Blair Collection > Celtic monthly > Volume 1, 1893

THE CELTIC MONTHLY
OUR CANADIAN LETTER.
pr^ HE » laeli ■ E Ca nada are in the
)xl«? tu " sw ' n 8 ut their winter's work. The
^ J> season for caroanachd, a Highland sport,
not altogether lost to us over here, i
i attention is turned to the evening
i [oors. The bent for organisation which
characterises the Gael as a clansman, or as a
membi r of the Comunn in the old land, has fol-
lowed him to the new home beyond the sea, and
clubs and societies abound. Among the more
important are those of Toronto, Montreal,
Kingston, Alexandria, and Hamilton. In the
latter city, old Sheriff MacKellar is honorary
president, and a better specimen of a High-
lander could not be desired. He speaks Gaelic
with a purity and ease to be envied. He was
born near Inveraray, but while still an infant
his parents emigrated to Canada, and settled in
tin* unbroken forest of Western Ontario. The
hardships of pioneer life were all familiar to the
Sheriff, as a young man, and no better a autho-
rity on the struggles of the early settlers can be
appealed to for information on these matters.
lie entered the political arena long, long ago,
and soon after became a member of the Govern-
ment of Upper Canada, being probably the
strongest man in the constituencies, of all his
colleagues. He had the honour of introducing
Hon. Edward Blake, now M.P. for South Long-
ford, to public life, providing him with a con
stituency among the Highlanders of Bruce
County. Besides being hon. president of the
Gaelic Society of Hamilton, he is patron of that
of Toronto, where he always receives an enthu-
siastic welcome. Passing over Toronto at pre-
sent, where Mr. David Spence sits enthroned
in i'i. i teem and affection of his felloe coun
try men, their guide, philosopher, and friend,
i claims attention. The Society here
is named after < Issian, and they do much to
uphold the fair fame of Gaelic song and litera
ture. Professor ( larr- Harris is one of their most
learned and enthusiastic Gaels, and alongside of
him is lie v. Professor M acNaugliton, who caim
to us from Lairg, Sutherlandshire, with an
enviable reputation for Gaelic, as well as for
classical scholarship To the eastward is the
< vine Society of Montreal, h ith such stalwarts
as Professor John Campbell, the learned author
of an elaborate work on "The Hittites," and of
other ingenious books ; and Rev. Dr. MacNisb,
a distinguished < lai lie i cholai ; and Pew Prin-
cipal MacVicar, of i he Presbj terian * lollege.
Down by the sea, in Prince Edward [si I,
Cap.- Breton, and Nova Scotia, where t here are
■aelie pe.-il.ili'J | p]l .!.■ I endalllS of
the d( in I'm "i -am .0 ion as a
people c. tak ing hold, There ai e manj splendid
Highlanders on the maritime territory, and
there is every reason why the old language, and
■ i-tnins. and the old character, should
live and Sourish there. The new ly-formed society
at Guelph is forging ahead, and is likely to
1 he disl 1 1.1 of n hieli it.
will form the centre for Highlanders. To-day
ne to hand, w 1 it ten in clear, well put
entences, the reporl of the first monthly
meeting of the newly-formed Gaelic Society of
Neu York. The leading spiril is Mr. Donald
Macdonald, a native of Tiree, and for a number
of years one of the most enthusiastic and useful
members of the Gaelic Society of Toronto — the
"hub" cf organised Gaelic effort on this side of
the Atlantic. The New Yorkers arc not to
allow the grass to grow- beneath theii Eeet.
They have prepared a programme of whiter
work which will be found of especial interest
b\ the members, and the formation of the
society m a v be regarded as a real ne
strength to those already in the field.
Sgi \n I >t 1111.
Toronto, January '.111, Is.;:;.
THE CAITHNESS FENCIBLES.
Py the Venerable William Macdonald
Sinclair, U.D.,
Archdeacon of I indon, Canon of St. Paul's, Honorarj
( naplain to II. M. the Queen, to the Highland
So etj ol London, to the Boyal Scottish Corpora
ti t.i tlie Ueyal Caledonian Asylum, and Presi-
dent oi the London Caithness Association.
Tr.X addition to the thirty-four Highland
regiments raised during the latter half of
55£ the eighteenth centurj for foreign service,
i war with Napoleon evoked a national
enthusiasm for soldiering which in the present
days of peace we can with difficulty realise.
Fencible regiments to the number of between
thirty and forty were embodied throughout the
North of Scotland, to supply within the limns
of the United Kingdom the place of the regular
troops, which were almost all employed abroad.
Some account of the "Caithness I'Viicihles " and
the "Caithness Highlanders," raised by Sir
John Sinclair, will probably illustrate the his-
tory of most of these fine and distinguished
bat talions. \\ hen the proposal was first made
t» mi grandfather by Mr. Pitt, in consequence
of t In gn ai pressure of t lie 1 1 1 tiggle « ith the
Eon tgn tyrant, he replied that he had never
1 1 ght of becoming a . oldii r, but that since
the publi Med to demand it, he
would not hesitate far a moment; and farther,
that instead of restricting, as had hitherto b< en
1 la- rule, the service of the corps to Scotland,
he would raise a Eencible battalion for the
ej . ice of ( Ireat Britain. Letters of sen ice
led. and sinh was the energy exerted
iii enlisting and training the men, that only