Eastern Jhb Callies January 2009 newsletter
Patrick Craven
Eastern Johannesburg Caledonian Society
PO Box 15049 Farramere 1518
Chief: Fred Brokenshire - Secretary: Janette Pollock - Newsletter Editor: Patrick Craven
JANUARY 2009 NEWSLETTER
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A very happy New Year to all our readers.
Lang may yer lumb reek!
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CONDOLENCES
We were very sorry to hear of the passing, in December, of Christina Scott, aged 97, and send our condolences to Maureen and Ron Stonebanks on their sad loss.
DIARY
Burns Night
Saturday 24 January 2009, 19h00 for 19h30, Benoni Country Club, Morris Avenue, Morehill. Tickets R100, children R50 a head, which includes fully catered meal. Cash bar.
This is the great traditional celebration of the life and works of our national poet, whose 250th birthday we celebrate this year (See the report from Cape Town below). Please book early by calling Jean on 011 849 1627. Tickets are already selling fast.
WELCOME BACK and BON VOYAGE
To Beth Cameron who is briefly back from Australia before flying off to England again at the end of the month, and to past Chief Tracyann Hynd, who was back for the festive season, but is now back home in Fife.
WELCOME BACK
To Jean and Brian Christie and Angela and John Myles, who have all returned safely from holidays in Scotland.
CONGRATULATIONS
Happy birthday this month to: Margaret West (Chief of St Andrew's Scottish Society), Justine Christie, Jane Dyer, Bill Dyer, Jeanette Turner, Beth Cameron, Fiona Wood, Mart Stewart, Carol Kane, Luke das Neves, Alistair Wood, Maureen Stonebanks, Merriel Young, Patrick Craven.
Happy anniversary to: Jane and Bill Hewitt, Susan and Gordon McQueen, Joan and Alex Sorrell.
Caledonian Congress 2009
Next year's Congress will be held from 9-11 October 2009, at Carnival City, Brakpan. A committee chaired by Jean Kelly is already hard at work making plans. If you have any good ideas about sponsors, fund-raising, etc or to volunteer to join the committee, please phone Jean Kelly on 083 602 1552.
What d'ye ken aboot Robbie Burns?
1. Where was Robert Burns born?
2. After giving up farming, what occupation did he finally take up?
3. Who was 'Poosie Nansie'?
4. Who were Sylvander and Clarinda?
5. What is the title of Robert Burns's most famous patriotic song.
Did ye ken?
1. What place did Winston Churchill call a city of "bestial drunkenness"? Dundee
2. Who described the politicians who signed the 1707 Act of Union as a "parcel of rogues"? Robert Burns
3. At which battle in 1297 did William Wallace beat the English? Stirling Bridge
4. Who is Nicola Sturgeon? Scottish Minister of Health and Deputy Leader of the Scottish National Party
5. What is HBOS and why is it in the news? Halifax Bank of Scotland, which was in financial difficulty and has merged with Lloyds Bank.
Society reports
Cape Town Caledonian Society
From chief Peter Ross
Next year is a really big anniversary year for the followers of Scotland's national bard, Robert Burns, being the 250th year following the year in which he was born – 1759. Conferences to mark the occasion are being planned internationally and year-long programmes of celebratory events will be held throughout Scotland. Imagine the buzz which will take place in his home town in Ayrshire! I am sure that they are expecting all previous records of visits to be broken.
So too we here as a Society in the southern tip of Africa should make a special effort to celebrate this milestone by attending our own Burns Nicht in 24th January.
Let's pull out all the stops, invite your friends and family and let's make sure that we do not miss this happy and historic occasion.
Please put the word out there with everyone you know or meet. What a great marketing opportunity for all of us to also make a contribution towards increasing our membership!
Durban Caledonian Society
From Sheila Mackenzie
The Haggis Season
The haggis season has begun
All over Scotland every gun
Is taken down with loving care,
Though some prefer the haggis snare
For haggis are a wily lot,
That's why they are so seldom shot.
Then hidden in the Highland heather
Great hairy clansmen crouch together,
And having laid the haggis bait
(a lifelike haggis on a plate),
One cries out loudly "There the noo!"
Which means a haggis is in view.
It's flying upside down and low
The guns all fire but they're too slow.
For though it's rather old and fat
They're awful hard to hit like that!
And as it flies off in the mists,
Great hairy clansmen shake their fists
And scream their curses to the crags
Then stamp on empty haggis bags.
