Today all over the world, wherever two or three Scots are gathered together, there will be the usual annual rejoicings in memory of the patron saint of Scotland, St. Andrew. It is quite clear in this age that when St. Rule took the relics of St. Andrew to Scotland and there established the first bishopric he did the Scots an inestimable service. The saint, if legends are to be believed took a particular interest in the nation into whose boundaries his relics had been brought, and it is stated that his direct intervention on one occasion resulted in a defeat of the English, which with a few exceptions seemed ultimately to become a habit with them. Thus when Athelstan was having a little pleasant bickering with Achaius, King of the Scots, and Hungus, King of the Picts, St. Andrew's cross appeared one night in the heavens. In the engagement next day they were victorious, and swollen with their success, but humble in face of what they conceived to be saintly intervention they proceeded barefoot to the kirk of St. Andrew, and there vowed to adopt the cross as the national emblem. It was the very least they could do in the circumstances, though in justice to these saints who appear to have busied themselves so greatly about the affairs of mankind, it has to be admitted that Athelstan himself was at times not without a little of the same assistance. Thus when he was dealing with a band of marauding Scots,—it will be noticed that they got into bad habits quite early,—he had reached the Tyne to find that his quarry had retreated. At midnight the spirit of St. John of Beverley appeared and bade him cross-the river at daybreak, for he "should discomfit the foe." Athelstan obeyed and reduced the whole kingdom to subjection. It was upon that that Edward I founded his claim to the Scottish throne, which does not seem to have worried the Scots overmuch until they conquered England with the incursion of James I. Since then the Sassenach has assumed the position of the submerged majority, and despite bitter cries for the right of self-determination has remained in that subordinate position ever since.
Much has been made in history acquisitive instincts of the Scot, their hospitality. The hearty welcome given to English cattle driven across the border is but one example of that particularly gracious trait of the Scot, and the English have learned by long experience that once a Scot has hold of something it is difficult to persuade him to let go. Hence the failure of the home rule for England movement. In addition to the capture of England the Scots are remarkable for two other great achievements the invention of the bagpipe and the discovery of the haggis. Authorities differ as to which comes first MacHinery in his famous work on Scottish flora is convinced that the haggis was discovered first, and endows that strange confection with the maternal parenthood of the pipes. Something had to be found to drown the dying cries of the haggis, and it is now the custom, when the sacrificial haggis is slain upon such occasions as today, to accompany the ritual with the piercing shrieks of the bagpipes in order to hide all sound of the hideous work which is toward. But this authority's version is not generally accepted, the opposition view being that the pipes came first and that in sheer desperation the Scots invented the haggis for th purpose of producing that degree of anaes-thesis without which the piercing note of the pipes would be almost unbearable. It will be noticed that the Scot under the influence of the haggis and the pipes, and alsó with the generous assistance from the quaich sheds his dour moroseness and for the time becomes a radiant creature of generous enthusiasms. Occasions have been know when Scots under the combined influence o! the three have actually been known to laugh uproariously every time a sixpence exploded. Such instances, it is recorded, are, however. rare. It is probably one of the strange fea tures of the race that apart from St. Andre Day the Scots have few other festivals. One is the strange habit of massing in St. Paul's Churchyard to see the New Year in. It is thought that particular spot is chosen. because admission to it is free, though, of course, there may be some other esoteric reason not to be understood by the southron.
It would be possible to dilate at even greater lengths on the peculiarities of the; race which is holding high festival today. But it is not necessary,—may not, indeed, be particularly safe. In Shanghai a full programme has been arranged, including the usual Ewo Handicap which commences the day and the ball which brings it to a Sie The death of Queen Maud of Norway, and the mourning attendant upon it, will without [doubt rob the latter function of much of its customary brilliance. Nor will the conditions which pertain in Shanghai make it possible to celebrate the festival with that freedom from care which has marked other years. But it is well that in such circumstances the individual races which go to make up the United Kingdom should remember the lands of their birth. No one is more attached to his than the average Scot. In Shanghai the Scots form a section of the community of which they can well be proud. There are many of their number who have given willingly of their time in the service of, the city and their fellow citizens. In their festivities they will be joined by many other nationals if not in person at least in spirit, and it is to be hoped that St. Andrew's Society will secure a suitable addition to their charity funds as a result. The amount of real good that it does quietly is not readily to be appreciated by those unacquainted by the enormous necessity for such work. This journal expresses the hope that all Scots in China will have many more years in which to celebrate their saint's day, for it will be a sad year when the voice of the haggis is no longer heard in the land. That day it is to be hoped will be far distant as also the time when it will be necessary to hang the bagpipes on the willow trees.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.