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From the Vegetarian Messenger (Manchster), January 1893, p.26-27:
SCOTTISH VEGETARIAN SOCIETY
A meeting of those interested in the cause of food reform was held on
Wednesday, the 23rd November, in the "Garden" Vegetarian Restaurant,
17, Bothwell Street, Glasgow, for the purpose of forming a local Vegetarian
Society. The meeting was fortunate in having Mr. Joseph Knight, of Manchester,
as chairman, and there was a good attendance. - The Chairman, in his opening
remarks, touched upon the growth of the movement, the success it has already
achieved, the obstacles in the way of progress, the need forearnest effort
for its promotion, the support that will be given to individual effort
by organised work &c.; and was glad the Glasgow friends had resolved
upon and had called this meeting for the purpose of forming a Vegetarian
Society. He referred to the two bases on which local societies were formed,
- the one he called the "solid basis," where the officers and
the committee consist of Vegetarians only; the other which introduced
an element of weakness by admitting to office those who are not Vegetarians.
He then invited expression of thoughts and questions. - After some friends
had given expression to their opinions, it was resolved to adopt the basis
of all officers being Vegetarians. The following office bearers were appointed
:- Chairman, Mr. H. S. Bathgate; Secretary and Treasurer, pro tem,
Mr. Jno. Barclay; Committee, Messrs. Scott, Frolich, McBride, Jamieson,
and Moffat, and Mrs. Francis Smith, and Mrs. Moffatt. It was also agreed
to invite the following to become Vice-Presidents:- Mr. E. C. Clark (Manchester),
Joseph Knight (Manchester), Mr. John McFadyean (Irvine), Mrs. John Smith
(Bothwell), Mrs. M. Bean (Inverness). After careful consideration and
some discussion, it was agreed that the name of the Society be "The
Scottish Vegetarian Society"." - The Chairman expressed hearty
congratulations and good wishes for the Society and the cause throughout
Scotland. - The meeting terminated with a hearty vote of thanks to the
chairman.
- The Lost Society - a brief history
of the Scottish Vegetarian Society, from The The Vegetarian Winter
1999.
From The Vegetarian Messenger (Manchester, England), March 1893,
p111:
Glasgow. - The Scottish Vegetarian Society held its first annual banquet
on Tuesday evening, the 7th inst., in the Garden Vegetarian Restaurant.
About 55 ladies and gentlemen sat down to dinner, and all seemed very
much pleased with their repast. The menu was as follows: Soups - Hotch
potch, brown lentil. Savouries - Savoury rice fritters, haricot rolls,
tomato pudding, green peas and curried rice. Sauces - Tomato, brown
gravy, curry. Vegetables - Sprouts, peas, haricots, rice, tomatoes,
cabbage, carrot, potatoes, turnip. Sweets - Garden pudding, fig pudding,
apple tart, pineapple, figs, apples, green figs, prunes, raisins. The
Chairman then spoke briefly as to the aims and objects of the Society,
and said that all the Society asked of unbelievers was a fair and impartial
trial of the Vegetarian system of diet. A first-rate musical programme
was then entered upon, varied with short speeches. The solos were "The
King's Own" (Mr. Goold), "Five o'clock in the morning"
(Miss Young), "O, Nannie, wilt thou gang wi' me?" (Mr. Barclay),
"Charge of the Light Brigade" (Mr. Moffat), "Ida with
the Golden Hair" (Mr. McBride), "My Heather Hills" (Mrs.
Bathgate), There were also various part songs, recitations, and readings,
and Mrs. Emil Frolich gave selections on the zither, and was heartily
encored. Mrs. Macintyre presided at the pianoforte with great taste
and skill, The speakers were Messrs. Paterson, McFadyean, Ford, Strang,
and Barclay (Secretary), who dealt with different phases of Vegetarianism.
A very pleasant evening was brought to a close by the company singing
"Auld Lang Syne."
From The Vegetarian Messenger (Manchester, England), January 1894,
p26: Detailed report of meetings.
In 1908 the Scottish Vegetarian Society sent a letter of support to the
first meeting of the International Vegetarian Union in Dresden, Germany.
The folowing is from the Vegetarian Messenger (VSUK magazine),
February 1909
"At Home" and Summer School re-union at Glasgow -
The Scottish Vegetarian Society held a very successful "At Home"
and Re-union on January 16th, at Glasgow. About 140 guests were present,
and of this number half were Summer School scholars - from Nottingham,
Manchester, St.Andrews, Edinburgh, and places near Glasgow. The evening
was happily spent in greetings, musical selections, and dancing. Mr.H.S.Bathgate,
the genial president of the society, presided, and addresses were given
by Mr Crawford, of Edinburgh, and the Secretary of the Vegetarian Society,
who paid a deserved tribute to the Secretary of the Scottish Society
(Mr.J.P.Allan), for the spirit of good fellowship and unselfishness
he had always manifested at the Summer Schools. Their success had been
largely due to his personal influence. - The Scottish Vegetarian Society
held its monthly "At Home" in the Arcadian Restaurant, 132,
St.Vincent Street, on December 19th. Tea was served from 6 to 7 o'clock,
followed by music and dancing. Misses Gillanders and McClaren, and Messrs.
Ferguson, McClaren, McClellan, and Webster contributed the music, and
readings were given by Mr. Horton and Mr.A.Stewart. The attendance was
good and the gathering was very successful.
.. and from the April 1910 issue of the Vegetarian Messenger:
Vegetarianism in Scotland.
Our movement in Scotland is making encouraging advance. The Scottish
and Edinburgh Societies are actively engaged in helpful propaganda.
