Blair Collection > Celtic monthly > Volume 5, 1897

16
THE CELTIC MONTHLY.
Aberdeen, and a man who, while minister of
Banchory-Devenick, near the city, laid tlie
neighbourhood under a lasting debt of gratitude
by his erection of the Suspension Bridge over
the Dee, so familiarly known to Aberdonians
under the expressive title of " The Shakkin'
Biiggie." His elder brother, Thomas Morison,
formerly a surgeon in the army, discovered the
virtues of the now far-famed Stiathpefler Well,
and their father was that Provost James
Morison, who, in 1745, being a staunch
Hanoverian, sternly refusing to drink the
"Pretender's" health at the market cross, had
the "liquor thrust down his breast," hence
forming the title of "Provost jiositive."
By this family Duncan George Mearns is
connected with many families of local note —
from the doughty Admiral Sir Arthur Farquhar
on the one side, to the Dingwall Fordyce family
on the other, and between these comes the
Laird of Kemnay, who is descended from Agnes,
a sister of 'Anne, the great-grandmother of the
present proprietor of Disblair, and also another
collatoral branch connects him with Miss Rose,
the proprietrix of Mullaghmore, in the County
of Monaghan, Ireland.
But Mr. Mearns is richer still in abundance
of inherited merit. He is, as already indicated,
in the direct line of two Lord Provosts of
Aberdeen, and in these days of great social
movements the civic element in character is a
factor which is not to be despised. Then he
has in his recent ancestral relatives the scholarly
element, for his grandfather was a Professor of
Divinity in King's College, Aberdeen, in the
early years of the century; and in the matter of
Church connections he is in an unbroken line
of distinguished ministers of the Church of
Scotland. Not only so, but his grandfather, the
Professor, had conferred upon him the high
dignity of Moderator of the Church iu 1.S21,
and, as Dr. Walker tells us in his " Disblair,"
he was " a foremost and most trusted leader of
the so-called moderate party in the Chui'ch."
As the repository of so much inherited
excellence, Mr. Mearns has therefore the
necessary traits towards distinction in many
walks of life. And these, as everyone in the
Garioch knows, he cultivates assiduously. He
followed his forbears in becoming a student of
Aberdeen University and graduated M.A., and
afterwards took his B.D. degree in the Divinity
Hall of the University of Edinburgh. In 1874
he was ordained to the parish of Oyrie, where
his ancestor. Dr. Morison, had been minister
before him, and where he not only " ministers
iu holy things" but acts the part of a line
friend and wi.se counsellor to his people. Keenly
interested in antiquarian affairs, Mr. Mearns is
Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries, and he
cultivates, locally, his taste for the more literary
side of antiquarian study as a member of the
New Spalding Club in Aberdeen. It is
interesting to note that he inherited one of the
two remaining flags of the Covenant carried at
Bothwell Brig and Drumclog by ancestors of
the name of Williamson on his mother's side of
the family.
Mr. Mearns is furthei-more very largely
interested in bracing out-door life, as becometh
a landed proprietor. He is versed in agricultural
affairs ; and he may be seen almost any day
seeking the characteristic British enjoyment
armed with the rod or gun, in the handling of
which he is known to be an expert. His
geniality of disposition, kindly sympathies, and
keen intellect, lead him to be cherished by all
who know Mr. Mearns, as either a delightful
comjianion or a welcome guest. In all Highland
matters Mr. Mearns takes a keen interest, and
there is no more loyal and honoured member on
the roll of the Aberdeen Highland As.sociation.
Mr. Mearns, in 1875, married Mary Margaret
Agnes Madeline Grant, daughter of Hector
Grant, Royal Indian Navy, a veiy estimable
and accomplished lady. They have five of a
family, the eldest being William Morison, Lieut.,
4th Battalion Highland Liglit Infantry. To
the regret of many in the Garioch Mr. Mearns
is about to resign his parish and take up his
future residence at Disblair, where he will be
heartily welcomed.
Ai.pMppn Hugh Macdonald.
LONG AGO.
In the meadowland of youth,
Where the days are sweet and slow.
There, we dreamed a dream of truth-
Long ago I
And the daisies growing there.
Were not purer than our pray'r.
Ah, our hearts had not grown old —
In that dream we used to know —
And the world was not so cold —
Long ago !
Nothing spoke to us of night
In that world of love and light.
In that meadowland of youth.
Only echoes — weird and low,
There we left our dream of truth —
Long ago 1
And the weary world goes by,
And we only live — to sigh.
'i^nZ?.""' JANlJS Ma.thebson.