The
Chanter
Nottingham Scottish Association
Newsletter
JUNE 2015
My heart goes
Boom bang-a-bang, boom bang-a-bang
When you are near
Boom bang-a-bang, boom bang-a-bang
Loud in my ear
Pounding away, pounding away
Won't you be mine?
Boom bang-a-bang-bang all the time
Boom bang-a-bang-bang
I love you
Lulu Kennedy-Cairns, OBE (born Marie McDonald McLaughlin Lawrie, 3
November 1948), best known by her stage name Lulu, is a Scottish singer, actress,
and television personality who has been successful in the entertainment business
from the 1960s.
She is internationally identified, especially by North American audiences, with the
song "To Sir with Love" from the film of the same name and with the title song to the
James Bond film The Man with the Golden Gun. In European countries, she is also
widely known for her Eurovision Song Contest winning entry "Boom Bang-a-Bang"
and in the UK for her first hit "Shout", which was performed at the closing ceremony
of the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow
From the President
As I start this 3rd year in office I’m excited about what we, as an association
offer to our members. To start with you have me. !!!!
We have just shown the ”Nottingham Scottish” can hold its head up high
knowing it did a grand job at the Area Scottish Country Dance Society
Festival.
Book in and bring your friends along to our Murder Mystery on 19th July, see
the sights of Nottingham you didn’t know existed. Also lets have a great gettogether at Newstead Abbey for ‘Iolanthe’ 21st Aug.
As you read this I will no doubt be in Dallas USA visiting my son and family, I
hope you all have great holiday plans for the summer. We will be interested
to read some of them in future Chanters, just forward them to Chris our
editor. As in the newspapers, it’s the holiday disasters that make the best
reading, albeit the ones we can laugh about when we get home. Believe me I
can write a book of my holiday disasters, only last year I had an expensive
disaster when I missed my plane by 24 hours. But that’s old hat now we
want to hear about the 2015 holiday disasters/incredible unique experiences.
Not just ‘we went to **** it was good and we did all the things everyone
does when they go there’.
Here’s hoping we have great summer weather especially for the BBQ walk on
Saturday 8th August 4pm
Bernice
The Annual General Meeting
Thirty one people attended the Annual General Meeting on May 2015. The
President opened the meeting and Reports were given by the Secretary, Treasurer
and Dance/Social Secretary of the year's events. Nominations were received for
committee members and office bearers. Bernice Young was re-elected to serve
one year as President, due to Mark Lees standing down earlier this year for health
reasons from the Vice President's post. David Potter, who had been co-opted in
Mark's place, took on the role as Vice President and was formally elected.
Michael Horrocks, who had been shadowing Shuggie for the last year, was elected
Hon. Secretary. Margaret Barnes has taken on the post of Social Secretary, a job
which she has been doing for some years, without the title. Graham Lyas,
Norma Smith and Mark Lees were elected as new Council Members. Our Editor,
Christine Vincent was re-elected.
At this point Bob Logan informed the meeting that it was in the Constitution that
the President could only serve for two years. The only way round this problem
was for the new council to convene immediately after the AGM and co-opt
Bernice as President for one year. This was duly done. Bill and Jeanne Dall were
surprised and delighted to be awarded Hon. Life Membership for their long time
services to the Association. Shuggie MacInnes also had a surprise, when the
President presented him with an engraved Quaich for his services as Secretary
and wished him well in the future.
The Meeting was closed and followed with dancing and refreshments in the
downstairs hall.
THE FESTIVAL
Saturday 9th May 2015
The 35th Festival of Scottish country dancing was held at a new venue this year, The
Emmanuel School at West Bridgford, which was an easier venue to reach, had good
facilities and an excellent dance floor. This year the Leicester branch of the RSCDS
hosted the festival and we danced to Phil Jones and his Scottish County Dance Band.
During the afternoon The Laird of Milton’s Daughter danced the Rutland reel at Foxhill
Court (maybe) It was also Sunshine and Sweeties for Miss Gibson’s Strathspey under
The Duchess Tree.
The Dundee Whaler and the Highland Rambler meanwhile danced May Yarker’s
Strathspey (Possibly with some difficulty.)
Well, of course these were some of the set dances, which all 13 groups performed
throughout the afternoon festival. Most of the ladies were dressed traditionally in
white but one group decided to wear black skirts.
