larion of kJe and INTER-ISLAND ADVERTISER Onward, Skye! Queen of the West! JULY 1951. Price 6d. No. 6. " The Clarion of Skye," under its present form EDITORIAL. of News Magazine. has made unexpected progress. Its circul-ation has tremendously increased; its cir­ In Midsummer month. we soon forget the surly cuit has extended far beyond Skye, and this time. blasts and hoary frosts of Winter. and now Nature to foreign territory. Numerous orders have come compels us to admit she is divinely beautiful. to the publishers by letter, 'phone and telegram. It We do not need a hothouse stocked with tro­ is beyond doubt that this publication is now estab­ pical plants to find what is exquisite and beauti­ lished to serve as a link between the Island home­ ful. a walk along any moorland road or burn-bank land and those whose fortune or ill-fortune, it is to may prove an apocalypse if we have eyes to see be "an exile from our native shore." and minds to appreciate what we see. Even every little wayside flower has a dainty personality * * * - The call goes forti) to our young -~men and and a bright. peculiar reference:- women to patronise its pages by their opinion, What is this life if, full of care, poesy o'r story, to l?Y the foundation of a better We have no time to stand and stare? 1 No time to stand beneath the boughs way of living for 1ihemselves and posterity. Will And stare as long as sheep or cows! they allow " The Clarion " to remind them that if " John Ruskin said one of our very noblest · many of. the)Tl have brothers and sisters who have teachers insists upon· athletic training as absolutely attained acad'e~c honours amongst their fellows, it necessary for human development. He holds that follows that th~who stay at home should feel in­ education in beauty· stands first alike in importance spired to take uiii,versal interest in their Island life; and in time.' Therefore. it follows that he is but to stimulate prp_gress throvgh action. to voice your poor who has no time to spare to look around desires, which "' the~e p;i"ges are pleased to m."ake him at Nature while on fuis earthly journey. Giv­ public. Never before have · Skyman or woman ing all for the mere accumulation of wealth is as been provided with a medi . m wherewith their side fickle as j t is cruel. of the many questions involved as to their security Our slow-paced Island life. be it ever so ob­ could be heard until now.-Rise up. Young Skye!­ scure. has its blessings, which we should count .. The Clarion " is 'with you' when we grieve about our disadvantages and, * * * even if weighed in the balance. there are many Tt.e esta blish.ecl .price of " The Clarion of Skye " who in this co,untry of ever-increasing hustle and is '6d per month, or 6/- per yea; (7 /6, postage paid). speed and. with coffers .full. would exchange places The charge for advertisements remain at 3/6 for with us. So let us not grumble but pass happi­ the first fifteen words. and ld for each succeeding ness one to anothe11-a sure forerunner of peace! word, prepaid preferable. * * * Advertisements will !Je received up to the 20th The lambing season in Skye has. Uke other of each month. Please note. the Editor reserves parts of Scotland, not been up to the normal stan­ the right to exclude any advertisement or part of dard in numbers. but in quality it can be said an advertisement, which he thinks unfit for publi­ the crop of lambs shows a ' marked improvement cation. His decision in this matter cannot be chal­ on last year. The scarcity of lambs should be lenged, and advertisements are only accepted under an impetus to stock-owners to ke~p their sheep and these terms. lambs well away from the main roads during the Have a look around, there are many things ly­ tourist season, as in most districts. the toll of the ing about that you don't require-someone else may roads tells more year by year. however careful be looking for them! So ADVERTISE IN " THE motorists are. Motorists also should make it a CLARION! " · point of honour to drive carefully when sheep and * * * laml:)s graze by the wayside. While most drivers Dr J. Mjller spent some time in Skye late abhor killing a sheep or lamb, there are some who in May and early June. carrying out a survey of JUST DQN'T CARE! the common shore and examining old cwster beds / 2 THE CLARION OF SKYE which were once in operation but discarded early II 11 this century. His interest, however, was mainly Repeated by Request technical and biological. His report will be dis­ cussed later by the Scottish