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For the latest news from Scotland see our ScotNews feed at:
http://www.electricscotland.com/
Electric Scotland News
alastairi@electricscotland.com
I regret to say my email address has been taken over by some person and hence I am now seeing a lot of emails from this email address that are clearly spam. I have talked to Steve and he says he's unable to do anything about it. I believe this is called phishing.
That being the case I'd advise you to block this email address in your email software. I will now change over to using my gmail accountelectricscotland@gmail.com for my regular email. I will however continue to keep that email address for anyone needing to send me larger than 10 Mb file attachments. I'm hoping when I eventually complete the move to SFU that I can get this email address back but we'll have to see how it goes.
Brexit
By the time you read this newsletter likely the polls will have closed and counting has begun and whichever way you decided I hope we'll join together and do what we can to heal any rifts that may occur. The overall result is not expected until around 7 am GMT on Friday but indications on where it is going will likely come in earlier.
I spent a lot of time this week on adding comments to the various newspaper articles on Brexit promoting my recommendation to vote "leave".
Our 2016 CLSI Clan Leslie Gathering is fast approaching, are you still considering attending? As of June 22, 133 have registered!
We need to receive all registrations and payment no later than Friday, July 15th.
T-shirts need to be made, banquet meals at the hotel need to be ordered and prepaid, entrance wrist bands need to be purchased for the Fergus Games gate admission, etc. - so for all of this to be done, we need all registrations by July 15th.
For registration forms and information about our events, please have a look under the events tab at our websitehttp://www.clanlesliesociety.org/
While viewing the event information on the website, please click on "NEW GATHERING UPDATES AS OF JUNE 17, 2016". Many people and organizations are working with us to make this a very special event.
Also, while at the site, please note that we are planning a Silent Auction, proceeds to be contributed to the CLSI Library Fund. Do you have Clan Leslie related items that you would like to re-home? If you do, please contact David Leslie White, clanleslie@earthlink.net
If you have questions about the gathering, please send an e-mail to: Robert Leslie, 1832leslie@gmail.com
I might add to this announcement that if you have never been to Canada this would be an excellent way of taking this first trip.
Scottish News from this weeks newspapers
Note that this is a selection and more can be read in our ScotNews feed on our index page. I am partly doing this to build an archive of modern news from and about Scotland as all the newsletters are archived and also indexed on Google and other search engines.
Scotland to increase armed police numbers
Scotland is to increase its number of armed police officers by about a third
Read more at:
http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-scotland-...itics-36547739
Why leaving the EU could be an opportunity
For the first time in more than four decades we will have the opportunity to forge new trade deals with emerging economies.
For the first time in more than four decades we will have the opportunity to forge new trade deals with emerging economies. We may celebrate our heritage and history as a trading nation, but as an EU member we are legally prevented from pursuing such deals. Yet because the EU must negotiate on behalf of all 28 of its member states, each with its own, often conflicting, priorities, such negotiations are never simple and always prolonged. Even after nine years, the much-anticipated deal with one of our most important customers, India, is still not completed.
A vote to leave will also give us the opportunity to take back control of our own borders – an opportunity that most countries globally take for granted but which, within the EU, is simply not allowed.
Read more at:
https://inews.co.uk/opinion/comment/...u-opportunity/
End of an era at world-famous Dunvegan Hotel
One of golf’s most famous 19th holes goes on the market
Read more at:
https://www.thecourier.co.uk/fp/news...unvegan-hotel/
Scots pay high price for better road and rail links
Major Scottish transport projects like dualling the A9 and extending Edinburgh’s tram line could cost up to seven times as much as similar European schemes
Read more at:
http://www.scotsman.com/news/transpo...inks-1-4158461
Brain scan software could save lives of soldiers
New brain scanning software being developed by the University of Aberdeen could save the lives of soldiers on the front line
Read more at:
http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-scotland-...tland-36574787
Battling to keep alive the history of Arbroath
Retired North American insurance business owner Robert Nock has been visiting friends in Arbroath for the past 14 years.
Read more at:
https://www.thecourier.co.uk/fp/life...tory-arbroath/
Lidl unwraps £50m Scottish investment plans
Discount retailer Lidl has unveiled a £50 million investment in Scotland as it looks to continue to take market share off the big four supermarket chains.
Read more at:
http://www.scotsman.com/business/com...lans-1-4160450
The 176th Royal Highland Show gets underway in Edinburgh
The 176th Royal Highland Show gets underway later, with about 200,000 people expected to attend by Sunday.
Read more at:
http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-scotland-...-fife-36596613
European accolade for digital trade body ScotlandIS
ScotlandIS, the digital technologies trade body, has become the first organisation in Scotland to be accredited by a European scheme for cluster excellence.
Read more at:
http://www.scotsman.com/business/com...ndis-1-4161203
Ruth Davidson was the star at Wembley
Along with Nicola Sturgeon and Kezia Dugdale, the Scottish Tory leader is so normal and competent that she puts her colleagues south of the border to shame
Read more at:
https://www.theguardian.com/commenti...-kezia-dugdale
Minimum alcohol pricing strike down by judges shows Scotland at mercy of EU
The Brexiteers said the European Court of Justice’s decision to strike down the SNP policy demonstrates that we cannot effectively govern while in the bloc.
Read more at:
https://www.thecourier.co.uk/fp/news...ay-brexiteers/
Scots population up by 25,400
UK population tops 65 million
This rise in population obviously has implications in costs for running our NHS and Educations.
Read more at:
http://www.scotsman.com/news/scots-p...lion-1-4162439
Electric Canadian
The Story of Castle Frank, Toronto
By The Rev. Henry Sadding (1895)
You can download this book at: http://www.electriccanadian.com/hist...astlefrank.pdf
Bemocked of Destiny
The Actual Struggles and Experiences of a Canadian Pioneer, and the Recollections of a Lifetime by Aenas McCharles (1908) (pdf).
Some great stories of old Scots folk in Cape Breton and Ontario starts this book which you can download at:
http://www.electriccanadian.com/pioneering/bemocked.pdf
Electric Scotland
Reply to a Fishing article by David Thomson
I read an interesting article on the UK Fishing industry and emailed David for his thoughts on and have added his reply to the site.
You can read this at: http://www.electricscotland.com/inde.../fishingeu.htm
Fishing Industry in Scotland
A one hour documentary on the Fishing industry out of Lossiemouth, Scotland.
You can watch this at: http://www.electricscotland.com/loss...oats/index.htm
The Life and Letters of James MacPherson
By Thomas Bailey Saunders (1894).
