home membership contact us office journal events oor club sponsors



Farewell to Graeme

After nine years as the Scottish Studies Foundation Chair at the University of Guelph, Professor Graeme Morton returns hame. He is off and awa to Dundee, the town known for its jute, jam and journalism – the place of the Broons, Oor Wullie and Desperate Dan, where he will take up the position of Chair in Modern History at Dundee University.

Guelph's Farewell to Graeme Morton
by Jamie Reid Baxter

The simmar wes shinin' o'er Ontario's fermlands,
And bricht wes the sun, that dazzled the ee,
As we met aboot noonday, baith laddies and lassies,
Whan Graeme set aff on the road to Dundee.

Says he "Dear Guelph colleagues, I canna weel tell ye,
This road and this distance, nae pleasure they gie:
Sae gin ye'll permit me, I'll greet a wee bittie,
Afore I get gaun on the road to Dundee."

This set us aa aff, wi bawlin an greetin,
We loe'd oor Guelph Graeme, the best chiel micht be,
Wha'd appear'd like an angel at ilka staff meetin,
And nou had been luréd awaa to Dundee.

Braw years has he gien us, he's fairly enrich'd us,
He's shown us how gen'rous true Scotsmen can be:
Though the call o' auld Scotia can nae be denyit,
We're sorry he's takkin the road tae Dundee.

May the road rise tae meet him, as he traivels eastward,
And warm be his welcome, faur ower the sea:
But Graeme, we ken that ye winna forget us,
Ye are a braw gallant, and that's nae a lee.

Guelph's simmar is ower, this year the hairst's early,
Oor tears they are fallin like leaves aff a tree:
But Guelph isna selfish, for we are Canajuns -
And we wish ye, Graeme, aa the best in Dundee.

Jamie Reid Baxter was the 2013 Jill McKenzie Visiting Speaker at the Scottish Studies Fall Colloquium. These verses, based on the well-known popular song "The Road to Dundee", were written for Graeme Morton's farewell reception at Guelph; they seek to express something of Jamie's admiration and respect for Graeme Morton and the Scottish Studies Foundation, and the Centre for Scottish Studies.

Scottish Studies Foundation's VP, Maggie McEwan presents Graeme with a specially engraved quaich. It reads: "To Graeme Morton with thanks for your years of service to Canada. Presented by the Scottish Studies Society and Foundation."




University of Guelph Department of History faculty members: Peter Goddard, Former Chair of History, Graeme Morton, Chair of Scottish History, Catherine Carstairs, current Chair of History and Kevin James, Undergraduate Coordinator





Dessert is now being served!




With some fellow Scottish Studies Foundation Board members:
Janice Richardson, Maggie McEwan, Graeme Morton, Doug Ross and Bill Davidson