Grace Notes 1 June 2006 GRACE N TES Vol. 22, No. 6 June 2006 The Monthly Newsletter of the Memphis Scottish Society, Inc. IT WAS A DARK & STORMY NIGHT… Well, it was, but that didn't stop a occasional luck of the pot-luck, it was Chorale performed songs about love bunch of hardy Scots bent on having a sad day for chickens as all but 2 of (as in, “In springtime a young man’s a party. So, on Saturday, April 29th the entrees brought were chicken: fancy turns to…”). A special ar- while April was going out like a lion hot fried, cold fried, & roasted! (Those rangement of “Eriskay Love Lilt” (ahem), these fifty-some-odd folks who didn’t care for chicken were brought a tear to many an eye, but (including a table-full of visitors who glad to have the meat balls & cold especially to Margo Wright, who hales had been invited at the Lyon College cuts.) The most acclaimed dish was from Eriskay. games the week before) chatted and a salad from Pat Bevier: her recipe Then hostess Emily Smith led a ate and sang and listened and danced. appears by public request elsewhere score of dancers through the lively The evening officially opened with in this issue. steps of the Cumberland Reel. After stirring skirls by pipers Charlie Jester After lingering at table engrossed that, all those attending helped to & Rick Clausi; then, the crowd set to in convivial conversation, the crowd clear and put away the tables, just eating the banquet spread out on made the rafters ring with a spirited like their mothers taught them. three groaning tables. As is the sing-a-long of 3 songs about getting Thanks and kudos to Emily for a married. Next, the Caledonian delightful ceilidh! YOUR MSSI BOARD President Ben Kemker............. 386-9909 [email protected] A belated Happy Birthday to 2nd Vice President Mary Ann Lucas.......725-1879 Lt. Brook Crihfield, on active duty in [email protected] Iraq. Among the other gifts he re- Treasurer ceived for his birthday last month was John Simmons...........272-9240 a copy of Grace Notes, downloaded [email protected] from our website on the internet. Secretary Slainte, mo charaid (here 's a health Dena Warth..............837-1413 to you, my friend), and thanks! [email protected] Members at Large Emily Smith..............683-6416 [email protected] Bill Halliday..............682-8297 [email protected] John Schultz ............754-2419 [email protected] www.memphisscots.com (cont. on pg. 2) Grace Notes 2 June 2006 NOW YOU KNOW News from the National Library of Scotland A gushy reporter told Jack Almost 110 years after it was com- with vivid watercolours and deco- Nicklaus, “You are spectacular, your pleted, an illuminated manuscript by rative motifs and added gold leaf to name is synonymous with the game Scotland’s leading Arts and Crafts artist great effect. All 44 sonnets can be of golf. You really know your way has ‘gone digital’. This week the Na- viewed on the NLS website, with around the course. What’s your se- tional Library of Scotland published online ‘zoom-and-pan’ images allowing cret?” one of its treasures - Phoebe Anna the details to be examined close up. Nicklaus replied, “The holes are Traquair’s manuscript of poems by Eliza- Expert commentary provides back- numbered.” -- Thanks to Dan Irvin beth Barrett Browning. Sonnets from ground on the manuscript and on for this gem! the Portuguese was a five-year project the artist herself. Enjoy the Traquair for Traquair. She lavished each page manuscript at: http://www.nls.uk/traquair/ To the right... A picture of your humble Grace Notes staff, by request. From left, Gavin Anderson on tin whistle, Sammy Rich on stool, Mary Ann standing with Melissa Gibson at the piano. At far right is fellow Caledonia Chorale member, Diane Wade. A Word to the Thrifty: If you turn in your empty printer cartridge at Office Max, the nice people there will give you a free ream of copy paper. GRACE NOTES From the Webmaster: Grace Notes is the official publication of the Memphis Scottish Society, Inc. It is published monthly. We now have a perfect 10 at Like the Society itself, the credo of Grace Notes is “to foster education and promote understanding of SiteReportCard.com. things Scottish.” If you have something of interest to readers of this newsletter, please submit a typewritten manuscript We are still holding at 4th position to the editorial staff. If the article or notice is very brief (30 words or fewer), just use the telephone. Grace on Google.com, but the other 3 sites Notes will accept and publish good quality photographs (preferably black and white; no Polaroids, please). above us offer direct links back to The deadline for all submissions is the second week of each month preceding