Trafalgar School - Echoes Yearbook (Montreal, Quebec Canada)

Page 19 text:

the east end is dedicated to the Royal Navy. The west bay is a memorial to the Women ' s Corps and to the Argyll and Sutherland and the Cameron Highlanders; while the east is a memorial to the Royal Artillery and the Royal Engineers. Opening off the Hall of Honour, opposite to the entrance, is the shrine, a miracle in stone. The fan-vaulting of the roof sweeps upward, and hanging from the centre of the vault, carved in oak, is the figure of St. Michael triumphing over the Spirit of Evil. Around the shrine runs a bronzie figure on which every type of Scotsman and Scotswoman, who took part in the war, has a place in the long procession. Beneath the central window the Castle Rock seems to have thrust its way through the floor, to support an altar, carved exquisitely from green Italian marble. On the altar rests a beautifully wrought steel casket, presented by Their Majesties King George and Queen Mary, in which are recorded the names of all those who gave their lives for Scotland. No one part of the Scottish War Shrine is more beautiful than another. The whole is perfect in harmony, grace and splendour. It is the crystallization of a glorious lament; it haunts one ' s imagination; it speaks to one ' s soul in the words of Rupert Brooke — There ' s none of these so lonely and poor of old, But dying, has made us rarer gifts than gold. These laid the world away; poured out the red Sweet wine of youth; gave up the years to be Of work and joy; and that unhoped serene. That men call age; and those who would have been. Their sons, they gave, their immortality. Cynthia Bazin, Form Upper VI. |[Editor ' s Note — The following fragment, written by one of the House girls after a visit to the Battlefields, suggests a memorial of a different type, the simplicity of which means as much in its own way as the thought embodied in the great monument to Scotland ' s heroes|. A marble cross! A small marble cross contoured against the blue, blue skyl Not one cross but hundreds and thousands marking the place of the young and old men who died for their country. Great men all, but men with no epitaph but their name; no fame but that of thousands of others. As I looked up and down the columns, the word Unknown magnified itself before my eyes. Somehow as I stood there I shuddered and yet I thrilled. It was a tragic but yet a glorious sight. They sought the glory of their country. They see the glory of their God. Patricia Mitchell, Form IVa. [21]

Page 18 text:

Jenifer left the room softly. She went out into the fragrant unreality of the slow ' coming night. She climbed up into the elm at the end of the garden. She leaned her body against its rough brown bark. There was so much in life, so very much. There was so much in oneself, so many strange, little unexpected things if one only took the time to think about them. So many things that needed changing! Jenifer watched thin lines of blue smoke curl from the broad chim ' neys of Aunt Jane ' s house against the pearl ' grey mauve of the sky and lose itself in space. Poor Aunt Jane ! How futile her life had been ! How useless ! Just one long gasping run from beginning to end — and now — what? Rest? One small star burned above the slim lone poplar on the hill. Away, away off a dog barked. A motor car purred past. Jenifer bowed her head and wept silently, painfully, not because Aunt Jane had gone, but because she had gone without sensing her own life, without knowing herself. Velma F. O ' Neill, Form Upper V. cr o c KO (T+o The Scottish National War Memorial ON THE highest point in the city of Edinburgh, on the summit of the Castle Rock, stands the Scottish War Memorial. It is a monument, a shrine, sacred to the memory of Scotland ' s sons who died for her; the symbol of a nation ' s grief. The intangible beauty of the building cannot be adequately expressed in words. In plan it is a sanctuary, facing north with an east and west transept. The entrance looks south on the historic Crown Square of Edinburgh Castle. Upon entering, one ' s voice and thoughts are instantly hushed. There is no light except day light filtering through pale stained glass windows on to the gleaming marble. Looking around, one sees a dim vista of arches. Each arched panel of the north wall is dedicated to a Scottish regiment, twelve in all, and has at the top of the panel the crest of the regiment, while hanging at the side are the regimental colours. Carved in the centre of the panel is the regiment ' s record of achieve ments during 1914 1918, and on the table in front is the Regimental Roll of Honour. The south wall is composed of a series of stained glass windows painting the picture of the war. At the west end of the Hall of Honour is a memorial window to the Flying Corps, while the window at [ 20]

Page 20 text:

Storm A low protesting murmur fills the air, As on the wind there comes the breath of storm. How fitfully the whispVing trees are swayed! How powerless they watch with growing dread The shapeless, changing clouds that send and whirl In maddened haste across the frowning sky , Like broken regiments who flee before The dark, relentless fury of the foe! The trembling aspens stagger in the gusts That shake the very oaks from crest to root. • — And now, for one still moment there is calm; A hushed, foreboding silence — then a roar. And with a mighty rush the storm descends: The rain beats down in frenzy unrestrained. The proud and haughty pines which once have stood. Accepting due obeisance from the trees Of lesser rank about them, now must bend In meek submission to their conqueror. And bowing, stooping, bending, they in turn Must pay their homage to a greater reign. The winds about them howl and mock their plight. Compelling all to kneel again before The victor, as he charges madly on To further conquests, and unrivaled power. Thither he departs, but in his wake Are heard the sighs and moans of conquered kings. Slowly then the sounds of tumult cease, And leave the vanquished, humble and subdued, To weep their grief in silent, glistening tears, And wait, disconsolate, the peace of night. Alice E. Johannsen, Form Upper VI. Enter Nineteen-Thirty WITH the drastic change in fashions this year, the manners also underwent a revolution. Just as a 1929 dress differs from a 1930 dress, so do 1929 manners differ from those of 1930. Last year skirts and hair were short and the boyish mode was fashionable. Now skirts and hair are long, and femininity is popular. Dresses today are fashioned on graceful, flowing lines, influenced by the Greek, mediaeval. Empire, Directoire, and even the much-ridiculed Victorian periods. And the frocks capture something from the charm of the past, although they adopt only the best features of these eras. All the dresses are longer and knees have disappeared. Sports dresses come just below the knee — let us hope they will never be longer — street clothes come about twelve inches from the ground, formal afternoon dresses just reveal the ankles, and evening gowns trail on the ground, some even boasting trains. Greek influence is shown in a gown of satin cut on classic lines, Empire in the high waist line and flowing lines of a soft chiffon dress, and a ruffled tulle frock with a huge bow at the back reminds one of the bustle of Victoria ' s day. [22]