The solo dances that linked the groups (and gave everyone a little respite) were very
well executed and performed.
Once the afternoon had come to an end (time to breathe a sigh of relief) we refreshed
ourselves with our picnic tea and then it was on to yet more dancing--the evening
programme, which was very entertaining –if a little tiring.
We started off in Goodhearted Glasgow and wrapped ourselves round the Cashmere
Shawl before having a Festival Fling in Old Nick’s Lumber Room We cast over the Kissing
Bridge with Sugar Candy and the Rose of the North before landing on the Glastonbury
Tor. We decided to burn some Midnight Oil before someone cried Follow me Home.
Altogether a very good Festival with lots of fun had by all
Sylvia Hale
Easter walk
Mud, glorious mud! A perfect description of the paths Bernice led us on for the
Nottingham Scottish Easter Saturday walk. Still, as one walker remarked “you can’t
expect not to pick up a bit of mud on a country walk.” At least the weather was on our
side, and although not sunny, it was warm and dry. We set off around the usual time of
10.30 ish from “Tommywoods” with our usual enthusiasm and bonhomie and soon the
serious and less serious subjects of conversation were suspended as we save our breath
for the first ascent of the day.
We reached the sculpture of the iron man walking his dog, slightly breathless to Bernice’s
“Hurry up; we’ve got a photo shoot.” Needless to say she had managed to collar a
willing David Bailey/cum cyclist to point the camera at the group as we put on our best
smiles. Pleased to leave the stiff breeze behind we descended the hill to more level, but
still muddy ground and conversations resumed. The last part of the walk before turning
for home was round part of Dob Park in Hucknall. It was good to see signs of Spring
around us as the trees were budding and the birds were once again singing. One of the
joys of driving out to Linby are the splendid displays of daffodils on the verges. It has to
be the happiest of flowers. No wonder Wordsworth had to put pen to paper in his
famous poem.
By the time we were heading back to Tommywoods we were looking forward to lunch –
and what a fest it was! Bernice had done us proud. We started with a choice of Carrot
and Coriander or Parsnip and Apple soup with some of Geraldine’s homemade bread,
followed by wonderful fresh salmon, roast beef, new potatoes, quiches and various
salads. We finished off with delicious ginger cake, jam tarts, treacle tart and date loaf.
All for £5 – what a bargain, although I sadly missed out on the ginger cake. Needless to
say the food was accompanied by wine and much merriment. It was almost 4.30 p.m.
when the last stragglers went home, replete, tired and very happy.
Guess it’s time to clean my boots for next time.
Margaret Barnes.
Fancy a trip to the Edinburgh Tattoo?
Aug 2016
On the way up we will be visiting the Falkirk Wheel and The
Kelpies - any suggestions for the return journey?
Contact Bernice (0115 9637228) to register an interest
Dates for your diary.
Future Events
Walks
7th July
Walk: Meet 10.30am Tommywoods
8th August Walk and BBQ: Meet 4.00pm
Tommywoods
2nd September 10.30 am Tommywoods
Social
19th July Murder Mystery. Meet 2.30 pm
St Andrews with Castle Gate Church
23rd July Garden Dance 7.00 pm at
Andrew & Sue's house. Bring and share.
Friday 21st August at 7.00pm
NEWSTEAD ABBEY OUTDOORS THEATRE
This year’s outdoor performance is
Gilbert and Sullivan’s
“IOLANTHE”
£15.00 Adults £10.00 Seniors
Please pay for your ticket on the night at
The gate and join us in the grounds
with your picnic and chair at 6.30pm for
this performance.
Restart dancing 3rd September.
Halloween Ceilidh is the 31st October
President puts the boot in recently on holiday in The Netherlands
A walk in the bluebell woods:
be careful who you might see!
ASCDS Festival Team 2015
Aunty Maggie's' Story
This is Maggie in a highland costume. She was not from
Scotland but from Newbury in Berkshire and moved here to
Nottingham with her mother and father and her four siblings:
Arthur, Dolly, Eunice and Steven, at the turn of the twentieth
century.
Great Granddad was a lay preacher and a Sunday school
superintendant
However whilst G.Grandad was supervising other peoples'
children his own appeared to have run amuck!
