Evening star., 1951-12-01
Society and Clubs
Twir|ing kits, SkhIing Pipes Give Color
To St. Andrews Society Tartan Boil
By Peqqy Dickey

By Peggy Diekey
p. The most colorful of all Wash
ington parties-the annual Tartan
Ball of the st. Andrews Society
was held last night in the Con-
tinental Ballroom of the Ward
man Park Hotel and transformed
the place into a kaleidoscope of
brilliant color.
From the cloakroom where men
checked their Balmorals to the
dance floor where killed dancers
stepped to the lively Scottish airs
the scene was a dazzling spectacle
Of color. For the few dark dinner
jackets in the crowd there were
hundreds of colorful kits, plaids
and SaShes and dark evening hats
in the cloakroom were eclipSed by
the gay hues of the Balmorals
d (flat tartan hats topped by
"toories")
Even the most uninitiated spec
tator would have known at a
glance that this was a Scottish
group celebrating. And the cele-
bration was of st. Andrews day,
commemorating Scotland's patron
saint. The ball, started here last
year, was patterned after the balls
held all over Scotland on this
saints day and was put on by
the members of the all-male So
ciety unaided or unencumbered,
as the case may be, by women.
Boepipes SkirI
First sound to greet the ears
Of the members and their guests
was appropriately enough the
skirl of the bagpipes. for sta
- toned on either side of the en-
trance were the society pipers-I
James Garrioch and Fred W..
Turnbull.
Actually. Mr.. Turnbull was sub
stituting for the groups regular
piper, Thomas Cow. who is i'll.
Then, the Washington Scottish
Pipe Band in evening dress of
the Royal Stewart Tartan gave
a 15-minute conSert of Scottish
music to set the tempo for the
evening.
The pipe band then struck up
music for the grand march with
st. Andrews Society President
Lindsay Howell and Mrs. How
ell in the lead Mr.. Howell, I'M
der whose aegis the society in
augurated the Tartan Ball,
frightened his white tie and tails
outfit with a plaid of the vivid
red with blue and yellow stripes
of the Lindsay tartan. And Mrs.
Howell's sash was of the same
tartan. She wore handsome
gray satin ball gown.
Highland Decor
The stage on which Tiny Meek
q er and his orchestra played for
dancing was fanked by the flag
a. of the society-a white cross on
g. a blue f1eld-and the standard
with the Red Lion of Scotland
rampant on yellow field.
These flags were also repro
duced on the place cards which
marked the tables and attached
to each card was a sprig of
heather.
After the Grand March and
foxtrot or two. the group en-
barked with enthusiasm on the
first of several Scottish dances
the Petronella. About 100 brightly
clad and carefully schooled dane
ers lined the room, women on
one side. men on the other, to
perform the intricate steps.
In the group was Mr.. Kenneth
D. Jameson, second secretary at
the British Embassy, who has
been teaching members of the So
ciety and their wives the dances
every Monday night. /
Mr.. Jameson wore the green,
white and blue Douglas tartan in
his kilt and plaid and his wife's
sash worn over a white dress was
of the same tartan. Mr.. jamie
sons costume was authentic even
to the Skeann Dhu Cor Skian
DhuD worn in his stockings. In
Gaelic, Skeann means dagger and
Dhu is black and in the old days
Scots would charge into battle
with shields and spears and then
draw the Skeann Dhu from their
stockings at close quarters.
Among the most brilliant of the
dancers were Mr.. and Mrs. Andrew
Fraser decked out in the Ancient