John Muir Day By Roger Weed, Librarian he day was nice, cool, overcast and perfect for the occa- Tsion. I had not expected to be the only member at the tent but was assisted by past president Fred Rutledge in the morn- ing and current president David Campbell in the afternoon. 1st Vice President Francesca McCrossan and Chaplain Lauren Fiddes also stopped by. The estimate of attendance was around 2,000, the same as last year. Attendance at the tent was good. Many people asked about the Society and I explained that we were the oldest Scottish Society on the David Campbell, President Pacific Coast When I told the them that John McLaren,John May 2017 Muir, Andrew Carnegie and Robert Louis Stevenson had President’s Report connections with the Society Dear Saint Andrew’s Society of San Francisco: they were impressed. They opefully we’re all enjoy- were also surprised to learn Hing May’s lovely Spring that we admitted women to weather. the Sociey since our sister organization The Caledonian Reflecting back on last Club of San Francisco only month’s meeting—I can’t admits men. I gave out quite remember a monthly meeting a few information sheets with Roger Weed not being opened by Piper membership applications on Jek, but such was the unusual the back so I hope we will case in April. With Jek & Jean gain some new members. away—out of town, we were fortunate to benefit from one Next year I would like to see of new member Rory Gam- more members helping to mell’s many talents…piping. man the tent. It is a great way After Rory’s piping the meet- Rory Gammell piping at the to promote the St. Andrews beginning of April’s Society Society and meet your fellow ing open, we enjoyed getting meeting. members. President’s Report, continued on page 2 MAY 2017 ~ Vol. 154, NO. 5 President’s Report ........................................................... 1 Edinburgh’s Famous Street Names ............................... 3 John Muir Day ................................................................... 1 Castle Campbell ............................................................... 5 Spey-O-Rama 2017 ........................................................ 3 Calendar of Events ........................................................ 10 1 MAY 2017 THE ST. ANDREW’S SOCIETY OF SAN FRANCISCO Continued from page 1 President’s Report to know several guests who joined us for the evening (mostly hitch! We were well-represented by Herald Bill Jaggers who led friends of Rory & Jack), including first readings given by at least the Color Guard which also included Allen Cary & Fred Ma- two prospective new members. New to the role of Bard—Irené condray. Fred additionally wore still another hat as Piper—due Waldman Costello read from her article which also ran in the to Jek and Jean having returned recently from traveling, and April newsletter: King James V of Scotland. An adventurous life, feeling not quite up to it. Thanks lads...well done! indeed! Well done, Irené! The rest of the evening featured en- tertainment by the Peninsula Scottish Fiddlers. Shauna, Colyn and the fiddlers were a musical treat to listen and dance to, as always! A final thanks to Rory for his Ceilidh instruction…also was well done. It was a fun evening of energetic dancing and good company! hanks and kudos to TRoger Weed for a job well done in manning our St. Andrew’s Society table at this year’s annual John Muir Day— which was held on Saturday, April 22nd at the John Muir National Historic Site. It was a lovely, warm Spring day at the beautiful historic site in Martinez. The event held in conjunc- tion with Earth Day celebration—was a fitting tribute to a great Scotsman! With John Muir firmly in mind, I would like to share PBFSCO held their annual one of my favorite quotes by him: Flying Scotsman train ride and AGM last Sunday. I’ve “The grand show is eternal. It is always sunrise somewhere; the wanted to make that trip in dew is never all dried at once; a shower is forever falling; vapor the past, and finally was able is ever rising. Eternal sunrise, eternal sunset, eternal dawn and to ride along this year. This was the same weekend that for- gloaming, on sea and continents and island, each in its turn, as mer Australian MP Gordon Ashley was in town to continue his the round earth rolls.” research project on the history of the Burns statue in Golden The Sacramento Scottish Games & Festival in Woodland was Gate Park. Ian Myles and I were happy to host Gordon during just held on the last weekend in April. I believe that both Tony his brief stay. Becker & Cecilia Fabos-Becker and Kristian Mullins were On very short notice—I’ll mention an event coming up this there, so chat them up, if