Arthur who took up with a girl who was thought by his parents to be highly unsuitable
for him. To stop him marrying this girl they found him a job in Australia and bought him
a passage by a ship. A few weeks later a knock came on the door. It was Arthur, who
said he had taken one look at Australia, turned around, worked his passage back and
was now off to London to marry his sweetheart anyway.
Next to leave was Dorothy who stole her mother's bank book and ran away to America
with her boy friend. Great Grandma and G.Grandad never approved of my own
grandma Eunice's choice of partner and made it very clear to her. However, the
youngest son, the most sensible, Steve waited until both his parents were out of the
way before he married.
It is now we come to Aunt Maggie's story. Maggie was a dancer, hence the highland
costume. In her teens she joined a troupe of dancers and ran off, so the story goes to
entertain the troops who were fighting in France.
When G. Granddad found out where she was he was horrified. He said "If she doesn't
watch it she will end up being kidnapped by 'white slave' traders".
So G. Granddad and G. Grandma set off for France to bring her home.
It is very unclear what happened after this. But my own Grandma Eunice, Maggie's
sister said that Maggie suffered some kind of attack or nervous breakdown and that is
why she was sent to Mapperley, a local asylum.
However was this the case, or did her parents disapprove of her life choices? I would
love to find out!
Time went on and older members of our family passed away and were forgotten, until
one day around 1990 the family received a letter from Mapperley Hospital. It was to
say that Margaret's 100th birthday was imminent and would we like to come and see
the Lord Mayor of Nottingham present her with a telegram from the Queen? So we
put on our best togs and went to the party.
When we arrived the staff had gone to so much trouble. Maggie looked lovely in her new
outfit. She had not a clue who we were but seemed to have many friends in the hospital.
They asked us what we knew about her early life. We explained she had been a safely
guarded secret. We knew she was in Mapperley but no one talked about her and we
certainly would not have been encouraged to visit her. We also told them the only other
thing we knew was that she was a dancer.
At this last piece of information the staff gave each other a knowing nod. They explained
that ever since they had known her Maggie had danced and encouraged other patients to
dance.
Although life in mental hospitals in the 20th century was not quite as bleak as we might
imagine, it is sad to think that Maggie missed out on so much. So let us be happy by the
fact that she had her love of dancing to comfort her.
Chris Vincent
I wish to say I'm sorry to Scotland
1. Sorry that some of us lift your kilts up at weddings. You know, to check. That's not on.
2. I'm so sorry I keep calling you Scotch. Scotch is whisky, Scottish is what you are. I get it. Finally.
3. Sorry for Private Frazer in Dad's Army. His depiction as a dour, mean, whiney undertaker was not
the positive role model you deserve.
4. Sorry for beating your national team at rugby. We just thought fighting in mud over something that
doesn't really matter before getting bevvied would be right up your street. Turns out we were wrong.
Apologies.
5. Sorry about Hadrian's Wall. True, the Romans built it to keep you out but we could have bulldozed it
rather than conserving it as a world heritage site and symbol of how civilisation stops – as if! – at
Carlisle.
6. Sorry for incessantly satirising Sean Connery for being a Scottish nationalist who lives in the
Caribbean. It's not funny and it's not clever. It is hypocritical of him, but sorry anyway.
7. Sorry for blaming you for Tony Blair. Yes he is Scottish, but we voted for him.
8. Sorry in general for creating the racial stereotype of Scots as mean. And dour. And whiney. And
violent. And having terrible cuisine. And speaking incomprehensibly. And drunk.
The Contributor of the above does not wish to be identified so I will not do so but thanks Dave
Vincent.
The Editor
West Highland Wandering
As winter staggers on and spring stays stubbornly over the horizon, it’s good to look
forward to getting out and about on warmer days – and also back to summers past.
In doing so, I realised that it is will soon be 20 years since we, Sue and I, tackled the
West Highland Way – and I looked out our photos from the walk. It brought back
some memories...
It’s pushing 100 miles and we aimed to do it in 7 days walking, so the first step was to
pack a rucksack each to last us a week. It’s the West Highlands in summer – first in:
waterproofs, warm clothing, midge repellent. Then fill up with everything else and
find that you have a pack suitable for a commando’s yomp. Eventually throw almost
everything out. And then take out some more. The pack is still heavy, but will have
to do.