And so the haggis gets away to live
Until next Hogmanay.
And that's the reason it's so rare,
This strange traditional Scottish fare.
From 'Captain Beaky' by Jeremy Lloyd
News from Scotland
Burns' wife's wedding dress returns to Scotland
Scotsman, 8 January 2009
A fragment of wedding dress worn by the wife of Robert Burns has been returned to Scotland for display in a new museum dedicated to the national Bard, it was announced today.
The section of black silk dress worn by Jean Armour in 1788 has travelled thousands of miles from the US where it was tracked down by a descendant of the poet's wife.
It has been loaned to the National Trust who plan to put it on public display in Scotland for the first time since 1896.
The artefact will be housed at the Robert Burns Birthplace Museum in Alloway, South Ayrshire, when the attraction is completed next year.
Alan Archibald, who discovered the fragment at a San Francisco auction house, said: "Our family cherish the fragment as it's a precious reminder of the private life of a very public figure.
"I thought it was right that it should be returned to the family."
Mr Archibald, a technician who lives near Irvine, added: "The fragment will be on loan to the new museum to boost the awareness of his 'rock' Jean Armour, his affectionate and understanding wife."
A series of events have been organised to mark the 250th anniversary of Burns' birth this year.
The celebrations will begin on the weekend of 23-25 when traditional Burns suppers will take place as far afield as Kazakhstan and Mexico.
Burns, recognised worldwide for his poems and songs including A Red, Red Rose and Auld Lang Syne, is said to have had a colourful love life with many extra-marital affairs.
But no expense appears to have been spared by the husband-to-be, who, according to records, spent around £7 on 15 yards of black silk from a Glasgow merchant for his bride.
After Jean's death the dress was passed onto family and was exhibited in the Burns Exhibition in Glasgow in 1896.
The dress was sold to an American buyer in 1907.
The National Trust's David Hopes, project curator for the museum, said: "Some people may wonder why it is black instead of white, but around that time black was a very common wedding dress colour and black as a clothing colour was a sign of affluence.
"It wasn't until after the death of Jean in 1834 that white became the norm for the wedding dress.
"We are thrilled to be able to display this piece of Jean's wedding dress and it will be an extremely valuable contribution to the new Robert Burns Birthplace Museum."
Nurse rescued from car boot leaves hospital
Daily Record, 8 January
A NURSE found in the boot of her car has been discharged from hospital, police said today.
Magdeline Makola, 38, had been in Monklands Hospital in Airdrie, Lanarkshire, since she was discovered in the vehicle on Boxing Day.
She had been missing for 11 days when she was found.
Lothian and Borders Police said she was discharged late yesterday and is continuing her recuperation, but did not know whether she has gone home or elsewhere.
Ms Makola's brother, Refilwe Makola, 36, flew from his home in South Africa to be with his sister as she recovers and arrived in time to celebrate the New Year with her.
He landed last Tuesday and said he planned to spend two weeks in Scotland.
A man appeared in court on December 29 charged with attempting to murder Ms Makola.
She had not been seen since she left work at Edinburgh Royal Infirmary on December 15.
Concerns were raised when she failed to turn up for her shift on December 18 and she was reported missing.
An investigation was launched and police discovered her in the red Vauxhall Astra in Airdrie on December 26.
She was dehydrated and suffering from hypothermia.
Speaking last Friday, Mr Makola said his sister was making a good recovery.
He said: "She is very strong and she is laughing now and starting to make some jokes.
"When I arrived she just laughed and opened her hands to hug me and asked about my journey and it ended up with her being more concerned about me rather than me being concerned about her."
The 36-year-old said his sister loved travel and new experiences, and moved to Scotland from South Africa about six years ago.
He described her as a private person: "She is very quiet, lives a private life, loves to go to church and loves her job with her whole heart.
"She loves people and always loves to help everyone all the time. Ever since she was young she wanted to be a nurse."
Justice Ngema, 35, the man charged with the attempted murder of Ms Makola, made a second appearance at Linlithgow Sheriff Court on January 6.
Ngema, from South Africa but living in Airdrie, made no plea or declaration during the brief hearing and was remanded in custody.
Broons get star billing at exhibition
SCOTLAND'S MOST famous cartoon family are helping to teach the history of Dundee as part of a new exhibition at the city's Verdant Works.
David Donaldson added, "We hope that by using the Broons to put across history in a colourful and fun way, this will encourage people to learn more about the city."
Best wishes to you all. Patrick