Presented to the

UNIVERSITY OF TORONTO LIBRARY

by the

ONTARIO LEGISLATIVE LIBRARY

1980

THE LOWLAND SCOTS REGIMENTS

GLASGOW

PRINTED AT THE UNIVERSITY PRESS BY

ROBERT MACLEHOSE &• COMPANY LTD. FOR

JAMES MACLEHOSE AND SONS, PUBLISHERS

TO THE UNIVERSITY OF GLASGOW

MACMILLAN AND CO. LTD. LONDON

THE MACMILLAN CO. NEW YORK

MACMILLAN CO. OF CANADA TORONTO

SIMPKIN, HAMILTON AND CO. LONDON

BOWES AND BOWES CAMBRIDGE

DOUGLAS AND FOULIS EDINBURGH MCMXVIII

DAVID, 3RD EARL OF LEVEN, 1660-1728 HE EDINBURGH REGIMENT, NOW THK KING'S OWN Scorn:

THE LOWLAND SCOTS REGIMENTS

THEIR ORIGIN, CHARACTER AND SERVICES PREVIOUS TO THE GREAT WAR OF 1914

EDITED FOR THE ASSOCIATION OF LOWLAND SCOTS

RIGHT HON. SIR HERBERT MAXWELL, BT.

LORD-LIEUTENANT OF WIGTOWNSHIRE LATE MAJOR AND HON. LIEUT. -COL. 3RD ROYAL SCOTS FUSILIERS

GLASGOW JAMES MACLEHOSE AND SONS

PUBLISHERS TO THE UNIVERSITY MCMXVIII

God of our fathers, known of old, Lord of our far-flung battle-line,

Beneath whose awful hand we hold Dominion over palm and pine —

Lord God of Hosts, be with us yet,

Lest we forget — lest we forget !

RUDYARD KIPLING

TO

GEORGE V.

BY THE GRACE OF GOD, OF THE UNITED KINGDOM OF

GREAT BRITAIN AND IRELAND, AND OF THE

BRITISH DOMINIONS BEYOND THE SEAS.

KING,

DEFENDER OF THE FAITH, EMPEROR OF INDIA,

THIS VOLUME IS INSCRIBED BY HIS MAJESTY'S

GRACIOUS PERMISSION

<3o& save tbe •Ring !

EDITOR'S NOTE

THE present volume has been prepared under conditions of much difficulty arising out of the absence of all the Lowland Scots regiments at the various seats of war, and the absorption in official duties at home of those officers not employed in the field. For the same reasons it has not been possible to obtain access to the records of all the regiments.

Certain officers having expressed an opinion that publication should be delayed until the narratives could be carried to the conclusion of the present war, due and careful consideration was given to this question by the Executive Committee. It was found that this would far exceed the scope of a single volume, and it was decided not to carry the chronicle beyond August, 1914, reserving the subsequent doings of our Lowland Scots regiments in the campaigns in Europe, Asia and Africa to be recorded in another volume.

I desire to thank the writers of the chapters on the different regiments for the willing co-operation which they have shown in a somewhat arduous undertaking, and to acknowledge gratefully the service rendered by Mr. Alexander W. Inglis, to whom is owing the recovery of much of the old regimental music. His explanatory notes are appended to the tunes over his initials. Readers will not fail to appreciate the fidelity with which Mr. George Kruger has portrayed the uniforms at various periods.

H. E. M.

MONRElTH: January 1918.

CONTENTS

PAGE

INTRODUCTION I

By the EDITOR

I. THE 2ND DRAGOONS — ROYAL SCOTS GREYS 35

By Sir JAMES BALFOUR PAUL, C.V.O., Lord Lyon King-of-Arms

II. THE SCOTS GUARDS - 67

By Captain CHARLES B. BALFOUR of Newton Don, late Scots Guards, Lord-Lieutenant of Berwickshire

III. THE ROYAL SCOTS (LOTHIAN REGIMENT) - - - 117

By Major M. M. HALDANE, The Royal Scots

IV. THE ROYAL SCOTS FUSILIERS - - - - 155

By Lieut.-Col. REGINALD TOOGOOD, late Royal Scots Fusiliers

V. THE KING'S OWN SCOTTISH BORDERERS - - - 189 By Brigadier-General MONTAGU GRANT WILKINSON, C.B., M.V.O., late King's Own Scottish Borderers

NOTE ON THE ORIGIN OF THE K.O.S.B. - 234

By ANDREW Ross, Ross Herald

VI. THE CAMERONIANS (SCOTTISH RIFLES) - 243

THE 90TH PERTHSHIRE LIGHT INFANTRY - 279

By ANDREW Ross, Ross Herald

VII. SCOTTISH REGIMENTS DISBANDED - 297

By ANDREW Ross, Ross Herald

VIII. REGIMENTAL Music -

- 331

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

PACK

DAVID, 3RD EARL OF LEVEN, 1660-1728 ----- Frontispiece Raised the Edinburgh Regiment, now the King's Own Scottish Borderers, in 1689, and commanded it till 1693

COLONEL, 2ND ROYAL NORTH BRITISH DRAGOONS, 1799 - 40

Scots Greys

TROOPER, 2ND ROYAL NORTH BRITISH DRAGOONS, 1815 - - - 48

Scots Greys

MEMORIAL TO THE OFFICERS AND MEN OF THE ROYAL SCOTS GREYS

WHO FELL IN THE SOUTH AFRICAN WAR, 1900-1903 $6

Erected in Princes St., Edinburgh, by Officers of the Regiment and their friends. Sculptor, W. BIRNIE RHIND, R.S.A.

PRIVATE, THIRD REGIMENT OF FOOT GUARDS, 1746 - - 72

Now the Scots Guards

SERGEANT, GRENADIER COMPANY THIRD REGIMENT OF FOOT GUARDS,

1790 -.---.-..-- 80

Now the Scots Guards

PRIVATE, FIRST REGIMENT OF FOOT, 1700- - - - 144

The Royal Scots

CORPORAL, FIRST REGIMENT OF FOOT, 1815 - - - - - 152 The Royal Scots

SERGEANT, 21 ST ROYAL NORTH BRITISH FUSILIERS, 1830 - - - 176 Now the Royal Scots Fusiliers

xii LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

PAGE

COLONEL, THE ROYAL SCOTS FUSILIERS, 1914 ----- 184

PRIVATE, 25™ KING'S OWN BORDERERS, 1822 208

Now the King's Own Scottish Borderers

MEMORIAL OF JAMES, EARL OF ANGUS, 1671-1692, WHO RAISED THE CAMERONIAN REGIMENT IN 1689 AND FELL IN COMMAND THEREOF AT STEINK.IRK --------- 248

Erected at Douglas by the Officers of the Cameronians, Scottish Rifles Sculptor, Sir THOMAS BROCK, K.C.B., R.A.

PRIVATE, 26™ REGIMENT OF FOOT, 1807 ------ 256

The Cameronians

PRIVATE, THE CAMERONIANS, 1914 ------- 272

Scottish Rifles

INTRODUCTION

BY THE EDITOR

THE oldest industries of the human race are warfare and the chase. The earliest annals of every nation consist mainly of the record of conflict — aggressive, like the conquest of Palestine by the children of Israel, or defensive, like the splendid valour of the Gauls against Imperial Rome. Races of men who could neither defend themselves nor escape to other lands were simply wiped out, leaving no chronicle. We know, indeed, by tradition, by the statements of early travellers, and by the remains of human beings in primitive sepulchres, that a small, dark-haired race of men inhabited the British Isles before the westward movement of the Celts reached our shores. Ethnologists claim to recognise a strain of this people — Iverians, they call them — among the population of the western- most seaboard of the three kingdoms. But these seem to have put up no effective resistance against the Celtic invasion ; at all events they went under, and left no record.

These observations may appear to have little or no connection with the history of the Scottish regiments ; nevertheless, ethnology is an obstinate agent, and racial character is more enduring than the hills.

The Scottish nation is a blend of five other nationalities which were long at bitter enmity with each other. In the eighth century, when Egbert was resolutely welding the Saxon Heptarchy into the single realm of England, North Britain, then known as Alba, was divided into four separate and mutually hostile kingdoms.

i. The kingdom of the Picts, extending north and east from Drumalban — the great central ridge of the Highlands — with a seat of rule near Inver- ness. Much controversy has been waged over the ethnology of the Picts ;

2 INTRODUCTION

but most writers of authority, with the notable exception of the late Sir John Rhys, have regarded them as belonging to the Goidhelic branch of the Celtic race.

2. In the fifth century a colony of Goidhelic Celts from Ireland, known as Scots, landed in the west of the Pictish territory under Fergus Mor, the son of Ere, founding a colony which developed into the little kingdom of Dalriada ; and, although this included no more than Argyll, Lorn and a few neighbouring islands, the colonists eventually gave their name to the kingdom and nation of Scotland.

3. The kingdom of Cumbria or Strathclyde, extending from the river Derwent in Cumberland to Loch Lomond, was peopled by Britons or Welsh, being the northernmost of the three divisions into which the conquests of Egbert had severed the Cymric nation, the other two divisions being Wales and Cornwall. They called their chief stronghold Alcluith — the cliff on the Clyde — but their Gaelic neighbours and enemies called it dun Bretann — Dunbarton — the Briton's fort.

4. The Saxon kingdom of Bernicia or Northumbria, extending from the Humber to the Firth of Forth, was governed from Bamborough. Just as the Scots of Dalriada gave their name to the nation, so the Saxons of Northumbria and Lothian prevailed to impose their speech upon the whole kingdom after Malcolm Ceannmor by his victory at Lumphannan on I5th August, 1057, effectually established his rule, and Scotland took her place among the kingdoms of Europe.

Besides these four principal sources of the population of Scotland there were Scandinavian invaders — Danes and Norsemen — who took possession of Orkney, Shetland, Caithness, the Western Isles, and made permanent settlement in the southern part of the kingdom of Strathclyde, leaving in all these regions a strain of blood which may easily be recognised at this day. There were also the Niduarian Picts of Galloway, ruled by their native chiefs, but tributary alternately to Saxon (Northumbrian) and Norse authority.

Such was the motley origin of the Scottish nation, and as such it was formally recognised for many centuries in the proclamations and charters of the Kings of Scots. Thus in the original charter of the Abbey of Melrose in 1144, David I. addresses his subjects as "the Normans, Eng- lish, Scots and Galwegians of the whole realm." Another edict in 1139

BY THE EDITOR 3

appeals to " Normans, English and Cumbrians," and so on, with many variations.

This David (1124-1153) was the first to reign over Scotland as a feudal sovereign, governing through the Norman and Saxon lords whom he estab- lished as Crown vassals yielding military service for extensive tracts of lands. These tenants in capite — earls and greater barons — granted portions of their lands to lesser gentry, who held them by " knight's service," pay- ing no rent, but undertaking the obligation to bring armed followers in number proportioned to their several estates, and to serve under their superior in war. The clan or tribal system in the Celtic parts of Scotland imposed the obligation of personal service, called feacht and sluaged, under the chief of the tribe in war, whether offensive or defensive. In the Saxon districts, according to immemorial custom, every freeman was bound to attend the " hosting across the frontier " once every year in arms. Out of these two systems grew what was termed by feudal lawyers Scoticanum scrvitium — the " Scottish service " — sometimes known as forinsecum ser- mtium — " hosting beyond the frontier." It may be understood from the following passage, translated from the Moray chartulary, that the " Scottish service " was rendered on foot and without defensive armour.

"... We have no right to demand any service from William of Moray except the Scottish service of our Lord the King in hosting beyond the frontier . . . and such succour and aid as he may render us of his own free will in the defence of the realm by his force of men-at-arms [armigerorum] and horses and weapons." *

The Scottish service endured for several centuries alongside of the feudal organisation which bound every lord of a military fief to bring to the royal standard the quota of armed men in proportion to his land. David I. was far too sagacious a reformer to attempt forcing a cut-and-dried system of military service upon his subjects in all parts of the realm of Scotland ; nevertheless, this dual system did not contribute to the discipline so essential to the control of an army by a commander-in-chief, as King David found to his cost at the battle of the Standard (22nd August, 1138). His tactics on that field were disorganised by the wild Picts of Galloway s claiming to lead the attack and refusing to fight unless what they declared to be their right was accorded them. The immediate result was disastrous,

1 See upon this subject Robertson's Scotland under her Early Kings, vol. i. p. 208 note. 8 Ancestors of the men who now fill the ranks of the King's Own Scottish Borderers and Royal Scots Fusiliers.

4 INTRODUCTION

for these half-clad savages could not withstand the cloud of English arrows ; they broke and fled, throwing the whole Scottish line into confusion. Yet the dual system endured long after King David had been laid to rest under the high altar of Dunfermline. Indeed it may be recognised as late as 1745, when the Fiery Cross was sent through the Airds by Macdonell of Barisdale, and through Appin by Stewart of Invernahyle.

The parliaments of the Scottish Kings passed many Acts imposing uni- versal military service, the earliest that has been preserved being one of William the Lion (1165-1214). As it prescribes the exact equipment re- quired of different ranks of freeholders it is worth quoting at length as it was transcribed by Sir John Skene about 1600.

" Cap. 23. i. It is statute that ilk man of the age between saxtie and saxtene jeires sail be sworn, and sail have armes according to his lands and moveable gudes.

2. That is, he quha hes fiftene pond lande, or fourtie marks 1 worth in move- able gudes, sail haue ane horse, ane habergeon [coat of mail], ane knapiskay [head- piece] of iron, ane sword and dagger.

3. He quha hes fourtie schilling land or mair, vntill ane hundreth schilling land, sail haue ane bow and arrowes, ane dagger and ane knife.

4. He quha hes les nor fourtie schilling land sail haue ane hand axe, ane bow and arrowes.

5. And all others quha may haue armour sail haue ane bow and arrowes outwith the forrest, and within the forrest ane bow, ane pyle [javelin].

6. Item, it is statute that wapinschaw salbe keiped and haldin."

It may be easily conceived how futile such legislation would have proved unless measures had been taken to ensure that the prescribed weapons were kept in proper order and repair. This was effected by the institution of wapinschaw (weapon show), which obliged every man of military age to attend a muster, held four times every year by the Sheriff of his county, or by some other lord, spiritual or temporal, when he had to produce his arms for inspection. The exact procedure on these occasions is set forth in an Act of 1457.

" Item — It is decreeted and ordained that the weapon-schawings be halden be [by] the Lords and Barrones Spiritual and Temporal four times in the 3eir. And that the fute-bal and golfe be vtterly cryed downe and not to be vsed. And that the bow-markes 2 be maid at ilk Parish Kirk a pair of Buttes, and schutting be vsed. And that ilk man schutte sex schottes at the least, vnder the paine to be raysed vpon them that cummis not at the least * : two pennies to be giuen

1 About £25 sterling. » Targets.

5 That is — he who does not fire six shots is to be fined.

BY THE EDITOR 5

to them that cummis to the bow-markes to drinke.1 . . . And be the nixt Mid- sommer to be reddy with all their graith2 without failzie.3 And that there be a bower and a fledgear 4 in ilk head town of the Schire, and that the toun furnish him of stuffe and graith, after as needs him thereto, that they may serue the countrie with. . . . And gif the Parochin 5 be meikle, that there be three or foure or flue bow-marks in sik places as gainis therefore.6 And that al men that is within fiftie, and past twelue, jeires sal vse schutting."

The Skene MS. in the Advocates' Library, Edinburgh, consists of a collection of Scottish music compiled between 1610 and 1625. Among the pieces is a lively pipe tune entitled Pitt on your shirt on Monday. This may be understood, not as a general prescription for economy in a gentle- man's toilet, but an injunction to prepare for the wapinschaw, which, after it had fallen into disuse for some years, was fixed by statute of James V. in 1540 to take place " on the morne after Law Sunday " — i.e. Low Sunday, the Sunday next after Easter.

The prohibition of " futeball, golfe and vther vnprofitable sportes, because they are not profitable for the common gude of the Realme and defens'e thereof," was repeated in several subsequent statutes. The expenditure of time, energy and money upon these games has been made the subject of grave rebuke by moralists and economists in these latter days ; but they can hardly be held accountable for the unreadiness of the nation for war, when, in August, 1914, it was drawn irresistibly into the European vortex. Successive governments had vied with each other in cutting down expendi- ture on the land forces of the Crown, and no provision whatever was made for the military training of those who took part in these games, whether as players or spectators. Lamentably deficient as we found ourselves at the outbreak of hostilities, both in men and munitions, the blame for that cannot be laid to the debit of golf and football.

Fines for absence from wapinschaw were fixed on a graduated scale by a statute of 1491. For a landed gentleman, 403. for the first offence, the same for the second, and £10 for every subsequent one ; for a bowman, IDS. each for the first and second offence, and 403. for every subsequent one.

1 Twopence went a long way in drink at this time, when the Town Council of Edinburgh had decreed " that na man na woman brewe aile to sell derare than for vi d or viij d [the gallon] at the darrest, vnder the payne of escheitt of the aile. (Records of the Burgh of Edinburgh, A.D. 1450.)

2 Armour, harness. 8 Without fail. * A bowmaker and zfltcheur or arrowmaker. * Parish. 6 As are suitable for the purpose.

6 INTRODUCTION

Gunpowder had been used in war for more than two centuries before the Scottish government laid upon the lieges the obligation to have fire- arms as part of their equipment. An Act to that effect was passed in 1540.

