The Thistle - Saint Andrew`s Society of Los Angeles

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a message from J. D. MacPherson, President.
Tartan Day
6 April
Tartan Day was
observed on 6 April,
1997 for the first time
in US history. Since
then it has become a day
that thousands of ScottishAmericans observe to
celebrate their Scottish
ancestry. In churches, on
village greens, at Scottish
festivals, at social
gatherings, and in the
home Scottish-Americans
who care about their roots
take time to celebrate the
rich cultural heritage that is
Scotland.
This year, as in the past,
the St. Andrew’s Society
will celebrate Tartan Day,
this year on the day itself,
6, April. We will gather at
that peerless Scottish
restaurant the Tam
O’Shanter at 4:00 p.m. in
the Prince Charlie Room.
Society piper Cindi
McIntosh will herald our
arrival. There will be an
addresss by a True Scot and
music from the rousing
guitar of Peter Romano.
Full details including a
ticket order form are on the
society website or contact
John Lowry, 818-886-4968.
Make your reservation
as soon as possible, this
event is sold out every year.
ere we are starting a New Year. Last year was
very successful for the Society.
Since the last Thistle we had a great St. Andrews
day dinner at Spumante’s restaurant. We had the
whole restaurant to ourselves thanks to Ian Skone-Rees
who set the whole evening up for us. In January Norm
Auslander and Ian Skone-Rees put on our best ever
Burns Supper at the Altadena Town and Country Club.
From the Haggis to the Whisky and the Music
everything was wonderful. The turnout was also great with more members
and guests than ever. Next we had our Annual General Meeting at the
beautiful home of Jack and Barbara Dawson where I was privileged to be
elected your Society’s President for another year. The next event was the
Queen Mary Highland Games where for the second year the Society and clan
tents were outside the ship. Turnout was good, however there were more
vendors than clans. During the Games five of us left to attend Ben Sharp’s
funeral. It was a lovely service, we will all miss Ben. The following Friday I
attended the funeral for Barbara Grant, again a lovely service and we will
also miss Barbara.
Looking forward our next event will be the United Scottish Society’s
Highland games in Costa Mesa on Memorial Day weekend, May 25th and
26th. I hope all of you can make it. Our Garden Party will be held June 30.
We will of course notify you in plenty of time for you to plan to attend. I am
looking forward to seeing you at one or more of our many events this year.
H
Contact J. D. MacPherson
via email at: [email protected]
March 2013
Garden Party
June 30, 2013
he society’s annual Garden
Party will again be held this
year at the beautiful home of
Frances and Terry Buchanan.
Please reserve this date on
your calendar and plan to join
your fellow members to celebrate
the coming of summer. The
annual garden party is
traditionally the society’s
principal fund raising event of
the year so your attendance is
even more important. There will
be live music, good food and
drink, and plenty of shade for you
to enjoy all three. Details of the
location, including a map, are on
the society website or you may
contact Eileen Skone-Rees for
more information.
T
Contact Eileen Skone-Rees
via email at: [email protected]
or (818) 769-5166
In Gear
The Scamp
he Scottish Aviation Scamp
was a small electric car
developed and produced by
Scottish Aviation Ltd at their
Prestwick factory from 1965.
Designed by Dr. W.G. Watson,
only 12 units are understood to
have been produced, although the
car was never commercially
produced. The car was rear wheel
T
drive, carried four 48 volt
batteries and had two electric
motors, believed to produce
about 3 hp. The Scamp had a
length 84 inches (2.13 m), and a
width 46 inches (1.17 m).
Finance for the project was
provided by the Electricity
Council, undertaken at a time
when small cars were extremely
The Scamp is on display at the National
Museum of Flight, East Fortune Airfield,
East Lothian.
popular, and was intended to be
used by shoppers on short
journeys. Although it had a
claimed top speed of 35 mph,
battery technology of the time
Please see Scamp, page 6
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British Regimental Bands Visit Valley
Performing Arts Center
President
J. D. MacPherson
The pipes and drums of the Black Watch 3rd. Battalion of the Royal Regiments of
Scotland and the Band of the Scots Guards entertained a packed house at the Valley
Performing Arts Center, Northridge on 1, March. Representatives of the St. Andrew’s
Society had the privilege to present leaders of these two world renowned bands with
a certificate of appreciation at a private party following the performance.
Vice President
Rev. Charles Robertson, D. Min.
Treasurer
David Moffett
Secretary
Pamela Lowry Marbel
Board of Trustees
Norman Auslander
The legendary Pipes, Drums and
Highland Dancers of Scotland's Black
Watch joined forces with the Band of the Scots
Guards for an evening celebrating the music of
Scotland, England, Ireland and Wales. The most
famous bagpipe band in the world,
the Black Watch, was joined by the renowned
musicians of the Band of the Scots Guards and
presented a unique blend of music, pageantry and
history highlighted by traditional folk music,
highland dancing, and military tunes that conveyed
the rich legacy of the British Isles.
