Selwyn House School - Yearbook (Montreal, Quebec Canada)

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FOR THE SCHOOL YEAR T959-T960 I7 Earl Haig's St. Andrew's Day Address It is a great privilege to be able to come to Canada and a very exciting experience for me, as it is my first visit to your country. The warm welcome that I have received from everyone shows the wonderful good-will which exists between Scots and Canadians. This good-will is based on a common heritage, on traditions of similar ways of life, and on common ideals, lt also, I feel, springs in part from mutual self-interest, from an interchange of trade and commerce. For the last century or so imports from Canada have flowed across the Atlantic to our main seaeport at Glasgow, and have enabled the merchants of the Clyde to establish a position in trade which they have never lost. The people of Britain, as you well know, are not self-supporting. They import the bulk of their food, their grain and their animal food- stuffs, and they also depend on some of Canada's minerals and chemicals. To pay for all this, to balance their budget, the Scots have to make things. Originally, they made things like nails, soap and linen. Then they turned their hand to the development of mechanical engineering. More than anything else the economy of Scotland has been based on the engines and ships which have been built on Clydeside. Today we are hoping that there will soon be a new order for the building of another Queen to take the place of the Queen Mary, Ships have been the life-blood of Scotland. Nowhere in the manufacturing area of Scotland can a factory be located more than thirty miles from the sea, and one might almost say that Scotland is surrounded by two ice-free lakes, one of which, the Atlantic, connects her with the New World. As their industry developed, the leaders of industry in Scotland helped to build up the industries in Canada. Scottish engineers, chemists and farmers went over the Atlantic. Other industries helped to earn her bread and butter. Amongst them are the textile indus- tries of the Borders and of the Highlands, which export many of your tweeds, and your pullovers to keep you warm in winter. Scotland today is being helped by the introduction of new industries from England and from across the Atlantic. New industries of all sorts are springing up, so that the serious unemployment caused by the disappearance of some of our traditional markets is happily a thing of the past. What are these new industries? First there is the electronic engineering industry, which is beginning to play a full part in the Scottish economy. Next there is the production of chemicals which provide the base for the plastic industry. The new steel strip mill is going to produce steel in all quantities and will help to pave the way for the production of cars and other products. Electrical power in Scotland, as in Canada, is to be had very cheaply near our doorsteps, thanks to the fast-flowing rivers. A new source of electricity is the great new nuclear power-station at Hunderston, where a huge dome of the magnitude of a medieval cathedral, built in the style of the twentieth century, dominates and yet harmonizes with a beautiful stretch of Ayrshire coast. More electric power is going to be produced from the station at Douneray in Caithness, which will also serve as an experimental base for the development of a new method of producing nuclear energy. New towns with new communities are springing up to complement the factory-building programme at East Kilbride, at Cumbernauld, and at Glenrothes. A new road-bridge is

