Winchester School - Oui Dire Yearbook (Pittsburgh, PA)

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OUI- DIRE 35 Signed, sealed and delivered by the testatrix as our last will and testament, and attested by us as witnesses at her request in her pres- ence. and in the presence of each other. fx. ., IS, . v . IL. P. lx., 15, XYitnesses. THE VITAL QUESTION. One morn thc Seniors trampled in And each one wore a worried grin. Since no one knew who was to blame, They questioned each as in they came. They went the rounds of each in turn fT'l1e Seniors still a lot must learnj' Ilut soon the charge the dears denier And thus th' accused were put aside. i XYhen each had asked of each around, And everyone said quickly, No, The ten o'clock scholar arrived, The myst'ry to unwind contrived. lYhy, girls, you are all blind! I'm sure the culprit I can find. IYithout delay I-I. D. she spied, Endeavoring hard herself to hide. Alia, she cried, 'tis as I thought, She did it or perhaps forgot, lint anyhow we now do know NYho's bringing F. to be her beau. S. E. I. 'r5. A DAY AT MELROSE. Two summers ago my father and mother and I. while traveling in Scotland, were very much disappointed in the continued wet weather, and welcomed gladly any day' of even the most feeble sunshine. On one of these rare, bright days we decided to visit Melrose and the home of VValter Scott. Xkfe left Edinburgh early in the morning, from the great Ikfaverly station, which was crowded with incoming and outgoing travelers. of the confusion, our train and we were soon slipping green fields and stretches of saw many interesting old I'Iowever, in spite was easily found, along by pleasant woodland. NWC places among which was Bothwick Castle, where M-ary Queen of Scots, at one time took refuge, accompanied by Bothwell. Melrose is not far from lldinburgh, and it seemed but a short time until we were alighting at the little old town. From Melrose we took the coach to Abbotts- ford, the home of Scott. On such a bright, clear day as this, the ride was most enjoyable. Ifrom time to time we caught glimpses of the silver Tweed, fiowing smoothly between its low, green banks. Ijeyond it we could see the bare Iiildon lfills. to which Scott so often re- fers. Ilike to think that sometimes, accom- panied by his dogs, he himself walked on these very hills. XYheu we had nearly reached Ab- bottsford, an old ivy-covered border tower was pointed out to us. In the days when England and Scotland were at war, these towers on the border between the two countries were very necessary. XYe soon were able to see the roof and turrets of Abbottsford, and, a few minutes after, we arrived. .Xbbottsford itself is situated rather low on the banks of the Tweed, and we had to descend a slight hill to reach it. The house is light buff in color, and it was very beautiful in the midst of its green lawns and bright yellow flowers. XVe could have spent a day in the gar- dens, which were all in bloom. Beautiful red and white roses, climbing over the walls, made a lovely picture against the green ivy. Reluc- tantly leaving them we passed into the great entrance hall. A huge, stone fireplace almost fills one wall, and at either end are two mailed figures, fully armed. These give a stern and warlike appearance to the room, and we felt as if Ivanhoe or cruel Front-de-Iloeuf stood wait- ing to greet us. The walls, covered with trophies and pieces of armor, made the place seem like a great mediaeval castle. There are also many interesting things in the library. Above the fireplace hangs a very good paint- ing of Scott, with his favorite dog lying at his feet. In the great baywindow overlooking the Tweed is a case in which lies the little black and white marble crucifix which Mary, Queen of Scots, carried at the time of her execution. The room, with its view of the Tweed, is one of the pleasantest in the house. But the room in which I was most interested was Scott's own studv. My first impression of it was of a room filled withibooks. Not one square inch of wall space is left uncovered and, since the ceiling is high, a little gallery runs around the room, from which books at the top of the wall may be reached. The great desk, where Scott did his writing, stands under a window overlook-

