Branksome Hall - Slogan Yearbook (Toronto, Ontario Canada)

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THE BRANKSOME SLOGAN. 9 But, girls, this deals with the social side of our Association. We must not have any but the highest of ideals — let us strive for the best ! always keeping in mind the thought, what the school and its honored Principal require of us and do all we can to assist both in the work now being accomplished. Then, with this as a foundation, let us hope that this Association, little as it now is, may broaden and be of use and a credit to the school and the country we all love. The President. THE ORIGINAL BRANKSOME HALL This summer I had the privilege, which perhaps not all of you have enjoyed, of spending some time in the land immortalized by one of the greatest of all fiction writers. For, though to any reader of romances Walter Scott ' s land cannot be restricted to that com- paratively small stretch of country bounded on one side by the liberties of Berwick, on the other by the Solway Moss and known to history as the Scottish Borders; we feel that it has a perfectly legitimate claim to be called the Scott country, for, in one crowning sense, it is Sir Walter Scott ' s land — the land of his nativity; the land consecrated by his life, his herculean labors, his joys, sorrows and death. This is the land which he knew best and loved most, and though it all must needs be to any lover of Scott intensely interesting, perhaps one of the most attractive parts to me was my visit to the original Branksome Hall. As we were staying in Selkirk, which is a charming place situated right in the midst of this historical country, we had an excellent start- ing point for excursions to the many places of interest roundabout. It is, of course, an accepted fact that the roads of Great Britain are well-nigh perfect, and one can hardly imagine anything more delight- ful than gliding over mile after mile of these pavement-like roads with an ever-changing panorama unfolding around one, and with every turn bringing one to some new place interesting either in history or romance. The day we chose for our trip to Branksome Hall was an ideal one — just the least bit warm (hot, our Scotch friends called it), the sky blue and cloudless, the air soft, and the leaves and grass green, as air is soft, and leaves and grass green, only in Scotland. We sped south, following the winding Teviot, past hills glowing with the purple of the heather, past fine old estates and ivy-covered towers, under the overhangin.o branches of the magnificent old trees, up and down the gently sloping hills until we reached Hawick. This is a busy little manufacturing town, about an hour ' s run from Edinburgh, and it is almo t six miles from here that Branksome Hall is situated. We

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8 THE BEANKSOME SLOGAN. Chaminade, and several of the girls gave selections from her composi- tions on the piano. Then, at the March meeting, the centennial anni- versaries of Gladstone, Mendelssohn and Lincoln made appropriate papers on their lives. Mile. Compondn very kindly gave ns a French talk on Switzerland at the May meeting, and it mnst have been grati- fying to the governesses to see how mnch some understood, but, alas 1 very surprising to see how much others had forgotten. In February the Association held a most enjoyable luncheon at the Tea Pot Inn, Yonge Street, at which there were about fifty of fHe members present. The absence of our much-loved Honorary Presi- dent was regretted by all. After the luncheon a pleasant hour was spent, w hen the usual toasts were given. Miss MacCurdy, who is now in Los Angeles, California, replied to the toast to The Old Staff by a very interesting letter. Miss Geraldine Stephenson, of Winnipeg, wrote a letter responding to the Out-of-Town Members. ' Several letters and telegrams were read by the Secretary, among which was a letter from Gladys Cross, of Penshurst, Australia, whose name is the first on the register of the school and is included in the membership of the Association. One very informal little meeting that was held in April must not go without mention. We devoted most of the time to reading letters from some of our out-of-town members. It was interesting to hear from these girls, and we hope that they will continue to write this year. After the busines s was concluded at the First Annual Meeting last June we held a reception for the new members and the staff of the school, which all thoroughly enjoyed. At our meetings, after a programme of papers and musical numbers, we always spend some time in chatting with one another over the afternoon tea, and in this way, besides renewing old friendships, we are able to farm new ones with the girls who have followed the earlier graduates. This year we are starting with an idea to have a more systematic course of study for the literary meetings. For this we have chosen Pobert Louis Stevenson and several of his best-known books. In doing so we hope to accomplish more than we could in wandering to different subjects, as we did last year. But, of course, we must have the co-operation of all the members to make this a success. We might mention here how much we owe to Miss Macdonald and the other governesses for their great assistance in organizing this Association. They w ere alwa3 s most willing to help us in every way possible, and the Executive Committee of the first year join me in thanking them. We all hope Miss Macdonald is res aining her strength, and that she will soon be with us once more, feeling benefited by her much-needed rest.

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10 THE BEANKSOME SLOGAISr. stayed here some time for luncheon, but resumed onr trip in the after- noon, and, when at last we drew np in front of the hall, I could hardly realize that this quaint old building was actually the Brank- some which we had studied about at school. However, I stood up and declaimed dramatically ( ?) : The feast was over in Branksome Hall, the Lad3 e had gone to her secret bower. The others wondered a little at my enthusiasm over this particular ancient pile, when the whole of their country is so thickly besprinkled with just as old and, ' apparently, just as interesting castles as this one. They decided tJiat I must surely be a very keen admirer of The Lay of the Last Minstrel — and so indeed I am, but they didn ' t know (how could they, being Scotch, and unlearned in the manners and customs of this country) that Branksome Hall had been made famous, not only by the poems, but by its flourishing namesake in Canada. I gazed at the old building, and tried to imagine the Ladye gliding up the winding stair to the tower she guarded by word and by spell — the irreverent thought struck me that she must have been fearfully cold when she got up there, for these towers are remarkably draughty places. But perhaps she kept herself warm by word and by spell too. Who knows? The hall is built well back from the road. It is set high, and can be seen above the row of elms which fringe the estate by the side of the road. Four grey walls and four grey towers, over- look a space of flowers, and the silent wall embowers — probably some ordinary, everyday Scotch lord and his family! — whereas it used to embower the Ladye with her knights and squires and pages ! Such an anti-climax ! But travelling is full of such anti-climaxes. To visit an old feudal tower, famed perchance in story, and find, instead of clanking armor and clashing swords, a vegetable garden in the moat ! Or to go to a castle where the King of Scotland lived for cen- turies, and find in the banqueting hall some horrid soldiers cleaning their boots — that is death to romance. Many things may be romantic, but cabbages and modern soldiers certainly are not. For this reason it is a bit disappointing to visit these places, which books have made familiar to us, and find them not at all what our vivid imagination has pictured, but then it gives one a much more real interest in one ' s reading to have seen these places. The Lay of the Last Minstrel ' ' can never seem the same to me since I have seen Branksome and Newark Tower; and The Lady of the Lake has quite a new charm since passing Ellen ' s Isle and the spot where Fitz- james and Eoderick Dhu fought their famous duel. As a school- girl is said to have remarked, after visiting the graves in Westminster Abbey, They seem quite real to me now, for they must have lived or they couldn ' t have died. So at Abbotsford and at Ayr one feels