Added a link to this book at the foot of his page at:
http://www.electricscotland.com/hist...rson_james.htm
Life and Correspondence of the Later Rev. Henry Belfrage, D.D. of Falkirk
By the Rev. John M'Kerrow and The Rev. John M'Farlane (1837)
You can read this book at: http://www.electricscotland.com/bibl...y_belfrage.pdf
Home Songs
A Collection of Favourite Songs, Hymns and Rounds for the Fireside. I added this book to the foot of our Singalong page at: http://www.electricscotland.com/poet...son/singalong/
Pictures from the Highlands
Stan Bruce sent in a wee collection of pictures from his visit to the Isle of Skye which you can see at:
http://www.electricscotland.com/historic/highland.html
Clan Map from Lochcarron
Have added a link to take you to this interactive clan map which also shows the clan crest and tartan to our main Clan Page on the column on the right of the page at: http://www.electricscotland.com/webclans/index.html
A Short History of the Old Green Markets
And of the Waverley Market with Appendix on the House of Lords Decision on the Market Case by Peter Gemmell (1906). Added a link to this book at the foot of our Edinburgh page at: http://www.electricscotland.com/history/edinburgh/
Robert Burns Lives!
Edited by Frank Shaw
Robert Burns Was Not A Gaelic Speaker but, By Murdo Morrison
Many names float around the global world of Robert Burns and when I hear of these individuals, I look forward to meeting them in person. Many times I know the name but not the individual. One such name is Murdo Morrison and although he was unable to write an article for me some time back, as luck would have it, a few days ago an email showed up on my laptop from him. It seems we both have wanted to contact each other for some time to introduce ourselves. We have a lot of things in common but the overriding connection is our love for Robert Burns. Murdo is busy doing his thing for Burns in Scotland and I try to do mine here in the States.
Below is an interesting article written by Murdo explaining some of what he does for Burns. I thoroughly enjoyed the article and gladly pass it along to our many readers knowing you will too. A part of Murdo’s article involves The Twa Dogs, one of my favorite pieces by Burns. He loved dogs as I have all my life. Ironically this past week our son Scott, his wife Denise and our two grandchildren, Ian and Stirling, spent the week at Amelia Island (just across the Georgia border in Florida) attending our annual Georgia Health Care convention. Susan and I decided not to go this year as travel does not appeal to us now as much as it did a few years ago. As a result, we were happy to take care of their two beautiful Boxer dogs, Zoe and Dodger - one old, one young; one wise in experience, one a six-month old pup; one very alert, highly active, and playful, the other nearly blind in one eye but one of the sweetest ninety-five-pound dogs on earth. If you like a loving dog, Zoe will return your love pound for pound. Dodger still has a few things to learn in that department. We were blessed having Zoe and Dodger for a week, and Murdo will say a little about Burns’s The Twa Dogs which will help us understand what Burns was saying. Welcome, Murdo! Enjoy his article, readers!
Both men pictured below have been guests at our Robert Burns cottage in Atlanta and left us with good thoughts of Scotland. (FRS: 6.20.2016)
You can read this article at: http://www.electricscotland.com/fami...s_lives240.htm
The Story
Address delivered by Mr. Raymond Poincaré, President of the French Republic, Lord Rector of the University of Glasgow, 1914-1919 on November 13th 1919
FOR nearly five hundred years the University of Glasgow has elected a Rector, whose post has for long been an honorary one, entailing no greater labour than the delivery of one address during the three years' tenure of office. The post, during the last century or more, has usually been held by a distinguished statesman in earlier days by ecclesiastics; and it is curious that the highest honour which the undergraduates of the University have in their power to bestow, has rarely been offered to a man on account of his scholastic or literary or scientific work. The last holder of the office, however, was probably the only Lord Rector who was the head of a Great Nation, and M. Poincare's address, which was delivered in excellent English, was of unusual interest as expressing the feeling of France towards Great Britain, and especially towards Scotland. The tributes of praise to Scottish soldiers, sailors and nurses are as generous and as discriminating as those to Scottish scholars, statesmen and institutions, although the place and circumstances of the address naturally led the speaker to adopt a laudatory rather than a critical tone throughout. But what gives the address its peculiar value is the intimate estimate by the President of the French Republic of one great Scotsman, the British Commander-in-Chief, whom M. Poincare singled out as possessing typical national characteristics. Withdrawing for a moment the veil which usually hides the proceedings at critical conferences, M. Poincare told the story of his consultation with Field-Marshal Haig on two occasions, when the fate of the Western Powers seemed to be hanging in the balance, and when the Field-Marshal not only showed his clear-sightedness and moral energy, but acted with 'a patriotism and a loyalty which will make him still greater in the world's history.' The sincerity of this personal tribute is unmistakable. In addition to the print of the Rectorial Address, the French Government has also issued in their 'Petite Collection Historique' a series of eleven charming booklets containing speeches by the President on various public occasions during the last two years. These cover a wide field, including an oration in memory of authors who have died during the War, an address delivered at the Sorbonne, and speeches at Verdun and Nancy.
Here is his address...
Ladies and Gentlemen,
I must offer you many excuses. I am first obliged to confess my ignorance of the English language. I saw in some too kindly-disposed newspapers of Paris and London that I had learned during the war to read and to speak it; but that was very likely a discreet and roundabout way of letting me know that the Rector of a great Scottish University ought to have, at least, a good British education. Unfortunately, the life I have led for a long time has left little room for leisure and holidays, and if I wanted to-day to be received among you as a matriculated student, I should need the indulgence of my masters, and I should risk exposing myself to the jokes and jests of my comrades, because of the defects of my style and the mistakes in my pronunciation.
These regrets are not the only ones I have to express to you. I have remained for five years a debtor of yours. I have derogated for five years from your traditions. Twice did you do me the favour of prolonging exceptionally my Rectorship, in order to give me the opportunity of delivering before you the usual address.
My debt has been therefore growing, surcharged with compound interest. I am unable now to pay it; but, at least, Gentlemen, I will always cherish for you an everlasting gratitude.
When informed, in 1914, of the great honour you had bestowed on me, I felt my heart full of pride and emotion.
Previously, as I have been told, you had never granted the title of Rector to a foreigner. I could not then help being very much alive to the token of friendship you gave spontaneously to the President of the French Republic. I understood that your delicate attention was addressed to my country, rather than to myself, and this thought has made me appreciate it doubly.
No other dignity could have been more precious to me than the one you have conferred on me. It bound me, as if with ties of kinship, to the family of one of the most glorious Universities in the world, and it gave me the delightful illusion of sharing the moral heritage of the masters who have taught in Glasgow from the fifteenth century till now.
I have been almost tempted to regard as one of my forefathers that famous Buchanan, the poet and scholar who was formerly a professor, sometimes in your town, at other times in Paris or Bordeaux, who was one of the private teachers of our Michel de Montaigne, and who thus, when living, was a powerful representative of the Scottish spirit in France, and of the French spirit in Scotland.
For one moment, I believe, I was even vain enough to fancy myself a successor of the other great men who have made your University so illustrious, as for instance Francis Hutcheson, James Watt, Joseph Black, William Hunter, Adam Smith, and, but yesterday, the wonderful genius whose discoveries relating to electricity and heat have caused such a complete revolution in science, I mean Lord Kelvin.
My self-love was also pleased in recalling the celebrated statesmen, living or dead, who had preceded me in the high office I have been invested with by the Students of Glasgow; and I felt greatly honoured in seeing myself introduced by the Scottish youth to such an eminent society.