Jack Dawson**
John Lowry, FSA Scot*
Rod Shreckengost
Eileen Skone-Rees
Stephen Tom
*Immediate Past president
**Past president
The Thistle is the official
publication of the Saint Andrew’s
Society of Los Angeles. It is
published four times a year.
Deadline for each issue is the
first day of March, June,
September
&
December.
Submit articles, photographs,
and address changes to the
editor at: [email protected].
Left: Chuck Robertson, presents Major Vernon Yates of the Scots Guards with a St. Andrew’s Certificate of appreciation.
Center: Chuck Robertson receives a framed sheet of pipe music from Major Andrew Halliday of the Black Watch.
Right: Chuck Robertson receives a framed regimental coat of arms from Major Vernon Yates of the Scots Guards.
or
The Editor
Saint Andrew’s Society, Los Angeles
3836 Goodland Avenue
Studio City, CA 91604
www.saintandrewsla.org
The
publisher
accepts
no
responsibility for the opinions
expressed, accuracy of information,
or similarity of names submitted by
authors.
CONTRIBUTORS
David J. Macpherson
Rev. Charles Robertson
Ian J. Skone-Rees, FSA Scot
Dr. David Warburton, OBE
PUBLISHER
EDITOR AND GRAPHIC DESIGN
Ian J. Skone-Rees
PHOTOGRAPHY
Matthew Morgenthaler
Ian J. Skone-Rees
Back row L-R: Major Vernon Yates, Music Director of the Scots Guard; Steven Tom; Major Andrew Halliday, Tour Commander of the
Black Watch; Rev. Chuck Robertson, D. Min. V.P. St. Andrew’s Society; John Lowry; Nellie Lowry.
Front Row L-R: Dr. David Warburon, OBE.; Ann O’Connor, event coordinator; Ian Skone-Rees; Eileen Skone-Rees; Kenneth MacKinnon.
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S t .
A n d r e w ’ s
S o c i e t y
o f
L o s
A n g e l e s
Scotland’s Influence in the United States
The Scots were a valuable addition to a developing world.
Their past experience of working in the harsh conditions of rural
Scotland, combined with their hard-working Presbyterian
upbringing, made them an ideal people to help build America in
its formative years.
The Scottish emigrants of the 18th Century were an educated
group due to the Scottish Reformation, which had stressed the
need for education, so every Scot could read the Bible.
Education has always played an important part in Scottish
society, and these Scots played a crucial role in the early
development of the New World. Most headmasters of the schools
in the new colonies south of New York were Scottish or of
Scottish ancestry. These establishments were fundamental in the
education of America's future leaders; both Thomas Jefferson's
and John Rutledge's tutors were Scottish immigrants.
In this continuing series of articles we will introduce Scots or
persons of Scottish descent who have left their indelible mark on
the American landscape – Ed.
Sir Sean Connery 1930 –
It had to happen and with the 50th anniversary of
the Bond film franchise it seems fitting Sir Sean
should have his place in the Thistle.
egarded by some as
the greatest
president Scotland
never had, Sean
Connery was born in
the Fountainbridge area
of Edinburgh on 25
August, 1930.
This was a poor area of the city and his father was a lorry driver
and his mother earned a few shillings as a tea lady. Sean helped
the family finances by working as a milk delivery boy from the
age of 9 to 13. He left school at age 13 and became a brick layer, a
bouncer and a French polisher before he joined the Merchant
Navy. He was invalided out three years later because of stomach
ulcers but it was during his spell as a seaman that he obtained his
tattoos "Scotland Forever" on one arm and "Mum and Dad" on
the other.
Keen on body building, he entered the Mr Universe contest in
London in 1953 and came third. But that led to some small acting
R
parts on stage and in films. Over the next five years he appeared
in a number of minor roles. In the early 60s, after appearing in
"The Longest Day" he turned down a role as Tarzan to appear in a
spy movie instead. The title of that film was "Dr No". Between 1962
and 1971 he appeared in six Bond films (plus "Never Say Never
Again" in 1983). He also appeared in "The Hill" and "Marnie" and
a number of other films between the Bond roles.
Sean Connery married actress Diane Cilento and they had a
son, Jason, in 1963. He subsequently married French-Moroccan
painter Micheline Roquebrune in 1975.
After leaving the Bond series, his career seemed to falter, and
he appeared in some films he would probably rather forget. There
was a gap of a few years after playing Bond again in 1983 and
then the number of roles exploded, appearing in ten films
between 1986 and 1990, including "Highlander" and "Indiana
Jones and the Last Crusade" and an Oscar winning performance as
best supporting actor as a Chicago cop in "The Untouchables" in
1987.