" BECAUSE the schot of gunnes, hagbuttes, hand-bowes and vther small artail- larie (now commounlie vsed in all Cuntries, baith be sea and lande in their weeres *) is sa felloun and vn-escheivable to the pith of high courage of Noble and vai^ieant men, quhais actes and deedes cannot be schawin 2 without contrair3 provision be had of instrumentes of weere and battell : IT is herefore statute and ordained be the Kingis Hienesse, with advise and consent of the three Estates of his Realme, that everie landed man within the samin * sail haue ane Hagbutte of Founde, called Hagbute of Crochett, with their Calmes,5 Bullettes and pellocks8 of leed or irone, with powder convenient thereto, for everie hundreth pound of land that hee hes of newe extent : And he that hes bot ane hundreth marke land sail haue twa culveringes : And ilk man havand fourtie pound land sail haue ane Culver- ing, with calmes, leede and powder gainand thereto, with treastes 7 to be at all times reddie for schutting of the said Hagbuttes : And that everie man of living foresaide sail haue ane man or maa,8 as he may furnish, for schutting of the saide hagbuttes and culveringes, and to learne vthers to schutte the samin : And that everie man haue the said artaillarie effeirand to his living 9 substantiously furnished, as saide is, reddie within auchteene moneths nixt aftir the publication of this acte, vnder paine of doubling the price that will bye ilk piece of the said artaillarie, to be applyed to the Kingis Grace vse for byeing of the samin to himselfe."

Then came the serious consideration how the prescribed fire-arms were to be supplied. In the preamble to an Act of the same Parliament (yth of James V. c. 95) it is set forth that " nouther artaillarie nor harnes can be furnished nor maid reddie without the samin be brocht hame be Merchandes." Apparently there were few gunsmiths in Scotland capable of turning out small arms 10 ; it was ordained, therefore, that every merchant trading with the Continent should bring home with every cargo of goods " twa Hagbuttes of Crochett or maa, with powder and calmes, or else als meikle mettall as will make the saidis Hagbuttes, with powder effeirand."

1 Wars. • Shown. » Corresponding. * The same. 6 Moulds. • Pellets.

' The treaste was a staff with forked top, to serve as a rest for the hagbut in aiming and firing. Cf. modern English " trestle."

1 More. • In proportion to his means.

10 It is doubtful, notwithstanding the tradition about Mons Meg, whether any cannon could be forged or cast in Scotland. At all events, when St. Giles's Church in Edinburgh was stripped of its ornaments at the Reformation, the Town Council decreed (26th May, 1560) that the " Marie bell " and the brazen pillars should be handed over to the Dean of Guild to be made into cannon, " and gif it may nocht gudlie be maid in artalyere in this cuntre, thai license him to send the samyn to Flanderis to be maid or coft [purchased] thair, and the gud toun sal beir the aventure thairof."

BY THE EDITOR 7

From the earliest recorded times the burghs of Scotland lay under obliga- tion to supply men and arms for the King's service. The laws upon this subject were codified in the reign of David I. (1124-1153) in the Leges et Consueludines Quatuor Burgorum. These four burghs were originally Berwick, Roxburgh, Edinburgh, and Stirling. Although the Leges were drawn up specifically for these towns, they formed the model whereon was framed the constitution of every burgh subsequently receiving charter of incorporation. It is to be noted, therefore, that the 4gth Law lays down that no man can be elected a burgess unless he render to the King the (military) service due from the owner of at least a rood of land.

In compliance with this duty, the city of Edinburgh not only contributed its quota to the army which James IV. led to its doom at Flodden, but the Provost and Magistrates rode with their men. It is not certain whether the provostship — an office of great dignity, in the gift of the monarch — was held at the time by Sir Alexander Lander of the Bass or Archibald " Bell the Cat," Earl of Angus. Both gentlemen were at the battle ; Lauder was killed, and probably Angus, one of the very few nobles who escaped, was appointed to succeed him.

Besides supplying men for the King's army, the burghs were liable to heavy assessment for its expenses in time of war. To give a single example —during the autumn and winter of 1559-60, the Scottish government were in constant expectation of invasion by England. The Burgh Records teem with orders for the preparation and disposal of men and munitions, " the haill artalyerie of the toun, with the chalmeris puder and bullattis," etc., and on 27th October the Town Council grants the payment of 2000 merks (about £1350 sterling) to the Lords of the Congregation " for rasing men of weir."

It is not a simple matter to define exactly the extent of military service required from the Church. There appears to have been no legal obligation upon warrior prelates such as Antony Beck and William de Melton to take the field in person ; but, when they did so, they probably iied with them many subordinate ecclesiastics as volunteers. The vast lands acquired by the Church through the benefactions of her pious or contrite sons certainly carried with them the obligation of military service, which devolved upon the vassals and tenants of the beneficiary house. A good illustration of this may be found in the Register of Kelso Abbey, the first and richest of the

8 INTRODUCTION

many foundations by David I. Of the original endowments of the Abbey, the most valuable was the estate of Botheldene or Bolden (now Bowden) in Roxburghshire. Such of these lands as were not tilled or grazed by the monks themselves, were let to tenants, partly for fixed money rents and partly for services to the Abbey, such as carting fuel, help in harvest, etc. But these tenants also owed military service to the King. Thus the lands of Prestfield, part of the barony of Bolden, were found by an assize held in 1327 to be of the extent of four husband-lands, and, as such, to be bound to furnish one man-at-arms, and thirty bowmen under him.1

In times of stress, prelates certainly allowed or compelled their ecclesi- astical subordinates to fight. For instance, when Douglas and Moray invaded Yorkshire in 1319, gallant Archbishop Melton and Bishop Hotham of Ely collected all the force they could, ecclesiastics as well as laymen, and gave the Scots battle at Myton-on- Swale. They were routed with so much slaughter that Barbour says the battle was called :

The Chaptour of Mytoun, for thar Slane sa many prestis war.

Besides exceptional service such as this, the Church contributed large sums of money in taxation for the maintenance of the royal armies and the expenses of campaigns. This was obligatory ; but voluntary grants were forthcoming also. For instance, in the same year that Archbishop Melton was striving to keep the Scots out of Yorkshire, he received authority from the Pope to advance to King Edward, for the expenses of a counter- invasion, £2505 145. id. out of a fund which had been collected for a crusade.

Had feudal service been made obligatory and universal in Scotland during the thirteenth century, it is not likely that Wallace could have raised the force with which, on loth September, 1297, he inflicted total defeat upon the Earl of Warenne at Stirling Bridge, for he received no support from the feudal lords in that campaign. The few who did rally to him at first, had deserted him at Irvine. His success at Stirling Bridge, where he had nothing but foot soldiers, brought some of the waverers back to him ; among them Sir John of Bonkill, brother of the Steward of Scot- land, who in the following year commanded some squadrons of horse at Falkirk (22nd July, 1298) ; but this cavalry proved worse than useless,

1 Liber de Calchou, p. 361.

BY THE EDITOR 9

for, being drawn up behind the line of four infantry columns,1 when the English cavalry charged both flanks of the Scots simultaneously, Sir John's men rode off the field without striking a blow. The chroniclers are not agreed whether this was the result of panic or of treachery ; but all accounts tend to confirm the total defeat of Wallace's army, with great slaughter.

The battle of Falkirk is important in the military history of Scotland, inasmuch as it is the source of our earliest information of the field tactics of Scottish commanders, which differed very widely from those of the English. The English relied in attack mainly upon the searching fire of archers followed by the shock of heavy cavalry ; the Scots trusted to the pike. The battle formation of pikemen was " the schiltrom," a dense column resembling the British infantry square which played so fine a part at Waterloo. In the absence of artillery and small arm fire, it was impreg- nable against cavalry when the flank and rear rank men faced outwards. Two ranks knelt, planting their twelve-feet ashen pikestaves at the right knee ; the inner ranks stood and levelled their fifteen-feet pikes over the heads of their comrades. But it was a formation terribly defenceless against arrow fire. It was King Edward's splendid corps of archers, not his cavalry, that won the field of Falkirk for him. Hereford and the Earl Marshal on one flank, Antony Beck, doughty Bishop of Durham on the other, charged Wallace's schiltroms repeatedly, and they charged in vain. But when Edward moved up his archers within range, the Scots were defenceless against the flight of clothyard shafts ; they fell helpless as they stood. There was a moment at Bannockburn when the like seemed about to happen. From the skirts of the Torwood the English archers were dealing death upon Edward Bruce's schiltrom which formed the right of the Scottish line. King Robert (who, by the by, is alleged to have fought against Wallace at Falkirk), King Robert, I say, from his post on Coxet Hill descried the peril and made timely use of his handful of horse, five hundred light cavalry under Sir Robert de Keith. He sent them forward to drive the archers in, which they did most effectively.

It is not easy to account for the marked inferiority of Scottish archery to the English. That the Scottish government recognised the expediency of training men to the use of the bow is manifest from the frequent statutes

1 Per turmas quatuor, in modus circulorum rotundorum. (Walter of Hemingburgh's Chronicle. )

io INTRODUCTION

prescribing compulsory practice in every parish. It is believed that the Scottish practice was to aim from a point some distance below the shoulder, whereas the English archer was trained to draw the arrow to a point between the chin and the ear. Hugh Latimer, Bishop of Worcester (1485-1555) was wont to startle his hearers by the originality, not to say eccentricity, of his sermons. In one of these he imparted the secrets of good archery. " My father," said he, " was diligent in teaching me to shoot with the bow. He taught me to draw, to lay my body to the bow, not to draw with strength of arm as other nations do, but with the strength of the body." The in- feriority of the Scottish bowmen makes it all the more remarkable that the Kings of France should have chosen Scottish Archers as their body- guard, a precedent followed by George IV. in 1822, when he bestowed upon the Royal Company of Scottish Archers (incorporated in 1676) the title of " the King's Body-Guard for Scotland," and presented the Captain- General thereof with a gold stick, signifying that the Company was thence- forward part of the royal household.

The bowmen of Ettrick were reputed the best in Scotland, and deserve honourable mention for their conduct at the battle of Falkirk. They have received it, too, from the English chronicler, Walter of Hemingf ord (fl. 1300) , who describes them as men of great stature and very comely.1 When Sir John of Bonkill's cavalry deserted him, and he fell from his horse, the men of Ettrick — Flowers of the Forest — rallied to his defence, and fell, almost to a man, under the English lances. It is recorded that they fought at close quarters with short swords. Probably the pikemen carried swords or dirks also.

The Scottish knights in the fourteenth century fought on foot, and there- fore did not wield the lance, which was the weapon too much relied on by the chivalry and men-at-arms of England in the attack. Thus, when King Robert the Bruce accepted the challenge of Sir Henry de Bohun on the eve of the battle of Bannockburn, he was mounted on

— ane gay palfray Litill and joly,

ill matched for encounter with de Bohun's powerful destrier. But it was nimble, enabling the King to avoid the English knight's lance, and to deal

1 Hemingford, ii. 180.

BY THE EDITOR n

him a fatal blow on the head with his battle axe. Some knights, both English and Scots, preferred the mallet-of-arms, sometimes weighing as much as 25 lb., to the axe ; others carried a mace, and all, of course, carried the sword.1 Ecclesiastics, some of whom, like Bishop Antony Beck of Durham and Archbishop Melton of York, were very capable commanders, carried the mace, being forbidden by the canons of the church to draw the sword, because it was so apt to shed blood !

The chief difference, then, between the tactics of the two nations in the fourteenth century was that the English put their faith in heavy cavalry, after preparation by archers, while the Scots believed in the dense column of infantry armed with pikes. Chivalry had passed its meridian before Bannockburn ; but its spirit and tradition were still strong and many of its customs long survived. English knights and men-at-arms professed con- tempt for an enemy that fought on foot ; they even despised their own excellent archers.

" Sir knight," said Sir Thomas Gray the elder to Sir William Marmion at Norham in 1322, " you have come as knight errant to make that helmet famous. It is more meet that deeds of chivalry be done on horseback than afoot, when convenient. Mount your horse ; there are your enemies " [pointing to a squadron of Scottish horse drawn up before the castle] : " set spurs and charge into their midst. May I deny my God if I do not rescue your person, alive or dead, or perish in the attempt." 2

Howbeit, experience brought English tacticians to another view. Edward III. at Crecy in 1346, the Black Prince at Poitiers in 1356 and Henry V. at Agincourt in 1415, all won their amazing victories over immensely superior forces by the intolerable punishment inflicted by their archers upon massed heavy cavalry, followed up by the onslaught of dismounted knights and men-at-arms.

It is recorded that the Scots adopted their field tactics from the Flemish, who, on foot, defeated the Comte d'Artois and the flower of French chivalry at Courtray in 1302. So great was the slaughter and the number of French

1 Distinctive features in twentieth century war are that British regiments return their colours into store before going on active service and officers no longer carry swords in action.

2 " Sire cheualer, vous y estez venuz cheualer errant pur faire eel healme estre conuz, et si est meutz seaunt chos qe cheualery en soit a cheual qe a pee ... mountez uotre cheual, veez la voz enemys, si ferrez cheual dcz esperouns, va assemblere en my lieu dez eaux, si renay Dieux si ico ne rescouroi toun corps viue ou mort, ou ieo murreray." (Scalacronica. folio b.)

i2 INTRODUCTION

knights taken prisoners on that occasion that the victory was called the Battle of the Spurs.1 It was a thing unheard of before that time that mere foot soldiers of the Ban should withstand the shock of mailed cavalry ; but the lesson was not thrown away upon Robert Bruce. His consistent strategy was to avoid a pitched battle, which he succeeded in doing, with the single exception of Bannockburn, to which he was committed by his brother Edward's pledge to Sir Philip de Mowbray. The pike was in Bruce's esteem what Brown Bess was in Wellington's ; and his " testament " was cast into rhyme by an unknown hand for the guidance of succeeding genera- tions. As the spelling of old Scots is perplexing to modern readers it may be for their convenience to provide a key.

On fut suld be all Scottis weire, On foot should be all Scottish war,

By hyll and mosse themselff to reare. So as to move easily by hill and moss.

Lat woods for wallis be bow and speire, Hold woods as walls by bow and spear,

That innymeis do them na deire. That the enemy may obtain no advantage.

In strait placis gar keip all store. Cause all stores to be kept in close places And byrnen the planeland thaim befoir ; And burn all the low country before them ;

Than sail thai pas away in haist, Then shall they quit it in haste

When that thai find na thing bot waist. When they find nothing but waste.

With wyles and waykings of the nycht With stratagems and nightly alarms.

And mekill noyis maid on hycht, And with loud noises in the hills,

Thaim sail ye turnen with gret afirai, You will put them in as much fear

As thai ware chassit with swerd away. As if they were chased away by the sword.

This is the consall and intent This is the counsel and intent

Of gud King Robert's testiment. Of good King Robert's testament.

So long as the Scottish commanders followed this counsel, the chivalry of England could gain no advantage over them. But when they departed from it and assumed the offensive, the schiltrom proved a fatally unwieldy formation. An army massed in line of schiltroms could not manoeuvre, and the result of attempting it was seen in a long series of disasters — Dup- plin in 1332, Halidon Hill in 1333, Neville's Cross in 1346, Flodden in 1513. The latest example is the defeat of the Covenanting army at Dunbar on 3rd September, 1650. General David Leslie had taken up a strong position on Doonhill, and, being an excellent tactician, would have kept it, had he been let alone. But he had to yield to the demands of the zealot preachers composing the Committee of Kirk and State, who insisted upon his taking

1 The same name was applied by English writers to the victory of Henry VIII. and the Emperor Maximilian at Guinegate in 1513, because, it was alleged that the French made more use of their spurs than their swords ; but the name of that battle really was taken from the village of Spours, not far from the field.

BY THE EDITOR 13

the offensive. " Now," exclaimed Cromwell, when he saw the Scottish brigades moving down into the plain, " now let God arise and let His enemies be scattered ! " and Leslie sustained crushing defeat through no fault of his own.

The pike continued to be the distinctive weapon of Scottish infantry long after the introduction of fire-arms. In William Patten's account of the battle of Pinkie in 1547 there is a graphic description of its use.

" Standing at defence they [the Scots] thrust shoulders likewise so nie together, the fore rankes, wel nie to kneling, stoop lowe before, for their followers behynd holdyng their pykes in both handes, and thear with [therewith] in their left their bucklers, the one end of the pyke against the right foot, tother against their enemie brest hye, their followers crossing their pyke poyntes with them forwarde, and then each with tother so nye as place and space will suffer, though the hole [whole] was so thick that as easy shall a bare finger perce through the skyn of an angrie hedgehog as any encounter the frunt of their pykes."

More than one hundred years later, after the arquebus had given place to the matchlock, and flintlocks were already in general use for pistols, Sir James Turner described the pike as " the Prince of Weapons." * Writ- ing in 1671 he says that the proper length for it is eighteen feet, but adds that it does not often exceed fifteen feet. " If Officers be not careful to prevent it, many base Soldiers will cut some off the length of that, as I have often seen it done." He deplores the " supine carelessness " of some commanding officers who were at no pains to arm the strongest men in a battalion with pikes, leaving the weaker men to carry muskets.

Again, in English Military Discipline, a work published in 1680 by an unknown hand :

" All pikes now a dayes are of the same length, made of strong ashe, and very streight, about fourteen or fifteen foot long. The head is four inches long and two and a half broad at the largest place, the iron bands at the head must be long and strong, otherwayes it would be an easie matter for the horse to cut off the ends of the pike with their shables." *

Even after the Revolution of 1688 every infantry battalion was com- posed of pikemen, musketeers, and grenadiers. The Exercise of the Foot, published in 1690, " by their Majesties' Command," contains full directions for the position of these in each company, and for handling their weapons.

1 Pallas Armata, p. 169 (Ed. 1683).

2 " Shable," the English form of the French sabre ; from the German s&bel, a sword.

i4 INTRODUCTION

The manual exercise of the pike is preceded by the following instruction for a pikeman standing at attention.