But I was above all deeply touched to find, in my election, a fresh mark of that “auld alliance,” which, in days of yore, united both our peoples, and which has received from these last years a revival of strength.
It is Scotland that, many centuries ago, sowed the first germs of the Cordial Entente; and there is no Scot, there is no Frenchman, who does not remember the words of Shakespeare:
If that you will France win,
Then with Scotland first begin.
Every French boy, when learning his national history, finds there, on each page, the name of Scotland, sister and friend of his own country. He sees our soldiers fighting side by side, either on the continent or on your borders and in your glens. He sees Joan of Arc riding with her Scottish escort. He sees the long line of the kings of France, including Lewis the Fourteenth, surrounded by a Scottish Guard.
When I was quite a child, Romance itself joined with History in exciting my fancy and inspiring me with love for Scotland. We all had in the library of our grandfathers a French translation of the works of Walter Scott (I may say by the bye that my collection was burnt by the Hun shells during the war) ; and, when tired and a little bored by reading Greek and Latin, we used to steal one of those dear books from the reserved shelves, and our wandering thoughts took refuge in one of the Waverley novels such as Rob Roy or Old Mortality.
We thus accustomed ourselves to know, through the eyes of the mind, the landscapes of Scotland, and so old Caledonia was for us a familiar country, and we became acquainted with your land,
Land of brown heath and shaggy wood,
Land of the mountain and the flood.
As for myself, I must own, although I never came to Scotland till now, that I have spent in Scotland the best hours of my childhood.
Later on, when French boys are growing up, they are sure to meet the smiling face of Scotland at every step on their way. If they go to the “Quartier Latin” as students, they will find in the street of Cardinal-Lemoine a venerable house, above the doorway of which they will read this inscription: “College des Ecossais” — “College of the Scots,” and they will be reminded that of old, for several centuries, students from Glasgow, from Aberdeen, from Edinburgh, thronged to this ancient building in order to attend, on the Mount Sainte-Genevieve, the public lectures of the Sorbonne.
To-day it is also in your Universities that this intellectual sympathy shows itself between both our countries, and you have just established, here at Glasgow, a chair for French Language and Literature, which you have confided to Mr Charles Martin, whose talents you have already long appreciated. I heard, with great pleasure, that, even before the war broke out, from 1898 to 1914, the number of the students of French rose from thirty to four hundred; and that from 1900 onward, they have been able to form together a friendly society, a University French Club, which they have called “The Thistle,” and that there are held numerous meetings, with recitations and dramatic performances, the entire business of which is conducted in French, in order to give the members the means of gaining confidence and fluency in speaking French.
I have a twofold reason in liking the name of this Club. The Thistle is not only the emblem of Scotland. By a coincidence that is very agreeable to me, it is also the emblem of a French town, which was the cradle of my family, the town of Nancy, and the device inscribed below this plant in the arms of the Lorraine capital— you know it perhaps—is the following: “Non inultus premor” or, in the French language: “Qui s’y frotte s’y pique,” “He who rubs against it, pricks himself.” During the last war, the Hun rubbed himself against Scotland and Nancy; he pricked himself till he bled.
Thus, when I came to Great Britain in 1913, the intimacy between Scotland and France was already consecrated by a long tradition; and I was not surprised when, in London, Lord Reay delivered to me a warm message from the Scottish branch of the Franco-Scottish Society.
At that time, neither of our countries dreamt of the terrible calamity that was soon to overwhelm the world; but we well knew that if, in opposition to our common wishes and efforts, peace were ever broken, Scots and Frenchmen would find themselves shoulder to shoulder on the battlefield.
No one has had more and better opportunities than I, of witnessing the deeds of valour and devotion performed during the last four years, on the soil of France, by the men and women of Scotland, and I am glad to assure them to-day of the gratitude of my fellow-countrymen.
I often saw the Scottish Red Cross at work, and I paid several visits to its ambulances, either in Paris or in the zone of the armies. I especially admired in the Hospital of Royaumont the services directed by a lady surgeon of great worth, Miss Mary Ivens. More than seven thousand wounded Frenchmen were taken care of in this one establishment, and during the offensives of the Somme, of the Chemin des Dames, of the Malmaison, of Montdidier, the Scottish doctors and nurses toiled with a deep feeling of self-abnegation and sacrifice to which to-day I rejoice to pay, before a Scottish audience, my solemn homage.
As to the Scottish soldiers, I had long known of their reputation: “Lions in the field and lambs in the home."
I have myself verified, in many circumstances, that they have remained worthy of their old fame.
Among all the peoples of the British Empire, Scotland has afforded, in proportion to the number of her inhabitants, one of the most considerable contingents; and her recruits have shown proof of their great warlike spirit.
The youth of your Universities, and especially those of Glasgow, have enlisted enthusiastically. Their minds had been formed by masters who had inspired them with the sense of responsibility and with firmness of purpose: they were thus prepared for victory. The Scottish battalions have shared in the hardest fights, and have everywhere behaved with an indomitable gallantry.
As soon as your troops began to strive for liberty on the soil of France, the remembrance of past comradeship awoke in the hearts of our soldiers and yours.
Eight out of eleven. Scottish regiments formerly went to the Crimea with the French army. Lately all the eleven, both Highland and Lowland Regiments, have had occasion to fraternize with those we have familiarly called our “Poilus.”
I have often seen, in the French villages, intimately mingled with our peasants, the Scots Guards, the Royal Scots, the Cameron Highlanders, the Gordon Highlanders, the Argyle and Sutherland Highlanders, the Black Watch, the Seaforth Highlanders, the King’s Own Scottish Borderers, and how many others!
And I heard, about the Royal Scots, an old anecdote In which is truly painted the emulation that animated the French and Scottish troops in times of yore. Some French Officers maintained that their own Regiment was so ancient that it was on duty at the tomb of Christ after the crucifixion. “Well, if the Royal Scots had been there with you,” answered the Scottish officers, “no man would have slept at his post.” In this war likewise, no Scot has slept at his post.
The three divisions which were entirely formed of Scottish troops, namely the Ninth, the Fifteenth, and the Fifty-First, have performed splendid achievements.
The Ninth twice took the field near the Somme in 1916; twice in Flanders in 1917; once near the Somme and once in Flanders in 1918.
The Fifteenth fought at Loos in 1915; twice near the Somme in 1916; at Arras and in Flanders in 1917; in Picardy and on the Marne in 1918.
The Fifty-First Division, that also gained everywhere the admiration of the Allies, signalized itself in 1915 at Festubert, where it lost fifteen hundred men; in 1916, on the Somme, where it lost eight thousand five hundred men, and on the Ancre, where it lost two thousand five hundred men; in 1917, at Roeux, where it lost three thousand men; in Flanders, where it lost, in two battles, two thousand five hundred men; round Cambrai, where it took Havrincourt, Flesquieres, Fontaine-Notre-Dame, and lost two thousand five hundred men; in 1918, in the sector of Morchies-Bapaume, where it lost five thousand men, and was honourably mentioned in the despatches of the Commander-in-Chief; and, lastly, in the month of July 1918, amidst the French armies of Champagne, where it bravely attacked the Huns before Rheims, and lost again two thousand men.