the month of publication. Please include a self-addressed stamped envelope with each submission, if you want the material returned. our site. Also, our photo gallery page Editorial Staff is 5th down on the Google list, so, Mary Ann Lucas - [email protected] ................................. Editor, (901-725-1879) come on, everybody, sign in and post Sammy Rich - [email protected] ..................................... Publisher, (901-272-7159) Gavin Anderson - [email protected] Editor, (901-682-5485) photos of MSSI events. (It’s FREE Melissa Gibson - [email protected] ......................... Line Editor, (901 299-3170) to sign in, and FREE to post photos Please address all correspondence to: — this should be music to every Grace Notes to foster education Scottish heart!) The Memphis Scottish Society, Inc. and promote Gavin Anderson [email protected] understanding of P. O. Box 241934 things Scottish Memphis, TN 38124-1934 www.memphisscots.com Grace Notes 3 June 2006 SCOTTISH CONNECTION Think you can identify a Scot at out of the prison by stuffing them into So, through the distaff side of fam- first glance? Maybe not: check out her long-janes. ily trees, there are Scots with last these two celebrities, Joan Baez Jay Leno’s mom Catherine was names of Baez, Leno, Schultz, Clausi, and Jay Leno, both of whom have a born in Glasgow and also came to the Hisky, Bevier, Melendez, Cannito, strong Scottish Connection, their States as a young girl. From her he Mandanna, Meister, and Zavodny. native Scottish mothers. got what he calls in his autobiography Sense of tradition, strong conviction, Joan Baez’ mother was born Leading with My Chin, his Scottish thrift, commitment to education – Joan Bridge in Scotland, though her side: “…practical, analytical, even a these are attributes with which we, family moved to the US when she bit frugal.” A bit? Leno relates that like Joan Jr. and Jay, are all indelibly was a toddler. In her first autobiog- during one maternal visit, Catherine imprinted by the influence of our raphy, Daybreak, Baez relates be- collected hundreds of little individual Scottish maternal models. And one ing nursed through a severe child- packages of fast food condiments Sunday in May isn’t enough to honor hood illness by her mother, who and tableware, even though he had them. So, take some extra time to followed every exacerbation with plenty of the stuff already. However, consider your mother, grandmother, the ubiquitous pot of tea, and home since she had inculcated young Jamie or mother-in-law and her Scottish schooled (as we would call it today) with her innate thriftiness, he couldn’t Connection. (And on the third Sun- the girl when she couldn’t go to bring himself to throw them out after day in June applaud the sagacity of school. The elder Joan also made she went home, so he mailed them to her parental partner in having se- an impression on young Joan by her there! He also says of his mother, lected such a gem.) stubbornly adhering to her principles “…she always stressed the impor- Editor’s note: Jay Leno, featur- of civil disobedience. They were tance of education to me – which was ing both his Scottish and Italian jailed together, during which time kind of sad, because I may have been sides, will be performing in the the elder Joan came to be called the worst student in the history of Memphis area early in July. “Mama” by the other inmates. academia.” (His hyperbole no doubt When “Mama” was released, Joan came from his Italian father Angelo, Jr. reports, she smuggled 14 letters called “Angus” by his in-laws.) www.memphisscots.com Grace Notes 4 June 2006 You asked for it! Here is Bill Crump’s kraut salad that received much acclaim at the ’05 Christmas party: Bill’s Kraut Salad 1 #3 can kraut, well drained 2 tablespoons chopped pimento ½ cup chopped celery ½ cup sugar ½ cup chopped green pepper ¼ cup vinegar ½ cup chopped onion ¼ cup oil Drain kraut completely. Place 1st 5 ingredients in large bowl. Combine sugar, oil, and vinegar into a smooth dressing. Toss vegetables with dressing until well coated. Refrigerate overnight. (Bill’s methods in the kitchen are more enthusiastic than precise, so he doesn’t rely on exact measurements. In sharing this recipe from Tennessee Homecoming Cookbook, he notes that similar kraut recipes found in the Prime Meridian Cookbook and the Blue Willow Inn vary only slightly in quantities and assures us that seasoning to taste is best.) Letter to the Editor Here is the recipe for the fabulous salad Pat Bevier brought to the Spring Ceilidh, by request of many of those who relished it: Greetings from Edinburgh! Thank you for sending us Pat’s Chinese Salad the latest newsletter.