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34 oUr- DIRE pouncing upon every white grub in sight. Thev were evidently his favorite morsel, as he would frctpuently neglect other worms when the fat white ones were plentiful. llis capacity for these gruhs seemed unlimited, and when you re- member that one white grub can kill in a single night a cauliflower which is worth fifteen cents to a gardener, -lim is seen to have had a very positive commercial value. Another item of .lim's dict was mice. XYe first found this out after the corn had been shocked and the fields frozen, for he used to follow anyone who went out to the barn for a load of fodder, and hover over the box as it was lifted. Frequently, mice would scurry out from beneath, and ,lim would pounce down upon them with astonishing speed, and apparently kill them with one tweak of his bill. Then he would hide them. It was curious to watch him hide things. .Xny small shining object particularly attracted him, and he would spend hours attempting to hide bits of crockery in the dog's ear. ,Tack's ear seemed to be his favorite hiding place. -lim would hop upon the dog's head, drop his treasure into -lack's ear, then carefully fold the ear-Flap down. -lack did not seem to mind this if he were awake, but if he were trying to sleep, it provoked him greatly, for -Tim would follow him from place to place and repeat the offense, lt seems to me that crows might be taught to talk, lt is said that if you would slit their tongues they could talk. Certainly ,lim said l'apa, as plain as most babies do when they are being shown off. We found our pet dead one morning, no doubt from having eaten too much, for he seemed to like to eat better than to do anything else. Al- though he seemed to desire only human com- panionship, our pet never showed any affec- tion. He would let you stroke his head, seem- ingly because he enjoyed the sensation, but if you attempted to pick him up-away he would fly. Nevertheless we missed ,lim greatly, for we never have had another pet like him. i hi. 'I5. WILL OF THE SENIOR CLASS. a member of the Senior Class, attending Xlmchester School, Fifth avenue, being of sound mind, memory and understandingi do make, publish and declare this to be my last will and testament. ' .Xfter the payment of our debts, I devise and bequeath all of our estate, consisting main- ly of school property, old customs, honors, and privileges to the members of the upper school, VIZ.: To the Eighth Grade-the new Ninth: The honor of moving down to the first floor, .Xn honor I know that young 'girls just adoreg To be counted as members of the upper school, .-Xnd promising to go by our great Golden Rule. To the Ninth Grade-the new Tenth: The honor of stepping up one other place, .Xnd looking all daily tasks square in the face, Uf coming nearer and nearer the long-wished- for goal, As days, weeks, and months swiftly past you do roll. To the Tenth Gradewthe new Juniors: The honor of giving the ever-famed dance, tThe thoughts of which make every one prancel. - XYith its planning and troubles, perplexities great, .Xs it takes every penny for giving this fete. To the -luniors-the new Seniors: The honor of being the great Senior Class, ttf owning the book shelves with doors made of glassy Uf possessing the dignified set-apart nook, XYhere all things in order, give a neat, tidy look. The honor of reproving small chatt'ring girls, .Xll a-shaking their heads with their long, bob- bing curlsg XYho pass swiftly and merrily along through the halls, .Xnd who turn a deaf ear to our soft warning calls. The honor of being the guests at the ball, lfor which plans are made throughout the whole fall, .Xnd for which you no longer your money must pay 1 llut when clocks strike out one you no longer Can stay. The honor of roaming about at your will, tXever once being told that you must be more still PU, To the library, lawn, or perhaps to the roofg lie as faithful as we if you need any proof. T nominate and appoint the President of the Senior Class the executress of this our last will and testament. XYitness my hand and seal, this the tenth day of May, nineteen hundred and fifteen. L. H., IIS. S

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36 QUT DIRE ing the gardens, 'lille fact lllllt sollle of his best lull lks were written here lll1lllL' tllis Slllllllt l'OOlll sec-nl verv XX'llllllL'l'ltll. llowever, we had still other things to see, so we llalle good-bye to ,Xllllllttsfol'll. flllfl clinlllell into the coach for l Jry llurgh Abbey. After eating lllllcll at a little village, we soon arrived at l.Jl'ylllll'Qll. The Abbey, now only a lovely grove sur- l'lllll, is very beautiful. .X loullds it and luakes a dark, green liPZlCliAQ'1'OllllCl for the old cloisters Zllltl XVlIll'l4'lXY5 wllicll are still stallding, llere, ill a little corner of the ruinell chapel, stands Scotts lfllllll. lt St'ClllS verv fitting tllat he should be lllll'lCfl here. for lJTi'lllll'Q.'l'l ,Xbbey was one of the places