Story: Public holidays

St Andrew, the patron saint of Scotland, was honoured by New Zealand's Scots settlers on 30 November each year. Often the local Caledonian society would organise a celebration. This is the toast list for a supper held by the Canterbury Caledonian Society in 1889, and it includes details of the entertainment provided. For 19th-century settlers, who still had strong emotional ties to their homeland, such occasions were important for maintaining cultural traditions.