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On Wednesday 13th June, Merchiston was privileged to entertain Merchistonians who attended the School prior to 1950. Many of those who attended had not returned to the School since leaving, and enjoyed the opportunity of seeing not only their old friends, but also the many new developments at School. After being welcomed by Alan Mickel (48-52), who had masterminded the event, and introduced to Headmaster, Andrew Hunter, they were split into groups led by young current pupils for a tour of the School. Many commented that the School was almost unrecognisable since their day, and were impressed with the splendid facilities now available to the boys. They were also interested to hear about the progress of the new Sixth Form House, the most recent major development for the School. Before lunch, the Merchistonians gathered in the Memorial Hall and, led by Headmaster Andrew Hunter, sang both the old and new School Songs, as well as the old Rugger song! Alastair M Thomson (41-45), who has been an organist since first learning on the Memorial Hall enjoyed the opportunity to play. The younger Merchistonians formed a choir to lead the singing of the current School song, written by C G Mair in the 1940’s, whose brother Norman attended the event. The oldest attendee was Stewart Crerar who attended School in 1927. His second-youngest grandson, Stewart, is a current pupil at Merchiston, so he has kept in touch over the years. A very talented rugby player, and latterly golfer, Stewart remarked that whilst at School he had been the first of only three scrum-halves in ten years, with Wattie Yellowlees (31-36) following in his footsteps. They were delighted to be reunited, with the opportunity to catch up with each other after so many years. One of three brothers, Charles MacNaughtan (38-43) had not returned to School since 1950, and reminisced about his schooling during the war when regular visits were made to the air-raid shelters and powdered egg was on the menu! Chocolate was nicknamed ‘G’ for grub, and was in very short supply. Charles remarked that although his days at Merchiston were not luxurious, he gained his appreciation of music through Forbes Macpherson whom he held in very high regard. Brothers who did attend together were Bill and Colin Bewsher who had not returned to school since 1946. Bill had played cricket under the excellent coaching of Stan Jennings but had never managed to impress with his innings. Playing for an opposing side some years later Bill scored 75 not out to which the coach responded ‘bad timing!’ All who attended were delighted to have had the opportunity to return to the School, and our thanks go to them for making such a huge effort. In particular, Peter A S Davidson (46-51) had travelled the farthest, all the way from Australia! Our sincerest thanks also go to Alan Mickel and Kirstine Hogg for their tireless efforts in ensuring that this event was such a success.
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