" The Posture of the Pikeman, with his Pike Advanced, must be the same with that of a Musketeer with the Musket Shouldered, viz. That he stand with a straight Body, hold up his Head, look lively, his Eyes always upon the Commanding Officer, make no other Motion than what he is Commanded, his Feet must be a little Pace distant from each other, his Heels in a straight line, his Toes turned a little outwards, holding the Butt-end of the Pike in his Right Hand, stretched down along his Body, the back of his Hand turned outwards, but without con- straint, the Pike must be kept close to his Shoulder and the outside of his Thigh, that it may stand straight upward, this must be always observed with an Advanced Pike."

Then the exercise begins — " Pikes, take heed to your Exercise ; " "To the front charge ; " "As you were ; " "To the Right, charge ; " and so on, the movements resembling those of the modern bayonet exercise.

By the time this drill book was issued, fire-arms had passed through many complicated stages and had arrived at the comparatively simple matchlock musket. The firing exercise, however, was an elaborate affair, for it required forty executive words of command to call a platoon to attention, load, fire and stand-at-ease. Thus — " Musketeers, take heed to your Exercise — Joyn your Right Hand to your Muskets — Poise your Muskets — Joyn your Left Hand to your Muskets — Handle your Matches — Blow your Matches — Cock your Matches — Try your Matches," and so forth. The match, indeed, was a fickle affair, as appears in the caution provided with the command " Give fire," viz. " As soon as this command is given, you draw the Tricker with the First Finger, drawing the cockt Match quick and strong upon the Pan. If it discharge or not, you must have a special care that you draw your Tricker but once." Sir James Turner, our principal authority upon the Scots armies of the seventeenth century, tells us in Pallas Armata to observe that " all this multitude of postures in service are redacted to three — make readie, present and give fire ! "

The pike died hard. The latest issue of this weapon was in 1703, in the proportion of one pike to every five muskets in a battalion ; but the pikes were recalled in the following year and in 1706, Secretary-at-War St. John wrote condemning the pike as useless and requiring that all the infantry should be armed with musket and bayonet.1 The change had been impending ever since the earliest form of bayonet had appeared in use

1 Fortescue, i. 584.

BY THE EDITOR 15

early in the seventeenth century. But that was nothing better than a kind of dagger which had to be screwed into the muzzle of the four-foot barrel after firing, thereby giving the enemy time to rally from the effect of a volley, before receiving the charge. Hence until the end of that century battalions were composed of pikes and muskets in about equal numbers, the pikemen being held ready to charge immediately after the musketeers had delivered their fire. It was not until Mackay of Scourie (defeated at Killiecrankie) invented, or adopted from the French, a socket for the bayonet to fit round the muzzle of the piece that a thoroughly effective combination was contrived.1 By the time that Marlborough became Captain-General in 1702 only a small proportion of pikemen were retained in the ranks, the matchlock had been discarded and his infantry were practically all armed with flintlock muskets and bayonets.

It has been shown above that, from the earliest times, in anything approaching the nature of a pitched battle, the Scots fought on foot. Never- theless, the Lowland Scots were an equestrian race, and the development of Border raiding as a regular system on a great scale during the War of Independence brought large bodies of horse into constant use. But these troops were very different from the heavy cavalry of the English and Con- tinental armies. There has always been some doubt as to the exact defini- tion of a man-at-arms ; probably the term was in use to denote men of various rank and equipment at different periods. At all events, we need not trouble ourselves much on the subject in connection with Scottish armies, in which there can have been but few, if any, of the bacheliers or bas-chevaliers of the English and French armies — a class of gentry who had a second horse and a valet to groom horses and master.

The army with which Moray and Douglas invaded England in 1327, and defeated young Edward III. in his first campaign, consisted chiefly of cavalry, or at least of mounted infantry, for they were of that irregular kind which, some thirty years later, so favourably impressed the experienced eye of Froissart. He thus describes them in his account of the said campaign of Weardale.

" The Scots are bold, hardy and much inured in war. When they make their invasions into England, they march from 20 to 24 miles without halting,

1 " Bayonet," in French bawnette, so named from Bayonne, where it is said this weapon was first made, about 1650-60.

16 INTRODUCTION

as well by night as by day ; for they are all on horseback, except the camp- followers, who are on foot. The knignts and squires are well mounted on large bay horses, the common people on little nags. They bring no waggons with them on account of the mountains they have to pass in Northumberland ; neither do they carry with them any provisions of bread or wine ; for their habits are so temperate in time of war that they will live for a long time on flesh half-sodden, without bread, and drink the river water without wine. They have, therefore, no occasion for pots or pans, for they dress the flesh of their cattle in the skins, after flaying them ; and being sure to find plenty of cattle in the country which they invade, they carry none with them. Under the flap of his saddle each man carries a broad plate of metal ; behind the saddle a little bag of oatmeal. When they have eaten too much of the sodden flesh, and their stomachs feel weak and empty, they place this plate over the fire, mix their oatmeal with water, and, when the plate is heated, they put a little of the paste upon it, and make a thin cake like a cracknel or biscuit, which they eat to warm their stomachs. In this manner the Scots entered England, destroying and burning everything as they passed. Their army consisted of 4000 men-at-arms, knights and esquires, well- mounted ; besides 20,000 men,1 bold and hardy, armed after the manner of their country, and mounted upon little hackneys that are never tied up or dressed, but are turned to graze on the heath or in the fields directly after a days march." z

In later years, after the union of the Crowns, Scottish commanders relied as much upon their cavalry as Cromwell did on his Ironsides. John Spalding has sketched for us the appearance of the troops with which Mon- trose, while still a Covenanter, made triumphant entry into royalist Aberdeen on 30th March, 1639, and als° that of the force raised by the Marquess of Huntly — the Cock o' the North — to oppose him withal.

" Vpone the morne. being Setterday, thay cam in order of battell weill armit both on horses and futt, ilk horsman haveing fyve schot at the leist, quhairof he had ane carrabin in his hand, tuo pistollis be his sydis, and vther tua at his sadill torr. The pikmen in thair rankis [with] pik and sword ; the muskiteiris in thair rankis with mvscat, mvscat staf,3 bandileir, suord, pulder [powder], ball and matche. Ilk company both on horss and fut had thair capitans, live- tennandis, ensignes, serjandis and vther officiares and commanderis, all for the most pairt in bumll coatis and goodlie ordour. Thay had 5 culloris or ensignes ; quhairof the Erll of Montroiss had ane, haueing this motto drawin in letteris

FOR RELIGIOUNE, THE COVENANT AND THE COUNTRIE.

The Erll Mareschall had one, the Erll of Kingorne had one, and the toun of Dundy [Dundee] had two. Thay had trumpettouris to ilk company of horssmen and

1 These figures must be taken with the reserve necessary in regard to mediaeval estimates of numbers. Harbour is probably nearer the truth with 10,000 " guid men." Gray, in Scalacronica, says that, compared to the English, the Scots nestoint qe pay des gent*— were but few in number.

1 Froissart's Chronicle, book i. chap. 17.

3 The rest whereon the long musket was laid for aiming and firing.

BY THE EDITOR 17

drummeris to ilk company of footmen. Thay had thair meit, drink and vther prouisioun. bag and baggage, careit with thame, done all be advyss of his ex- celence Felt Marshall Leslie, whose counsall Generall Montroiss follouit in this bussines. . . . Heir it is to be nottit, that few or none of this haile army wantit ane blew ribbin hung about his crag [neck] doun wnder his left arme, quhilk thay callit the covenanteris ribbin, becaus the Lord Gordoun, and sum vtheris of the Marques 1 barnes [children] and famelie had ane ribbin, when he was duelling in the toune, of ane reid flesche cullour, whiche thay weir in their hatis, and callit it the royal ribbin, as a signe of thair love and loyaltie to the King. In dispyt or derisioun quhairof, this blew ribbin wes worn, and called the covenanteris ribbin be the haill soldiouris of this army, and wold not heir of the royall ribbin, sic wes thair pryd and maleiss." "

Sir James Turner informs us of an important change that had come about in cavalry tactics during his service. In the early part of the seven- teenth century it had been the practice to attach to every troop of cuir- assiers, whose only fire-arms were pistols, a number of men armed with carbines under officers of their own. On the troop or squadron going into action, the carbiniers were ordered to the front to deliver a volley ; they then wheeled outwards and retired, leaving the way clear for the cuirassiers to charge with the sword. The lance — the favourite weapon of the Scottish light horse in the War of Independence — was no longer in use in Turner's day, which he was inclined to deplore. " I shall not doubt but there be strong reasons (though I know them not) why our European Generals for most part have abandon'd the use of the Lance, yet it will not be deny'd but it hath been a serviceable weapon heretofore, even since Gunpowder and all manner of guns were found out." Turner's views upon this matter have been fully justified by the important part played by the lance in the wars of the nineteenth century.

The old distinctive terms of cavalry — Cuirassiers, Hussars, Carbiniers and Dragoons — have parted with their former significance in modern armies ; but they all had specific meaning in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. " Dragoons," says Turner, " are Musketeers mounted on Horses, appointed to march with the Cavalry. . . . Their service is on foot, and is no other than that of Musketeers. . . . When they alight, they cast their Bridle Reins over the necks of their side-men's Horses, and leave them in that same order as they marched. Of ten Dragoons, nine fight, and the tenth man keeps the ten Horses."

1 George, 2nd Marquess of Huntly, executed in 1649.

1 Memorialls of the Trubles in Scotland, by John Spalding, Spalding Club, vol. i. p. 154

i8 INTRODUCTION

According to Barbour, Scottish troops made their first acquaintance with artillery in the campaign of Weardale in 1327.

Twa novelryis that day tha saw Two novelties that day they saw

That forouth in Scotland had been nane; Which previously in Scotland had not been;

Tymbris for helmis was the tane, Crests for helmets was the one.

That tham thocht of gret beaute, Which they thought of great beauty,

And alsua wondir for to se ; And also wonderful to see.

The tothir crakis war of wer The other was cracks of war

That tha befor herd nevir er ; Which they had never heard before.

Of thir twa thingis tha had ferly. These two things they thought wonderful.

It is not recorded that King Edward's cannon wrought any damage upon the Scots, so it is not surprising that the poet was more deeply impressed by the new and elegant fashion of crests on the helmets of knights. Nor do we hear much of the use of artillery in the Scottish service until the reign of James II., when that mighty bombard called Mons Meg, still so conspicuous an object on the north rampart of Edinburgh Castle, made itself heard and felt. It has never been decided (even the Society of Scottish Antiquaries maintain a discreet silence on the question) whether this huge piece, 13 ft. long and 2 ft. 3 in. across the bore, was made at Mons in Flanders, as its name would seem to imply, or, as persistent tradition maintains, was forged in Galloway by the blacksmith M'Kim and his sons, to enable King James to breach the walls of the Threave, when that strong- hold of the rebellious Douglas was held against him. Possibly neither view is quite correct, for although the gun is first mentioned in an entry in the Exchequer Accounts for 1442, recording a payment of £5 to Master Nicholas the Carpenter, who rode to Galloway to superintend the trans- port of the King's great bombard,1 yet the Threave was not besieged until 1455 ; wherefore Mons Meg, if that is the magnum bombardum referred to, cannot have been forged specially for that occasion. Nor is it probable that, at any time, any blacksmith in a rural neighbourhood could have possessed the means for forging this mighty piece of ordnance. It was employed in the siege of Hatton in Berwickshire in 1453, whither it was carried on four carts at a cost of £48 153. 6d. ; against Abercorn and Threave in 1455, and again, by James IV. in 1489 in the reduction of Dunbarton Castle. The anonymous author of the Auchinleck Chronicle speaks with admiration of the accuracy of practice with Mons Meg at the siege of Aber- corn. " The king [James III.] remanit still at the sege, and gart 2 strek

1 Pro levacione magni bombardi domini regis. 2 Caused.

BY THE EDITOR 19

mony of the towns doun with the gret gun, the quhilk a Francheman schot richt wele, and falyeit na shot within a faldome 1 quhar it was chargit him to hit." King James's keen interest in artillery cost him dear. Let Lindsay of Pitscottie record in his own delectable language what happened at the siege of Roxburgh Castle, which was held by the English, in 1460.

" Albeit ane great pairt of the keiperis of the house was parichit and tint for2 hunger and thirst, straitlie owersett be seigeris,3 jeit nocht the les they per- sewerit so stoutlie without regaird of all thair adverssaris that the persewaris war all maist tint 4 in the lang seiging ; quhill 5 Alexander earle of huntlieis com- ming, quho brocht ane great companie of choissin men, quhilk maid the king so blytht that he commandit to charge all the gunnis to gif the castell ane new wollie.8 Bot quhill this prince, mair curieous nor becam him or the majestic of ane king, did stand neir hand by the gunneris quhen the artail^erie was dis- chargand, his thie baine was doung in tua 7 with ane peace of ane misframit gune 8 that brak in the schutting, be the quhilk he was strikin to the ground and dieit haistilie thereof, quhilk grettumlie discuragit all his nobill gentillmen and freinds that war standand about him. Bot he commandit all that knew his misfortoun to hald thair sielence and nocht dewullgat 9 the samin throwout the camp, incace it sould discurage the souldartis and men of weir, and sa they sould schamefullie dissoulve the seige."10

Field artillery played no great part in the civil wars in Scotland of the seventeenth century. Sir Walter Scott, usually a trustworthy guide in the history of his country, was misled into describing Monmouth's army at Bothwell Brig (1679) as being accompanied by " a complete train of field artillery." u In fact there were but four guns on either side in that battle,12 and how the royal battery was served may be gathered from the report of the officer commanding it.

" ARTILLERY CONCERNS

humblv proposed by John Slezer, Lieut, of Artillery.

The Establishment of Artillery Attenders within the Kingdom of Scotland consists only of four gunners to serve in his Majesty's Castles. I am honoured, indeed, with a Lieutenants place of the Ordnance for that Kingdome. But I have neither Gunner nor no living soul to dispose on, nor do I know where to find out one single man fit for that purpose when there shall be occasion for it, as did appear in the last Rebellion at Bodwell Bridge, when every Governor thought to find use for his own Gunners, and that, with much adoe, I obtained only one gunner to go along with four pieces of Canon, besides three men that were pressed from Leith, who proved very unfit for that service."

1 A fathom. - Perished and lost. 3 Closely beleaguered by besiegers. « Lost.

;"' Until. ° Volley. ~ His thigh bone was broken in two. 8 Badly made gun.

9 Divulge. 10 Pitscottie, chap. xxx. " Old Mortality, chap. xxx.

12 Kirkton, in his Church of Scotland, says the Covenanters army had only one gun.

20 INTRODUCTION

It does not appear from Lieut. Slezer's report what his guns were made of. They may have been of iron, brass or leather ; for, strange as it may seem in our own days of high explosives, leathern ordnance was much in use during the seventeenth century. Guns of that material possessed the quality of mobility, so essential in field-pieces, and one hundred years had yet to run before Frederick the Great solved the problem by creating horse artillery. According to one account of the battle of Killiecrankie (1689), Dundee, though he did not survive it, won the victory by a charge of cavalry that captured Mackay's whole field artillery, consisting of three leathern guns ! Mackay himself reported differently, declaring that the gun carriages broke down after three rounds had been fired.

The credit of inventing guns made of leather, strengthened by hoops of iron and lined with tin, is claimed for Sir Alexander Hamilton, Master of Ordnance to Gustavus Adolphus, after whom they were called by the soldiers " Sandy's stoups." Gustavus discarded these guns after giving them a good trial, for he found they would not outlast a dozen rounds. Improvements upon the manufacture were afterwards devised by Colonel James Wemyss, son of Sir James Wemyss of Caskieberry in Fife. This officer was appointed Master Gunner in the English army of Charles I. in 1638, " with a pension of £300 per annum for his life," says Clarendon, "which was looked upon as some disrespect to the nation."1 King Charles's troubles no doubt interfered with the regular payment of Wemyss's pension, which may perhaps account for our finding him serving as General of Ordnance in Waller's parliamentarian army. At Cropredy Bridge, near Banbury, Waller was badly defeated by the King in person (2Qth June, 1644). Wemyss was taken prisoner, having lost his whole park of eleven guns, besides what Clarendon calls " two barri- cadoes of wood, which were drawn upon wheels, and in each seven small brass and leather guns charged with case shot " — prototypes of the modern armoured car.

In 1648 Wemyss shared the disfavour into which his chief Waller was dragged by sectarian acrimony. Returning to his native land, he received from the Scottish Parliament privilege for the secret manufacture of leathern guns for three terms of nineteen years. In the following year he was ap- pointed General of Artillery in Lesley's army ; but ill luck still dogged him,

1 Clarendon's Rebellion, book viii.

BY THE EDITOR 21

and he lost all his thirty field guns to Cromwell at the battle of Dunbar (3rd September, 1650) .*

Little has been said in these notes about the dress of Scottish soldiers before there was any standing army ; indeed there is very little light on this subject before the eighteenth century. Uniform, in the modern sense, for European troops is first mentioned in connection with the Flemish militia at the battle of Courtrai in 1302. In the English army we first hear of it in 1337, when Edward III. caused his Welsh spearmen to be provided with a tunic and a mantle of uniform colour and material, but the colour of this clothing is not specified.2 The Scottish Parliament, though from time to time prescribing the weapons and defensive armour to be carried by men according to their rank, gave no instruction about clothing. One cannot suppose that there was anything of the nature of uniform in Bruce's army at Bannockburn. His columns must have been in sombre, even dingy, contrast to the glittering array of King Edward's host. The Scottish rank and file would wear their ordinary every-day clothing — the lowlanders in hodden grey and coarse blue or brown cloth ; the men from the Lennox, Argyll and the Isles, and beyond the Mounth perhaps in kilt and plaid of a far simpler kind than the present elaborate Highland dress. Shirts of mail and iron caps would be worn by all who could afford them, as a protection against the dreaded archery of England. The barons, knights, and squires would be clad in mail, with coloured jupons or surcoats over it, conspicuous in that dusky throng. Barbour, who no doubt collected facts for his great epic from men who had fought at Bannockburn, has nothing to tell about the dress of his countrymen except that King Robert wore " ane hat of quyrbolle " 3 encircled by a crown. But the splendour of the English array must have mightily impressed the poet's informant, for Barbour lets himself go on the subject.