At Edinburgh the lectures are very well attended. At two lectures given
by the Secretary of the Vegetarian Society the room has been crowded
to the door, many standing. At Glasgow during the month of April Miss
Macdonald will give four cookery lectures and demonstrations in the
Arcadian Restaurant, 132, St. Vincent Street, on Thursday evenings at
7-45 p.m. It is pleasant to see the spirit of friendly interest and
co-operation between the Scottish and the Edinburgh Societies. We wish
success to their work.
... from the August 1910 issue:
Mr. Dugald Semples Lectures
Mr. Dugald Semple, the Scottish apostle of the Simple Life, is arranging
lecturing tours for the coming winter. He is prepared to give lectures
for a modest fee, and we are sure that his services would be appreciated
by vegetarian and allied societies. His address is Wheelhouse, Bridge
of Weir, Scotland.
By 1912 the Scottish Society was formally afficliated to the Vegetarian
Society based in Manchester, this does not appear to have been the case
when the Society was founded. In 1912 there were also Vegetarian Societies
in Edinburgh, Aberdeen, Dundee which were directly afficliated to the
Vegetarian Society, Manchester. It is not clear whether they were also
affiliated to the Scotish Society.
From The Heretics Feast by Colin Spencer:
At the end of the war civilian rationing began on 1 January 1918 with
sugar, then meat, butter and margarine. The Government used two vegetarians
Mrs Leonard Cohen and Mr Dugald Semple, to spread the message, so as
to eke out the rations and propose meat substitutes.
From the reports of the 1938 IVU Congress, held in Norway:
The delegates from Gt. Britain were ... Mr. Dugald Semple (President
of the Scottish V. S. and Vice-President of The Vegetarian Society)
...
 Vegetarianism
and Peace.
The concluding address of the Congress was delivered by Mr. DUGALI)
SEMPLE (Gt. Britain photo right), who spoke on "Vegetarianism
and Peace." Mr. Semple said that the question of peace was one
of the most important problems with which the various countries of the
world were concerned at the present time, and people were naturally
interested in what we, as vegetarians, had to offer in place of war
and preparations for war. The situation throughout Europe was tragic
because war was no longer confined to armed forces but meant the slaughter
of innocent women and children. The relation between food and war may
come as a surprise to many people, hut Socrates pointed out the relationship
many years ago. When Plato first outlined the ideal life for his country
he suggested that it might be necessary to introduce flesh-foods into
his community. Socrates replied by saying that when you introduce flesh-foods
it means that you are not going to have sufficient land to grow food
and to raise cattle at the same time, and then you will go to your neighbour's
territory and cut a slice off his land, and he will object, and then
you will go to war with each other. That was the lesson we saw in the
last great war and we observe today that many nations which are not
self -supporting have a tendency to quarrel with their neighbours.
In Great Britain, before the war, there was only 7.6% of the population
living on the land, as against 20% in Belgium, 25% in Holland and 30%
in Germany. Today we have only 4.6% of the population in Britain living
on the land. It means that the more we get away from nature and congregate
people in towns and cities, there is more crime, disease and war. We
cannot get away from nature without suffering thereby. We have got to
live closer to the laws of our being. We must have a healthy body, but
that is not enough. We are suffering today from an unbalanced proportion
of activities - we seem to know how to do everything, and yet we do
not know how to walk properly. We can link up the world by means of
electricity, but we cannot link it up with love and human sympathy.
Our attitude towards animals must be completely changed. We must cease
to refer to them as "dumb" animals and "livestock."
We must remember that they are our co-partners in civilization.
Vegetarianism is not merely a matter of food reform - it is a philosophy
of life, and war will only cease when we cease to live as beasts of
prey. So long as we prepare for war we shall get war. We must not only
study Darwin but also Kropotkin. Those animals which are carnivorous
are becoming less and the vegetarian animals are increasing. Vegetarianism
is the first great step. The killing of human beings is akin to the
killing of animals and so the exploiting of animal life leads to the
selfish exploitation of human beings. In quoting Burns, Mr. Semple appealed
for a more widespread appreciation of the real values in life - more
sunshine for the body, more love for the soul, peace for every living
creature the world over.
Peace Resolution.
Following the address by Mr. Semple a resolution was passed by the Congress
"calling upon all peoples and their governments to maintain and
work for peace." The resolution, voicing the opinion of the representatives
of the different nations assembled, expressed disapproval of the repeated
air raids on defenceless towns, on unarmed vessels and on peaceful peoples
in Europe and Asia. It stated that vegetarians, being opposed to the
killing of animals, protested against any effort to promote conditions
involving the slaughter of human beings, with its attendant destruction
of cul-tural and intellectual values and the widespread debasement of
human life.
From reports of the 1947 IVU Congress, held in Stonehouse, England:
... The business included reports from representatives of Societies
affiliated to the I.V.U., and were given by ... , Mr. Dugald Semple
(Scotland), ...[Mr Semple also chaired one one of the sessions of the
Congress]
From reports of the 1950 IVU Congress, held in the Netherlands:
Brief speeches were made by delegates from the countries represented.
... A. Reid (Scotland), ...
According to the minutes of the IVU Executive Committe meeting, May 1-2,
1954, Dugold Semple was still president of the SVS, one of several Vice
Presidents of IVU, and listed as a speaker at the 1955 World Vegetarian
Congress in Paris.
Since the first article above appeared a new Scottish Vegetarian Association
has been formed, and can now be found at: www.scotveg.com
See also the South East Scotland Vegetarians at: www.ivu.org/sesv
- and lots more local groups around Scotland can be found from the VSUK
Local Network at: www.vegsoc.org/network/scotland.html
If you have any more information about anything on this page please contact
John Davis - webmaster@ivu.org
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