23 JUNE 1990, Page 25

The other wall

Sir: I read with interest Allan Massie's article in the issue of 12 May (`Stands Scotland where it did?'), in which he mentioned the prevalence of Scots planters in Malaya.

As recently as 1966, a friend and I, serving as subalterns near Seremban, slip- ped off one evening to the club for a drink. On arrival, we found ourselves heavily outnumbered by Scot planters, it being Burns night. Some of them were perhaps aggressively Caledonian.

That night saw the foundation of the Friends of Hadrian Society. Among the more memorable failures of this body was our Buy a Brick week, whereby we hoped to restore the Wall to its original purpose. Henry Boyt

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