Dear Members

We have been experiencing our typically hot February and March days and I am sure that many of you will be looking forward to the slightly cooler, autumnal days ahead. It’s been good weather for going out and having that tea, coffee or wine or beers etc. with friends.

NEWS FROM SCOTLAND

”The Herald” on Monday 27th February gave 29 facts about February 29th. Some of them make interesting reading:

Ø   A leap day now occurs in years that are evenly divisible by four, but not in years divisible by 100 unless the year is also divisible by 400.Therefore 1800 and 1900 were not leap years, but 2000 was.

Ø A person born on February 29th can be called a “leapling” or a “leaper”.

Ø The chance of being born on leap day is about 1:1,461.

Ø Being born on February 29th  has the potential to create problems for leaplings, who will have been alive for almost eight decades before they enjoy their eighteenth birthday.

Ø To avoid confusion, the law in Scotland allows that someone born on 29th February will attain the age of 18 on March 1st of their eighteenth year.

Ø Three consecutive generations of the Keogh family have been born on 29th  February. Peter Anthony was born in Ireland in 1940, his son, Peter Eric was born in 1964, and Eric’s daughter, Bethany was born in 1996.

Ø It is tradition for women to propose to prospective partners during a leap year. There is some doubt whether they have a whole year in which to pop the question, or must ask it on February 29th.

Ø The tradition is rumoured to have started in 5th century Ireland after St Bridget complained to St Patrick that women were waiting too long for a matrimony request.

Ø An alternative theory claims the convention was enshrined in law by Queen Margaret of Scotland. She reportedly decreed that any man rejecting a woman’s proposal would need to pay the spurned party a fee of up to 100 pounds, or give her a silk dress.

Ø Similar folklore exists in Denmark, where leap day is marked on February 24th. There a man who turns down an offer of marriage customarily compensates the refused woman with 12 pairs of gloves.

The following two articles appeared in the “Press and Journal”, a newspaper in Aberdeen, on 01/03/2012:

Port launches drive to win green energy role

Green energy firms believe that Buckie, a Moray port, is perfectly placed to tap into the potential of the 400 turbines they plan to build off its coast. The fishing harbour is already used by vessels that service the Talisman Beatrice Project, a trial wind farm site with two 5MW generators. Buckie Shipyard also has a contract to supply a number of vessels for future wind farm operations.

Power line project to generate massive jobs boost

An energy company completed the first in a string of giant electricity pylons yesterday as part of a multimillion pound Scottish renewable power project. And, as the wraps came off the 160 ft tower near Inverness, Scottish and Southern Energy revealed a major jobs boost for the north. With work on the £538 million Beauty-Denny line under way in earnest, the company is now looking to recruit 500 technicians.

These two endeavours will obviously bring more finance and employment to the area, which I am sure that the people, in the north of Scotland, will welcome. As a matter of interest, if you were staying in Aberdeen for the 5 days, 1st  to 5th  march, your weather, courtesy of “The Press and Journal”, would have been:

Thurs. 1st March dry with clouds   max. 12.1°C       min. 5.9°C wind   5.9

Fri.                      dry with clouds   max.   8.7°C       min. 5.3°C wind 10.6

Sat.                     light rain              max.  7.9°C        min. 2.1°C wind   9.5

Sun.                    heavy rain           max.  7.5°C        min. 2.5°C wind   8.0

Mon.                   dry with cloud     max.  8.3°C        min. 1.6°C wind  6.7

I wonder how many of you would rather trade our weather for this.

TIME FOR A LAUGH

You know you are a true Scot if…….

Ø Ye   can  properly  pronounce  McConnochie,  Ecclefechan, Milngavie, Sauchiehall St, St Enoch, Auchtermuchty

Ø Yer used tae four seasons in wan day

Ø Ye measure distance in meenits.

Ø Ye kin unnerstaun Rab C. Nesbitt and know characters just like him, in ye rain family.

Ø Ye know whit haggis is made ae and stull like eating it.

Ø Somebody ye know his used a fitba schedule tae plan thur wedding day date.

McNab has his doormat hung up in his hall to save wear and tear.

McDougal had a dog for sale and was offered £500 for it by an American and £100 by an Englishman. He sold it to the Englishman because he figured it could walk back from London but never swim the Atlantic.

“You’ve woken me up at three in the morning,” said the infuriated chemist, “just for ten pence worth of bicarbonate of soda, when a glass of hot water would have done just as well.”

“Thank you for your advice,” said McNab, “I won’t bother you after all.”

