NEIL MUNRO SOCIETY MINUTES

MINUTES OF THE 13th ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING OF THE NEIL MUNRO SOCIETY HELD IN THE CAMPBELL ROOM, ARGYLL HOTEL, INVERARAY ON SATURDAY, 9TH MAY 2009.

1. SEDERUNT:
The Chairman, Ronnie Renton and 38 other members as detailed on the sederunt sheet.

2. APOLOGIES:
Mr V. David Hammond, Hamish Thomson, Fergus Britton

3. MINUTES OF 12TH ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING OF 10TH MAY 2008:
The minutes were approved without amendment.
Proposed by James Beaton, seconded by Clare Gray.

4. MATTERS ARISING:
A student at Glasgow university is about to commence an M.Litt degree on ‘Neil Munro’.

5. CHAIRMAN’S REPORT:
a. Membership of the Society: The chairman reported that the membership of the society stands at 108 subscriptions. This is still very healthy but, as it is the subscriptions which finance ParaGraphs, it is important to retain a high membership and to that end members were encouraged to take and distribute Neil Munro Society publicity flyers.

b.Membership of the Committee:
As a result of the sudden death of Brian Osborne it was necessary for the committee to make some rapid adjustments in order that the work of the Society could continue. The post of secretary was divided up amongst Margaret Renton: secretarial duties, Dorothy Paterson: receiving fees for events and memberships and Archie Gray: minutes secretary. It was hoped that members would approve of these measures
The committee also took the step of appointing an additional co-opted member beyond that permitted by our constitution. The committee felt that they urgently needed to extend the committee to give more expertise and flexibility. The constitutional amendment tabled will accommodate this appointment and permit further expansion.
The Committee as it stands at present consists of:
Ronald Renton (Chairman),
Margaret Renton (Secretary),
Dorothy Paterson (Treasurer),
James Beaton (Archivist),
Lesley Bratton, Michael Kidd, Catriona MacLeod, Christine MacKay, Robert Stewart, Finella Wilson (Journal Editor).
Co-opted members: Archie Gray, Jim McMillan, Ken MacTaggart, Duncan Beaton.
Auditor: Christine MacDougall.
Rev. Brian Wilkinson is, of course, our Honorary President and he is very much a working President. We are very grateful for his regular attendance at meetings and his unfailing support.
The Committee met five times this session.

c. Subscription Levels:
These were raised at the 2008 AGM and are as follows: Ordinary members: £13, Student/OAP/Unwaged: £10, Institutional members: £16.

d. The chairman reported on last year’s Society events:
The annual conference 2008 included a visit to Kenmore and talk on Evan McColl, Allan McInnes’ lecture on Jacobitism in Argyll and the Neil Munro Lecture on ‘The Shoes of Fortune’ delivered by Ronnie Renton.
The Autumn meeting was a visit to Tarbert on the theme of John MacDougall Hay’s Gillespie with a tour by Archie Smith and lecture by Moira Burgess.
The Winter Meeting in the Glasgow Art Club featured talks by Iain Fraser on ‘The Place Names of Argyll’ and ‘The Language of Neil Munro’s Fiction’ by John Corbett.
In April the Society contributed to and participated in the Brian Osborne Memorial Evening organised by the Scottish Society of Authors, Scottish Publishers and ourselves.
The Neil Munro Writing competition for senior pupils in Inveraray School was won by Joe Gilmovich in 2008. This year the Munro Quaich will be presented to the winner on the school prize day.
The sponsorship of the Neil Munro Quaich for Junior Piobaireachd continues at the Inveraray Highland Games. The 2008 winner was Robert Forrest. Robert Stewart was thanked for organising this every year.
The Neil Munro Medal for the most distinguished student in Scottish Literary Studies at Glasgow University was awarded to Louise Hutchison who is our sixth medallist.

e. Publications: Finella Wilson was thanked for her excellent work in editing ParaGraphs.
This year George Blake’s editions of Neil Munro’s journalism, The Looker-On and The Brave Days, have been republished by Kennedy and Boyd.
Campbell of Duisk by Robert Craig has also been republished. This Argyllshire novel was the subject of Brian Osborne’s lecture to the Society in 2004 and his talk was adapted for an introduction to the book.
Kennedy and Boyd is currently republishing Fancy Farm, which is the final Munro title still to be brought back into print.

f. Publicity:
i.The Society publicity leaflet has been updated and members were encouraged to assist with its distribution.
ii. A portrait of Neil Munro now hangs in the George Hotel thanks to the sterling efforts of Lesley Bratton, Archie Gray and Robert Stewart.
iii. A commemorative plaque to Neil Munro’s receiving the Freedom of the Burgh of Inveraray 100 years ago will be unveiled at a civic reception tonight in the Argyll Hotel.
iv. The Jail Shop has undertaken to stock copies of all the works of Neil Munro which are in print.