How many valiant Scots are thus lying in the soil of France, after fighting for the common ideal of both our nations? To the mothers and widows of these heroes, I give the assurance that their image will ever be engraved in the memory and the heart of my country, and that the French women will take care of their graves as if they were those where their own husbands and children are sleeping.
I had before my eyes, in 1917, a spectacle which fitly symbolized this national gratitude. The small town of Nesles had been just liberated by Scottish troops. I immediately hastened to see the poor people: the inhabitants were happy and cheerful: they had so long waited for their release! Release which, by the way, was unfortunately of short duration; for, the next year, the town was again taken by the Germans. But, in 1917, the population thought only of their present good luck. A Scottish battalion was drilling and marching in perfect order; a Scottish band was playing on the square tunes which were eagerly applauded by the crowd: “Scotland the Brave,” and “The Kilt’s my delight.” The bagpipers went to and fro among the clapping of hands and the waving of hats, while the thundering of cannons was still heard in the distance.
Meantime the inhabitants kept repeating to me: “What fine troops! and how pleased we are to welcome them! The Germans continually told us that the British Army was worth nothing, and that they had never seen any Scots before them in the field. We well knew they used to lie. Nevertheless we did not suppose that those soldiers, whom they pretended to disdain so much, were so remarkably trained! If the Germans have not seen Scots on the front, it is probably because the Scots saw their heels! ”
You have not only provided the British Army with valorous troops, but also with chiefs, like General Horne, whom I had the pleasure of meeting many times at the head of his army, or General Hunter Weston, who commanded the Eighth Corps, and with whom I went last year through Valenciennes and several other towns his troops had freed.
But what am I saying? Is it not a Scot who was Commander-in-Chief, during the greatest part of the war, of all the armies of the British Empire which were fighting in France and in Belgium?
Two years ago, the French branch of the Franco-Scottish Society gave Field-Marshal Haig, as a token of high esteem, an old signet ring, and Field-Marshal Haig, when thanking the Chairman, my cousin and friend Mr Boutroux, wrote to him: “I venture to think that never before, not even in the days of the 'auld alliance,’ did my Scottish countrymen appreciate the worth of the people of France so highly as we all do to-day.” Frenchmen also, in their turn, may say that never better than to-day have they appreciated the worth of the Scottish people.
And I will add without any flattery that Field-Marshal Haig has embodied, during this long war, all the finest qualities of your nation. I saw him in the most tragic hours, and I presided at times over important conferences where he gave proof of as much clear sightedness as moral energy.
I was at his Headquarters with His Majesty the King, on the eve of the last great British offensive. He explained to us his plan, and pointed out his aims on a map with a masterly precision. On the morrow, everything he foretold was realized, and all had happened in the order he had intended and at the very time he had fixed.
This strategic science is accompanied, in your celebrated fellow-countryman, with a spirit of resolution and with a disinterestedness of which I am glad to evoke two striking examples.
In 1916, the French army was defending the town of Verdun against the German rush with a tenacity which filled the whole world with wonder and respect; but it suffered enormous losses and, in spite of its courage, it was obliged to yield ground little by little, and the enemy slowly neared the walls of the town. All the houses were destroyed by bombardment. The streets were obstructed by the rubbish of crumbling buildings. The forts of Douaumont and Vaux were taken. Verdun was exposed to falling into the hands of the Germans.
General Joffre, General Petain, General Nivelle, were all three convinced that it was urgent to help Verdun by attacking on another point of the front. A council of war was held under my presidency, to which Field-Marshal Haig came with willing courtesy. We requested him to support the great operations our Staff was preparing on the Somme. He readily agreed to do so; he gave exactly the faithful assistance he had promised; and Verdun was saved!
In the month of March 1918, I again met Field-Marshal Haig in still more dramatic circumstances. The Fifth British Army, commanded by General Gough, being violently assailed, fell back towards Amiens. English and French troops were threatened with being cut off from each other. If the enemy could succeed in stealing in between them, the way was open before him to Paris. The English army was then in danger of being driven into the sea, and the French army exposed to a great attack on flank and rear. The disaster would be irretrievable.
I went to the British Headquarters with the French Prime Minister, Mr Clemenceau, with Lord Milner, with General Foch, and with General Petain. It was obvious that the only means of preventing a catastrophe was to entrust one sole chief with the right and power of harmonizing the plans and the operations of both our armies.
Suppose that, at this moment, susceptibility, self-love, pride, or ambition had gained the mastery, and given rise to discussions: we were helplessly lost. Thanks to Field-Marshal Haig and to General Petain, that risk was at once avoided.
Both of them consented to yield the precedence to General Foch, with a patriotism and a loyalty which will make them still greater in the world’s history.
As soon as they had agreed to receive the direction of the Chief who was afterwards raised to the dignity of Field-Marshal in Great Britain and in France, they became his surest and most devoted assistants, and Victory, that probably, without this unity of Command, would have eluded their grasp, rewarded their nobility of soul and inscribed her name on their banners.
I am speaking particularly of the British land forces, because during the course of these four long years I often went through the encampments and the trenches, and I was an eyewitness of the heroism the soldiers everywhere showed. But I do not forget the decisive part the British Navy has played in the war, and I know the great contribution Scotland, and in Scotland, Glasgow, has furnished as well in the recruitment of the crews as in active shipbuilding. Both by sea and by land has the Scottish youth, with the French youth, bravely defended right and freedom.
Thus, your ancestors opened the way to the “Entente Cordiale,” and you, Gentlemen, you have successfully endeavoured in the war to strengthen our alliance for all time. How can the ties between our countries ever be severed?
We have henceforth to turn this revived friendship to good account; we have to make it fruitful.
Let us meet one another more often and know one another better and better. You, Scotchmen, and above all, you, young Scots, my friends, come to France; we Frenchmen, let us go to Scotland.
Let us exchange our ideas as well as our products.
Let us see that our Universities become the source of a wide and fertilizing intellectual current between our two nations. Let us see that our manufacturers, traders, business-men, enlarge our commercial relations.
Let us advise France to study the past history and the literature of Scotland. Let us advise Scotland to penetrate as deeply as possible into the French mind, to discern our qualities, and even to understand indulgently our defects.
If we wish to reap all the advantages of peace, we ought to stand side by side in the works of peace. The nations that have borne together the sorrows of war, and that have learned through that fiery trial to esteem and love each other, must now unite their powers of labour and the resources of their genius for the sake of civilization and progress.
Yesterday has dictated to everyone the duty of tomorrow; and, for a French Rector of a great Scottish University, the only means of not being too unworthy of the title he has received from the spontaneous kindness of the Students will consist in devoting the remainder of his life to this brotherly co-operation of both our peoples.
I willingly pledge my faith to you, Ladies and Gentlemen, that I will never forsake a task the greatness of which I know; and which concerns not only the future of our nations, but also the very fate of mankind.
And that's it for this week and hope you all enjoy your weekend.