And sone the gret hoste haf tha sene, And soon the great host have they seen,

Quhar scheldis schynand war sa schene, Wherein shining shields were so gay.

And basnetis wele burnist bricht. And basnets well burnished so bright.

That gaf agane the sone gret licht ; That reflected the sun's great light :

Tha saw sa fele browdyn baneris, They saw so many broidered banners,

Standartis, and pennounis apon speris. Standards, and pennons upon spears,

1 Wemyss's son married the Countess of Wemyss in her own right, was made Lord Burnt- island and became the father of the third Earl of Wemyss.

2 Fortescue's History of the British Army, i. 28.

3 Quyrbolle, i.e. cuir bouilli, jacked leather.

INTRODUCTION

And sa fele knichtis apon stedis All flawamand untill thar wedis, And sa fele battalis and sa brad, That tuk sa gret roum as tha rad. That the mast host and the stoutest Of Cristindome, and ek the best, Suld be abasit for to se Thar fais into sic quantite. And sa arait for to ficht.

And so many knights upon steeds All conspicuous in their attire, And so many columns, and so broad, That took such great room as they rode, That the greatest host and the strongest Of Christendom — aye, and the best — Might be dismayed to see Their foes in such quantity, And so well arrayed for fighting.

Nevertheless, it was essential, especially in the days when battles were decided by hand-to-hand fighting, that the troops on either side should bear some distinguishing badge or other mark of comradeship. We know not what device was displayed by Bruce's motley host. It may have been a scarf, which is the origin of the sash worn by officers at the present day, or a cross of some distinctive colour, for that symbol had come into general use in the armies of all European countries since the Crusades. English soldiers in the fourteenth century wore a white cross on service, afterwards changed to the red cross of St. George. When the English fell out among themselves, each side had to choose some conspicuous mark to avoid con- fusion with the enemy, as in the Wars of the Roses. And this, no doubt, was the origin of the badges of the Highland clans— a spray of holly, oak, or pine, being less liable to be mistaken in a mellay than the exact " set " of a tartan.

As time went on, as the kingdom became consolidated and the greater barons acquired power and wealth derived from immense estates, they took pride in arraying their armed followers in their several liveries. A typical example may be found in Lindsay of Pitscottie's description of the famous scene at Lauder in 1482, when Archibald, fifth Earl of Angus, won his sobriquet of " Bell the Cat." James III., being in advance of his court in a taste for letters and the fine arts, had given grave offence to Angus and other nobles by bestowing his own dead brother's earldom of Mar upon Thomas Cochrane, an architect, whom he had made his chief favourite. In 1481 Parliament declared war against " the revare [robber] Edward calland himself King of England." Angus, as Warden of the Marches, summoned the forces to muster, and King James marched at the head of his army as far as Lauder. He had done more wisely to leave Cochrane in Edinburgh ; instead of that, he brought him along in all the pomp and display appropriate to an Earl of Mar. Angus and the other lords could

BY THE EDITOR 23

not brook this. They assembled in the kirk of Lauder to take measures for purging the court of " fiddlers and bricklayers." They were all agreed it should be done, but who was to do it ? Lord Gray sarcastically compared the meeting to that of the mice who had resolved unanimously, in the com- mon interest, that a bell should be hung round the cat's neck ; but what mouse had the hardihood for so ticklish a task ? "I WILL BELL THE CAT," quoth Angus.

What followed is thus described by Pitscottie :

" Couchrane the earle of Mar came from the king to the consall, quhilk consall was haldin in the kirk of Lawder for the tyme. He was weill accompanit witht ane band of men of weir * to the number of iiic light aixiss z all clad in quhyt cloth and blak bendis thairon, that thay might be knawin for Couchrane the Earle of Maris men and himself was clad in ane ryding pie of blak wellvet, ane gret chcnzie of gould about his hallis 3 to the awaillour of vc crounes, ane fair blawing home, witht ane baitharage4 of gould and silk sett with pretious stanis. His home was typit witht fyne gould at everie end, and ane pretious stone callit ane burriall 6 hingand 6 in the midst. This Couchrane had his hellmund 7 borne besyd him ower gilt with gould and so was all the rest of his harnes and all his paillseouns 8 was of fyne cammes of silk and the cordis thairof of fyne twynit 9 silk and the chains wpoun his paillseounis was doubill owergilt with gould."

William Patten, whose testimony to the efficiency and discipline of the pikemen in Arran's army at Pinkie in 1547 has been quoted above, wrote disparagingly of the dress of the Scots troops on that occasion.

" Another and not the meanest matter was that their armour among theim so little differing and their apparail so base and beggerly, whearin the lurdein was in a maner all one wyth the horde, and the lounde wyth the larde : all clad a lyke in jackes coovered wyth whyte leather, dooblettes of the same or of fustian, and most commonly al white hosen. Not one with either cheine, brooch, ryng or garment of silke that I coold see, only cheynes of latten drawen four or fyve tymes along the thighs of their hosen and dooblet sieves for cuttyng, and of the sort I sawe many. This vilnes of port was the caus that so many of their great men and gentlemen wear kyld and so fewe saved.10 The outwarde sheaw, the semblaunce and sign, whearby a straunger might discern a villain from a gentle- man, was not amoong them to be seen."

The uniform of the Lowland Scottish infantry regiments at the present day cannot be deemed satisfactory either in a historic or an aesthetic sense.

1 War. » Battle axes. » Neck.

4 Baldrick, belt. 5 Beryl. 6 Hanging.

7 Helmet. » Tents, pavilions. " Twisted.

10 It was always an object of importance to capture, rather than to kill, lords and knights, in order that they might be held to ransom.

24 INTRODUCTION

Under the reorganisation scheme of Mr. Childers in 1881 they were all, except the Scots Guards, clothed in Highland doublets and tartan trews.1 Pipers also were added to the establishment of each regiment, and the officers exchanged the ordinary infantry sword for the claymore. Now, in the present writer's opinion, if the change were to be made it ought not to have stopped half-way. Doublets, trews, bagpipes and claymores are as essentially Highland in character as the kilt, the plaid and the sporran, which are the most attractive features in the Highland dress. Rightly or wrongly, in all foreign countries, as well as in the Dominions of Canada and Australasia, the kilt is regarded as the distinctive dress of the Scottish infantry. And here, at home, one has but to attend any considerable review of troops to witness the enthusiasm aroused among English and foreign spectators by the appearance of the Highland regiments. Why, then, should not this sentiment be recognised and acted on ? Tartan trews and doublets are not one whit more appropriate to Lowland infantry than the philabeg and sporran ; but there they are, and the plain course seems to be to carry the change a step further, acknowledging the Highland dress as the national military costume, and making it the uniform of all the Lowland regiments, excepting (perhaps not excepting) the Scots Guards. Tartan is not essential, nor the theatrical feather bonnet ; witness the splendidly soldier-like appearance of the London Scottish, clad in the historic " hodden grey " and Glengarry caps.

At present, the Lowland regiments undoubtedly stand at a disadvantage in relation to Highland regiments, owing entirely to the superior picturesque- ness, and consequent popularity, of the kilt.2 If anyone doubts this, here is the proof. In order, I suppose to gratify the expectation of tourists, the military authorities have decreed than none but Highland regiments shall garrison the capital of Scotland, notwithstanding that all the Low- land regiments, except the second battalion of the Cameronians (the old goth Light Infantry), are of far higher antiquity than any of the Highland corps. Even the old Edinburgh regiment, now the King's Own Scottish

1 When the Army Bill of that year was in Committee of the House of Commons, the late Sir Charles Dalrymple, member for Buteshire, holding a commission in a Scottish militia regiment, expressed strong disapproval of the change in the uniform and exclaimed in the course of a vigorous protest—" Trews, 'tis trews, and pity 'tis 'tis trews."

2 Some of the new battalions of the old Lowland Scots regiments raised during the war have been clothed in Highland dress.

BY THE EDITOR 25

Borderers, which was raised in the capital in 1689, is not considered eligible as a garrison for its own birthplace or to furnish a guard for the Royal Palace of Holyrood. Herein is a legitimate grievance. Soldiers themselves know their duty too well to give utterance to it ; but we civilians do strongly protest against what is virtually a slight upon regiments which have a record of service second to none. It is meet and right that a full meed of honour should be accorded to our Highland regiments for their glorious record, but it should not be allowed to eclipse the fame or stint the popu- larity of the Lowland corps. We feel it to be our duty to show that the action of the War Office has been for many years consistently unfavourable to the Lowland regiments, especially in the vital matter of recruiting. This has been notably the case during the present war.

Take, for example, the communique which appeared in the press during 1916 to the effect that the military authorities had given assurance that, recent regulations for recruiting notwithstanding, the Highland regiments should in all cases be supplied with recruits of Scottish nationality ; and take in connection with this special act of grace to Highland corps the fact that, just about the time this notice appeared, a strong draft was taken from a battalion of a certain Lowland regiment and sent to replenish the ranks of an English battalion, while simultaneously, or nearly so, that same Lowland regiment was receiving considerable drafts from battalions of the Sherwood Foresters, the Lincolnshire, and one of the Yorkshire regiments. In the stress and strain of a great war, men of course must hold themselves ready to serve where there is need for them, regardless of their nationality or private preference ; but to exempt certain regiments from this obligation is to pass a slight upon less favoured ones, wounding their amour-propre, and weakening their esprit de corps.

Not only has the character and reputation of our Lowland regiments been obscured by the system in vogue, but a slur has been cast upon the military spirit of the whole population of the Scottish Lowlands, whence it is no disparagement to the Highlands to admit that by far the larger number of Scottish recruits is drawn. This will be clearly seen on com- paring the population of the Highlands with that of the Lowlands. The Highlands have a population, according to the census of 1911, of 861,023 against 3,899,881 in the Lowlands, yet there are twelve Highland battalions

26 INTRODUCTION

of the Line as against ten Lowland infantry battalions and one regiment of Lowland cavalry.1

The disproportion in population was so manifest — the prospect of main- taining the strength of the Highland regiments with recruits drawn from the Highlands proper so hopeless — that when the new regimental districts were formed in 1882 there was assigned to the Highland regiments a Low- land area containing a population of 2,222,891, while to the Lowland regi- ments was allotted an area containing only 1,201,766.

Even this has not been found sufficient to fill the ranks of the Highland regiments. Special facilities have been accorded to them for recruiting in Edinburgh and Glasgow and refused to Lowland regiments. The Black Watch, the Highland Light Infantry, the Seaforth Highlanders and the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders were each accorded permission to open regimental recruiting rooms in Edinburgh, but applications on behalf of Lowland regiments for similar facilities were refused.

At the outbreak of the great war a remarkable circular was issued by the Central Recruiting Committee in Edinburgh to other recruiting offices. It was dated 28th August, 1914, and contained the statement that " the High- land regiments are not getting filled up as fast as we would like," and with it was enclosed a list of about two hundred surnames with the following injunction : — " What we would like you to do is to let it be known privately to those in charge of the Recruiting Offices in your area that men bearing these names should be encouraged to join Highland regiments." Now the compilers of the aforesaid list seem to have been under the impression that all persons whose names begin with " Mac " must be of Highland descent or, at all events, must be made to pass as Highlanders. Was there ever a clearer instance of attempting a " fake " ? Take the southernmost district of Scotland — the ancient province of Galloway, which has been divided between two regimental districts, viz. the 2ist, that of the Royal Scots Fusiliers, and the 25th, that of the King's Own Scottish Borderers. The late Mr. Dudgeon of Cargen devoted careful analysis to the surnames

1 The six Highland regiments have each two battalions of the Line, viz. the Black Watch, the Highland Light Infantry, the Seaforth Highlanders, the Cameron Highlanders, the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders and the Gordon Highlanders. The Lowland Infantry regiments, each with two regular battalions, are the Scots Guards, the Royal Scots, the Royal Scots Fusiliers, the King's Own Scottish Borderers and the Cameronians (Scottish Rifles). To these must be added one cavalry regiment — the 2nd Dragoons (Royal Scots Greys).

BY THE EDITOR 27

of Galloway, and in a brochure which he published on the subject in 1888 sums up the " Macs " as follows :

" It appears that the percentage of names commencing with Mac, Mc and M' in all Scotland is about 10.5 per cent. In Galloway it is 19.48 per cent. ; Wigtown- shire 23.75 per cent. ; Stewartry of Kirkcudbright 15.2 per cent. No doubt, taking some of the purely Highland districts the percentage of names with the prefix Mac will be found greater than in Galloway ; but no one district containing an equal population to that of Galloway will, I think, be found to have so great a percentage." 1

But the Central Recruiting Committee are not satisfied with claiming all " Macs " as Highlanders. In the list which they circulated are contained names so common in the Lowlands as Stewart, Gumming, Graham, Davidson, Spalding, Robertson, Shaw and Morrison. We in the Lowlands yield to none in affection for and pride in our splendid Highland regiments ; we entertain no objection to their ranks being replenished, when necessary, by drafts from the Lowland corps ; but we claim that, in the matter of recruiting, Highland and Lowland regiments should be placed on an even footing.

The long and wasteful war with England told with desperate effect upon the resources of Scotland, draining alike the public exchequer and the private means of the people, so that, before the sixteenth century had run half its course, grinding poverty was almost universal in the land. Barely had its mineral wealth been tapped, for although the burgesses of Edinburgh brought in coal from Fife, the supply was not so generous as to earn for the Scottish capital its later title of Auld Reekie.2 Agriculture languished, and the day was still far distant when landowners should be able to fulfil the ideal set before them by the Scottish Parliament of 1426, namely, " to big, reparrell and reforme their castles and manors, and dwel in them be them selfes, for the gratious governall of their landes be gude policie." 3 No attempt had been made to restore by planting any part of the forests which had been so improvidently consumed. The only goods exported

1 Macs in Galloway, by P. Dudgeon of Cargen (Edinburgh, David Douglas, 1888), p. 22.

* Robert Chambers, in his Traditions of Edinburgh (1823), assigns the origin of the sobriquet to the famous golfer, James Durham of Largo. " He was in the habit of regulating the time of evening worship by the appearance of the smoke of Edinburgh. When it increased in density, in consequence of the good folk preparing supper, he would say : ' It is time noo, bairns, to tak the buiks and gang to our beds, for yonder's Auld Reekie, I see, putting on her nightcap.' "

3 Fifth Parliament of James I. cap. 82.

28 INTRODUCTION

were hides, wool and barrels of salmon and herrings. The name of Scot had become a byword for poverty throughout Western Europe.

But not for poverty alone. Scotsmen were earning renown on the Continent as the hardiest and most dauntless soldiers to be found anywhere. During more than two hundred and fifty years the heads and cadets of noble and gentle families led their countrymen away to serve as mercenaries in Continental armies, in numbers altogether amazing, if account be taken of the population of the country, which probably at no time previous to the Union exceeded three millions. It is to be noted that, while the rulers of England had constant recourse to the press-gang for recruits,1 thousands of Scottish volunteers were always forthcoming for foreign service. The permanent establishment of a Scottish contingent in the armies of the Kings of France may be traced back to the year 1419, when John Stewart, Earl of Buchan, landed at Rochelle with 6000 men to assist the Dauphin (afterwards Charles VII.) against the English. Assist him he did, and to good purpose, inflicting a severe defeat on the Duke of Clarence at Beauge (22nd March, 1421), where Clarence himself was killed. Two years later, John Duke of Bedford wrought revenge at Crevant, where a brigade of 3000 Scots were all but annihilated.

Still the little northern realm poured forth fresh troops. Early in 1424 ten thousand landed at Rochelle under Archibald, fourth Earl of Douglas, whom Charles VII. made Duke of Touraine and appointed lieu- tenant-general of his forces. Bedford, whom Douglas had nicknamed John-of-the-Leaden-Sword, sent a herald to tell Douglas that he wished to drink with him. Douglas replied that he had come all the way from Scotland for no other purpose. He had taken up a strong position in and about Verneuil. Had he been allowed to hold it, he might have awaited attack by the English with confidence. He issued orders to that effect. Unhappily for the Scots, the three nobles who held command in the French contingent — the Due d'Alengon, the Marechal de Lafayette and the Viscomte de Narbonne — resented having to march under a foreigner, and became insubordinate. Narbonne swore that he would never obey such cowardly

1 One of the chief complaints by the Parliamentarian leaders against King Charles was founded upon his use of the press-gang ; yet they themselves had to resort to it when, in 1645, Fairfax found himself 8000 men short of his complement of 22,000. In Queen Elizabeth's reign the chronicler Stow states that one Easter Sunday all the church doors in London were closed, and a thousand men were pressed for the army from among the congregations.

