22-Oct-10

Our Annual General Meeting and autumn dinner were held on Friday, 22 October 2010 at the Caledonian Club in Halkin Street, London SW1

At the AGM it was agreed, with the consent of the Chief, to change the name of our Association from Clan Maclean Association of London to Clan Maclean Association of England and Wales. This reflects more accurately the geographical scope of the membership and is designed to raise the profile of the Association and in particular to attract new members and good speakers. A new Constitution was also agreed.

We also appointed a new Secretary, Helen Bailey. She succeeds Mary Wilson, to whom we are hugely grateful for many years of enthusiasm and hard work in arranging our events and keeping in touch with our membership. In recognition of her enormous contribution to the Association over a long period, it was unanimously agreed to appoint Mary an Honorary Vice-President of the Association.

At the dinner which followed we were delighted to have the company of the Chief's son, Malcolm Maclean, Yr of Duart and Morvern, as well as of our Patron and Malcolm's grandmother, Elizabeth, The Lady Maclean. Malcolm conveyed messages from his father, who had been prevented from attending, and updated us on his own family and their business in Hampshire. Other guests included Keith Grant-Peterkin, Secretary of the Highland Society of London, who gave us a brief history of the Society, and his wife Theresa.

We also welcomed John Rankin, who has recently been appointed High Commissioner to Sri Lanka. He gave an entertaining and thought-provoking talk on the role played by the Rankins in the history of the Clan Maclean and the contribution which Scottish clan associations could make towards easing global tensions in the new multi-polar world.

19-Feb-10

Our 2010 Burns Supper was held at the Caledonian Club in Halkin Street, London SW1, on Friday, 19 February. 57 clanspeople attended, including 13 from the Clan MacDougall, whom we had invited to join us, by way of an experiment and in a spirit of Highland solidarity. The MacDougalls are another Argyllshire clan, the clan seat being Dunollie Castle (now a ruin), near Oban. Our Patron, Elizabeth, The Lady Maclean, also attended. A link to the war-time exploits of Sir Fitzroy Maclean was provided by the presence of the Defence Attaché to the Serbian Embassy in London, Colonel Branko Milovanovic.

The Address to the Haggis was delivered by David Dunham; the Toast to the Immortal Memory was given by Michael Maclay; John McDougall gave us the spoof Last Will and Testament of Robert Burns; Nigel Alington proposed the Toast to the Lassies; and Mrs Sarah Dundas responded. Roddy MacFadyen provided the piped music and Andrew Maclean gave us the World Première of a Maclean song that he had composed especially for the occasion.