Alastair
http://www.electricscotland.com/
Electric Scotland News
alastairi@electricscotland.com
I regret to say my email address has been taken over by some person and hence I am now seeing a lot of emails from this email address that are clearly spam. I have talked to Steve and he says he's unable to do anything about it. I believe this is called phishing.
That being the case I'd advise you to block this email address in your email software. I will now change over to using my gmail accountelectricscotland@gmail.com for my regular email. I will however continue to keep that email address for anyone needing to send me larger than 10 Mb file attachments. I'm hoping when I eventually complete the move to SFU that I can get this email address back but we'll have to see how it goes.
Brexit
By the time you read this newsletter likely the polls will have closed and counting has begun and whichever way you decided I hope we'll join together and do what we can to heal any rifts that may occur. The overall result is not expected until around 7 am GMT on Friday but indications on where it is going will likely come in earlier.
I spent a lot of time this week on adding comments to the various newspaper articles on Brexit promoting my recommendation to vote "leave".
Our 2016 CLSI Clan Leslie Gathering is fast approaching, are you still considering attending? As of June 22, 133 have registered!
We need to receive all registrations and payment no later than Friday, July 15th.
T-shirts need to be made, banquet meals at the hotel need to be ordered and prepaid, entrance wrist bands need to be purchased for the Fergus Games gate admission, etc. - so for all of this to be done, we need all registrations by July 15th.
For registration forms and information about our events, please have a look under the events tab at our websitehttp://www.clanlesliesociety.org/
While viewing the event information on the website, please click on "NEW GATHERING UPDATES AS OF JUNE 17, 2016". Many people and organizations are working with us to make this a very special event.
Also, while at the site, please note that we are planning a Silent Auction, proceeds to be contributed to the CLSI Library Fund. Do you have Clan Leslie related items that you would like to re-home? If you do, please contact David Leslie White, clanleslie@earthlink.net
If you have questions about the gathering, please send an e-mail to: Robert Leslie, 1832leslie@gmail.com
I might add to this announcement that if you have never been to Canada this would be an excellent way of taking this first trip.
Scottish News from this weeks newspapers
Note that this is a selection and more can be read in our ScotNews feed on our index page. I am partly doing this to build an archive of modern news from and about Scotland as all the newsletters are archived and also indexed on Google and other search engines.
Scotland to increase armed police numbers
Scotland is to increase its number of armed police officers by about a third
Read more at:
http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-scotland-...itics-36547739
Why leaving the EU could be an opportunity
For the first time in more than four decades we will have the opportunity to forge new trade deals with emerging economies.
For the first time in more than four decades we will have the opportunity to forge new trade deals with emerging economies. We may celebrate our heritage and history as a trading nation, but as an EU member we are legally prevented from pursuing such deals. Yet because the EU must negotiate on behalf of all 28 of its member states, each with its own, often conflicting, priorities, such negotiations are never simple and always prolonged. Even after nine years, the much-anticipated deal with one of our most important customers, India, is still not completed.
A vote to leave will also give us the opportunity to take back control of our own borders – an opportunity that most countries globally take for granted but which, within the EU, is simply not allowed.
Read more at:
https://inews.co.uk/opinion/comment/...u-opportunity/
End of an era at world-famous Dunvegan Hotel
One of golf’s most famous 19th holes goes on the market
Read more at:
https://www.thecourier.co.uk/fp/news...unvegan-hotel/
Scots pay high price for better road and rail links
Major Scottish transport projects like dualling the A9 and extending Edinburgh’s tram line could cost up to seven times as much as similar European schemes
Read more at:
http://www.scotsman.com/news/transpo...inks-1-4158461
Brain scan software could save lives of soldiers
New brain scanning software being developed by the University of Aberdeen could save the lives of soldiers on the front line
Read more at:
http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-scotland-...tland-36574787
Battling to keep alive the history of Arbroath
Retired North American insurance business owner Robert Nock has been visiting friends in Arbroath for the past 14 years.
Read more at:
https://www.thecourier.co.uk/fp/life...tory-arbroath/
Lidl unwraps £50m Scottish investment plans
Discount retailer Lidl has unveiled a £50 million investment in Scotland as it looks to continue to take market share off the big four supermarket chains.
Read more at:
http://www.scotsman.com/business/com...lans-1-4160450
The 176th Royal Highland Show gets underway in Edinburgh
The 176th Royal Highland Show gets underway later, with about 200,000 people expected to attend by Sunday.
Read more at:
http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-scotland-...-fife-36596613
European accolade for digital trade body ScotlandIS
ScotlandIS, the digital technologies trade body, has become the first organisation in Scotland to be accredited by a European scheme for cluster excellence.
Read more at:
http://www.scotsman.com/business/com...ndis-1-4161203
Ruth Davidson was the star at Wembley
Along with Nicola Sturgeon and Kezia Dugdale, the Scottish Tory leader is so normal and competent that she puts her colleagues south of the border to shame
Read more at:
https://www.theguardian.com/commenti...-kezia-dugdale
Minimum alcohol pricing strike down by judges shows Scotland at mercy of EU
The Brexiteers said the European Court of Justice’s decision to strike down the SNP policy demonstrates that we cannot effectively govern while in the bloc.
Read more at:
https://www.thecourier.co.uk/fp/news...ay-brexiteers/
Scots population up by 25,400
UK population tops 65 million
This rise in population obviously has implications in costs for running our NHS and Educations.
Read more at:
http://www.scotsman.com/news/scots-p...lion-1-4162439
Electric Canadian
The Story of Castle Frank, Toronto
By The Rev. Henry Sadding (1895)
You can download this book at: http://www.electriccanadian.com/hist...astlefrank.pdf
Bemocked of Destiny
The Actual Struggles and Experiences of a Canadian Pioneer, and the Recollections of a Lifetime by Aenas McCharles (1908) (pdf).
Some great stories of old Scots folk in Cape Breton and Ontario starts this book which you can download at:
http://www.electriccanadian.com/pioneering/bemocked.pdf
Electric Scotland
Reply to a Fishing article by David Thomson
I read an interesting article on the UK Fishing industry and emailed David for his thoughts on and have added his reply to the site.
You can read this at: http://www.electricscotland.com/inde.../fishingeu.htm
Fishing Industry in Scotland
A one hour documentary on the Fishing industry out of Lossiemouth, Scotland.
You can watch this at: http://www.electricscotland.com/loss...oats/index.htm
The Life and Letters of James MacPherson
By Thomas Bailey Saunders (1894).