Marine Biological Association, at Millport, with a view to discover­ ing whether the oyster industry. could be revived in the Hebrides or not. "'n·JE CLARION " AR'.riCLE ON STONE * * * O.F DESTINY IN DEMAND. The al'lpointment of Mrs Margaret MacPher­ son to the . new Crofters' Commission has been announced. It is felt that with so many reports being compiled during the last half-century, the So great has been the requests for copies of crafting situation has now developed into a kind of romantic interlude between wars! The mem­ "The Clarion " which contained the Editor's views bers taking part in all these commissions have cost the Government as much money as would settle on the Stone of Destiny affair, and as that issue and resettle the whole crafting population of '1ihe was in typewritten form and has long gone out Island of Skye. It is doubtful H they can im­ prove upon the one-man Hilleary Report. We, of print, he has been forced, through courtsey if however. wish our distinguished member every success in her new appointment and pleasant voyag­ nothing else, to reprint it here. The daily papers ing in the " Min a ." found fit to cull from it; " The Ross-shire Journal" * * * (now printers of " The Clarion ") repeated it in The unusual long period of drought and sun­ full, while very many public bodies have made shine experienced in Skye this year has become favourable comment. The article follows:- at the time of going to Press, a matter of grave concern to stock owners. as the grass is parching It may be noted that a Skyeman has had a up and water very scarce. Never before has It hand in looking around this famous Stone which become so evide!ft that whatever the new Crofters' was taken away from Westminster Abbey some Commission suggest in the way of improvement time ago, and has now been recovered. The the immediate supply of a piped water supply to merits or demerits of this action by somebody has already been discussed in the public Press, every croft must be their priority recommenda­ therefore " The Clarion " will dwell only on :- tion, or further vacating of the crofts will increase. For a long time the famous Coronation Stone was preserved near Dunstaffnage, a Pict ish Dun near Oban. Before that, it was brought to Iona 11 1 11 by Fergas from Ireland. In the year 850 A.D. it Clarion s Tribute to the was taken to Scone by Kenneth II. of Scotland, and was subsequently removed by Edward I. to 11 11 Westminster Abbey, where ever since it has for­ Men of the Affray. med the support of the Chair in which the cere­ mony of crowning of the Monarchs of the British Empire is performed. "Clarion," July, 1951. An ancient Monkish distich thus runs:- " It's the 'Affray' alright," telephoned the diver Ni fallat fatum, Scoti, Quscumque Locatum 200 feet down in the EngUsh Channel. Invenient lapidem regenare Qenentur ibidem, Britons all over the world, just think of it! and tFanslated by Sir Walter Scott as follows:- 'fhe steel coffin o~ 75 young men who 66 days ago were, like you and me, in the realm of living men, had been found. Unless the fates are faithless found, And prophet's voice be vain, Presupposed to be the Bravest of the Brave, Where 'er this Monument is FOUND as all submarine crews and officers are, memory The Scottish race shall reign ! will hold precious in the years to come, not the brief moment of triumph, but the love and sym­ If the removers of the Stone of Destiny were pathy of comrades, and will seek to recall, not inspired by sentimental reasons, it would appear the plaudits of success but "the touch of a vanished to patriotic Scots that, instead of strengthening the hand and the sound of a voice that is still." prowess of the Scottish race, they have unwitting­ ly weakened such a claim, as during th.e cen­ Drifting from starless abyss, turies, Scotsmen have reigned, in many cases, in Into the ether sublime Industry, Commerce, the Arts. and next to the Where is no upward or downward, Throne, The See of Canterbury. The monks' Nor region, nor record of Time! distich did not say King, but said " The Scottish Race," and many Scotsmen do not see what differ­ Out of the body for ever, ence the removal of the Stone will do othe:r, than No refuge-no succour nor stay­ incur needless expense in tracing it, an expense Floated those sorrowful spirits­ which can be ill afforded in the present economic Away, and away, and away! pressure.-" GOD SAVE THE KING!" THE CLARION OF SKYE 3 11 AN "OUTSIDE" REQUEST FOR "THE A Campi iment from The CLARION." Scotsman.