On Friday July 13, 1928, the Harrises went to
Edinburgh, Jean's native city. There Paul had a
rapturous welcome from the local club which had
announced two months earlier that, on this
occasion, their regular Thursday lunch would be
held instead on the Friday at 1 pm. The Club
President, R Stuart Pilcher, welcomed their
visitor who, because there was already another
speaker booked for the meeting, kept his words
short.
In what a correspondent to 'The
Rotary Wheel' described as "a brief and breezy
speech", Paul Harris talked about the progress
made by Rotary in several European countries.
Although the lunch meeting was for men only,
Jean was able to join Paul at an evening meeting
held later the same day. Afterwards, the members
arranged a convoy of vehicles to provide the
Harrises with a late night tour of the city,
during which they drove as far as the Forth
Bridge reaching it well after midnight! On the
way back to the city, despite the lateness of
the hour - it was now 1.30 am - Jean suggested
that they detour to see the little statue of
Greyfriars Bobby, the story of which impressed
Paul. While in Edinburgh, Paul Harris sat for a
bust being sculpted by a Rotarian and his wife
from the South West of England. This was George
Mitchell who had driven 400 miles from Somerset
on the chance of getting a sitting with Harris,
which was readily granted despite the busy
schedule.
In March 1934, the Harrises
returned to Scotland to stay for a time in
Ayrshire with Jean's brother who was now a
minister at nearby Annbank. While there, they
were greeted by members of the Rotary Clubs of
Edinburgh and Dunfermline who had come to ask
Paul if he would attend their weekly meetings.
So, on April 4, they travelled to Edinburgh
where Lord Provost Thomson had invited Rotary's
President Emeritus to attend and speak as the
guest of honour at the banquet of the Assembly
of the Lords Provost of Scotland. Highland
pipers played the plaintive 'Road to the Isles'
as the Harrises ascended the steps to the City
Chambers. For the 52-year-old Jean, who had left
her city 25 years earlier, it was a most
memorable homecoming. Unsure what to say to the
Assembly, Paul decided that the most appropriate
topic would be 'Chicago'. |
While being entertained by the Lord Provost, "a
movie for the archives of Rotary International
was staged". Attempts have been made to find
this film, a copy of which was sent to RI in the
USA, and it was hoped to show it at the Glasgow
Convention in 1997 but the search proved
unsuccessful.
Next day, April 5,
following a brief half hour at the District
Council meeting, both Paul and Jean received a
rousing welcome from more than 200 Rotarians,
their wives and guests at the weekly lunch
meeting of the Edinburgh Club held at the North
British Hotel. Rotarians from all over Scotland
as far afield as Inverness had come to meet the
Harrises. Other clubs represented included
Glasgow, Dundee, Perth, Stirling, Dunfermline,
Paisley, Falkirk, Arbroath, Motherwell, Hamilton
and Cupar, and even members from across the
border from Berwick on Tweed. The Edinburgh Club
President made a presentation to the couple of
an inscribed silver salver, which became one of
their most treasured possessions. In his brief
reply, Paul Harris devoted much of his speech to
his wife, saying that he was well aware that
they really wanted to see her and not him.
Speaking of Scottish people, he went on to say
that he had a feeling that the Scots, with all
their assumed reserve, were just as sentimental
a people as any other. They had been practising
the Rotary spirit for generations.
In the
evening, they went to dinner with some friends
and on the next day, April 6, Paul kept his
promise to visit the Dunfermline Club.
On
Thursday July 29, 1937, Paul Harris attended
what was to be his last Rotary club meeting in
Britain at the regular luncheon of the Edinburgh
Club. The speaker that day was RIBI Director W B
Hislop who reported on the recent Convention in
Nice which Paul had attended. That afternoon,
Paul, joined by Jean, went on a large Rotary
outing to the ancient castle at nearby Newbattle
Abbey, his last official engagement before
returning to the United States.
Basil Lewis |
