THE ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING of the Scottish Lifeboat Council was held in The Freemason's Hall, Edinburgh, on May 23 this year. Captain Alexander Ramsay of Mar, chairman of the Executive Committee of the Council, was in the chair at the beginning of the meeting in the absence of the Duke of Atholl, convener of the Scottish Lifeboat Council, who was unavoidably prevented from attending.

Captain Ramsay welcomed the unusually large number of delegates from all over Scotland and the Islands and read out a telegram of good wishes from the Duke of Atholl. He then informed the delegates with regret that the Duke had reluctantly decided to resign as convener owing to pressure of business which would necessitate His Grace being in the south more than in recent years.

Having served for three years on the Executive Committee of the Council the delegates from the branches at Dunbar, Girvan and Stirling retired and the branches at Banff, Lossiemouth and Prestwick were elected to send delegates in their place.

The presentation of awards followed —a ceremony which is always of great interest to all present. T. F. Nutman, divisional inspector (Scotland North) read the citation for the award of silver medals for gallantry to Coxswain Albert Bird and Motor Mechanic Ian Jack of Aberdeen. These medals had been presented to the two men by HRH The Duke of Kent, President of the Institution, at the AGM in London on May 8. Normally the accompanying vellums would have been the first presentation at the Scottish Meeting but they had been presented in Aberdeen by special arrangement earlier in the year.

The awards were presented by Lady McGrigor, wife of Sir Charles McGrigor, BT, who expressed herpleasure at making the awards and referred to the constant inspiration of the spirit of the lifeboat service.

Later in the meeting Sir Charles McGrigor was nominated as successor to the Duke of Atholl as convener of the Scottish Lifeboat Council and was Sir Charles McGrigor, unanimously elected convener of the Scottish Lifeboat Council.

elected unanimously. Sir Charles has served as a vice-convener of the Council for many years and is also a member of the Committee of Management of the Institution.

Captain Ramsay vacated the chair which was occupied by Sir Charles for the remainder of the meeting.

W. F. G. Lord, was then elected to serve as a vice-convener of the Council in place of Sir Charles McGrigor. Mr Lord has been honorary secretary of the Edinburgh branch for many years and is also a member of the Committee of Management.

As chairman of the Executive Committee, Captain Ramsay reported on the work of the previous year, includingmention of the production of a 'Lifeboat Map' and a new publicity leaflet for Scotland, both of which are the work of Dr W. J. Guild, a member of the Executive Committee and a senior lecturer at Edinburgh University.

In her report Miss E. M. Lloyd-Jones, organising secretary, Scotland, told an appreciative audience that the total money raised in Scotland during the year 1973/74 was £221,255. She congratulated all who had helped on the very hard work which this result represented.

The meeting was then thrown open for branch discussion, which was extremely lively and conducted with great good humour and enthusiasm. The outstanding efforts of some of the smaller guilds drew particularly warm applause.

The meeting concluded in an encouraging atmosphere of determined and continuing effort.

After the meeting there was an opportunity to inspect the Memorial Book of the Lifeboat Service commissioned by The Lord Saltoun, MC, a former convener of the Scottish Lifeboat Council. This book is a memorial to the lifeboatmen, known and unknown, who have lost their lives on service or exercise since the inception of the Institution in 1824.—E.M. L.-J..