In the 1990s his position as a mega star has advanced still
further (he was once described by Steven Spielberg as "one of the
seven true film stars") and he has also produced a number of
films in which he has starred.
In 1991 was he was given a standing ovation when he was
awarded the Freedom of Edinburgh in the Usher Hall but it was to
be the end of 1999 before he was awarded the knighthood which
many thought he had earned many years earlier.
A longtime supporter of the Scottish National Party, he came
to Scotland to participate in the election campaign for the
Scottish Parliament in 1999.
Sir Sean has hosted the celebrity fashion show Dressed to Kilt in
New York. Dressed to Kilt fashion show is an annual event held
during Tartan Week to celebrate Scottish culture, proceeds from
which have gone to soldiers injured in Iraq and Afghanistan. Ed.
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www.saintandrewsla.org
Calendar of Events
April 6, 2013
St. David’s Day 1, March
Croeso i Gymru
Website Update
Tartan Day Dinner
Tam O’Shanter Inn
Details on the website or
contact John E. Lowry
818-886-4968
May 25-26, 2013
ScotsFest
Memorial Day Weekend
Orange Cty. Fair & Event Ctr.
Details on the website.
June 30, 2013
Annual Garden Party
1161 Glenmont Drive
Glendale, CA 91207
Details on the website or
contact Eileen Skone-Rees
818-769-5166
For more society information
and news log on to:
www.saintandrewsla.org
AAFHA
Many St.Andrew’s
members have led
interesting lives, but
what happens to the
memories as generations
past make way for the
new? Steven Spielberg helped
Wales is one of the
seven Celtic nations and
St. David its patron saint.
1, March is St. David’s Day
and this year it was
celebrated in fine style on
3, March in the grassy
Barnsdall Park. A couple of
the vendors that are familiar to
us through our own Scottish
Games and Festivals were in
attendance, as was Aedan
MacDonnell, who many of you
know from the Clan Currie Harp
Glen at the Seaside Highland
Games and as a member of
Speyside who have become a
regular fixture at many of our
events, including this year’s
Burns Supper. Aedan played the
Celtic Harp and sang a selection
of songs from Scotland, Wales,
Ireland, and Brittany.
The 1963 film Dylan (Dylan
Thomas) with Richard Burton was
shown in the theatre and
Burton’s inimitable resonant
voice spoke selections from the
poet’s most famous works.
The Celtic nations have an
obvious connection with one
another but Scotland and Wales
may have the strongest of all.
Strathclyde was originally known
by the Brythonic Ystrad Clud and
a part of medieval Wales and
there is evidence to suggest that
William Wallace spoke the
ancient Welsh Brythonic
language as well as having an
obvious link through his last
name with Wales.
What are the seven Cletic
nations? Answer at the foot of
this page. Iechyd da!
Aedan MacDonnell
ensure we would not lose the
first hand memories of
Holocaust survivors through the
Shoa recordings. The Army Air
Forces Historical Association
(AAFHA) has done the same for
many veterans, recording and
transcribing oral histories from
the men and women who helped
defend us during World War II.
Society members Norman and
Carol Auslander have been
The seven Celtic nations are:
Brittany, Cornwall, Galacia, Ireland, Isle of Man, Scotland, and Wales.
Please see AAFHA, page 6
By: Ian Skone-Rees
The
Society
website
contains information about our
events and is a very useful source
for information about other
matters relating to Scotland and
our own Scottish community here
in southern California. The Useful
Links page contains a host of links
to Scottish newspapers and
periodicals,
libraries
and
museums,as well as links to other
organizations and clubs. The latest
addition is a link to the Celtic Arts
Center in North Hollywood. If you
are interested in concerts, plays,
music dance, or folklore, or even
interested in learning an ancient
Gaelic language you should pay
them a virtual visit.
The members only area of the
website requires you log-in with
your unique credentials. This area
contains
the
membership
directory. All paid-up members
may access this area using a user
name and password. The directory
may be downloaded and printed
on your home printer by pressing
the PRINT button in the directory.
Please visit the directory and make
sure the information listed for you
is correct. Each member can
update their own information
online, and change their user
name and password.
If you have any questions or
are not sure how to use any part of
the website please contact me by
email.
Contact Ian Skone-Rees
via email at: [email protected]
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Burns Supper 26 January, 2013
f you were there, you already know this year’s Burns Supper
was one of the most enjoyable ever and the best attended.
126 members and guests filled the Mendocino Room at the
Altadena Town & Country Club. Our new location at the historic
club was well suited and provided an olde world atmosphere
reminiscent of the rooms in which Rabbie himself likely
entertained the cream of Scottish society who were never satiated
by his poetry, sparkling wit, and conversation.