BY THE EDITOR 29

orders, and led his brigade forward to attack the English. To save him from being cut to pieces, Douglas ordered a general advance. It had been agreed between the Scots and English commanders that no quarter should be given. Narbonne's men soon had enough ; they quitted the field, leav- ing Douglas without support. Bedford handled his troops with consum- mate sagacity ; the Scots fell before his archers like corn under the sickle. They were utterly routed, and very few escaped. Douglas was slain, so was his son James and his son-in-law Buchan, the victor of Beauge, with many other Scottish knights.

The earliest instance on record of English and Scottish troops fighting shoulder to shoulder (the earliest, that is, except Edward Balliol's attempt to seize the Crown of Scotland in 1332) was in the ill-starred, ill-supported expedition sent out by Queen Elizabeth to the succour of the French Pro- testants under the Prince de Conde in 1562. A detachment of five hundred English and Scots volunteered for a hare-brained attempt to relieve Rouen, closely beleaguered by the Due de Guise. The city fell, and of the relieving force hardly a man escaped ; but the enterprise is one to be honoured in remembrance as the earliest symptom of reunion between two nations which had been long at bloody variance, but which, alike in race and speech and creed, ought never to have been sundered. In effect, no sooner were Scots and English released from the thrall of political or dynastic dispute than they proved themselves the very best of comrades-in-arms, and so they have remained ever since.

I cannot conclude this brief sketch of the military affairs in Scotland in early times without referring to the singularly intense disfavour with which service in the army had come to be regarded, certainly in the south and west, and probably in all parts of the Lowlands, until the outbreak of the great war in 1914. This feeling of distrust and aversion was stronger, I think, among the elder people — parents of families — than it was among younger men. In my own district— the extreme south-west—it prevailed to reduce voluntary enlistment to a minimum. The few young men who did join the army were regarded as doing something the reverse of credit- able to their kinsfolk. I speak of the generality : there were honourable exceptions.

This feeling was so strongly implanted in the community that when, shortly before the war with Germany, I was about to inspect and address

3o INTRODUCTION

a corps of Boy Scouts, I was warned against anything that would imply that the organisation partook of a military character. Boys who had been eager to join the Scouts had been prevented doing so by their mothers, for fear they should be turned into soldiers. All this prejudice was swept away when, in August, 1914, the drums sounded the point of war. It then became manifest that the ancient warlike spirit of the Lowland Scot was not dead, but only slumbering. Had every district in the United King- dom answered the call to arms as readily as the Lowlands, there would have been no need for compulsory powers.

Howbeit, long before that the prejudice against military service had become deeply rooted and pervaded all parts of Scotland. Perhaps no sentiment less universal and intense than the fiery indignation kindled by the wrongs of Belgium would have prevailed to overcome it.

It may not be unprofitable to trace that prejudice to its source. Apart from the glaring disparity between the soldiers' pay and what an able- bodied civilian may earn in any of our industrial districts, it is attributable mainly to two causes. The first of these derives from the ecclesiastical wars of the seventeenth century, when the King's troops were employed to force upon a resolute people conformity with a form of religion distasteful to them. It needed not the pious hand of Robert Paterson — better known as " Old Mortality " — to keep alive the remembrance of the " killing time." In many a kirkyard, on many a lonely hillside and desolate moor, stand the stones he tended with such sedulous care, each marking a spot where someone had been done to death for not renouncing what he conceived to be the true faith. Old Mortality has been dead these hundred years and more,1 but the memory of wrongs and official cruelty remained more imperishably graven on the hearts of our people than on his rude memorials. The wrongs and the cruelty were deliberately devised by the civil govern- ment ; but the King's army was the instrument for carrying them into effect.

In my youth I heard a story which was current in the Stewartry of Kirk- cudbright ; whether truth or fiction, it illustrates the vitality of the Cove- nanters' tradition in that district. It was told of a hill shepherd who, accord- ing to custom, was reading the Scripture aloud to his wife before going to bed. The chapter chosen happened to be Revelation xii. When he came to the third verse :

1 He died in 1801.

BY THE EDITOR 31

" And there appeared another wonder in heaven ; and behold a great reid dragoon."

" Ye maun be wrang there, lad," interrupted the wife ; " there never was a dragoon in heaven ; it wad be nae place for him."

" It maun be sae, wife," replied her husband, " it maun be sae ; for it's in the written Word, ye ken."

" Atweel," rejoined the other, " if it's in the Word it maun be sae ; but there's ae thing I ken — it wisna yen o' Claverse's dragoons."

The gudeman resumed his reading, and went on till he came to the ninth verse :

And the great dragoon was cast oot."

" I tell't ye that, lad," broke in the wife shrilly, " I tell't ye that ! He widna bide in Heaven lang ; it was nae place for him ! "

The other, and perhaps the more potent, cause for military service being held in abhorrence by men of the working class was the appalling severity of punishment formerly inflicted. I speak not of the mediaeval code — riding the wooden horse, the picket, and other savage modes of torture which often disabled a man for life ; but simply of the lash, which, happily, few now living have seen inflicted, though many may remember its obsequies. It died very hard, and after a struggle so prolonged and bitter as rubbed the subject well into the apprehension of the people. Though the art of heckling had not in those years become so highly organised as we know it now, still this was made a frequent matter for testing the prin- ciples of candidates for Parliament. It is told of the late Mr. Edward Horsman (and the story may contain as much or as little truth as any other election yarn *) that, when he stood as a Whig for the Wigtown Burghs and was addressing the people on the nomination day from the open hustings then in vogue, he fell into a curious trap. The hustings used to be divided into open compartments, in each of which one of the candidates and his proposer and seconder were accommodated. On this occasion, as there were but two candidates, the structure was divided in half. Horsman, being an Englishman, was familiar neither with the Scottish dialect nor with some of the questions which exercised the minds of Scottish electors. So when a voice in the crowd shouted : " What aboot the Decalogue? " he turned as he thought, to one of his supporters and asked : " What on

1 I should not be surprised to be told that it has acquired all the properties of a chestnut.

32 INTRODUCTION

earth is that ? " Unluckily, he turned to the side of his opponent, whose henchman promptly whispered : " Flogging in the army." Horsman then faced his questioner with the reply : "I shall vote for its instant abolition." Sensation !

To obtain a true impression of the ferocious character of the military code — say during the Peninsular War, one cannot do better than read some of General Sir Charles Napier's letters. Napier was a man of singularly mild disposition, exceedingly thoughtful for the men under his command, yet here is what he wrote to his mother when he was in command of the 5oth Regiment in 1808.

" 'You know my antipathy to flogging : you know that it is unconquerable . . . this antipathy gains strength from principle and reason, as I am convinced it could be dispensed with. Still, as other severe punishments do not exist in our army, we must use torture in some cases, until a substitute is given by our government. Mark this narrative. A robbery was committed in the regiment, and the thief was discovered in a few hours. ... I resolved to make a severe example. . . . He was sentenced to nine hundred lashes. Yet there was not one positive proof of the robbery — all was presumptive evidence ; but I charged him with breaches of discipline which could be proved, and my resolve was to punish or not, according to my own judgment, a commanding officer being in truth despotic.

" ' Two days I took to consider every circumstance, thinking if he should be afterwards proved innocent, it would be disagreeable to have bestowed nine hun- dred lashes wrongfully. . . . Yesterday he was flogged in the square. . . . When he had received 200 lashes he was promised pardon if he told where the money was. No ! God in heaven was his witness that he was innocent. ... In this manner he went on. I was inexorable ; and it is hardly credible that he received 600 lashes, given in the most severe manner . . . praying for death to relieve him. ... At six hundred lashes he was taken down, with the seemingly brutal intention of flogging him again on a half-healed back ... the greatest torture possible. . . . Directions were given that he should be kept solitary to lower his spirits. . . . Pain, lowness and the people employed to frighten him, succeeded ; he confessed all, and told where the money was hid.' " 1

In reading this sickening narrative one knows not whether to be dis- gusted most by the brutality of the punishment or the infamy of a system under which a man could be punished for a crime whereof he had not been convicted.

Napier says that when he was a subaltern, men were often sentenced by regimental courts-martial to receive from 600 to 1000 lashes, and that the punishment was generally inflicted in full. Writing in 1837, he expresses

1 Life of General Sir Charles Napier, by Lieut-General Sir Wm. Napier, vol. i. p. 87.

BY THE EDITOR 33

satisfaction that even a general court-martial could no longer sentence a man to receive more than 200 lashes, and that the practice of bringing a wretched fellow out of hospital to receive the balance of a sentence had been prohibited.

" ' I have seen,' he wrote, ' many hundreds of men flogged, and have always observed that when the skin is thoroughly cut up and flayed off, the great pain subsides. Men are frequently convulsed and screaming during the time they receive from one lash to three hundred lashes, and then they bear the re- mainder, even to eight hundred or a thousand lashes, without a groan. They will often lie as if without life, and the drummers appear to be flogging a lump of dead, raw flesh. Now I have frequently observed that, in these cases, the faces of the spectators assumed a look of disgust ; there was always a low, whis- pering sound, scarcely audible, issuing from the apparently stern and silent ranks ; a sound arising from lips that spoke not.' "

I must apologise to the reader for reopening so dark a page in the annals of the British Army ; but unless these unpleasing facts are borne in mind, it is impossible to understand the causes of the disfavour with which, until quite recently, the service was regarded by the bulk of our people. It is, indeed, difficult to believe that a penal code so inhuman and senseless could have been maintained so long, and that its repeal should have been resisted so obstinately by officers of high distinction. Even Sir Charles Napier, with all his horror for the lash, was of opinion that it could not safely be dispensed with in time of war. The Duke of Welling- ton, to whom the nation owed the restoration of British military power and prestige, remained to the last an uncompromising advocate of flogging. As a witness before the Royal Commission on Military Punishments in 1836 he said : "I have no idea of any great effect being produced by anything but the fear of immediate corporal punishment." Asked whether he could have established discipline in his army in the Peninsula without the lash, he replied : " No : it is out of the question. . . . Having had this sub- ject in contemplation for six or seven years, I have turned it over in my mind in every possible way, and I declare that I have not an idea of what can be substituted for it." If the spirits of these great captains are permitted to follow the course of the stupendous war now being waged, they may feel amazed, but they cannot but rejoice, that the valour and discipline of British soldiers are wholly independent of dread of the lash. It cannot be matter for surprise that the evil tradition long survived

34 INTRODUCTION

the evil itself — that it required the lapse of two or three generations and menace to the very existence of the Empire and the freedom of its citizens to drive it into oblivion. We feared — some of us — that the ancient military fire of our race had been quenched by the accumulation of luxuries, the indulgence of ease and the sense of insular security. That fear was strength- ened by the cold reception given by the British Government and people — by the Government more than the people — to Lord Roberts's clarion warn- ing, but it has been dispelled by the noble and universal spirit of action and sacrifice displayed by men of all classes and creeds within the uttermost bounds of the British Empire.

I

THE SND DRAGOONS

BY SIR JAMES BALFOUR PAUL, C.V.O., LORD LYON KING-OF-ARMS

IT was during " the killing time " in Scotland — the year 1678, to be more particular — that King Charles II., learning that some dour Westland Whigs presumed to worship God in their own way and not in that form upheld by the King, and that they were prepared to seek salvation at the sword's point if necessary, wrote a letter to the Privy Council. He informed that body that the " Phanaticks " had of late "with great insolence flocked together frequently and openly in meld conventicles, those rende- devouses of Rebellion " ; they had also actually dared to oppose his Majesty's forces, wherefore " though wee neether heed nor doe fear such insolent attempts, yet from a just care of our own authorety, and a kindnesse to our good subjects," the Council were directed to take measures for the raising of additional forces. This request resulted in three troops of dragoons being, with other forces, embodied. The command of the first troop was given to Thomas Dalyell of Binns, that of the second to Lord Charles Murray, and that of the third, which was embodied a few months after the others, to Francis Stuart, a grandson of the Earl of Bothwell.

This was not the first time dragoons had been raised in Scotland. They had been employed both north and south of the Tweed in the wars of the earlier part of the seventeenth century. When these new companies of

1 The writer of this paper has to acknowledge his obligations to Cannon's History of the Regiment (1840), Colonel Percy Groves' capitally illustrated sketch ; and the more recent Regimental History by Almack.

36 ROYAL SCOTS GREYS

dragoons were raised in 1678 they followed in their character and equipment that old tradition : they were not cavalry, they were not infantry, but a blend of both, being what we should now call mounted infantry. They had not the defensive armour of the cavalry, having only in that respect a steel helmet or skull-cap. For arms they had a firelock slung over the shoulders (exchanged in 1688 for a fusil), a sword, a dirk or bayonet, and, apparently, holster pistols, though it is doubtful whether these were carried by every man. Their ammunition was carried in bandoliers, and the match for the firelock was, when unlighted, wound round the hat or waist.

The companies raised in 1678 had not long to wait for their baptism of fire. They took part — not very gloriously — in the battle of Drumclog, and were also in the more successful engagement at Bothwell Bridge. But not much military prestige was to be gained by fighting their countrymen, who were, rightly or wrongly, upholding their opinions for conscience' sake.

On 25th November, 1681, orders were received to raise three more com- panies of dragoons of fifty men each ; but whereas at the same time the old companies, which were nominally at least a hundred strong, were reduced to fifty, not much was gained by the rearrangement. These companies were incorporated as the Royal Regiment of Dragoons, Lieut. -General Thomas Dalyell of Binns, a name famous in the annals of the persecution of the Covenanters, who was then Commander of the Forces in Scotland, being appointed Colonel of the new regiment. At first these dragoons, and probably other regiments also, were clothed in some grey cloth ; in 1684 the Privy Council ordered the uniforms of the whole Scottish Army to be red, but Dalyell, with his strong conservative leanings, was furious at the pro- posed change, and actually got the order rescinded so far as his dragoons were concerned, and they continued their grey dress. But after Dalyell's death they fell into line with the other regiments in the matter of uniform. It is a disputed point whether the regiment received its name of " the Greys " from having been originally clad in that colour, or from their being mounted on grey horses. It is more probable that the latter is the true origin of the name : it is not until the beginning of the eighteenth century that we find the regiment referred to as " the Grey Dragoons " ; whereas if they had earned the sobriquet from the colour of their uniform it would be found in use at a much earlier date. It was not uncommon in the continental armies for corps d'Aite to be mounted on horses of a uniform colour, and

SIR JAMES BALFOUR PAUL 37

it was not unnatural for this regiment to follow their example, though it is curious why grey horses should be selected, seeing that it is more difficult to get good animals of that colour than of the more ordinary shades.

In 1685 the regiment took part in the suppression of Argyll's rising : they had a sharp encounter with the rebels near Dunbarton and sustained some loss ; but the enemy did not wait for the next assault. The rising was badly contrived and still more badly carried out, and it ended in the capture and execution of Argyll.

The following year was spent in that persecution of the Covenanters which was as foolish as it was cruel, and which must have been an un- congenial task to the great majority of the men of the regiment. In the same summer of 1686 they were called upon to perform an almost equally unpleasant duty in the Highlands. A feud accompanied by bloodshed had broken out between Macdonald of Keppoch and the Laird of Mackintosh in connection with the occupancy of certain lands in Glenroy and Glen- spean. The commander of the King's troops, who had been ordered by Government to support Mackintosh, having been killed by one of Mac- donald's men, the Privy Council ordered three hundred of the Foot Guards and a troop of the Dragoons " to destroy man, woman and child pertaining to the land of Keppoch and to burn his houses and corn." This order was carried out with merciless severity during August, 1688. The troops remained in the Braes of Glenroy till about the middle of the next month, when they rejoined headquarters.

The regiment then crossed the Border and by the end of September were in the vicinity of London. It was quartered at Westminster for a short time, but on the loth of November was ordered to Salisbury. Two days before that date, however, the prince of Orange had landed at Torbay ; a month later King James fled to France and sent word that he had no further occasion for the services of his army.

The Royal Regiment of Dragoons, together with the Horse Guards (Blues) and the Scots Horse, had been placed under the command of Claver- house, who had been created Viscount of Dundee, I2th November, 1688. The regiments were then at Reading, and on hearing of the revolution it was resolved to march back to Scotland ; but they had only got so far as Watford when a message was received from the Prince of Orange directing them to stay there ; they were, however, very soon removed to Oxfordshire.

38 ROYAL SCOTS GREYS

The colonel of the Dragoons, the Earl of Dunmore, being faithful to the old dynasty, resigned his commission, and Dundee himself quitted the service and proceeded to Scotland with the main body of his own regiment, the Scots Horse. The Royal Dragoons, however, did not follow that ex- ample, but remained attached to the new government. They were very soon ordered to march to Edinburgh, where they found, much to the disgust of some of the older officers, the very persons they had not long before been chasing about the country, now in power. From Edinburgh they were sent to Stirling and in April, 1689, to Forfarshire, there to watch the pro- ceedings of the Viscount of Dundee. They had not been there long when Major-General Mackay,1 who had been appointed commander-in-chief in Scotland, assembled the regiment, together with three troops of Lord Col- chester's Horse (now 3rd Dragoon Guards) and 200 foot in the town of Dundee. Leaving two troops of the Royal Dragoons there, he proceeded with the rest of his little army to search for the enemy.

Getting information that Dundee was expected at Elgin, Mackay sent the Royal Dragoons to that town, anticipating his enemy's intention and compelling him to change his route and to march through Badenoch to Lochaber. Mackay also got considerable reinforcements, including the two troops of the Dragoons which had been left at Dundee. Before these arrived, however, Dundee swooped down from the mountains at the head of 3000 men and threw himself between the Royalist general and his approaching reinforcements. Mackay, deeming prudence the better part of valour, retired down Strathspey with considerable celerity, marching twenty hours almost without a halt. He managed, however, on 5th June to pick up his additional troops and would then have engaged Dundee, had not that leader been warned of his intention by some officers of the Royal Dragoons who had no liking for the service of the Prince of Orange. The intrigues of these disaffected officers were discovered and strong measures were at once taken with them, Lt.-Colonel William Livingston, Captains Murray, Crichton, and Livingston, along with several subalterns, being put under arrest and sent to Edinburgh.