Two  Glasgow  women  were  talking.  “How  is  your  married daughter, Kirsty, getting on?” asked one.

“Fine, just fine,” answered the other. “A fine house, a fur coat, and two cars. There’s just one thing wrong – she can’t stand her husband.”

“Aye,” said the first, “there’s always something.”

The last four jokes were taken from  T he W or ld’s Best Scottish Jokes by Des MacHale

MEMBERS’ NEWS

1. We are pleased that Peter McLeod has recovered so well from his operation that he is able to drive his car, again.

2. Congratulations to Douglas Geddes who will be celebrating his 70th birthday on 12th  April. We hope that you will have an enjoyable day, Douglas, as you celebrate with family members.

3. Congratulations to Ronald Conyngham and Margaret Currie who will celebrate his 88th and her 85th birthday, respectively, this year.

4. Welcome back to Maureen Fernandes from her recent holiday in Australia. We trust that she had a lovely time, and look forward to hearing about the trip.

5. Welcome back to Andrew and Heather Hodgson from their holiday in Scotland and Norway. We hope that they enjoyed their dancing in Scotland, and were able to see the Northern Lights in Norway.

BIRTHDAYS

We hope that those who have already celebrated their birthdays had an enjoyable  time  on their  birthdays,  and  we  wish  the others  many happy returns, on theirs!

March                                                      April

1st    Sharon Hyman                                  1st      Alan Duff

2nd   Nana Geddes                                             Peter Odendaal

6th    Duncan MacMillan                                     Michael Walker

12th Leonard McLeod                                5th      Vicki MacKenzie

16th Carol MacFarlane                              10th   Marie Archer

18th Ronald Conyngham                                   Sheila Scott

22ndTrish Meyer                                        12th   Douglas Geddes

16th   Lesley Reis

19th   Margaret Currie

24th Gail Walker

27th Alex Felton

30th Stuart Munro

THE CAPE TOWN CALEDONIAN SOCIETY RECIPE BOOK

The recipe books will be sold at R50 each, and will make ideal gifts. They are still in the production process, and we will inform you as soon as they are ready to go on sale.

PAST EVENTS

BURNS’ NICHT

Our celebration of the bard’s birthday took place at a packed Rosedale Centre. The event was a great start to our calendar for 2012. The food was excellent, and the whole evening was enjoyed by all the people present. The programme included excellent piping by the Cape Town Caledonian Pipe Band, and just as excellent was the demonstration of Scottish Country Dancing by the combined Scottish Country Dancer’s Demonstration Team. The dancers called guests who were seated, to join the dancing, and one of the highlights of the evening was to see the beaming face of one of our young members, Bradan Wing, as he enjoyed dancing with them. I am sure that he will want to join in again, at future functions, and that this will spur our other junior members on, to join in as well. Another highlight of the evening was the drumming performance of another junior member, Brogan Reis, who played  delightfully,  while  being  accompanied  by  members  of  his  family, which included his father, his mother, his uncle and his grandfather. The third highlight of the evening was the solo playing by Pipe Sergeant John Decker when he gave us an introduction to Piobaireeachd. Who will forget, too, seeing our Lady President down most of the contents of a Quaich in one swig.  The  evening  was  made  even  more  entertaining  by  the  various traditional toasts, and we would like to thank Andrew and Heather, respectively for their delightful rhyming toasts to the lassies and its reply. Furthermore another treat was in store for us when Callum Farquhar, a visitor to our shores, read a selection of Burns’ poetry.

Those who were not there, missed a great evening.

We thank Jacinta and Stuart for organizing and running the function,(as many of us know how much hard work actually takes place beforehand) and thank all the other council members who assisted in the smooth running of the evening.

FUND RAISING SUPPER AT “TAI PING”

The evening was a great success with all the members and guests that came along enjoying good food and great company while supporting the Society.  There  were  lots  of  raffle  prizes  and the  main prize  was  worth R1500. Special thanks must go to the owners of Tai Ping Restaurant, Colin

and Pam Wing (members of the Society), for putting together an excellent multi course supper, at cost price, as their contribution to the fund raising purpose of the evening.

FUTURE EVENTS

EASTER TEA

Unfortunately, due to circumstances beyond our control, we had to postpone this popular get together. It was to have been an afternoon before Easter, of fun and refreshments, at no charge, the South African Legion’s Rosedale Centre. It hasn’t been cancelled – just postponed – so when you see an invitation  to the party later in the  year, come along and enjoy a lovely afternoon where you will have the opportunity to relax while enjoying the ambience of Caledonian friendship. Keep a lookout for email flyers in your computer inbox or letters in your postbox.

