Trafalgar School - Echoes Yearbook (Montreal, Quebec Canada)

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Morning Prayers, and Sunday Services might be held. This hope of his has yet to be realized ! The Assembly Hall, with a piano, supplies a suitable place for Morning Prayers; and since 1888, sittings for the resident pupils have been retained in St. Paul ' s (now St. Andrew ' s and St. Paul ' s) Presbyterian Church, and in St. George ' s Anglican Church. Our girls have always taken high places in the McGill Matriculation Examinations, and at McGill as well, and many of the long procession of girls who have been trained in the School, and have gone out into the world, hold positions of influence and trust in various walks of life, — in Medicine, Law, Art, Literature, in Political life, in the Teach- ing Profession, in the Business World, and in the Home. Many daughters of old girls have been, and are still being taught in the Class Rooms, where their mothers sat at the desks, and granddaughters are already beginning to come into the School! Many of those old girls look back, with gratitude to the early training they received, and the high ideals that were set before them. Mr. Donald Ross, the Members of the original Corporation, Rev. Dr. Barclay Mr. Riddell, Miss Fairley and many more, who were closely associated with the early days of the School, have passed to higher service, but they have left a sacred trust to those on whose shoulders their mantles have fallen, and I am sure that they, and the present School Girls, who are trying to live up to the traditions of the School, pray, in the words of the old Hymn, O God, to us may grace be given, to follow in their train. Martha L. Brown. [22]

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fortable room, with built-in bookshelves easy chairs, and good reading lamps, making a very restful place to consult reference books, as well as to enjoy good reading. Chairmen of the Board of Governors: — Rev. Dr. Jenkins 1883: Rev. Dr. Barclay 1884-1917: Sir William Peterson 1915-1917, (acting for Dr. Barclay) Mr. Sergeant Steams 1917-1918: Rev. Dr. George Duncan 1918-1924: Sir Arthur Currie 1924-1926: Rev. Dr. George Donald since 1926. A special tribute should be paid to the memory of the late Rev. Dr. Barclay, who was Chairman of the Board of Governors for so many years. He served on many other Boards of Education, and was an outstanding figure in the life of Montreal, but Trafalgar was his special charge. He took a keen interest in all the activities of the School, as well as in the educational side of the work, and spared no pains to further its interests, in every possible way. He had a kindly manner and loved young people, and when he left Montreal to return to his home in Scotland, his loss was keenly felt by young and old His name will always be associated with that of the School. Dr. Donald, though a very busy man, gives much of his time to the School. He is always ready to address the girls on all special occasions. His appearance is hailed with joy by the pupils, for they feel that he is genuinely interested in them, and he always ' has an interesting story to point the moral of the lesson he wishes to teach them. Though it is more than half a century since Mr. Donald Ross made provision for the establishment of The Trafalgar Institute , the charm of the old house and garden is still felt: the Conservatory, on which he set his heart, still supplies flowers for the house and the garden, and his plans for the religious education of the pupils are still being carried out. He hoped that a Chapel could be built, containing an organ, where Trafalgar Grandmother and Granddaughter [21]

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THE LEGEND OF THE TRAFALGAR TOWER HIS Tower was built in 1805 to commemorate the Victory of Trafalgar. For many X years it was supposed to be haunted, as mysterious footsteps were frequently heard by those who visited it, to see the fine view. In one of the two volumes of Canadiana , edited by W. J. White, M.A., President of the Society for Historical Studies, and published by the Gazette in 1889-1890, and now kept under lock and key in the McGill Library, there is a record of a storv written by M. Georges de Boucherville, Avocat, in 1835, which tells of the murder of two lovers, by the lady ' s rejected suitor. The story runs in this wise: — A young man said to a friend, Have you ever gone as far as the Priests ' Fort on the Mountain? If you have not, I warn you that when you go, you will have to pass through valleys, rough ground, and sombre thickets before you reach Cote des Neiges, and in the distance you will see a little grey Tower, peering from the summit of the Mountain. One fine morning the friend took his gun, and followed by his dog, went for a day ' s stroll on the Mountain. A terrible storm came on when he reached the little Tower, so he and his dog took refuge there. Being weary, he lay down and slept, but when he felt a hand pass over his face, he awoke trembling and was still more terrified, when he saw blood-stains on the floor. He fled, regardless of the storm, and, followed by his dog. [23]