Shortly after this a squadron of the Royal Dragoons together with a squadron of Berkeley's Dragoons had a sharp skirmish with 500 High-

' ' General Hugh Mackay of Scourie, formerly a brother officer of Claverhouse in the Dutch service. Killed at Steinkirk, 1692.

SIR JAMES BALFOUR PAUL 39

landers, chiefly Macleans, who had taken up a strong position near Culna- kells. The detachment of the regiment employed amply indicated its character for loyalty, and speedily dispersed the rebels, killing about a hundred of them. It was a kind of expedition particularly suited for dra- goons, as they had to dismount and pursue the enemy in rocky ground which would have prevented any efficient action on the part of cavalry proper. For this exploit the Royal Dragoons were specially commended in the London Gazette.

The regiment then marched to Inverness, and, with the exception of some time spent in quarters in Aberdeenshire, stayed there during the winter of 1689-90. They did not take part in the battle of Killiecrankie, in which the gallant Dundee met his death, whereby the Jacobite party was reft of hope, although Mackay was badly defeated there.

Early in 1690 the Highlanders, having received reinforcements from Ireland, attempted a descent upon Inverness ; but this was frustrated with no difficulty. The Royal Dragoons took part in the engagement at the Haughs of Cromdale on 3Oth April, 1690, when the Jacobites were surprised in their camp on Speyside and defeated with much slaughter. The regi- ment also assisted in the relief of Abergeldie Castle, which had been invested by the Jacobites, and then, hurrying back to Inverness, it was able to save the garrison there from a threatened attack by the enemy.

By the end of 1691 the Jacobite rising had been finally subdued, and the regiment had a period of rest. On the 7th June, 1692, a Royal Warrant was issued in its favour confirming it in its title of THE ROYAL REGIMENT OF SCOTS DRAGOONS which it " hath been formerly designed."

In the spring of 1694 the regiment once more prepared for active service and was despatched to Flanders, where King William was conducting a campaign against the Grand Monarquc with indifferent success. By the end of June it was encamped near Birschot, and though it took part in the general operations of the army during the summer, our Dragoons saw no serious fighting. When winter approached they went, as was the comfortable custom in those days, into quarters near Ghent. It is un- necessary to go into detail with respect to the course of this campaign, as the regiment was not given any special opportunity to distinguish itself, but what duty it had to do was no doubt done well. The peace of Rys- wick in September, 1697, enabled all British troops to be withdrawn from

40 ROYAL SCOTS GREYS

the Continent, and the Dragoons found themselves back in their native land in time to celebrate " Auld Hansel Monday " of 1698. In accordance with the usual British custom which has so often betrayed the country into perilous straits, the strength of the regiment was immediately reduced from 520 to 294 officers and men. But before many years the war of the Spanish Succession broke out : the Dragoons were again augmented to their former strength of eight troops and dispatched to Holland in the spring of 1702.

It is about this time that we first find the regiment referred to as the " Grey Dragoons," from which we may infer that they were by this time mounted on their famous grey chargers. Perhaps the idea may have been taken from the Dutch troop of Life Guards which came over from Holland with King William ; but in any case we can now refer to the regiment under its simpler and best known designation of Scots Greys.

The duties of cavalry in those days consisted more in covering the move- ments of the infantry, especially in the case of the siege of a town, than in actual fighting, and shock tactics were but seldom employed. This, accordingly, was the work which principally fell to the Greys during the summer of 1702. At the end of the season's campaign they took up their quarters in Holland, one squadron being told off to act as a guard to Marl- borough. Howbeit, they nearly lost both themselves and their commander while escorting the boat in which Marlborough had embarked along the banks of a river. They missed their way and got out of touch with the personage for whose safety they were responsible. He was attacked and overpowered by a party of French sympathisers, and had it not been for the presence of mind of one of his staff, who surreptitiously handed him a spare French pass he happened to have, things might have gone hardly with the great general.

We may pass over the campaign of 1703 which saw the fall of Huy, Bonn, and Lemburg, as there is nothing of outstanding interest to chronicle about the regiment. But the campaign of 1704 was one of the most brilliant of Marlborough's deeds. Pushing south with marvellous rapidity and secrecy, he effected a junction with the Emperor's army, which had been seriously threatened by the French, and appeared at Schellenberg on the north of the Danube. This important post he resolved to seize, and late on a summer's eve attacked it with all his forces. Several regiments of cavalry supported the attack : the fighting was fierce, and ultimately the

«,. '

SIR JAMES BALFOUR PAUL 41

Greys were ordered to dismount and assist in the infantry attack. This was the very purpose for which dragoons were intended ; so, leaving their horses, they advanced under the leadership of their colonel, Lord John Hay. Their timely aid enabled the attacking force to cany the position and to ensure a complete victory for the Allied troops. The Greys suffered but slight loss, one officer, Captain Douglas, being killed, and one officer and seventeen men wounded.

At the more important battle of Blenheim, which took place about six weeks later, the Greys were not in the thick of the fighting, being posted as covering troops on the left of the British line ; but it was largely owing to their action that the French troops in the village of Blenheim, consisting of twenty-four battalions of infantry and twelve squadrons of cavalry, were prevented from escaping and were made prisoners. The regiment had no fatal casualties on the day of Blenheim.

The campaign of 1705 was not characterised by any victory of impor- tance ; on the contrary, Marlborough had to execute a long and difficult retreat owing to his plans not having been carried out by the other Allied commanders. There was, however, quite a pretty encounter between the British cavalry and a large body of French troops under command of the Marquis d'Allegre. It was chiefly a cavalry action, and resulted in the enemy's squadrons being completely routed.

On Whitsunday, 1706, was fought the great battle of Ramillies ; the two armies were in position very early on a misty morning ; by one o'clock action was joined and the engagement became general. The Greys were on the heights of Fouly on the right of the line, brigaded with the Queen's Horse and the Royal Irish Dragoons, and aligned with the infantry of Churchill and Mordaunt. The infantry charged down the hill and drove three French battalions, which were proving too strong for the Dutch and Danish cavalry, into a morass. The cavalry, following hard after, crossed the morass, attained the high ground beyond it, and fell upon the left wing of the enemy, routing the French horse and doing great execution among the infantry battalions. The Greys then galloped into the village of Autreglise, driving the enemy infantry before them. On their exit from the village they en- countered the French King's own regiment of foot (Regiment du Roi), which surrendered and gave up their arms and colours to the Greys. However, on the British turning to resume the pursuit some of the men of this regiment

42 ROYAL SCOTS GREYS

attempted to regain possession of their arms, for which piece of treachery they suffered severely at the hands of their captors. An additional guard was put over the prisoners, the pursuit of the enemy was resumed, and continued till two o'clock next morning, which, seeing the regiment had been under arms since early morning of the preceding day, was pretty strenuous work.

It was after this battle that, while the wounds of one of the troopers in the Greys was being dressed, it was discovered that the gallant soldier was a woman. Her history is a curious one. The daughter of a Jacobite Irishman, Christian Cavanagh was born in Dublin in 1667. Her father was ruined by the collapse of King James's cause and his daughter was sent to the care of an aunt who kept a public-house. This she ultimately inherited, and married her waiter, Thomas Welch. After she had borne him three children, he disappeared and she found that he had enlisted. On the chance of discovering him she followed his example, and was sent to Flanders in Captain Tichborne's regiment of foot. She was wounded at the battle of Landen and taken prisoner by the French in 1694, but was exchanged. Having fought a duel with a sergeant, whom she dangerously wounded, she was discharged from her regiment, but immediately re-enlisted in the Greys, in which she remained till the peace of Ryswick. When war was renewed in 1701 she went out again with the Greys and fought valiantly with them in all their engagements. After Blenheim she accidentally came across her husband, whom she found paying marked attention to a Dutch- woman. She made him promise to pass her off as his brother. As above mentioned, a severe wound in her head received at the battle of Ramillies was the occasion of her sex being discovered. She was then re-married to her husband, the officers of the Greys providing handsome wedding gifts. Thenceforward she served as a sutler in the army. Welch was killed at Malplaquet, and her lamentations were so excessive as to excite the pity of one Captain Ross, whose attentions to her were so extravagant that she received the sobriquet of Mother Ross, by which she was afterwards generally known. Three months after her husband's death she married Hugh Jones, a grenadier, who was killed the following year at the siege of Saint- Venant. She then returned to England, received a bounty of £50 and a pension of a shilling a day from Queen Anne, and for a third time entered the bonds of matrimony, marrying a soldier named Davies, who was ultimately

SIR JAMES BALFOUR PAUL 43

admitted a pensioner in Chelsea Hospital. She died 7th July, 1739, and was buried, it is said, with military honours in the cemetery belonging to the hospital. In 1740 there was published a book purporting to be a relation of her life and adventures. The tale is curious, if somewhat coarse ; some doubt has been expressed as to the authenticity of some of the incidents, and even to the fact of the Greys having been the regiment in which she served, but the tradition has always been to that effect.

In 1707 the legislative Union of England and Scotland was carried through, and the official name of the regiment was changed from the Royal Scots Dragoons to that of the Royal North British Dragoons. No more dreadful or inept attempt at nomenclature was ever perpetrated. It was proposed to call Scotland " North Britain," and to let the old historic name drop into oblivion. Fortunately the attempt did not succeed ; the Greys were to live to shout their famous slogan of "Scotland for ever! " in the great charge of the Heavy Brigade at Waterloo. " North Britain for ever " would have been unutterable ! In the case of the Greys the designation was discon- tinued in 1877, but the preposterous name survived to our own day in the abbreviated form of " N.B." appended to postal addresses. Even this, however, has now been officially declared obsolete and incorrect.

So far as the Greys were concerned the campaigns of 1707 and 1708 may be characterised as " quiet." In the former year a detachment had a sharp skirmish with a body of French foot ; while on nth July in the latter year they had an opportunity of showing their mettle in the energetic pursuit of the flying enemy after the battle of Oudenarde.

The next winter was spent very uncomfortably in Flanders, the cold being so severe that several men and horses are said to have been frozen to death. In spring the Greys once more followed their great leader and found Malplaquet a much more serious business than any in which they had yet been engaged. Ordered, along with the Royal Irish Dragoons, with whom they were brigaded, to file through a wood and charge, they found themselves up against a considerable force of French horse. These they succeeded in routing, but immediately thereafter they were engaged with superior numbers of the French Household Cavalry, a corps d'elite in " shining armour." These proved at first too strong for them ; but, although forced back at first, the Dragoons rallied and, reinforcements coming up, returned to the assault a second time. But the enemy was

44 ROYAL SCOTS GREYS

resolute, and once more they had to fall back. Again they re-formed and had a third try for victory ; this time they prevailed, and the French horse broke and fled. For this exploit they received the personal thanks of the Duke of Marlborough. In the light of modern warfare, with its scientific death-dealing paraphernalia, it is surprising to find that the whole losses of the regiment in this fierce encounter only amounted to thirty casualties of all sorts to officers and men.

Early in 1710 the Greys received a welcome, and probably much needed, accession of a hundred men and horses from Scotland ; their Colonel, the Earl of Stair, who had been previously honoured by being twice sent home with despatches, was on 26th May invested with the Order of the Thistle in the camp before Douai, the Duke of Marlborough having received a special commission from the Queen to that effect. The regiment did not do much actual fighting this year ; but one squadron, along with two of the Irish Dragoons, had the good fortune of making a brilliant little charge against a sally party of the garrison of Fort Scarpe, which had been sent out to intercept the British supplies.

Nothing very exciting occurs in the annals of the regiment during the remainder of Marlborough's campaigns. In 1712 hostilities ceased, the peace of Utrecht was proclaimed nth April, 1713, and the Greys returned to Scotland towards the end of the year.

It may be noted here that though regiments were not distinguished by numerical titles till the reign of George II. the Greys had been ranked since 1694 as the 4th Dragoons. The reason of this was that it had been decided that English regiments should have precedence, and that Scots and Irish regiments should only rank from the date on which they were placed on the English establishment. This happened to the Greys in 1688, when there were three English Dragoon regiments in existence. But in 1713 another board of general officers was appointed by Queen Anne to consider the matter with reference to some newly raised regiments. It was then proved that the Royal Scots Dragoons had crossed the Border and entered England in 1685 when there was only one regiment of English dragoons embodied — on this account the Greys were ultimately acceded the rank of the 2nd Dragoons.

After the war the army was considerably reduced in numbers, and only six regiments of dragoons were retained ; but the Greys themselves did

SIR JAMES BALFOUR PAUL 45

not suffer from this reduction, on the contrary, their strength was aug- mented to nine troops instead of eight.

The regiment was not to enjoy a long period of repose. Scarcely had George I. ascended the throne when the Earl of Mar's rising took place. Again the army was put on a war footing and three troops of the Greys were drafted off into a newly formed regiment — now the 7th Hussars. The headquarters of the regiment were at Stirling in August, 1715. They had a sharp encounter with the enemy on 23rd October near Dunfermline, and routed him handsomely without themselves having any serious casualty. They met the Jacobite forces again at Sherriffmuir on I2th November. This action was somewhat indecisive in results, but the Greys did their duty well on the right flank of the Royal Army, and at first carried everything before them, though later, after the Jacobite left wing had been broken and put to flight, Mar was still in such superior strength as enabled him to beat a retreat unmolested. The casualties in this battle were light, two men and three horses of the Greys were killed and six officers and men wounded. When the back of the rising was broken the Greys were em- ployed under Argyll in chasing the fugitive forces in the north, after which they were sent into quarters in Glasgow and Stirling.

The Jacobite attempt of 1719 drew the Greys, or part of them at least, into active service again. Three troops were employed, along with a con- siderable body of infantry, under General Wightman in opposing the insurgents in the Highlands. They marched westwards from Inverness early in June, came up with the enemy at the picturesque and steep valley of Glenshiel, and attacked them in difficult ground. The engagement lasted three hours and was well fought on both sides. Hill Burton says that neither party could claim a decisive victory ; but the advantage must have been with the royal troops, as it was agreed that the Spanish allies of the Jacobites should surrender, and that as to the others, they should each " gang their ain gait " and disperse. It was not a very bloody affair, the casualties on both sides not being estimated at much over a hundred. The Greys never came into action and suffered no loss.

After the Jacobite risings came peace : the strength of the regiment was drastically reduced to 207 sabres. From 1721 to 1727 it was stationed in various quarters in England, except in 1723, when it was in Scotland. In 1727, in anticipation of foreign service, the establishment was increased

46 ROYAL SCOTS GREYS

to nine troops. Nothing, however, happened, and in 1729 its numbers were fixed at 309 officers and men.

From 1730 to 1737 the Greys were continuously in Scotland ; then they crossed the Border once more and remained in England till 1742, when George II. resolved to support the claim of Maria Theresa to the throne of her father, the Emperor Charles VI., in terms of the Pragmatic Sanction. They were then warned for foreign service, were reviewed at Kew by the king, who, whatever his faults may have been, was a gallant soldier, and by the end of June they went into quarters near Ghent. It was not, how- ever, till next year that the Greys were able to distinguish themselves by any notable feat of arms. Their chance came at Dettingen when, with their gallant colonel, James Campbell, at their head, they charged the French cuirassiers to some purpose. It must have been a picturesque sight — the Dragoons with their high grenadier caps, red coats, blue waist- coats and immense jack-boots, with their feet thrust home in ample square stirrups, thundering along on their grey horses against the brilliant steel- corsleted Household Cavalry of France. The issue was not long in suspense ; the enemy broke and fled in confusion, leaving behind them a white standard, which the Greys triumphantly bore back to their own lines, thereby earning the commendation of the king, who had witnessed this brilliant feat of arms, and who created the colonel a Knight of the Bath.1 The regiment had their usual luck as regards casualties : they had not a single man killed and only lost four horses, with an officer and a few privates wounded.

They were not so fortunate in the next big action they fought. In 1745 the army, having marched to relieve Tournay, encountered the enemy on the plain of Fontenoy and a very sanguinary engagement ensued. The Greys, advancing in column to cover the infantry on the right, were subjected to a heavy fire from the French batteries, and their gallant colonel, Sir James Campbell, who as a lieut. -general was in command of the British cavalry, had his leg shot off and soon died from the wound. The attack failed, and although the Greys had an opportunity of making one of their impetuous charges, they were fairly beaten by the superior numbers of the enemy : a retreat was ordered and the army fell back on Ath. The Greys lost in this

1 General Sir James Campbell of Lawers (1667-1745) had seen much service in North America and India, and was killed at Fontenoy. The Order of the Bath was a purely military Order in 1742, restricted in number to 36 Knights, besides the Sovereign and a Grand Master, who must be a Prince of the Blood.— ED.

SIR JAMES BALFOUR PAUL 47

action fifteen men and twenty-five horses killed, and one officer, eleven men and thirty-three horses wounded.

In February, 1746, the regiment had actually embarked for Scotland, having been ordered home on account of the Jacobite rising, but they were driven back by stress of weather. Before they were ready to start again the rising had been suppressed and they were ordered back to quarters on the Dutch frontier. On the nth of October in this year Marshal Saxe, at the head of a large army, defeated the Allies at Raucoux, and although the Greys, along with the only other two cavalry regiments present, did their best and gave the French infantry a severe lesson, the army was obliged to retire across the Meuse. The Greys in this engagement lost two men killed and five wounded.