A MESSAGE FROM THE CHIEF

I hope that all of you have enjoyed the Easter message with time to contemplate the sorrow and joy that it brings. Many folk seem to think that Christmas is the most important time in the Christian calendar. However, in reality, if it wasn’t for Easter, there would be no Christians. Think about it.

I have to confess that, yet again, your newsletter is coming to you somewhat later than we would like because, for a couple of weeks, I’ve not been able to give it the attention it deserves. Your scribe had done all he could and sent the bulk of what you see to me to do my “thing”. Unfortunately, due to the pressures of work and a deterioration in Jacinta’s health, among other things, I was prevented from completing the good work that Stuart, your scribe, had put into what you have before you. My apologies.

It’s been a busy time and not always an easy time for Jacinta and myself since the last newsletter was published. As has been mentioned above we were able to host a very successful Burn’s Nicht. We also attended a Burn’s Nicht  Supper  hosted  by  the  Pinelands  Caledonian  Society  and  another Burn’s Nicht at Kelvin hosted by The Burns Supper Club. Three evenings of Haggis and all very different!

Shortly thereafter we celebrated with the Cape Welsh Society their 130th Anniversary at the Cape Town Club. There was, of course, much singing by everyone, including  the  Cape  Welsh  Choir,  and  somewhere  among  the speeches I was asked to propose a toast to all Kindred Societies. Just under 90 guests were able to raise many thousands of rand, by auction and raffles, to support charities and to bolster their Society funds. The next day a St David’s Day service was held in St Georges Cathedral and was supported by well over a hundred members and guests, including members of your Council, although, sadly, Jacinta was not well enough to attend with us.

You will see below, mention of the St Patrick’s Eve Dinner Dance held by the Irish South African Association. Again, unfortunately, Jacinta was too sick to attend but she insisted that I go along, accompanied by a long-time friend of hers and member of the Society, Mrs Maureen Fernandes. We were seated at a table with Mrs Sian Erasmus, President of the Cape Welsh Society, and her husband, Johan, as well as four ladies who originated from Glasgow and a couple with Irish and Scots ancestry. The Irish are not known to celebrate anything quietly and the decibel level generated by more than160 guests was quite mind (and ear) boggling. Never-the-less a good time was had by all.

By the way, the next day, Saturday 17th March, was St Patrick’s Day and that night Table Mountain’s flood-lights lit up the mountain in a beautiful shade of GREEN! Did anyone see it? Maybe we’ll see if we can light up the mountain in BLUE on St Andrew’s Nicht!

The next weekend Jacinta was, thankfully, feeling somewhat better and we were able to attend the handing over of Command of the Cape Garrison Artillery at Fort Wynyard on Saturday 24th March. Our pipe band, Cape Town Caledonian  Pipe Band, played  a  very important  role in this  high profile military ceremony. Major Vidius Archer (being re-assigned) stepped down and handed over command to Lt. Colonel Visser.

On Sunday 25th March we were privileged to be able to lay a wreath, on behalf of the Society, at the Gunners Memorial in Government Avenue in the Company’s Gardens in Cape Town. This was a full Military Parade and proved to be a very moving ceremony including the playing of the Last Post then the firing of (a VERY loud) field gun followed by two minutes silence then the firing of the same (VERY loud) field gun and then the playing of Reveille. During the laying of the various wreaths the South African Army Band played suitable tunes in turn with a piper from the Cape Field Artillery Pipe Band. It so happened that just as we were called forward to collect our wreath the band stopped playing and the piper started and continued playing while we were laying the wreath and returning to our seats. We were told afterwards that it was a quite spectacular moment to see us wearing the tartan and laying the wreath accompanied by the pipes. We were quite unaware of the impact we had on the dignitaries but, afterwards, we felt proud to have been able to show that the Cape Town Caledonian Society salutes and remembers those who have fought and died for freedom.

During the tea and snacks after the ceremony we were able to talk to many of the dignitaries and were asked if the Officers of the Cape Town Highlanders still attended our main functions. We said that they were invited but declined the invitations. We also spoke about the part that Caledonian members played in the various theatres of war. The upshot of all this was that I was invited to attend an ‘open meeting’ in the Officers Mess at the Castle Friday 30th March to be introduced to various officers in the Highlanders so that we could build up a relationship again and also learn more about the role of the Callies volunteers. It was an interesting meeting and more valuable contacts were made which will later benefit the Society.

