future societies. They were organized, with the exception of the Mac- donalds, by clan, or family name: McEachens, Morrisons, McPhees, Beatons, Grants, McIntyres, McIntoshes, and so on. The Macdonald clan was so large that its members were organized by family seat: Garahallia, Gherimish, Bornish, Rhetland, Allisary, Tulloch, or Kep- poch, as the case might be.

These evenings were long, filled with stories and revelry. Most of the guests stayed the night, while

In bands of old friendship and kindred so set, That the bands grew the tighter the more they were wet.“

The following morning, after breakfast and a “Deoch an dhorris” or stirrup cup to the next St. Andrew’s Day, all left for their homes singing “Auld Lang Syne” as they went, and calling on friends to relate the

details of the soiree. Some years later (and again the actual date is uncertain), the

gatherings moved to Charlottetown since it was central, and thus the most convenient location. By 1818, the first notice for a Saint Andrew’s Day celebration appeared in a local newspaper. On the 23 November of that year, the Prince Edward Island Gazette noted that a dinner would be held for the _“Sons of St. Andrew” at Sim’s Hotel on the 30 November at 5:00 in the evening, and that all gentlemen wishing to dine were to leave their names with the hotel waiter.’ There weren’t any newspaper notices for the dinner in 1819 or in 1820, although it can probably be assumed that they were held. The notice in 1821, appearing also in the Prince Edward Island Gazette, was much the‘same as that of 1818, only the location had moved to the Wellington Hotel — a spot that would become popular in the years to follow.

The loyal “Sons of St. Andrew” worked diligently to establish an organized, elite group of Scotsmen in the colony. According to various reports of the Island’s Scottish societies, this early association was flourishing by 1824.'° For that dinner, Attorney-General William Johnston was in the chair — an attestation to the fact that this group was, from the outset, composed of prominent men in the colony. The point is further illustrated by Lieutenant-Governor John Ready’s hosting of a St. Andrew’s Day levee in 1824. Lieutenant-Governor Ready and Chief Justice S.G. Archibald were also reported present at the dinner.

A different indication of the success of the initiators’ efforts was signified by the apparently rousing time had by all who attended the 1824 dinner. Numerous toasts were offered: to the King, the “memory of the

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