In 1996, when Lady Veronica Goodenough was asked to be a St.Andrew's Society "Guardian", she said she was very pleased to beinvolved with the rebirth of this historic and significant OttawaSociety. Since then, she discovered that, in a minor way, she waswalking in her grandfather's footsteps: as a young man he had beenentertained by the St. Andrew's Society of Ottawa as a member of thefirst Scottish Curling Team ever to visit Canada. As our Guest ofHonour at the 1998 St. Andrew's Dinner, she related some of theteam's experiences in Canada. She continues with more anecdotesbelow, taken from a book byRev. JohnKerr, published in1904.
Mygrandfather, David BentleyMurray of Stirling, Scotland, wasalso involved with the St. Andrew's Society of Ottawa. I never knewhim but have always known that he was a member of the first Scottish Curling Team to visit Canada: and it was in January 1903, during thisTour, that after playing against the Rideau Club Ottawa, he and hisCaledonian Curling Club Team were entertained by the St. Andrew'sSociety of Ottawa to a riotous Smoking Concert.
First proposed forty years earlier, the Tourof Canada was long delayed by logistics and expense until Lord Minto, the Governor General, took charge. He wasconvinced that the ancient Scottish sport of curling, which had takensuch strong root in Canada, was an excellent way of strengthening and preserving the links between the two countries. A Committee was setup in Edinburgh, pressing invitations were received from CanadianCurling Clubs, funds were raised (the final total cost was FifteenHundred and Seventy Pounds, Six Shillings and Elevenpence), the programme was fixed and the Team was chosen. The latter wasn't easy.Not many could manage to be so long away from home and there were other difficulties which the Captain, the Rev. John Kerr, a Presbyterian minister, discussed with one of his Kirk's aged officebearers. Because of the severe winter climate in Canada, he said, hehad to make it a condition that no Team member would take more thanone glass of 'The Auld Kirk' per day. "Ay, well," remarked the elder,"I'm thinking, minister, ye'll no be gaun yerself then."
The tricky problem of communicating withtheir families at home was ingeniously sorted out. They concocted a special cable code by which they could economically signal back and forth. The 44 word code began with Abode= 'Arrived all right, pleasant passage, advise friends', throughFade= 'Am out of funds; can you remit draft to me' and the answering Fear= 'Have sent draft as requested' to the reassuring Main= 'Everything running smoothly. Allwell. Nothing here requiring your hasty return.'
The Team left Liverpool on the RMS Bavaria on 18th December 1902 andplayed for two months in the Maritimes, Quebec City, Montreal,Ottawa, Toronto and many Southern Ontario towns, Winnipeg and variouscities in the northern United States. They travelled 50,000 miles,played 99 set games of which they won 47, lost 49 and tied three.They lost the majority of their Canadian matches, but had a wonderful time nonetheless, entertained generously everywhere by Curling Clubsand St. Andrew's Societies.
Their Canadian hosts too, thoroughly enjoyed the novelty of seeing a team from Scotland. On the night the team arrived in Montreal, The Montreal Star reported that MontrealScotsmen: enlivened the tediousminutes of waiting for the train by songs, dances, reels and jigs.Staid and respected business men danced hornpipes, ran footraces andeven played leapfrog to the intense amusement and edification of theadmiring onlookers. Cheer upon cheer drowned even the bagpipes whenthe train pulled into the depot, and it is pretty safe to say that the bonny braw Scotsmen will remember their first impression of Montreal for the rest of their lives'.
Similar scenes greeted the Scots in Ottawa with pipes and Highland flings and several hundred enthusiasts on hand to welcome them to the nation's capital. TheGovernor General, LordMinto, entrusted the Ottawa visit toone Wilfred Laurier, secretary of the local Curling Association - whoalso happened to be Prime Minister of Canada at the time! Lord Mintoinvited the Scots to Rideau Hall, where they curled on the RideauHall rink and tried out the toboggan slide - most of the Scots comingto ignominious grief in the snow. He treated them to a most elegant lunch served on a table decorated as a map of the frozen Great Lakes, complete with lumber-camps and curling rinks. They were mostimpressed that one of the other guests was the great Sir SandfordFleming.
All aspects of life in this frozen land fascinated the Scots. In Ottawa they were told that in very coldweather Canadians routinely lit their gaslights by an electric sparkfrom their fingers. The disbelieving Scots were asked to shuffle their boots up and down on the carpet and then touch the gas burnerwith their fingers. Static electricity ensured the gas lit firsttime!