Added a link to this book at the foot of his page at:
http://www.electricscotland.com/hist...rson_james.htm
Life and Correspondence of the Later Rev. Henry Belfrage, D.D. of Falkirk
By the Rev. John M'Kerrow and The Rev. John M'Farlane (1837)
You can read this book at: http://www.electricscotland.com/bibl...y_belfrage.pdf
Home Songs
A Collection of Favourite Songs, Hymns and Rounds for the Fireside. I added this book to the foot of our Singalong page at: http://www.electricscotland.com/poet...son/singalong/
Pictures from the Highlands
Stan Bruce sent in a wee collection of pictures from his visit to the Isle of Skye which you can see at:
http://www.electricscotland.com/historic/highland.html
Clan Map from Lochcarron
Have added a link to take you to this interactive clan map which also shows the clan crest and tartan to our main Clan Page on the column on the right of the page at: http://www.electricscotland.com/webclans/index.html
A Short History of the Old Green Markets
And of the Waverley Market with Appendix on the House of Lords Decision on the Market Case by Peter Gemmell (1906). Added a link to this book at the foot of our Edinburgh page at: http://www.electricscotland.com/history/edinburgh/
Robert Burns Lives!
Edited by Frank Shaw
Robert Burns Was Not A Gaelic Speaker but, By Murdo Morrison
Many names float around the global world of Robert Burns and when I hear of these individuals, I look forward to meeting them in person. Many times I know the name but not the individual. One such name is Murdo Morrison and although he was unable to write an article for me some time back, as luck would have it, a few days ago an email showed up on my laptop from him. It seems we both have wanted to contact each other for some time to introduce ourselves. We have a lot of things in common but the overriding connection is our love for Robert Burns. Murdo is busy doing his thing for Burns in Scotland and I try to do mine here in the States.
Below is an interesting article written by Murdo explaining some of what he does for Burns. I thoroughly enjoyed the article and gladly pass it along to our many readers knowing you will too. A part of Murdo’s article involves The Twa Dogs, one of my favorite pieces by Burns. He loved dogs as I have all my life. Ironically this past week our son Scott, his wife Denise and our two grandchildren, Ian and Stirling, spent the week at Amelia Island (just across the Georgia border in Florida) attending our annual Georgia Health Care convention. Susan and I decided not to go this year as travel does not appeal to us now as much as it did a few years ago. As a result, we were happy to take care of their two beautiful Boxer dogs, Zoe and Dodger - one old, one young; one wise in experience, one a six-month old pup; one very alert, highly active, and playful, the other nearly blind in one eye but one of the sweetest ninety-five-pound dogs on earth. If you like a loving dog, Zoe will return your love pound for pound. Dodger still has a few things to learn in that department. We were blessed having Zoe and Dodger for a week, and Murdo will say a little about Burns’s The Twa Dogs which will help us understand what Burns was saying. Welcome, Murdo! Enjoy his article, readers!
Both men pictured below have been guests at our Robert Burns cottage in Atlanta and left us with good thoughts of Scotland. (FRS: 6.20.2016)
You can read this article at: http://www.electricscotland.com/fami...s_lives240.htm
The Story
Address delivered by Mr. Raymond Poincaré, President of the French Republic, Lord Rector of the University of Glasgow, 1914-1919 on November 13th 1919
FOR nearly five hundred years the University of Glasgow has elected a Rector, whose post has for long been an honorary one, entailing no greater labour than the delivery of one address during the three years' tenure of office. The post, during the last century or more, has usually been held by a distinguished statesman in earlier days by ecclesiastics; and it is curious that the highest honour which the undergraduates of the University have in their power to bestow, has rarely been offered to a man on account of his scholastic or literary or scientific work. The last holder of the office, however, was probably the only Lord Rector who was the head of a Great Nation, and M. Poincare's address, which was delivered in excellent English, was of unusual interest as expressing the feeling of France towards Great Britain, and especially towards Scotland. The tributes of praise to Scottish soldiers, sailors and nurses are as generous and as discriminating as those to Scottish scholars, statesmen and institutions, although the place and circumstances of the address naturally led the speaker to adopt a laudatory rather than a critical tone throughout. But what gives the address its peculiar value is the intimate estimate by the President of the French Republic of one great Scotsman, the British Commander-in-Chief, whom M. Poincare singled out as possessing typical national characteristics. Withdrawing for a moment the veil which usually hides the proceedings at critical conferences, M. Poincare told the story of his consultation with Field-Marshal Haig on two occasions, when the fate of the Western Powers seemed to be hanging in the balance, and when the Field-Marshal not only showed his clear-sightedness and moral energy, but acted with 'a patriotism and a loyalty which will make him still greater in the world's history.' The sincerity of this personal tribute is unmistakable. In addition to the print of the Rectorial Address, the French Government has also issued in their 'Petite Collection Historique' a series of eleven charming booklets containing speeches by the President on various public occasions during the last two years. These cover a wide field, including an oration in memory of authors who have died during the War, an address delivered at the Sorbonne, and speeches at Verdun and Nancy.
Here is his address...
Ladies and Gentlemen,
I must offer you many excuses. I am first obliged to confess my ignorance of the English language. I saw in some too kindly-disposed newspapers of Paris and London that I had learned during the war to read and to speak it; but that was very likely a discreet and roundabout way of letting me know that the Rector of a great Scottish University ought to have, at least, a good British education. Unfortunately, the life I have led for a long time has left little room for leisure and holidays, and if I wanted to-day to be received among you as a matriculated student, I should need the indulgence of my masters, and I should risk exposing myself to the jokes and jests of my comrades, because of the defects of my style and the mistakes in my pronunciation.
These regrets are not the only ones I have to express to you. I have remained for five years a debtor of yours. I have derogated for five years from your traditions. Twice did you do me the favour of prolonging exceptionally my Rectorship, in order to give me the opportunity of delivering before you the usual address.
My debt has been therefore growing, surcharged with compound interest. I am unable now to pay it; but, at least, Gentlemen, I will always cherish for you an everlasting gratitude.
When informed, in 1914, of the great honour you had bestowed on me, I felt my heart full of pride and emotion.
Previously, as I have been told, you had never granted the title of Rector to a foreigner. I could not then help being very much alive to the token of friendship you gave spontaneously to the President of the French Republic. I understood that your delicate attention was addressed to my country, rather than to myself, and this thought has made me appreciate it doubly.
No other dignity could have been more precious to me than the one you have conferred on me. It bound me, as if with ties of kinship, to the family of one of the most glorious Universities in the world, and it gave me the delightful illusion of sharing the moral heritage of the masters who have taught in Glasgow from the fifteenth century till now.
I have been almost tempted to regard as one of my forefathers that famous Buchanan, the poet and scholar who was formerly a professor, sometimes in your town, at other times in Paris or Bordeaux, who was one of the private teachers of our Michel de Montaigne, and who thus, when living, was a powerful representative of the Scottish spirit in France, and of the French spirit in Scotland.
For one moment, I believe, I was even vain enough to fancy myself a successor of the other great men who have made your University so illustrious, as for instance Francis Hutcheson, James Watt, Joseph Black, William Hunter, Adam Smith, and, but yesterday, the wonderful genius whose discoveries relating to electricity and heat have caused such a complete revolution in science, I mean Lord Kelvin.
My self-love was also pleased in recalling the celebrated statesmen, living or dead, who had preceded me in the high office I have been invested with by the Students of Glasgow; and I felt greatly honoured in seeing myself introduced by the Scottish youth to such an eminent society.