Just one last thing. I was going through the photos that we had been given and were displayed at our 130th Anniversary celebration last year. I was mightily impressed by one in particular. It shows the Cape Town Caledonian Society Annual Ball held in the City Hall on Friday 10th August 1906.

Just look at the number of guests and, if you look carefully, you’ll see that it’s a military band that’s playing. Oh, that we could host a function something like that again!! We can but dream.

Just out of interest, while I was typing up the above message to you all, I received a Newsletter from the Durban Caledonian Society. It’s the first I’ve received and I noticed that their Society was founded in 1882, so they’re 130 years old this year. Congratulations to Durban, may they grow from strength to strength.

Until the next time

Sláinte     Stuart Munro

Fancy a very, very expensive Scotch?

The following article appeared on IOL on February 21st   2012:

Would you pay a million for a bottle of whisky?

Sixty very special bottles have been created to mark Queen Elizabeth’s diamond jubilee in this year.

According to a press release, John Walker & Sons has created a unique blend of grain and malt whiskies all distilled and maturing since 1952.

Finished in a marrying cask of English oak from the Queen’s Sandringham Estate, just 60 of these rare editions, one for each year of the queen’s reign, have been offered for sale at £100,000(about R1.2 million) each. They are on offer to a private list of guests who have been invited to purchase one of 57 bottles.

One bottle was presented to the Queen and two will go into the John Walker & Sons’ vault.

No purchaser’s names have been released.

The press release notes that the luxury crystal decanters were created in a diamond shape with six legs representing each decade of the Queen’s rule. The decanters are decorated with Britannia silver adornments, including a half-carat diamond.

The decanter is accompanied with lead crystal glasses by Cumbria Crystal engraved with wildlife scenes from the Balmoral and Sandringham estates.

All these items are housed in a bespoke cabinet made from oak and native Caledonian pine from the Queen’s Sandringham and Balmoral estates. Every element was hand-made.

The press release notes that master blender Jim Beveridge and his apprentice Matthew Crow explored vast stocks of Scotch whisky to seek out some of the most exceptional casks of whiskies distilled in 1952.

Sandringham  oak,  provided  by  kind  permission  of  the  Queen,  was  cut, carved  and  shaped   by  hand  and  jointed  seamlessly  using  age-old techniques to create the two small casks.

Resting at Royal Lochnagar Distillery, on the edge of the Queen’s Balmoral estate, the casks were observed closely through this traditional finishing process, which allowed the flavours to combine gradually, before the bottling on 6 February 2012, 60 years to the day since the Queen acceded to the throne.

Colleen wanted some item from the celebration of the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee, but unfortunately, I have not received an e-mail stating that I am on the list, so – fortunately – I canna’ buy her one of these! !

ASSOCIATED SOCIETIES

Cape Welsh Society: The Society celebrated their 130th Anniversary on Saturday 3rd  March with a St David’s Day Dinner Dance held at the Cape Town Club. Rev Sarah Rowland-Jones delivered the keynote address. She also officiated at and conducted a St David’s Day service in St Georges Cathedral on behalf of the Cape Welsh Society where members of the Cape Town Caledonian Society Council were in attendance.

Irish  South  African  Association:   The  Cape  Town  Chapter  of  the Association held a most successful St Patrick’s Eve Dinner Dance on Friday 16th  March at the Lagoon Beach Hotel. It was attended by the Irish Ambassador and messages were read out from the President of Ireland as well as their Prime Minister. There were over 160 guests and they raised R42000 towards charities and funds of the Association when a number of exciting prizes were offered up for auction.

Pinelands Caledonian Society: They held a successful Irish Evening on Saturday 31st March at the Catholic Church Hall in Pinelands to celebrate St Patrick’s Day. The Chairperson of the Irish South African Association, Maureen Sharpe, was there wearing “The Green” in the form of a special green tartan incorporating the colours of the Irish flag.

The Chief and Lady President, Eddie and Anne Stevenson, have left for the UK to spend about ten weeks with their family there and are due back mid- June. We wish them a wonderful time building many fond memories for everyone and having fun doing it.

Cape Town Caledonian Pipe Band: The band has a very full calendar of competitions and events over the next few months, not least of which is the attendance of the full band at the South Coast Gathering held in Durban later in April. This is a graded competition and they will be competing in various graded categories of piping, drumming and drill. We wish them good luck and know that they will bring back many trophies to Cape Town.