But the battle of Val or Laffeldt, fought on 2nd July, 1747, was a much more serious affair, and here the Greys received the worst mauling they ever had. Sir John Ligonier led them with great dash and vigour against the enemy, who was getting the advantage. They completely upset two lines of cavalry and captured several standards. But their impetuosity had carried them too far : they came under the fire of a concealed body of infantry, Ligonier's horse was shot under him and he himself taken prisoner. The infantry were soon dispersed, and then the Greys and other dragoons were faced by another body of the enemy, which they routed also. But by this time the French had broken the Allies' centre, and the Duke of Cumberland gave the order to retire. It was with much reluctance that the cavalry, who had done so well and so successfully, began to retrace their steps, and they were harassed by the pursuing foe. One squadron, indeed, having been thrown into disorder by a lot of Dutch dragoons who were escaping in hot haste from the pursuit, lost its standard, and when they arrived at Maestricht on the same evening they found their numbers sadly thinned. They had to mourn the loss of ninety-one privates besides two of other ranks. Fine testimony is borne to their determined courage in the fact that the number of wounded was much less, only amounting to thirty-nine privates, eight commissioned officers and seven of other ranks. One hundred and thirty-nine horses were killed and twenty-one wounded.

Although the regiment received a draft from home of 98 men and 100 horses during the spring of 1748, it was not destined to see any more fighting at this time. The peace of Aix-la-Chapelle was signed on i8th October,

48 ROYAL SCOTS GREYS

and the Greys returned to England the following month ; but they were not to see Scotland again for many years. They rested, with reduced ranks, in various quarters in England till they were once more called out on service in 1758. The light troop of the regiment which had been formed three years before on the analogy of the light companies of infantry regiments, was brigaded with the light troops of eight other regiments of cavalry. This troop of the Greys was commanded by Captain Lindsay, and it is interesting to read how they were instructed in " the Prussian exercise," which appears to have consisted in digging large trenches, leaping their horses over them, and leaping and swimming through other obstacles. The brigade was then embarked and taken over to France, landing near Saint- Malo, which seaport they destroyed and burned. Next month they marched to Cherbourg, overthrew the fortifications and destroyed the shipping in the harbour, returning to England after a descent — not so successful — on the bay of Saint-Lunaire. Why a cavalry brigade should have been employed for work like this is rather a mystery, but it seems to have performed its task efficiently.1

Meanwhile the main body of the regiment had been sent to Holland to take part in what is known as the Seven Years' War, and it joined the army of the Duke of Brunswick on the 3ist August. The principal enemy in this campaign was the weather, which was cold and wretched in the extreme. But the Greys were at the battle of Bergen on I3th April, 1759, where the Allies were defeated by the French, though the Greys themselves escaped without casualty. Later in the season, on ist August, was fought the battle of Minden, and here the tables were turned, the French having to fall back from the territory they had recently gained. Next summer at Warbourg, which was largely a cavalry action, the Greys, along with other cavalry, performed what the commander-in-chief described as " pro- digies of valour," losing only one man and one horse. There was a sharp engagement in August at Zierenberg, where a magnificent charge was made by the Greys and Inniskillings. Two squadrons of the Greys charged four squadrons of French dragoons and chased them up to the gates of the town. They paid lightly for their success in having only five men killed and six wounded. Early in 1761 the regiment was called out from then: winter

1 The Greys, and the light troops of other cavalry, were dragoons, i.e. mounted infantry. —ED.

2ND ROYAL NORTH BRITISH DRAGOONS SCOTS GREYS Trooper 1815

SIR JAMES BALFOUR PAUL 49

quarters in most inclement weather, and underwent much suffering in the campaign, although no pitched battle was fought. The next year did not see them in the field till May, and again there was no general action, though the regiment had frequent successful skirmishes with the enemy.

Shortly after the treaty of Paris (February, 1763) the Greys returned to England and were once more put on a peace footing. Then ensued a long period of repose, during which they were quartered in various places in Great Britain. It may be noted that this eminently Scottish regiment was only five times quartered in Scotland during the thirty years from 1763 to 1793, and then only for comparatively short periods.

Early in 1793 war was declared against the republican government of France. The Greys were immediately raised to war strength, and in June four troops were despatched to Flanders — the customary " cockpit of Europe." Though hard enough worked they did not take part in any important engage- ment that summer, but in the following year they had a chance of display- ing their mettle. On loth May they were placed in column of troops behind the left wing of the allied army in front of Tournay. After an unsuc- cessful attempt by the enemy to turn the British left, the Greys, along with their old comrades the Inniskillings and the Bays, led by the Duke of York, advanced in open form of half squadrons and made a magnificent charge. In this, or in another engagement shortly after, an officer of the Greys rode into an enemy square, upset three men, turned his horse and upset six more, thus making a gap for the entry of his own men, of which they were not slow in taking advantage. Two more squares were broken, and the enemy was soon in retreat. This exploit cost the Greys eight men and fifteen horses killed, and about a dozen officers and men wounded. But this and another less important success could not make up for the fact that the British troops were largely outnumbered, and were obliged to withdraw to Holland, where they spent a most uncomfortable winter. The Duke of York, though a keen and conscientious soldier, was not a great general, and during the campaign of the following summer he did not achieve any success.1 The expedition was withdrawn in November and the four troops

1 On the contrary, he proved himself so incompetent that he was recalled in December, 1794, handing over the command to the Hanoverian Count Walmoden. Arthur Wellesley, afterwards Duke of Wellington, commanded the 33rd Foot in this, his first campaign. Long afterwards, when asked by Lord Mahon whether his experience in the Dutch campaign had been of service to him, he replied : " Why, I learnt what one ought not to do, and that is always something " (Conversations with the Duke of Wellington, page 182). — ED.

D

50 ROYAL SCOTS GREYS

of the Greys rejoined the headquarters of the regiment at Canterbury in February.

The regiment did not again see active service till 1815, though during the intervening years they lived in constant expectation of being ordered abroad, and their numbers fluctuated according as the hopes and fears of the Government were in the ascendant. On 2oth July, 1814, they were reviewed in Hyde Park with other troops by the Prince Regent, the Emperor of Russia, the King of Prussia and other foreign princes and generals. A detachment of the regiment and one of Cossacks formed a guard of honour to the potentates. At that time the establishment consisted of 584 officers and men, but on the reappearance of Napoleon in France in the succeeding year their number was again raised to ten troops with 946 officers and men. Six troops were immediately ordered off abroad under command of Lieut.-Colonel Inglis-Hamilton, and were brigaded with the Royals and the Inniskillings, both old companions in arms. Owing to a mistake in orders on i6th June, Lord Uxbridge halted the cavalry division before crossing the high road from Mons to Brussels, which put Wellington at serious disadvantage in the general action on that day at Quatre-Bras. But on the memorable iSth of June the Greys had their full share of hard fighting. The weather broke on the afternoon of the I7th. Heavy rain continued until midnight, turning the whole of the rich plain between Charleroi and Waterloo into a swamp. Young Hamilton of Dalyell was a subaltern in the Greys, and his journal, which has been preserved in the original manuscript, gives a vivid description of the effect of the deluge during the retreat from Quatre-Bras.

" It rained in such a way as I never saw either before or since, it seemed as if the water were tumbled out of tubs . . . the ground was so soft that at every step our horses sank half-way to the knees, and in several places where we passed over fallow land it had the appearance of a lake, the rain falling upon it faster than it could be absorbed or run off."

Then on the morrow of a comfortless night spent in bivouac :

" We arose with daybreak : a miserable-looking set of creatures we all were, covered with mud from head to foot, our white belts dyed with the red from our jackets, as if we had already completed the sanguinary work which we were about to begin."

The Greys were not brought into action until about 2.30 P.M., when the advance of d'Erlon's massive columns of infantry in echelon of brigades

SIR JAMES BALFOUR PAUL 51

had been checked by the 5th Division under Sir Thomas Picton on the east of the Charleroi-Brussels highway. Sir William Ponsonby kept the heavy cavalry on the reverse slope of the ridge until Marcognet's brigade, third in the echelon of attack, wavered and broke under the fire of Pack's High- land Brigade.1 Then he brought up the " Union Brigade "—the Royals, the Greys, and the Inniskillings — passing them through the intervals of Pack's and Kempt's brigades which had been thrown into squares, formed line and fell upon Marcognet's flank, hurling his column into dire confusion and forcing back a threatening mass of French cavalry. Some of the Scot- tish foot-soldiers, catching hold of the stirrups of the Greys as they passed, were carried forward with them in the charge, shouting " Scotland for ever ! "

This charge of the Union Brigade lives, and will live, in history. D'Erlon's attack, which was directed by Ney in person, was completely shattered ; but the heavies carried things too far ; in the ardour of pursuit they got out of hand and suffered severely. Sir William Ponsonby fell, to rise no more, and Colonel Hamilton was seen at a gallop crying — " Halt ! Halt, the Greys ! " until he, too, ended his career, falling dead within the French lines.

Sergeant Ewart of the Greys performed his doughty feat in capturing an eagle from one of the French regiments, and lived to describe the exploit till 1846. But he was much more proud of another incident in the fight. A young cornet of the regiment, Kinchant by name, had asked him to spare the life of a French officer whom he was on the point of cutting down. This he unwillingly did as he did not think it a proper time to be taking prisoners. Kinchant, to whom the officer had surrendered his sword, ordered him in French to go to the rear. Ewart prepared to resume the charge, but hearing a shot, looked round and saw that the Frenchman had shot Kinchant dead with a pistol. Ewart instantly wheeled round and the prisoner whined for mercy. " Ask mercy of God ! " was the stern reply, " for the deil a bit will ye get at my hands," and with one mighty sweep of his sabre the Frenchman's head flew into the air.

1 So-called ; but it should be known as the Scots Brigade, inasmuch as, besides the 3rd Battalion 42nd Black Watch and the gznd Gordon Highlanders, it contained the 3rd Battalion Royal Scots and the 2nd 44th Regiment.

52 ROYAL SCOTS GREYS

There were many more charges made by the Greys on that great day ; some were successful, but the infantry squares were hard to pierce and the regiment lost many men. Even when in comparative shelter and not engaged in active fighting men were dropping from artillery fire. At last the long summer day drew to a close and in the dusk they saw the flash of muskets and heard the cheering of Vivian's Hussars and Vandeleur's Light Dragoons as they pursued the retreating enemy. The losses of the regiment at Waterloo were upwards of a hundred officers and men killed, and ninety-seven wounded, out of a total effective strength of 391. They also lost 164 horses killed and 60 wounded. Amongst the non-commissioned officers killed was Paymaster-Sergeant Weir, who, from the nature of his duties, was not required to go into action. At his own request, however, he was allowed to charge with his regiment. When the field was searched and his body recognised it was found that he had written his name on his forehead with his finger dipped in his own blood (it was before the days of identity discs). It was presumed that he had done this in order that his body should be known and that it might not be supposed that he had disappeared with the money of his troop.

The last survivor of the Greys who fought at Waterloo was Sergeant - Major Dickson, an East Lothian man who was born in 1789 and died in July, 1880. He rode in the charge alongside Sergeant Ewart. He was in the Greys for thirty-seven years, and had a medal for long service and good conduct.

The Greys, or what was left of them, rejoined the depot at Canterbury in 1816, and later in the year they were sent to Edinburgh. They were again there in 1822, when Scotland was visited by George IV., to whom they acted as a guard of honour. It was twelve years before they saw Scotland again : then they were in India for some time previous to 1843 — the only occasion on which the regiment has served in that country.

After a long experience of garrison duty the Greys were once more recalled to active service by the outbreak of the Crimean war. They arrived in the Crimea on 24th September, 1854, and a month later were present at the battle of Balaclava. They took part there in the great charge of the Heavy Brigade, and, though outflanked and outnumbered on either side by the enemy, they fought their way out and performed a

SIR JAMES BALFOUR PAUL 53

very fine feat of arms, which has been somewhat eclipsed by the more dramatic, but tactically mismanaged, charge of the Light Brigade. This took place later in the action, and the Light Brigade was covered by the Heavies, who had their full share of fighting as, on the return of what re- mained of the Six Hundred, they were met by thousands of Cossacks who had been placed in ambush, and a fierce combat ensued from which the British cavalry extricated themselves with difficulty. Balaclava was per- haps the last picturesque battle that will ever be fought, the conditions of modern warfare have so much changed since then. Writing of the com- mencement of the engagement, Sir Edward Hamley observes : " There was something almost theatrical in the grandeur of this portion of the spectacle : the French stationed on the heights and the English passing along them, looked down as if from the benches of an amphitheatre, on the two bodies of cavalry meeting in mortal shock on the level grassy plain, which, enclosed on every side by lofty mountains, would have been a fit arena for a tourna- ment of giants." When their work was over the regiment received special encomium from Sir Colin Campbell. " Greys, gallant Greys ! " he said as he rode up and uncovered, " I am sixty-one years old, and if I were young again I should be proud to serve in your ranks ! "

As an instance of the confidence reposed in the ability, courage and resource of the men of the Greys it is related that, when the regiment was mounted and drawn up in line behind a hill waiting for orders, an excited A.D.C. came up at full gallop and said, " Colonel, ten men who dare go anywhere and know no fear are wanted at once ; they must be desperate fellows as they have a desperate job to perform : please let me have them as soon as possible." Colonel Darby Griffiths, scarcely turning in his saddle, simply said without a moment's hesitation, " Greys, from your right, number off ten ! "

After the Crimean war the regiment had a long period of rest, and was stationed at various parts of Great Britain and Ireland. It was not until 1899 that war threw its shadow once more across the Empire. On 7th September of that year orders were received to mobilise for active service in South Africa, and three months after the regiment disembarked at Cape Town. Then ensued a war different from anything of which the Greys had had any experience previously. Gone was all the glorious panoply of war, the brilliant uniforms, the burnished accoutrements, and even the

54 ROYAL SCOTS GREYS

beautiful grey horses. In a sense, indeed, the latter were there, but their glossy coats were all stained khaki colour. It was indeed a khaki war against an enemy which was largely unseen, and what proved more deadly among them than the actual foemen they met were the insidious ravages of disease. In dealing with a campaign such as that of South Africa, where there was never what might be called a pitched battle on a grand scale, it is impossible to go into detail. A few of the leading incidents can only be briefly sum- marised, and these can give but a feeble idea of what was really undergone by the Greys and other troops employed.

When the cavalry was reorganised under General French in the begin- ning of 1900, the Greys formed part of the ist Cavalry Division. The brigade was under the command of Brigadier-General Porter, and con- sisted of the following units : 6th Dragoon Guards, 2nd Royal Dragoons (the Scots Greys), one squadron Inniskilling Dragoons, one squadron i4th Hussars, New South Wales Lancers, and F, A and U Batteries Royal Horse Artillery. Later a squadron of the Australian Horse were attached to the Greys and remained with them till the end of October.

The work done by the Greys was both arduous and constant. Exposed alternately to scorching heat and searching cold on the veldt, the physique both of men and horses was tried to the uttermost. If the regiment had no great and glorious day such as they had in other wars, they had a great deal of success to their credit. They were present at the relief of Kimberley and the surrender of Cronje. They failed to give the satisfactory finishing touch to the pursuit of defeated Boers at Osfontein because their horses, suffering from the change of food and climate, were too weak to gallop far. They assisted at the capture of Blomfontein on I3th March, 1900. They had an unfortunate experience at Vredes Verdrag on loth May, when they met with an immensely superior force of the enemy and were obliged to retire with some casualties. Another misfortune befel a squadron of the Greys at Zilikats Nek on nth July, when, after twelve hours' stubborn resistance, they were compelled through failure of ammunition to surrender. The horses, however, had been turned loose early in the day and rejoined headquarters of their own accord.

The story of the campaign as a whole does not lend itself to any thrilling narrative. It is sufficient to say that the conduct of the Greys earned the highest praise from all who had the handling of them. The best indica-

SIR JAMES BALFOUR PAUL 55

tion of the hardships undergone and the spirit displayed by the regiment is not to be found so much in the recital of isolated engagements as by a study of the casualty lists. The actual number of officers and men killed in action was not very great, being two of the former and twenty of the latter, while four officers and eleven men died of wounds. Sickness accounted for the death of one officer, and thirty-five men succumbed to disease. Four officers and eighty-two men were wounded. The losses in horses were terrible ; two hundred and fifty-six were killed and five hundred and seven had to be destroyed : four hundred and sixty-five died, mostly from sheer exhaustion : no less than two thousand six hundred and eighty-seven were invalided to the sick horse depots, while two hundred and twenty-six were, by order, left on the veldt : a few were captured by the enemy, but these were more than made up for by horses taken from the Boers.

Afte* peace was declared on 3ist May, 1902, the regiment went to Stellen- bosch in Cape Colony, where they remained till 1905. They were then brought home and quartered, first at Norwich, and in the following years in Edinburgh. Soon after they were ordered to England again on the ground that the barracks at Piershill had been declared insanitary. Considerable public indignation was expressed at the early removal of a regiment so intimately associated with the capital of Scotland, especially as the barracks were not considered too unhealthy enough to house a detachment of Royal Field Artillery, which were sent there at once. The public were more or less appeased by the assurance given that the Greys would be the first occupants of the new and up-to-date barracks at Redford, near Edinburgh, which were then in course of construction. It was not possible, however, to fulfil that pledge : before the new barracks were ready for occupation the Greys were once more on active service.