you would like to hear more (www. week in Berkeley at Zellerbach Hall: Scotland’s National Bal- SacramentoScotGames.org). let Company—Scottish Ballet will be performing A Streetcar Just this past Friday (May 5th) White Oaks Elementary Named Desire (Wed 5/10 – Fri 5/12). It should be quite a School in San Carlos hosted not a Cinco de Mayo event…but performance. For more information visit: www.scottishballet. rather Scotland Day! We were invited to participate…and from co.uk, or www.calperformances.org. all reports—our role was quite a hit, and came off without a In closing, please join us on Monday, May 15th for our next meeting. Come have a look at the fantastic portrait of Society Piper Jek Cunningham…and also learn about what our featured guests from Scotland Development International (Justine Kelly & Louise McGregor) are doing to promote Scottish—U.S. col- laboration in helping companies succeed in business in Scotland (www.sdi.co.uk). Thank you for your collaboration and all your effort on behalf of the St. Andrew’s Society…it is an honor to serve! Yours in service, David Campbell, President 2 MAY 2017 THE ST. ANDREW’S SOCIETY OF SAN FRANCISCO Spey-O-Rama 2017 By Allen Cary, 2nd VP and David Campbell, President pey casting, as the name suggests, was developed in the S19th century along the banks of the River Spey in Scotland as the method for taking Atlantic salmon. The Spey cast is accomplished with a long, two-handed fly rod. The casts are de- signed to cover a lot of water, and keep the fly in the water for a maximum time, with little time wasted in recasting. Salmon are notoriously difficult to catch, and once caught, to success- fully land. The rods, up to 16 feet long, provide both the ability Spey-O-Rama, continued on page 4 ing, the refugees boosted the local economy What lies behind and got the attention of the British Linen Company, who imported more workers from Edinburgh’s famous France. Soon the area became incredibly well known for its textile industry. Arthur Conan street names? Doyle (the creator of Sherlock Holmes) was By Irené Waldman Costello, Bard also born on Picardy Place! here is a vast and interesting history be- Princes Street was going to be called St Thind Edinburgh’s street names, with some Giles Street in honor of Edinburgh’s patron more obvious than others. saint, but King George III did not approve of the proposal, as St Giles was also the patron Candlemaker Row is one of the obvious. saint of lepers and the name of a notorious Originally it was the home of the Incorporation London slum. The name was changed to refer of Candlemakers, as well as candle shops and to his two elder sons, the royal princes Duke workshops. You can still buy candles in Candle- of Rothesay and Duke of York, and building maker Row these days, and while the Candle- began in 1770. makers’ Hall is no longer in business, its coat of arms still hangs high above their door. Hanover Street, which is perpendicular to George and Princes Street got its name in honor of the monarchs in 1786. The Hanove- rian dynasty ruled Britain from 1714 to 1901, and George III was the reigning monarch at the time. After the First World War (1914 – 1918), there were proposals to change the name to something less German-sounding, but nothing was approved. The name remains as Hanover Street. Charlotte Square takes its name from Cockburn Street, built in the 1850s to con- Queen Charlotte, the wife of King George III. nect the High Street with Waverley Station, However, in the original plans from 1780, the takes its name from Lord Henry Cockburn, square was to be named St George Square, (pronounced Co-Burn). He was a notable but a “George Square” already existed near the lawyer, judge and writer, and he had a keen meadows. That square wasn’t anything to do interest in preserving Edinburgh’s architec- with royalty or King George in the slightest, tural heritage. Edinburgh’s Civic Trust—the and was actually named after the architect’s Cockburn Association, founded in 1875, is also brother, George Brown! named after Lord Cockburn. Picardy Place, sometimes nicknamed as For more information about Edinburgh Old & Little Picardy, got its name from the Protestant New visit www.oldandnewedinburgh.co.uk. refugees who fled France after the revocation of the Edict of Nantes in 1685. Skilled in weav- 3 MAY 2017 THE ST. ANDREW’S SOCIETY OF SAN FRANCISCO Continued from page 3 GGACC discovered that the Portland, Oregon, Casting Club Spey-O-Rama 2017 had persuaded the Work Project Administration (WPA) to build to cast long distances and the leverage to defeat the powerful casting ponds in Portland. The GGACC encouraged the Golden sea-run Atlantic salmon.