08 TALLINN
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TALLINN
THE MORNING of Saturday, August i9th, was spent on board the Calgaric, as we did not arrive at Tallinn till nearly four o'clock. We had, however, on board with us, two of our Estonian hosts, Mr. and Mrs. Hünerson, who had joined us at Riga. Mrs. Hünerson is Chief Guide of Estonia and hcr husband is President.
The beautiful sky-line of Tallinn (better known to some people under its Russian name of Reval) rose up against a background of dark and murky sky: this was the only day during the cruise when the sun did not shine.
A delegation of Estonian Scouters and Guiders came on board to welcome us, among the latter being Miss Elken, the General Secretary.
The Chiefs landed in a thunder-storm, and the Scouts and Guides who had gathered on the quay to meet them were soaked to the skin, but this did not in the least affect their spirits. They received the Chiefs with tremendous enthusiasm, which culminated in their seizing both of them and carrying them shoulder high.
After a short drive round the town, seeing some of the most picturesque features, the Chiefs and their staff drove to the Foreign Office, where a dinner party was given in their honour by the Foreign Minister, the Chief of the State (he is not called President in Estonia) also honouring the dinner by his presence.
General Laidoner, who organized the Estonian Army and commanded it when it drove out the Bolsheviks in 1919, was one of the party.
After dinner the Chief of the State conferred upon Lord and Lady Baden-Powell the highest order of the Estonian Red Cross for their work in helping humanity.
Meanwhile the British Scouters and Guiders had landed. The first person who happened to step out of the boat was Miss Julia Montagu, captain of a company of deaf Rangers in Stepney. An Estonian Scout rushed up to her with a bunch of carnations, which he presented to her, saying: "For the first British Guide who has ever set foot in Estonia!" The British were conducted in small parties by Estonian Scouts and Guides to see the town, which is very old and historic. The most prominent feature is the Castle, built on a high rock, called the Dom: some of the visitors ascended one of the towers, whence a wonderful view is obtained over the roofs of the town to the sea. There are many narrow, steep streets and towers and gates and archways.
A large square in the centre of the town contains the fourteenth-century Town
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Hall, with its minaret-like tower added in the seventeenth century. The charming arcades along the façade have been turned into shops. In the Town Hall there is some very fine old carving.
Some of the British returned to the ship for dinner, while others got something to eat in the town. All of them afterwards went out to the Stadion, where the camp fire was to be held.
The heads of the Estonian Scouts and Guides had been afraid that owing to the holidays and to the universally hard times, not many boys and girls would be able to come in to Tallinn from the country. When the time came, however, there were almost two thousand present. They had come by train, by bus, by lorry, by boat, even on foot, to greet their founder and his wife.
The Estonian Guides wear dark blue, and in the light of the camp fire they were practically indistinguishable from the British, especially as many of them spoke English perfectly. A very large concourse of people assembled in the Stadion, and the British were given seats in the grand stand, where they waited for the Chiefs. The rain, fortunately, was over.
Finally the Chiefs' procession came, walking along a seemingly endless avenue of cheering boys and girls, with searchlights playing round them. One searchlight was blue and one was orange: the lighting effect was ghostly and mysterious, and it was altogether a strange and romantic scene.
A few minutes after the arrival of the Chiefs, another procession advanced down the cheering lines to the stand; this was the Chief of the State, with his staff. All rose to their feet as the National Anthem was sung.
Then the camp fire which had been laid in the arena was lighted by eleven Scouts, who ran in from various points with flaming torches. They represented the eleven provinces of Estonia.
Various traditional Estonian games were then shown and there was some very good dancing and singing, all the performers being in their national costume.
Unfortunately, the performance had to be cut short on account of time. The British sang one song and were then asked to go down into the arena, where the Chiefs, standing by the camp fire, spoke in turn to the boys and girls. Lord Baden-Powell was presented with a tooled leather album of photographs and Lady Baden-Powell was given a beautifully embroidered set of table linen.
It was rather difficult for the British Scouters and Guiders to sort themselves out from their Estonian counterparts and to find their way back, in the very dark night, to the quay. However, to the best of our belief, no one was left behind.
The Chiefs took an affectionate farewell of their kind hosts and at one o'clock in the morning the Calgaric started on her short journey from Tallinn across the Gulf of Finland to Helsinki.
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Photo] [M. Crowdy
TALLINN FROM THE "CALGARIC" .
LANDING AT TALLINN, ESTONIA
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Photo] [A . Macdonald
TALLINN
Photo] [M. Crowdy
AT THE CAMP FIRE, TALLINN
H.E. The Head of the State of Estonia
(on left)
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