regarded as the founding fathers of modern

commercial tartan culture and these short plaids, often worn by ladies as a screen, were one of the mainstays of

their trade in the late 18th century. Very few survive intact and yours appears to be complete save for a small section

at one end which has been shorted either because it was damaged or a section removed as a keepsake or the like.

The sett is a classic example of a Wilsons’ fancy pattern similar to the one described in this paper. In all likelihood it had a name at the time they sold it but that has been lost in the mists of time. What I really like about the piece is that it contains examples of some of their stock shades that we’ve only previously known about by name so it’s really helpful with my research into their techniques to be able to study these. The use of two shades of yellow together is another early Wilsons’ technique; often one of them was silk, the other wool. I cannot tell from the pictures if that is the case in this piece but you might want to look at that section again in detail. I will write up my findings in a full paper at some point.

Not exactly what you expected/wanted to hear I know but this is nonetheless a wonderful and rare example of late

18th century and early commercial tartan weaving.”

As Peter says something of a disappointment but none the less exciting and a valuable piece of the Society’s

history.

http://www.scottishtartans.co.uk/Unnamed_Plaid_dated_1775.pdf

As regards Alexander Symmers again I have drawn a blank on this one as the name does not appear on the

Muster Rolls of the Battle of Culloden. Although Symmers is indeed a Scottish surname it appears as though

those with that surname often changed it to Summers especially when emigrating.

From the Minutes of the 5th AGM of The Scottish Society, 18th April 1907 “Presentations: During the year the following presentations were made to the Society:- Mr R L McDearmid – Piece of Royal Stewart Tartan from the bed on which Prince Charlie slept on the night preceding the Battle of Culloden”.

I thought Peter MacDonald might be interested in this although the piece of tartan has disappeared over

time. Herewith is his response; “Your last snippet with the extract from the 1907 records ran bells and going back through my records I find an entry

for a similar sett with a similar connection; in that case that the sett was taken from ‘Bed hangings from Culloden

House’. The tartan is very similar and the difference could readily be put down to the complexity of the sett being

mistranscribed but I have no doubt that the two are in fact one in the same tartan. My record comes from one of the

keen tartan enthusiasts of the 1930-50s but its unclear exactly who the originator was, whether they actually saw

the said hangings and importantly, where they are now. This is all very intriguing.

Culloden House is now a hotel and I’d be very surprised if they still had the hangings but I can try and find out. Do you know anything about your donor, RL McDearmid? Despite the Culloden connection I have no doubt that my dating of your piece is correct and that it appears to be an almost complete Wilsons’ era plaid. There are therefore three possible scenarios that quickly come to mind: 1. Your piece is that one that was recorded at Culloden House and it was purchased or in some other way found its way to New Zealand. 2. The Culloden Bed hangings were the original sett that Wilsons’ copied and of which yours is an example. 3. There was more the one piece of this Wilsons’ material meaning that yours and the Culloden House specimens are related but not the same. There is obviously a dating conflict with the first theory that could only be explained if the details I inherited were taken before 1907. With no evidence to support the second hypothesis it has to be discounted unless further evidence is forthcoming. The third option seems the most likely to me. The connection with the earlier record of the Culloden hangings is exciting, especially as it allows me to clarify an earlier record that has always troubled me. I will now refresh my efforts to track down the Culloden specimen to compare the two. More anon.”

It is great that we have been able to create such interest from so far away, hopefully by next newsletter I will have

some more news from Peter.

The Pirlie Pig Since I have been delving into the archives of the Society, I came across the mention of a “pirlie pig”, this was used in

the early 1900’s and was passed around at Céilidhs to collect donations for various reasons. The Society actually had

them made here in Christchurch and inscribed with the name of the Society. What was a ‘pirlie pig’, obviously some

sort of money box and then I remembered there was a pottery item in the Council room that maybe the same

although does not have any inscription on it. A pirlie pig is a money box or piggy bank. They originated in Throsk in

Stirlingshire and large quantities of Throsk earthenware was produced in the 17th century. It was not of high quality

but it was in demand throughout Scotland. Some of the potters called themselves piggers from 'pig' the old Scots

word for an earthenware vessel. Subsequent to all this our chief had enquiry from a chap here in Christchurch – “I

was wondering if you could tell me anything about the money box in the attached photo. I got it from my

grandmother’s house after she died and I believe it came through my grandfather. Just a curiosity and anything you

can tell me would be appreciated.”

Incredible how something starts off and helps write another piece of the Society’s history. I wonder how many more

still exist in Christchurch homes and it would be marvelous if we could get one to display at the hall.

Watch this space, who knows what my next little gem maybe!!!!!!!!!!!

The Scottish Society is proud to be associated with both WW100 and Canterbury100 and as such due to the

resurrection of our WW1 Roll of Honour board into the main hall we are progressing to conducting a memorial

service at the hall in 2015. To date I have attended the inaugural meeting of Canterbury100 hosted by the

Christchurch City Council and the Society now has a small steering committee committed to making our service a

truly memorable event. At time of going to print we still cannot confirm the date but we certainly will by the time

the next newsletter is out.

Scottish Society Pipe Band

FUND RAISER

Scottish Society Hall

Cnr Edgeware and Caledonian Road

Supper provided - Drinks Available

Teams 4-6 $15 Per person

Bring coins and cash

Purchase tickets @ eventfinder.co.nz

Or txt 021 376 282

Prize for Best dressed, Raffles & Coin Toss

Friday 31st October, 7pm Calling all Spooks for a Halloween Quiz night

Published by the Scottish Society of New Zealand (Inc) as a service to members.

Please forward contributions to the editor at [email protected]

Opinions expressed within are not necessarily the official stance of the Society or its leadership.
mailto:[email protected]

scottish news...scottish country dance club hopefully winter is almost over and we are heading into...

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