They were amazed by ice hockey as theywatched Ottawa beat the champions, Montreal. They admired the speedand skill of the Ottawa players who 'must have good cool heads toplay such a game without being injured or losing their tempers.' They noted the local supporters shouting: 'Sis boom bah: Sis boom bah:Ottawa, Ottawa, Ra, Ra, Ra' and remarked that 'the enthusiasm wascertainly as wild as we have ever witnessed over any sport.' Rathert o their chagrin, they realised that the local newspapers and indeed most local citizens were far more interested in hockey than curling.
They were most impressed by the Parliamentbuildings, by the comfortable hotels and grand public buildings, bythe Chaudiere Falls electricity generating station, the efficientelectric streetcars and by the Central Experimental Farm. They werevery struck by the beautiful surrounding countryside with its opportunities for sport with rod and gun. Altogether, my grandfather was so taken with Canada that he seriously considered homesteading in Saskatchewan. He would certainly have been delighted if he had knownthat two of his three children would eventually settle in Toronto -and that his granddaughter would live in Ottawa for a few happy years.
And more generally, the Curling Tour did strengthen the links between our two countries. The Scots Team had arare opportunity to see and report first hand back home on the challenges and successes of this new land where so many Scots hadsettled It showed them how great was the warmth and affection of Scots-Canadians for the old country. In the words of an Ottawa St.Andrew's Society song of the time,
Oor hame is midst
Canadianwoods,
By Ottawa's tranquil glade;
And here in peace our roof-tree rests
Beneath the maple-shade ...
We're proud o' oor
Canadianhame,
Oor country aye to be,
But Scotland's memories shall be dear
Until the day we dee.
And back in Scotland after the end of the1903 tour, the Reverend John Kerr said, 'The people of Canada have alove for their country and for Scotland - they would sing 'The MapleLeaf': and we would join with them; and after that came Auld LangSyne and after that they always joined in God Save the King.'
But the last word must, I think, go to my grandfather. When asked what incidents during the tour most clung tohis memory, this austere Scot replied 'Sitting in smoking-car of West-bound express in one's pyjamas at temperature 85 degrees Fahrenheit , and trying to imagine that one is crossing a frozen continent.'
--
Veronica Goodenough, August
1999
TheSt.
Andrew's Dinner in Halifax, Nova Scotia, 1828
After glancing through a copy of theSociety's book, History of the First Century of the St. Andrew'sSociety of Ottawa - 1846 - 1946, by John Thorburn and A.E. Cameron, Sidney Hicks did some library digging for old newspaper articles. She reports:
The Nova Scotian newspaper of 4th December,1828 gave some details of the The St. Andrew's Dinner held in the Exchange Coffee House, Halifax, the previous month; there were two columns of details. The President, Thomas Williamson, presided overthe activities. The 96th Regiment Band was there, and it was busy playing tunes all night.
Of particular interest were the 26 specifictoasts (yes twentysix!!). Included were the obvious ones - St.Andrew, The King (George IV), The Royal family (especially the Dukeof Clarence), the Governor General Sir James Kemp and the Nova Scotian Governor, Sir Peregrine Maitland. There were patriotic onesfor the Army and the Navy; for the Earl of Dalhousie's toast, Lord Dalhousie's March was played. Other toasts hadtheir own selected melodies: the Chief Justice got the strathspey The Birks of Invermay; Nova Scotia's own toastwas accompanied with Home Sweet Home; the local Garrison and Sir Charles Ogle got a toast each - Rule Britannia and The Rifle Brigade March. Of particular interest was a toast for three inseparable government ministries - Agriculture,Trade and Fisheries (two tunes,Caller Herring and Speed the Plough). The toast for Scotland hada verse from Sir Walter Scott
Landof
brown heath and shaggy wood,
Land of mountain and
flood,
Land of our Sires, what
mortal hand
Can e'er unite the filial band
Which knits us to thyrugged
land
Two tunes for this toast -Here's a Health to Thee, Bonny Scotland and Blue Bonnets o'er the Border. A toast each was offered to England, Wales and Ireland. The toast for His Majesty's Council had perhaps a melody suggested by an anarchist,The Flowers of theForest. Toasts were proposed forRobert Burns, Sir Walter Scott and the Fair Daughters of Acadie (tune Dinna Think, Bonny Lassie, I am Going to Leave Thee). The last two toasts were for the Mines of Nova Scotia (Miller of Drone, but I am not sure why) and our Absent Members (Here Awa, there Awa, Wandering Willie.).
One wonders how much time was left for filling up at the bar and for dancing, let alone socializing! The evening "broke up with a reel, not very soberly, though most spiritedly executed".