FUTURE PROGRAMME: A visit to Duntrune Castle is proposed for Saturday 19th September

TREASURER’S REPORT:
Dorothy Paterson spoke to her report:
This year’s accounts showed a loss of £537.00. This was as a result of several one-off charges, (see items d,e & f of Chairman’s report). There remain problems with the income for subscriptions and the Annual Conference straddling the end and start of the financial years. This causes difficulty in knowing accurately how much money we have available.
The auditors are satisfied with the way in which the accounts are presented.
Suggestions as to how to save money are:
i. A one-off purchase of a trophy for the Piobaireachd competition instead of purchasing an annual prize.
ii. David Wilson suggested we should investigate possible cheaper publishers for ParaGraphs
The Accounts were proposed by Allan MacLean and seconded by Dr James Macleod.

ARCHIVIST’S REPORT:
The Archivist reported that the Head of Special Collections in Glasgow University Library has now decided that our archive does not meet with their requirements and it will be necessary for us to find alternative accommodation.

AMENDMENT TO THE CONSTITUTION:
As a result of the changes made to the committee in the past year and to spread the duties more widely it has become necessary to increase the membership and co-options.
The maximum number of committee members should be increased from 10 to 12 and the number of co-opted members raised from 3 to 4.
Revised Paragraph 4 of the Constitution should read:
“The governing body of the Society shall be a Committee consisting of a Chairman, Secretary, Treasurer, Archivist and up to eight other members. The Committee may co-opt up to four additional members.”
The amendment was proposed by Allan Maclean and seconded by Charles Freer

ELECTION OF OFFICE BEARERS:
The following were elected en bloc to serve on the committee for session: 2009-10
Chairman: Ronald Renton
Secretary: Margaret Renton
Treasurer: Dorothy Paterson
Archivist: James Beaton
Committee: Lesley Bratton
Michael Kidd
Catriona MacLeod
Christine MacKay
Robert Stewart
Finella Wilson
Archie Gray
Ken MacTaggart
Co-opted Members:
James McMillan
Duncan Beaton
+ 2 vacancies

AOCB:
The Chairman announced that Mr Malcolm Osborne had donated the sum of £20,000 to the Neil Munro Society from the estate of his son, Brian D. Osborne. The chairman expressed his gratitude on behalf of the Society.
The chairman declared the 13th AGM of the Neil Munro Society closed.

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10th MAY 2008

THE NEIL MUNRO SOCIETY

Minutes of the 12th Annual General Meeting of The Neil Munro Society held in the Campbell Room, Argyll Hotel, Inverarary on 10th May 2008.

SEDERUNT

The Chairman, Ronald Renton and 41 other members as recorded on the sederunt sheet.

APOLOGIES

Ronald Armstrong, Susan Beaton, John & Mairi Hodgart, Rae MacGregor, Allan MacLean, Rennie McOwan, Hamish Thomson

SCHOOLS COMPETITION

The Honorary President, Rev B W Wilkinson took the chair and introduced this item. The competition had been judged by Lesley Bratton who spoke to the entries and announced that the winner was Joe Gilmovich.

WELCOME FROM CHAIRMAN

The Chairman welcomed the delegates, in particular those attending for the first time and thanked those who had made the day’s programme possible and in particular mentioned Ken MacTaggart who had done so much to facilitate the morning visit to Kenmore. The Society had had to find a new venue for the meeting and felt that the Campbell Room would be a suitable location. He intimated the death of Mrs Agnes Stirling of Dunoon and thanked Finella Wilson for taking on the editorship of Paragraphs.

MINUTES OF THE 11th AGM

Having been placed on the Society’s website www.neilmunro.co.uk and circulated at the meeting these were approved on the motion of Clare Gray seconded by Lesley Bratton.