But I was above all deeply touched to find, in my election, a fresh mark of that “auld alliance,” which, in days of yore, united both our peoples, and which has received from these last years a revival of strength.
It is Scotland that, many centuries ago, sowed the first germs of the Cordial Entente; and there is no Scot, there is no Frenchman, who does not remember the words of Shakespeare:
If that you will France win,
Then with Scotland first begin.
Every French boy, when learning his national history, finds there, on each page, the name of Scotland, sister and friend of his own country. He sees our soldiers fighting side by side, either on the continent or on your borders and in your glens. He sees Joan of Arc riding with her Scottish escort. He sees the long line of the kings of France, including Lewis the Fourteenth, surrounded by a Scottish Guard.
When I was quite a child, Romance itself joined with History in exciting my fancy and inspiring me with love for Scotland. We all had in the library of our grandfathers a French translation of the works of Walter Scott (I may say by the bye that my collection was burnt by the Hun shells during the war) ; and, when tired and a little bored by reading Greek and Latin, we used to steal one of those dear books from the reserved shelves, and our wandering thoughts took refuge in one of the Waverley novels such as Rob Roy or Old Mortality.
We thus accustomed ourselves to know, through the eyes of the mind, the landscapes of Scotland, and so old Caledonia was for us a familiar country, and we became acquainted with your land,
Land of brown heath and shaggy wood,
Land of the mountain and the flood.
As for myself, I must own, although I never came to Scotland till now, that I have spent in Scotland the best hours of my childhood.
Later on, when French boys are growing up, they are sure to meet the smiling face of Scotland at every step on their way. If they go to the “Quartier Latin” as students, they will find in the street of Cardinal-Lemoine a venerable house, above the doorway of which they will read this inscription: “College des Ecossais” — “College of the Scots,” and they will be reminded that of old, for several centuries, students from Glasgow, from Aberdeen, from Edinburgh, thronged to this ancient building in order to attend, on the Mount Sainte-Genevieve, the public lectures of the Sorbonne.
To-day it is also in your Universities that this intellectual sympathy shows itself between both our countries, and you have just established, here at Glasgow, a chair for French Language and Literature, which you have confided to Mr Charles Martin, whose talents you have already long appreciated. I heard, with great pleasure, that, even before the war broke out, from 1898 to 1914, the number of the students of French rose from thirty to four hundred; and that from 1900 onward, they have been able to form together a friendly society, a University French Club, which they have called “The Thistle,” and that there are held numerous meetings, with recitations and dramatic performances, the entire business of which is conducted in French, in order to give the members the means of gaining confidence and fluency in speaking French.
I have a twofold reason in liking the name of this Club. The Thistle is not only the emblem of Scotland. By a coincidence that is very agreeable to me, it is also the emblem of a French town, which was the cradle of my family, the town of Nancy, and the device inscribed below this plant in the arms of the Lorraine capital— you know it perhaps—is the following: “Non inultus premor” or, in the French language: “Qui s’y frotte s’y pique,” “He who rubs against it, pricks himself.” During the last war, the Hun rubbed himself against Scotland and Nancy; he pricked himself till he bled.
Thus, when I came to Great Britain in 1913, the intimacy between Scotland and France was already consecrated by a long tradition; and I was not surprised when, in London, Lord Reay delivered to me a warm message from the Scottish branch of the Franco-Scottish Society.
At that time, neither of our countries dreamt of the terrible calamity that was soon to overwhelm the world; but we well knew that if, in opposition to our common wishes and efforts, peace were ever broken, Scots and Frenchmen would find themselves shoulder to shoulder on the battlefield.
No one has had more and better opportunities than I, of witnessing the deeds of valour and devotion performed during the last four years, on the soil of France, by the men and women of Scotland, and I am glad to assure them to-day of the gratitude of my fellow-countrymen.
I often saw the Scottish Red Cross at work, and I paid several visits to its ambulances, either in Paris or in the zone of the armies. I especially admired in the Hospital of Royaumont the services directed by a lady surgeon of great worth, Miss Mary Ivens. More than seven thousand wounded Frenchmen were taken care of in this one establishment, and during the offensives of the Somme, of the Chemin des Dames, of the Malmaison, of Montdidier, the Scottish doctors and nurses toiled with a deep feeling of self-abnegation and sacrifice to which to-day I rejoice to pay, before a Scottish audience, my solemn homage.
As to the Scottish soldiers, I had long known of their reputation: “Lions in the field and lambs in the home."
I have myself verified, in many circumstances, that they have remained worthy of their old fame.
Among all the peoples of the British Empire, Scotland has afforded, in proportion to the number of her inhabitants, one of the most considerable contingents; and her recruits have shown proof of their great warlike spirit.
The youth of your Universities, and especially those of Glasgow, have enlisted enthusiastically. Their minds had been formed by masters who had inspired them with the sense of responsibility and with firmness of purpose: they were thus prepared for victory. The Scottish battalions have shared in the hardest fights, and have everywhere behaved with an indomitable gallantry.
As soon as your troops began to strive for liberty on the soil of France, the remembrance of past comradeship awoke in the hearts of our soldiers and yours.
Eight out of eleven. Scottish regiments formerly went to the Crimea with the French army. Lately all the eleven, both Highland and Lowland Regiments, have had occasion to fraternize with those we have familiarly called our “Poilus.”
I have often seen, in the French villages, intimately mingled with our peasants, the Scots Guards, the Royal Scots, the Cameron Highlanders, the Gordon Highlanders, the Argyle and Sutherland Highlanders, the Black Watch, the Seaforth Highlanders, the King’s Own Scottish Borderers, and how many others!
And I heard, about the Royal Scots, an old anecdote In which is truly painted the emulation that animated the French and Scottish troops in times of yore. Some French Officers maintained that their own Regiment was so ancient that it was on duty at the tomb of Christ after the crucifixion. “Well, if the Royal Scots had been there with you,” answered the Scottish officers, “no man would have slept at his post.” In this war likewise, no Scot has slept at his post.
The three divisions which were entirely formed of Scottish troops, namely the Ninth, the Fifteenth, and the Fifty-First, have performed splendid achievements.
The Ninth twice took the field near the Somme in 1916; twice in Flanders in 1917; once near the Somme and once in Flanders in 1918.
The Fifteenth fought at Loos in 1915; twice near the Somme in 1916; at Arras and in Flanders in 1917; in Picardy and on the Marne in 1918.
The Fifty-First Division, that also gained everywhere the admiration of the Allies, signalized itself in 1915 at Festubert, where it lost fifteen hundred men; in 1916, on the Somme, where it lost eight thousand five hundred men, and on the Ancre, where it lost two thousand five hundred men; in 1917, at Roeux, where it lost three thousand men; in Flanders, where it lost, in two battles, two thousand five hundred men; round Cambrai, where it took Havrincourt, Flesquieres, Fontaine-Notre-Dame, and lost two thousand five hundred men; in 1918, in the sector of Morchies-Bapaume, where it lost five thousand men, and was honourably mentioned in the despatches of the Commander-in-Chief; and, lastly, in the month of July 1918, amidst the French armies of Champagne, where it bravely attacked the Huns before Rheims, and lost again two thousand men.