We were due to meet our friends and fellow walkers at Milngavie Station. “Don’t
forget to tell the taxi its pronounced Mull-guy” we said. They duly arrived. “That’s
rubbish about Mull-guy” they said. Apparently, the taxi driver said, in broad Glasgow,
“You’ll be meaning Miln-gayvie.” Our credibility on Scottish pronunciations shot from
the start! Oh, the ignorance of taxi drivers!
The first day’s walk is long but relatively simple – if you don’t divert to the pub in
Drymen (pronounced ‘Drimmen’ not ‘Dry-Men’ as long as you don’t ask a taxi driver)
for lunch. That way, you add extra miles and the beer drains into your legs.
Eventually, after about 17 miles, you reach Conic Hill and – the clue is in the name –
it’s up. Slowly. The view over Loch Lomond is stunning and the walk down was
painful. Only another 6 days to go.
Day two dawned and a rare Scottish heat wave began. Fortunately the shores of Loch
Lomond are mostly wooded and kept us relatively cool. A dip in the Loch also helped
– and it must have been warm as I usually require tropical temperatures to venture
into the water. It takes the best part of two days walking through delightful
woodland to reach the top end of the Loch at Ardlui. A stop at the Drovers Inn is
always welcome – it is really snug on a cold winter’s day. Pity it was pushing 30 o
when we got there.
After that the track leaves the forest and follows the valley up to Crianlarich and on
to Tyndrum. By now the feet were feeling the pace and between the four of us, one
rucksack and one pair of boots were falling apart. Fortunately the Green Welly Stop
provided a new rucksack (and a handy bin for the old one), superglue for the boots
and blister treatment for the feet. And high factor sunscreen.
From Tyndrum the path goes north to Bridge of Orchy (and a very welcome hotel)
and up on to Rannoch Moor. Rannoch Moor is treeless and often windswept and
cold. This time the sun beat down relentlessly and it felt more like crossing the
desert. You almost expected to see bleached skeletons rising out of the heat haze.
The King’s House Hotel in Glencoe is a historic hotel. Unfortunately in 1995 the
standards of service were equally historic and the manager had clearly received
training at the Basil Fawlty School of Hospitality. The weather looked like getting
even hotter the next day, so we ordered a packed lunch and headed for bed early –
to find the packed lunch already waiting for us. Think high temperatures and no
fridge.
Cleverly avoiding the heat of the day, we set off before 7.00am to climb the Devil’s
Staircase out of Glencoe – pausing only to admire the magnificent scenery of Glencoe
(and to donate the now inedible sandwiches to a passing sheep). A relatively short
walk saw us in Kinlochleven in time for a leisurely lunch, a snooze and a dip in the
Loch.
Sue and Andrew on the Devil’s Staircase.
The final day takes you through some of the finest mountains in Scotland with views
down to the pap of Glencoe, into the Mamores range and north towards the
gradually increasing bulk of Ben Nevis. We reached Fort William and the end of the
trail by late afternoon – footsore, hot and tired - but nothing that a bath and a good
meal couldn’t cure!
And those waterproofs? And the warm clothing? A complete waste of effort – it was
T shirt and shorts all the way! We washed them by hand every evening and they
were dry by morning. Not bad for a Scottish Summer.
Andrew Morriso
Obituary: Stuart McWilliam
Born 9th March 1915 Stuart was 100 years old & celebrated his birthday in style on
Sunday 8th of March this year. I helped him celebrate with family & friends at
Bramcote Hills Care Home. He and his first wife Jean founded the Galloway dancers
who came to dance for him which he greatly enjoyed. The next day (his actual
birthday) he celebrated again with the residents & staff.
The card from the Queen took pride of place along with the many cards from well
wishers and a cake with a "100" candle.
Stuart and his wife Jean were members of the Nottingham Scottish for many years;
Stuart served as Dance Secretary for a number of years before going on to be the
First President to serve for two years. Sadly Jean died during the time Stuart took up
the presidency and Marian stood in as his consort. Stuart later married Marian and
they continued to support the Nottingham Scottish while in good health. Marian
died in February and Stuart died a few days after his birthday celebrations.
Norma Smith.
If you would like anything to be included in the next Chanter then please send it to
[email protected] or The Chanter
20, Devitt Drive, Hucknall, Nottingham NG15 8BL
telephone 0115 952 3006 by the last day of AUGUST 2015