MATTERS ARISING

There were no matters arising.

CHAIRMAN’S REPORT

The Chairman reported that membership remained at a healthy level of 128 subscribing members and expressed a desire for suggestions and feedback from members. He expressed his thanks to the Committee and office-bearers for their work and noted the resignation of Moira Burgess from the Committee and as editor of ParaGraphs in the course of the year. We had been fortunate that Finella Wilson had been willing to take on the editorship. The Chairman outlined the past year’s programme of events including the cruise on Loch Katrine, the Winter Meeting and the April visit to historic sites in Argyll.

There existed a possibility of Glasgow University obtaining funding for a student to do a PhD on some aspect of Munro’s work – a project which would be enhanced by access to our archive.

On the publications front he reported that Exploring New Roads was now available in a paperback edition and that a Scotnotes volume on John Splendid and The New Road had been published. The Society in association with the ASLS had sent out copies of the Scotnotes volume and other teaching materials to 30 secondary schools along the route of The New Road. Plans were underway to secure the reprinting of Fancy Farm, which if successful would see all Munro’s fiction back in print. The University of the Highlands and Islands are running an MA course in the literature of the Highlands and Islands and a number of our publications have been donated to the UHI to encourage a focus on Munro.

Our other means of outreach continued, the Junior Piobaireachd Competition at Inveraray Games was again sponsored, the Munro Medal was again presented to the most distinguished graduand in Scottish Literature at Glasgow University, the website had been developed due to the hard work of John McShane and Margaret Renton and a programme has been started to put on line Munro’s literary journalism. A commemorative plaque has been mounted on The House with the Brass Man’s Hand, Munro’s holiday home for many years and the house featured in The Daft Days.

TREASURER’S REPORT

Dorothy Paterson spoke to the statement of income and expenditure which showed a credit balance of £3128.09 and mentioned some of the difficulties caused by income and expenditure for events bridging two financial years. The report was adopted on the motion of Peter Cairns, seconded by Archie White.

ARCHIVIST’S REPORT

James Beaton advised members that discussions would be held with Glasgow University regarding the transfer of the Archive to the University Library or Archives. There was advantage in moving the collection out of the Royal College and the proposal for a PhD project outlined by the Chairman made the University a very natural home.

SUBSCRIPTIONS

The Committee proposed an increase in subscriptions as follows: Ordinary Members: From £12.00 to £13.00 Students/OAP/Unwaged: From £7.00 to £10.00 Institutional Members: From £15.00 to £16.00 Having heard the Secretary outline the membership profile of the Society and the costs of servicing members, which exceeded the £7.00 concessionary subscription, the proposed increase was approved on the motion of James Beaton, seconded by Brian Wilkinson.

ELECTION OF OFFICE BEARERS AND COMMITTEE

The Honorary President Brian Wilkinson took the chair. The retiring officebearers were re-elected en bloc. The five retiring committee members were also re-elected en bloc and Catriona MacLeod, who had been a co-opted member of the Committee was elected to fill the vacancy on the Committee.

The Committee for 2008/2009 is

Chairman: Ronald W Renton

Secretary: Brian D Osborne

Treasurer: Dorothy Paterson

Archivist: James Beaton

Committee: Lesley Bratton, Michael Kidd, Christine Mackay, Catriona MacLeod, Robert Stewart, Finella Wilson.

Auditor: Christine MacDougall

(The Committee had in 2007/08 also co-opted Archie Gray and Jim McMillan and these co-options will continue into 2008/09)

FUTURE PROGRAMME

The Chairman outlined the Committee’s future plans including a Tarbert event on 27th September based on Gillespie, a planned Paris visit in Spring 2009 and commemoration of the centenary in 2009 of Munro being made a Freeman of Inveraray.

AOCB

There were no further matters raised and the Chairman declared the 12th AGM closed.

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THE NEIL MUNRO SOCIETY

Minutes of the 11th Annual General Meeting of The Neil Munro Society held in the Community Hall, Inveraray, on 12th May 2007.

SEDERUNT
The Chairman, Ronald Renton, and 36 other members as recorded on the sederunt sheet.