How many valiant Scots are thus lying in the soil of France, after fighting for the common ideal of both our nations? To the mothers and widows of these heroes, I give the assurance that their image will ever be engraved in the memory and the heart of my country, and that the French women will take care of their graves as if they were those where their own husbands and children are sleeping.
I had before my eyes, in 1917, a spectacle which fitly symbolized this national gratitude. The small town of Nesles had been just liberated by Scottish troops. I immediately hastened to see the poor people: the inhabitants were happy and cheerful: they had so long waited for their release! Release which, by the way, was unfortunately of short duration; for, the next year, the town was again taken by the Germans. But, in 1917, the population thought only of their present good luck. A Scottish battalion was drilling and marching in perfect order; a Scottish band was playing on the square tunes which were eagerly applauded by the crowd: “Scotland the Brave,” and “The Kilt’s my delight.” The bagpipers went to and fro among the clapping of hands and the waving of hats, while the thundering of cannons was still heard in the distance.
Meantime the inhabitants kept repeating to me: “What fine troops! and how pleased we are to welcome them! The Germans continually told us that the British Army was worth nothing, and that they had never seen any Scots before them in the field. We well knew they used to lie. Nevertheless we did not suppose that those soldiers, whom they pretended to disdain so much, were so remarkably trained! If the Germans have not seen Scots on the front, it is probably because the Scots saw their heels! ”
You have not only provided the British Army with valorous troops, but also with chiefs, like General Horne, whom I had the pleasure of meeting many times at the head of his army, or General Hunter Weston, who commanded the Eighth Corps, and with whom I went last year through Valenciennes and several other towns his troops had freed.
But what am I saying? Is it not a Scot who was Commander-in-Chief, during the greatest part of the war, of all the armies of the British Empire which were fighting in France and in Belgium?
Two years ago, the French branch of the Franco-Scottish Society gave Field-Marshal Haig, as a token of high esteem, an old signet ring, and Field-Marshal Haig, when thanking the Chairman, my cousin and friend Mr Boutroux, wrote to him: “I venture to think that never before, not even in the days of the 'auld alliance,’ did my Scottish countrymen appreciate the worth of the people of France so highly as we all do to-day.” Frenchmen also, in their turn, may say that never better than to-day have they appreciated the worth of the Scottish people.
And I will add without any flattery that Field-Marshal Haig has embodied, during this long war, all the finest qualities of your nation. I saw him in the most tragic hours, and I presided at times over important conferences where he gave proof of as much clear sightedness as moral energy.
I was at his Headquarters with His Majesty the King, on the eve of the last great British offensive. He explained to us his plan, and pointed out his aims on a map with a masterly precision. On the morrow, everything he foretold was realized, and all had happened in the order he had intended and at the very time he had fixed.
This strategic science is accompanied, in your celebrated fellow-countryman, with a spirit of resolution and with a disinterestedness of which I am glad to evoke two striking examples.
In 1916, the French army was defending the town of Verdun against the German rush with a tenacity which filled the whole world with wonder and respect; but it suffered enormous losses and, in spite of its courage, it was obliged to yield ground little by little, and the enemy slowly neared the walls of the town. All the houses were destroyed by bombardment. The streets were obstructed by the rubbish of crumbling buildings. The forts of Douaumont and Vaux were taken. Verdun was exposed to falling into the hands of the Germans.
General Joffre, General Petain, General Nivelle, were all three convinced that it was urgent to help Verdun by attacking on another point of the front. A council of war was held under my presidency, to which Field-Marshal Haig came with willing courtesy. We requested him to support the great operations our Staff was preparing on the Somme. He readily agreed to do so; he gave exactly the faithful assistance he had promised; and Verdun was saved!
In the month of March 1918, I again met Field-Marshal Haig in still more dramatic circumstances. The Fifth British Army, commanded by General Gough, being violently assailed, fell back towards Amiens. English and French troops were threatened with being cut off from each other. If the enemy could succeed in stealing in between them, the way was open before him to Paris. The English army was then in danger of being driven into the sea, and the French army exposed to a great attack on flank and rear. The disaster would be irretrievable.
I went to the British Headquarters with the French Prime Minister, Mr Clemenceau, with Lord Milner, with General Foch, and with General Petain. It was obvious that the only means of preventing a catastrophe was to entrust one sole chief with the right and power of harmonizing the plans and the operations of both our armies.
Suppose that, at this moment, susceptibility, self-love, pride, or ambition had gained the mastery, and given rise to discussions: we were helplessly lost. Thanks to Field-Marshal Haig and to General Petain, that risk was at once avoided.
Both of them consented to yield the precedence to General Foch, with a patriotism and a loyalty which will make them still greater in the world’s history.
As soon as they had agreed to receive the direction of the Chief who was afterwards raised to the dignity of Field-Marshal in Great Britain and in France, they became his surest and most devoted assistants, and Victory, that probably, without this unity of Command, would have eluded their grasp, rewarded their nobility of soul and inscribed her name on their banners.
I am speaking particularly of the British land forces, because during the course of these four long years I often went through the encampments and the trenches, and I was an eyewitness of the heroism the soldiers everywhere showed. But I do not forget the decisive part the British Navy has played in the war, and I know the great contribution Scotland, and in Scotland, Glasgow, has furnished as well in the recruitment of the crews as in active shipbuilding. Both by sea and by land has the Scottish youth, with the French youth, bravely defended right and freedom.
Thus, your ancestors opened the way to the “Entente Cordiale,” and you, Gentlemen, you have successfully endeavoured in the war to strengthen our alliance for all time. How can the ties between our countries ever be severed?
We have henceforth to turn this revived friendship to good account; we have to make it fruitful.
Let us meet one another more often and know one another better and better. You, Scotchmen, and above all, you, young Scots, my friends, come to France; we Frenchmen, let us go to Scotland.
Let us exchange our ideas as well as our products.
Let us see that our Universities become the source of a wide and fertilizing intellectual current between our two nations. Let us see that our manufacturers, traders, business-men, enlarge our commercial relations.
Let us advise France to study the past history and the literature of Scotland. Let us advise Scotland to penetrate as deeply as possible into the French mind, to discern our qualities, and even to understand indulgently our defects.
If we wish to reap all the advantages of peace, we ought to stand side by side in the works of peace. The nations that have borne together the sorrows of war, and that have learned through that fiery trial to esteem and love each other, must now unite their powers of labour and the resources of their genius for the sake of civilization and progress.
Yesterday has dictated to everyone the duty of tomorrow; and, for a French Rector of a great Scottish University, the only means of not being too unworthy of the title he has received from the spontaneous kindness of the Students will consist in devoting the remainder of his life to this brotherly co-operation of both our peoples.
I willingly pledge my faith to you, Ladies and Gentlemen, that I will never forsake a task the greatness of which I know; and which concerns not only the future of our nations, but also the very fate of mankind.
And that's it for this week and hope you all enjoy your weekend.
Alastair
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