wllicll llC'llJYL'tl turist. The arcllitectllre of the Abbey is NOl'll'l2lll and very interesting. ,'XCl'lOlllll'lg it was the old 1llUll2lSlCI'j' of wllicll nothing now lQl'Il2llllS except the valllted wine-cellars of the old lnonks. The windows are of a pillkisll- colored stone. Zllltl are particularly beautiful. The only thing now left to see was Melrose Abbey. This Abbey, sonle distance lil'Ol'll Ury- llurgh, is also in 1'l,llllS. llut Melrose is ll'lllCll larger, alld lllIll'C of its ruins are stancling. Our Qlllflk' at this .Xlllley was very fullllv. lle talked all the lllllt' wllicll, of course, he was supposed to do, lllllf l have never heard sllcll a Yillllllllllgi discourse before. lle called our attention to the l'4'u'Il and the floor ill the very same breath. and filled ill all the pallses hy quoting poetry. lle certainly kllew his gC4l'tt well, for he never ran out of Kllllillillllillli. l'le showed us the old grave of Michael Scott, wllicll was supposed to have been opened one lligllt by a lllflll who thought tllat a book. containing the great sec- rets of life, was buried ill it. ln fact he evell showed us the very crack ill the stone slab which lay over it. Near tllis grave is a very inA teresting tllillg wllicll has just been discovered within the last few years. lt seenls tllat the windows ofthe .Xlllley all represent solnething, and one of the windows contains a heart.. lliercell witll an arrow, the Syllllilll of the great ll4lllQ'l2lS fanlily. llpon lFlll'lllt'l' investigation it was found tllat just llnder the svnlhol lie graves in wllicll l-ZllllVlllS lllL'lllllL'l'S of the Doug- las fanlily have been buried. K The 7ll'CllllL'L'llll'C of Melrose is verv wonder- flll. Xu two of the great windows,fwhich, as l said before all represent S4'llllCllllllQ,', are alike. Une in the shape t1ffLC1'l'1Ss represents Calvary, and IlllHlllL!I', witll tllree parts blending into onie, l'4'lP.l'L'Sk'lll.9- lllt' lloly Trinity. .Xnother llllC1'- iollvlly' window I9 one ill the shape of rl heart, which IS called the heart of llruce. The conn- try people about Melrose used to beliCVC that XVllC1l the 1TlOOll sllone through tllis heart on the grave of Michael Scott, the grave would again open. But the window is so placed that the JTIOOTI can never shine through it, SO, of course. no one has ever proved this. The frieze which rulls around the walls of the Ab- lley is lllade up of collventionalized leaves, and no one of these leaves is exactly like allotller. .Xt first we refused to believe this, for there seellls to be llliles of frieze. However, on in- vestigating ollrselves at places wllcre it eanle near the ground, we found tllat here, at least. L'2lCll leaf was ill SOll'lC way different frolll the otllers. .Xt the corners of the walls are gro- tesque little l'lQ'll1'CSOfSlO1lC.SOlllC of tl'lClll very fulllly. Une ill particular lllflt is quite fZl1ll011S, is the figure of a pig playing the bagpipe. He is perclled up there so carelessly, and is play- ing so gaily, tllat you wallt to dance the nlin- llte you see llllll. ,Al'tI'lfllQl' interesting figure is a little head of all angel. She is lE1llQil'llllgHlCI'- rily, Zlllfl looks so carefree and happy tllat she HL'L'lllS ZllllltlSl alive. The architect of Melrose nlust have had a lllk'l'I'y heart. for all these lit- tle tigures are laughing and gay. The Abbey is surrounded by a small graveyard, and it is said illfll XYllCll the nloon shines down on the old ruins Zlllfl the wllite tonlbstones. it looks like a llit of fairyland itself, lke left the .Xbbey slowly Zlllfl reluctantly. As we tllI'llL'fl for a last look, a bright QlC2l1l1 from the setting sun, which SllO11C through the great Trillity window, covered the ruined lxalls witll a wonderful golden glow Ztllfl left us a sweet Illlfl beautiful lllClllOl'V of Melrose. , M. D. L., 16. A RAIN STORM IN THE GRAND CAN- YON OF ARIZONA. Une Sllllll1lCl' about four years ago while visiting the lil'1lllKl Canyon we saw a 1llOSt in- teresting Illlfl extraordinary sight, one that, ill the llllllly years people have known of the Can- yon, has occurred only once or twice. All lllOl'lllllQf huge, dark clouds had slowly beell Q'lllllLTl'lllQ' above the Canyon alld lightning had been streaking across the sky, followed by distant, lloonlillg thunder. After l1lllCllCOll the clouds l7CL'1ll'llC evell lllore tlll'CZltCl'llll,Q' and yet where we sat on the rilll of the lllarvelous chasnl lllill the Colorado River has formed, the sun shone brightly. XVhen the stornl hnally broke ill the Canyon, everyone of us ruslled headlong for the veranda of El Tovaf. fllllb' Qxpeeting to get S