APOLOGIES
Brian & Jan Wilkinson, Archie & Clare Gray, Rennie & Agnes McOwan, Ian MacDonald, Duncan Beaton, Louis Stott, Muren Schachter

SCHOOLS COMPETITION
The competition had been judged by Finella Wilson who spoke about the entries and presented the prize to the winner Cameron Bell

WELCOME FROM CHAIRMAN
The Chairman welcomed those present, thanked the members who had made today’s programme possible and the distinguished panel of speakers. He extended a special welcome to those attending for the first time. He intimated the death of Robert Rodgerson, an enthusiastic member of the society and expressed the good wishes of the society to Ian MacTaggart following his recent operation. He was also glad to advise members that Moira Burgess, the editor of ParaGraphs had completed her PhD on the works of Naomi Mitchison

MINUTES OF THE 10th AGM
Having been placed on the Society’s website www.neilmunro.co.uk and circulated at the meeting these were approved on the motion of A White seconded by P Cairns

MATTERS ARISING
A White asked if it would be possible for the minutes to be placed on the website soon after the AGM, the Chairman and Secretary undertook to arrange for this to be done.

CHAIRMAN’S REPORT
The Chairman thanked the Honorary Office Bearers for their help and support, in particular noting the very active part played by Brian Wilkinson, Honorary President. The Society’s membership now stood at the very healthy level of 132 – it was intended however to mount a recruitment campaign with the 2008 Subscription mailing. The Chairman reviewed the events of the year including the successful visit to South Uist and the unfortunate cancellation, due to lack of support, of the Autumn Cruise. The Spring visit to Abbotsford had been successful and the Society had enjoyed an excellent talk by Douglas Gifford. The continuing success of ParaGraphs was mentioned, and the editor was thanked for her efforts and members were encouraged to secure the continuation of the magazine by contributing material to it. The year had seen the reprinting of Shoes of Fortune continuing the Society’s plan to get all of Munro’s works back in print. The Society continued sponsor the Junior Piobaireachd Competition at Inveraray Highland Games. The Neil Munro Medal had again been presented to the most distinguish graduand in the Department of Scottish Literature at Glasgow University and was won in 2006 by Juliet Linden Bicket. Members had been able to make use in the morning of the new access path to the Neil Munro Monument in Glen Aray which had finally been constructed after many years of effort. The Chairman concluded his report with an expression of thanks to the office-bearers and committee members for their hard work and enthusiasm.

TREASURER’S REPORT
Dorothy Paterson spoke to the statement of income and expenditure which showed a credit balance of £2149.14 and outlined some of the main areas of income and expenditure. She noted the difficulties caused by income and expenditure for events bridging two financial years. Answering questions she offered to provide annotations on the accounts to clarify matters in future years. The report was adopted on the motion of Christine Mackay, seconded by Murdoch Beaton.

ARCHIVIST’S REPORT
James Beaton noted that it had been a quiet year for the archive but that due to changes in his role within the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons he felt that it was now an opportune time to consider moving the archive to the Mitchell Library where it would be very accessible and this would be investigated in the coming year.

ELECTION OF OFFICEBEARERS AND COMMITTEE
The Chairman, in the absence of the Honorary President, advised the meeting that all office-bearers and committee members stood down each year but were eligible for re-election and had indicated their willingness to serve again. Michael Kidd proposed the re-election of Ronald Renton as Chairman, this was approved nem con. Mr Renton, from the chair then proposed the re-election of the remaining office-bearers and committee en bloc – this was also approved nem con.

The Committee for 2007/08 is

Chairman: Ronald W Renton

Secretary: Brian D Osborne

Treasurer: Dorothy Paterson

Archivist: James Beaton

Committee: Lesley Bratton, Moira Burgess, Michael Kidd Christine Mackay, Robert Stewart, Finella Wilson

Auditor Christine MacDougall

(The Committee had in 2006/07 also co-opted Archie Gray, Catriona MacLeod & Jim McMillan.)

FUTURE PROGRAMME
The Chairman outlined the events planned, including a cruise on the SS Sir Walter Scott on Loch Katrine and a Winter Meeting looking at Munro’s journalism and invited suggestions for other events and topics.

ANY OTHER COMPETENT BUSINESS
James Beaton noted the large contribution that the Chairman Ronald Renton had made to the success of the Society since its inception and asked the meeting to rise and join him in a round of applause. Mr Renton responded in appropriate terms.

CLOSURE
There being no further business the Chairman closed the 11th Annual General Meeting.

site updated 9th August 2009