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I6 SELWYN HOUSE SCHOOL MAGAZINE Visitors As in previous years Selwyn House has been favoured by a number of distinguished visitors, who have addressed various functions of the school. Among those who have thus honoured us since our last magazine went to press have been the following: Sir Saville Garner, K.C.M.G., United Kingdom High Commissioner in Canada, Professor William C. J. Meredith, Q.C., Dean of the Faculty of Law, McGill University, and Robert W. Wakefield, Esq., who spoke at the Academic Prize-giving, the Sports Prize-giving, and the School Gymnastic Display respec- tively, Rt. Hon. the Earl Haig of Bemersyde, Scotland, who addressed a St. Andrew's Assembly, Rt. Hon. Sir Charles Arden-Clarke, G.C.M.G., first Gover- nor General of Ghana, who spoke on his long career in the U.K. Colonial service, and Col. William A. Wood, former Commanding Officer of the Third Battalion of the Black Watch lR.H.R.l of Canada, who was the speaker at the annual Remembrance Day Service, Chaplain of the Fleet Ernest G. B. Foote, D.D., R.C.N., Rev. G. B. Caird, D.D., retiring principal of the United Theological College of Montreal, Rev. Norman M. Slaughter, M.A., Erskine-American United Church, and Rev. Murray C. Magorf Christ Church Cathedral, Montreal, who all addressed special assemblies, D. W. A, Moseley, Esq., of the Montreal Star, David M. Culver, Esq., of the Aluminum Union, Ltd., Mrs. J. LeNormand, and Sydney Sherwood, Esq., of Bermuda, who all gave excellent illustrated addresses to the boys, Howard McCartney, Esq., of the University Settlement, who spoke on the Welfare Campaign, Bartlett Morgan, Esq., Vice-chairman of the Board of Governors, who spoke at an investiture of prefects, and Brigadier Eric Wilson, who brought along and described various weapons of warfare, Murray G. Ballantyne, Esq.,' who gave a very amusing address on the olden days at Selwyn House, Mrs. Eva Prager and her father, Mr. Oppenheimer, who presented to the chairman ofthe Board of Governors, Mr. H. Stirling Max- well, a handsome portrait of the headmaster, and the Rt. Hon. Lord Shaugh- nessy,' who presented Old Boy memberships to the graduating class of l959, William Arthur Hill, Esq., Headmaster, of Aylesbury, Bucks, England, and Frank Sharpe, Esq., Principal of Kings School, Westmount, who judged our Public-speaking Competition - finalists being Billy Ballantyne, Jonathan Birks, Gordon MacDougall, Teddy Manthorp, David Walker and Murray Whipps, Swami Vishnu Devanamda, professor of Hatha Yoga, Yoga Vadenta Forest Academy, Rishikesh, India.

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I8 SELWYN HOUSE SCHOOL MAGAZINE being built over the Forth, and another is being proiected over the Tay at Dundee-so the traffic up the east coast will travel faster, and industry on the east side of Scotland will benefit. In the west a new graving dock is about to be built. Prestwick airport is being developed so that both sides of the Atlantic are being brought closer together, and a journey across it is no longer a formidable undertaking. All this will help us to be on closer terms as neighbours, to do more trade with each other, and in general to co-operate in this great new age of progress. Before I close, may I say a few words about three things with which I am personally connected in Scotland-the Church, the Arts and the Land. First, the Church. Scotland has never shown any sign of losing sight of the Christian values. Sunday is still the sacred day, and the Christian traditions are continuing to bring great happiness and richness to the lives of our people. Indeed there is a sort of religious revival nowadays, particularly in the newer towns, where new churches and centres are being built, and where the people show a need for religion which overrides all new scientific developments. Secondly, Painting lfor which I can personally speakl is at a high level in Scotland- there are several painters of the modern school who will be valued in the future. It is a pity that in general the people of Scotland are not taking still more interest in the work of the artist, but possibly this is a transition period. And we hope that the great advances which have been made in art-education and appreciation will lead to a greater understanding for the artist. In the world of industrial design the situation is better. As living standards rise, it is to be hoped that all the fine arts will come more and more into the lives and homes of the people. Finally, the Land. I think that one can say that farmers in Scotland today are living up to their reputation as being second to none in the world of agriculture. The practice of farming is keeping pace with new discoveries of agricultural science. However, we have to face the fact that farming in Great Britain is the Cinderella of the industries. Yet, thanks to fairly distributed government subsidies, an efficient home agriculture is being fostered without restricting imports of more cheaply raised foodstuffs from abroad. There seem to be hopes of expansion in the timber trade. If this is possible, more of the empty hillsides in the High- lands will be planted, and perhaps small communities will spring up in places where populations vanished during the last centuries to the cities. I do hope that these few remarks about life and conditions in Scotland today will encourage those of you who have never been there to go and see for yourselves, and I am sure I can guarantee you a really warm welcome. Gi?