While Rabbie himself was unable to attend several of our
members rose to the occasion to keep us entertained with toasts
and recitations. Isle of Skye native Kenneth MacKinnon delivered
the Address to the Haggis in his own inimitable style, John Lowry
made the toast to the Immortal Memory and kept a rapt audience
hanging on every word (and there were many of them – yes John
I
you warned me it was long). Then came the toast to the lasses by Jim
Bell, followed by a no-holds-barred reply from Roberta Gottfried. On
behalf of a grateful audience, thank you all.
A significant reason for the record attendance this year was the
participation of other clubs and friends of the society. The Oxford Union
Society, led by honorary secretary Bea Hopkinson, sent 18 of their number
to join us and the British United Services Club were represented by
several members including past president Squadron Leader Munir Azam
and secretary Col. Tom Mahan. Thank you all for coming, we hope you
enjoyed the evening and will be back next year in even greater numbers.
Photos of many of the revellers are below, if you were there and not
pictured here please go to the society website where all 300 photos are
posted in the gallery section.
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Poets’ Corner
Poets’ Corner is the name given to a
section of the South Transept of Westminster
Abbey due to the number of poets,
playwrights, and writers now buried and
commemorated there, including Scotland’s
own Robert Burns, Sir Walter Scott, Thomas
Campbell, and Robert Adam.
Alan Alexander Milne was born in 1882 in
Scotland. He soon moved to England, where his
father used to work as schoolmaster. He was
taught by H.G.Wells, among other teachers.
After he had finished his schooling, he began
his carreer as a writer in London and in 1918 he
published his first book, When We Were Very
Young. In 1920 his son, Christopher Robin, was
born and Alan decided to write a story about
Christopher Robin's nursery toys, entitled
Winnie-the-Pooh. Later on, The House at Pooh
Corner, which was to be the last of the series,
became a best-seller.
Wind on the Hill
By: A. A. Milne
No one can tell me,
Nobody knows,
Where the wind comes from,
Where the wind goes.
It's flying from somewhere
As fast as it can,
I couldn't keep up with it,
Not if I ran.
But if I stopped holding
The string of my kite,
It would blow with the wind
For a day and a night.
And then when I found it,
Wherever it blew,
I should know that the wind
Had been going there too.
So then I could tell them
Where the wind goes...
But where the wind comes from
Nobody knows.
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www.saintandrewsla.org
Scamp, from page 1
meant the Scamp could only cover 20
miles between charges. Stirling Moss
was brought in to publicise the car, but
the Electricity Council required the car
to undergo testing at the Motor
Industry Research Association (MIRA).
During these tests, the car's suspension
collapsed and the Electricity Council
said that as a result the car was not
roadworthy and not fit to appear in
their showrooms. After the twelfth
example was completed, they withdrew
their funding for the project, and it was
soon abandoned. Suggestions that the
Scamp might be produced as "the
commuter car of the seventies" were
never to materialise.
The construction was a simple
fibreglass-over-ash bodied two seater,
powered by twin series wound DC
motors of 2 hp which powered the rear
wheels through a chain drive. The first
prototype was completed at Prestwick
in 1965, but the car did not make public
appearance until the Ideal Home
Exhibition of 1967. Of the 12 cars
believed to have been built in the pilot
production run, two were retained by
Scottish Aviation, while the remainder
were delivered to the Electricity Council
for test and evaluation.
The yellow example pictured on
page 1 is on display at the National
Museum of Flight, East Fortune.
Unfortunately, the source of the
following excerpt from a 1,000 mile
road test is unknown, but the MIRA test
seems to be a possibility:
When running in wet conditions the
driver's floor became flooded to a depth
of one inch. Water was swilling under
the saturated seat cushion. In all
conditions the driver complained that
his knee was being bruised by the door
handle and that the safety harness
persistently slipped off his shoulders...
After the speedometer had stopped
working, the controller cut in and out
at random until the car stopped
altogether with a burning smell... The
steering suddenly became dangerously
indefinite... The rear compartment door
flew open and the spare wheel fell
out... On more than one occasion, the
driver found it necessary to take
evasive action when suddenly seeing an
animate or inanimate object on the
road surface; the steering
characteristics were such that he was
unable to cope with the resultant
behavior of the vehicle.
After 12 were made, they withdrew
from the development and Scottish
Aviation abandoned the project.
AAFHA, from page 4
Carol Auslander takes oral
histories from veterans for
AAFHA.
working with AAFHA
since its inception
in 1993. Carol has
been in the
forefront of making
sure these
memories are not
lost forever and has compiled first hand
oral histories from several of the brave
men and women who served their
country.
Log-in to www.aafha.org for more
information. Extracts from individual
oral histories can be read online and
the full transcription of individual
histories are available for purchase from
the website.