The part they have played and will yet play in the Great World War must fall to be chronicled by some future historian. But one thing is certain : that the regiment will never fail to act up to the spirit of its own famous motto, and will ever prove itself " SECOND TO NONE ! "

56 ROYAL SCOTS GREYS

THE SCOTS GREYS. l

0 terrible grey horses ! that woke Napoleon's fears, The thunder of your beating hoofs makes music down the years ; At Blenheim and at Ramillies your fires of glory grew To blaze upon a watching world, full-flamed, at Waterloo. And still our fathers tell their sons in many a Nor'land town Of how their grandsires in the Greys rode the French standards down.

O terrible grey horses ! the Russians heard your tread, When Scarlett's men, at one to ten, rode up the lanes of lead. The burgers saw your bridle reins shine silver in the sun, When French spurred into Kimberley to say the siege was done ! And now by Mons and Charleroi, by Meaux and Compiegne The spirit fed at Fontenoy has fired your troops again.

The men that once opposed you with rifle, trench and sword,

Are fighting on your flank to-day to stem the Vandal horde ;

The spirit of your country calls, ye need no whip nor spur

To gallop 'neath the gauntlet hands that hold the world for her.

Charge on and break them, gallant Greys ! Your great name keep and hold ;

0 terrible grey horses ! that Napoleon feared of old.

W. H. OGILVY.

ARMS, UNIFORM, AND EQUIPMENT.

Dragoons being, as aforesaid, originally more of the nature of mounted infantry than cavalry, their arms corresponded with those of the unmounted branch of the service. Twelve men in each troop carried halberts and holster pistols, and were probably also furnished with grenades : the remainder were armed with matchlocks, bandoliers, and bayonets. In 1687 dragoons were ordered to have " snaphanse musquets, strapt, with bright barrels of three foote eight inches long, cartouche boxes, bayonets, granado pouches, buckets and hammer-hatchets." Bandoliers had about twelve little cases, each containing a charge of powder, a bag with bullets and a primer with priming powder. Bandoliers were succeeded by an arrangement called patron-

1 Reprinted by kind permission of the author and of the editor of the Scotsman, in which the verses first appeared.

SIR JAMES BALFOUR PAUL 57

tashes, which dispensed with the bullet-bag and made the same case hold both powder and bullets. By 1709 at latest the whole army was provided with cartridge boxes. Instead of trumpets the Greys had originally drums- two to each troop — thus emphasising their character as infantry. Trumpets, indeed, were not adopted till 1765. It is not quite certain when the Greys first carried swords, but as they were practically assimilated to cavalry at an early date it is possible that they got swords at that period, though they still continued to carry the musket. The latter weapon continued to be used up to the introduction of carbines, and these in their turn were super- seded by rifles during the South African war. When the regiment was first formed, the uniform, as has been mentioned above, was grey ; but this seems to have been a personal fad of General Dalyell, and after his death the men were probably clothed in the royal livery like other regiments. It is unfortunate that we have no definite description of the details of the uniform until 1751, when dress regulations for the regiment were issued to the following effect : The coats were scarlet double-breasted, but without lappels, blue linings and slit sleeves turned up with the same colours ; the button-holes trimmed with narrow white lace ; flat white metal buttons set two and two ; a long sash pocket in each skirt, and a white worsted aiguillete on the right shoulder. The waistcoat and breeches were blue, and the great coat or cloak scarlet with a blue collar and lined with blue ; it had its buttons on white frogs and loops with a blue stripe down the centre. The officers' uniforms were trimmed with silver lace, and they wore a crimson silk sash across the left shoulder. All this gay attire was surmounted by a tall blue grenadier cap having on the front the thistle surrounded by the motto Nemo me impune lacessit ; the flap was red with the white horse of Hanover and the motto Nee aspera terrent over it. The back part of the cap was red and the turn-up blue with a thistle embroidered between the letters II. D.1 Grenadier caps had probably been worn by the regiment from the time of the battle of Ramillies, previous to which they had worn the three-cornered cocked hat common to all regiments, and they continued to be used till 1768 or even later. They were very smart, and suited the uniform of the period admirably.

1 In .1 coloured drawing in the British Museum of date 1742 a Scots Grey is shown with a grenadier cap the colours of which are exactly the reverse of those mentioned above ; the front of the cap being red turned up with blue. Whether there was a change made by the regulations, or whether the artist made a mistake, is impossible to say.

58 ROYAL SCOTS GREYS

In 1764 the regiment was ordered to be mounted on long-tailed horses, the white worsted aguillette was discontinued and an epaulette on the left shoulder substituted. It is probable that all white mountings were now done away with, and that the epaulette worn by the men was of yellow worsted, while that of the officers would be gold. The following year it is certain that officers had gold embroidery. The colour of the waistcoats and breeches was changed from blue to white, and the heavy jack-boots were replaced by others of a lighter description.

The year 1768 brought doom to the old grenadier cap. With that mania for unnecessary change which has always characterised the British military authorities, the regiment was now directed to wear black bearskin caps with the thistle ornament as before. But the bearskins seem to have been kept for high ceremonial occasions, if, indeed, the order was carried into effect at all at this time. In regimental order of i?th August, 1777, the regiment is ordered to parade " in short gaiters and grenadier caps and old cloaths," and two years later reference is made to " the new grenadier caps to be fitted for the men," and in 1789 " the colonel will give half a guinea to any sergeant, corporal, or dragoon who shall contrive the best method of fixing on the grenadier caps, and easiest for the men, so as in all situations to prevent them falling off."

It was the custom then and for long after for the men's hair to be poma- tumed, powdered, and plaited in a club behind. In 1778 we are informed that if any man's hair was too short to admit of this treatment he was to provide himself " with false hair of the colour of his own, twenty-two inches wherefrom it is tied behind." The ribbon with which the hair was tied was to hang down, "about two inches being sufficient." Not only was the men's hair looked after with scrupulous attention, but the horses' manes were also plaited, though not powdered, and " if opened out are to be again plaited up till the morning of the review." It was not till 1808 that the men were allowed to wear their hair au naturel. In 1784 the officers wore two epaulettes — the only heavy cavalry regiment who then enjoyed that privilege ; and four years afterwards the sword-belts were ordered to be suspended across the right shoulder instead of being fastened round the waist ; but the latter fashion was resumed again in 1796, the sword-blade itself being lengthened to thirty-two inches.

In 1811 the skirts of the men's coats were considerably shortened, and

SIR JAMES BALFOUR PAUL 59

broad yellow lace was used for the trimmings instead of narrow white lace. The tails to the coats seem to have been abolished altogether by 1834, and by 1864 the scarlet tunic had been adopted, with a white belt for the cartouche box worn across the left shoulder.

Whatever may have been the precise date of the disappearance of the grenadier cap, there is no doubt that at the time of Waterloo the regiment was wearing bearskins. The pattern, however, was rather different from what it now is. In front there was a brass peak bearing the regimental badge, and the feather was not a mere " hackle," but a white plume curv- ing over the top of the hat. The hackle, reduced to nine inches in height, was introduced in 1846, and the dress regulations of 1894 provide that the bearskin is to have a gilt thistle on front and a gilt grenade on the left side as a plume socket, bearing the badge of St. Andrew with the royal arms above and the word " Waterloo " below.

In 1808 plush breeches were ordered to be worn instead of leather ; but, as might have been expected, this was not found a suitable material, and in 1812 web breeches and grey cloth overalls were introduced. These were followed at a more recent date by dark blue cloth overalls with a yellow stripe.

STANDARD.

The Regimental Standard is red, bearing a thistle surrounded by a green ribbon with the motto Nemo me impune lacessit, and a garland of rose, thistle, and shamrock. The ribbon is surmounted by an imperial crown. Below, the regimental motto Second to none. (In a standard of the eighteenth century the motto appears as Nee sunt tibi Marie secundi.) Below the motto is an eagle displayed bearing a thunderbolt between two scrolls, the upper inscribed "Waterloo" and the lower "Sevastopol." There are six other scrolls on the colours, the three on the dexter side bearing the names " Blenheim," " Oudenarde " and " Dettingen " ; those on the sinister " Ramillies," " Malplaquet " and " Balaclava." At the four corners are the white horse of Hanover and the monogram " II. D.," each twice repeated. The squadron standards (discontinued since 1859) were somewhat similar, but blue instead of red. The only battle scrolls on them were " Waterloo," " Balaclava " and " Sevastopol."

60 ROYAL SCOTS GREYS

COLONELS OF THE REGIMENT.

I. 26th November, 1681 — September, 1685. THOMAS DALYELL, born 1615, eldest son of Thomas Dalyell of Binns and Janet Bruce, said to have been a daughter of the first Lord Bruce of Kinross. Fought in the royalist army and after the death of Charles I. never shaved his beard. Entered the Muscovite service, but returned to Scotland in 1665. Commander-in-chief in Scotland, 1666 ; second in command to the Duke of Monmouth, 1679 > a noted persecutor of the Cove- nanters ; M.P. for Linlithgowshire and a privy councillor. Married Agnes Ker of Cavers, and had a son Thomas who was created a baronet.

II. 6th November, 1685 — December, 1688. LORD CHARLES MURRAY, second son of John, first Marquess of Atholl, by Amelia Anne Sophia, daughter of James, Earl of Derby. Born 28th February, 1661. Lieut.-colonel, 1681 ; colonel, 1685 ; created Earl of Dunmore, i6th August, 1686. Removed from his command in 1688 and suffered several periods of imprisonment. Pardoned at the accession of Queen Anne, and sworn as privy councillor, 1703 ; Governor of Blackness Castle, 1707. Died igth April, 1710. Married, 1682, Catherine, daughter and heir of Richard Watts of Great Munden, co. Herts.

III. 3ist December, 1688— 7th April, 1704. SIR THOMAS LIVINGSTON. Eldest son of Sir Thomas Livingston, Bart., entered the service of the Prince of Orange and was captain, 1678, and lieut.-colonel of Balfour's Regiment, 1684. Came to Britain with William of Orange, and was appointed colonel of the Royal Dragoons. Served in the Scottish campaign under General Hugh Mackay, and defeated the Jacobite army at the Haughs of Cromdale, ist May, 1690. Succeeded General Mackay as commander-in-chief in Scotland and was sworn a privy councillor. Exonerated from blame in the matter of the massacre of Glencoe. Major-General, 1696, and had the same rank on the English establishments, 1698. Created VISCOUNT TEVIOT in December, 1696. In 1697 commanded a brigade in the Netherlands, and became lieut.-general, nth January, 1703. Author of a scarce work entitled Exercise of the Foot with the Evolution according to the words of Command, 1693. Died I4th January, 1711, aged 60. Married a Dutch lady, Macktellina Walrave of Nimeguen, but the union was not a happy one, and they became involved in litigation. There is a curious story of his ghost having appeared to his neglected wife at the hour of his death asking forgiveness from her.

IV. 7th April, 1704 — I5th August, 1706. LORD JOHN HAY, second son of the second Marquess of Tweeddale. Born about 1688. Entered the regiment of Royal Dragoons ; was lieut.-colonel i6th August, 1703 ; and colonel (by pur- chase) 7th April, 1704 ; brigadier-general, 25th August, 1704. Commanded his regiment in the campaigns under Marlborough and was a very popular officer. Died at Courtrai, I5th August, 1706. Married first Elizabeth Dalziel, a daughter and heir of James, fourth Earl of Carnwath, and secondly Elizabeth, daughter and heir of Sir Charles Orby of Croyland, Bart.

V. August, 1706— 20th April, 1714. LORD JOHN DALRYMPLE, second Earl of Stair. Born and August, 1673. Served as a volunteer with the Cameronian

SIR JAMES BALFOUR PAUL 61

Regiment of the Earl of Angus at Steinkirk, 8th August, 1692 ; second lieut.- colonel Scottish Foot Guards, I2th May, 1702 ; A.D.C. to the Duke of Marl- borough in 1703 ; had a commission as colonel in the Scots Brigade in Holland which he exchanged in 1706 for the colonelcy of the Scots Greys, and commanded them at Ramillies ; commanded a brigade at the battle of Oudenarde, nth July, 1708 ; major-general, 1709 ; lieut. -general, ist January, 1710 ; K.T., 26th May, 1710, being invested under special commission by the Duke of Marlborough at the camp before Douai. After the fall of Marlborough he had to make over his command at a fixed price to the Earl of Portmore. He got the colonelcy again, however, as after noted.

VI. 2ist April, 1714 — isth February, 1717. DAVID, EARL OF PORTMORE. Sir David Colyear, second Baronet, was born in Brabant about 1656, and was naturalised by Act of Parliament, 1699 ; served in his father's regiment in the Dutch Brigade and in 1688 was made colonel of what used to be Wauchop's Regiment, with which he fought in Ireland under William III. He was appointed governor of Limerick, I3th October, 1691. He was a brigadier before 1695. On ist June, 1699, he was created Lord Portmore, and on I3th April, 1703, further created Earl of Portmore. Colonel of the 2nd Foot (Coldstream Guards), 27th February, 1703 ; commander-in-chief of the forces in Portugal, 3rd July, 1710 ; general, 3ist January, 1712, and afterwards served in Flanders ; K.T., I7th January, 1713 ; governor of Gibraltar, 7th August, and a representative peer for Scotland in October of the same year. Colonel of the Greys, 2ist April, 1714, an appointment which he retained till 1717. Died in January, 1730. Married about 1695, Catherine, only child of Sir Charles Sedley of Southfleet, Barnet, and had issue.

VII. I5th February, 1717 — nth May, 1745. JAMES CAMPBELL OF LAWERS. Captain Royal Scots Fusiliers, 25th February, 1702, and colonel, 24th August, 1706 ; served with that regiment at Oudenarde. Lieut. -colonel of the Greys, 24th August, 1706, and greatly distinguished himself with them at Malplaquet. Colonel of the gth Foot, 27th July, 1715, and colonel of the Greys, I5th February, 1717 ; groom of the bedchamber to George II. ; M.P. for Ayrshire, 1727-41 ; brigadier-general, I5th November, 1735 ; governor of Edinburgh Castle, 1738 ; major-general, 2nd July, 1739 ; lieut.-general, i8th February, 1742. Created a Knight of the Bath, i6th June, 1743, for his distinguished services at Dettingen. Lost a leg at the battle of Fontenoy, from the effects of which he died, 30th April, 1745. Married, 1720, Jean Boyle, eldest daughter of David, first Earl of Glasgow, and had issue James, who became fifth Earl of Loudoun.

VIII. 28th May, 1745— gth May, 1747. JOHN, EARL OF STAIR. After the sale of the colonelcy of the Greys to Lord Portmore, as mentioned above, on the death of Queen Anne, Lord Stair was appointed gentleman of the bedchamber to George I. and a privy councillor. On 4th March, 1715, he was made colonel of the Inniskilling Dragoons, and in the following September was sent to France as ambassador extraordinary. From 1720 to 1729 he retired to private life, but in the year last mentioned was appointed vice-admiral of Scotland. In 1734 he lost all his offices from political reasons ; but on the fall of the Walpole administration he received a field marshal's baton, i8th March, 1742 ; governor of Minorca, I4th April, 1742, and once more colonel of the Inniskillings. He was

62 ROYAL SCOTS GREYS

also ambassador extraordinary to the States-General of Holland, and Commander- in-chief of the Allied army in Flanders. He commanded under King George II. at the battle of Dettingen ; but being disgusted with the preference shown to the Hanoverians, he resigned his command.

In 1744 he was appointed commander-in-chief in Great Britain, and again got his old colonelcy of the Greys, 28th May, 1745, in succession to his brother- in-law, the gallant Sir James Campbell ; on loth June, 1746, he was appointed general of Marines. He died gth May, 1747. Married in March, 1708, Lady Eleanor Campbell, daughter of James, second Earl of Loudoun, and widow of James, first Viscount Primrose.

IX. 28th May, 1747 — 25th December, 1749. JOHN, 20th EARL OF CRAWFORD. Born 4th October, 1702, and succeeded to the title in 1713. Captain in the Scots Greys, 25th December, 1726, and in the First Regiment of Foot Guards, 1734. In 1738 he joined the Russian Army and was severely wounded at the battle of Krotzka, 22nd July, 1739. On his return to England he was colonel of the Black Watch or 42nd Foot, and of the Horse Grenadiers in 1740 ; of the 25th Foot in 1746 ; and in the following year obtained the colonelcy of the Greys. He was brigadier-general in the Duke of Cumberland's army in Flanders, and was pro- moted to major-general. He fought at Fontenoy, 1745, and at Roucoux, 1746. Lieut. -general, i6th September, 1747. Died 24th December, 1749. Married Lady Jean Murray, daughter of James, second Duke of Atholl, much to the dis- pleasure of the Duke, as it was a run-away match. She died in November, 1747, only eight months after the marriage.

X. i8th January, 1750 — April, 1752. JOHN, EARL OF ROTHES. Born about 1698, succeeded his father as ninth earl in 1722. By that time he had been some years in the army, having been a captain of dragoons in 1715, and of the Foot Guards two years later. In 1719 he was lieut.-colonel of the Scots Fusiliers ; governor of Stirling Castle, 1722 ; lieut.-colonel, 25th Foot, 1732 ; brigadier- general, 1739 ; major-general, 1743 ; and served as such at the battle of Det- tingen. In April, 1745, he was appointed colonel of the Scots Horse Grenadiers and in the following month was transferred to the Inniskilling Dragoons, and commanded the cavalry brigade at the battle of Roucoux, 1746 ; lieut. -general, 1747, and colonel of the Greys, 1750. Governor of Duncannon Fort and commander-in-chief in Ireland, 1751 ; transferred to the colonelcy of the Scots Foot Guards, 1752 ; K.T., 1753 ; and general, 1755. He died loth December, 1767. Married first, 1741, Hannah, daughter and co-heiress of Matthew Howard of Hackney ; and secondly, 1763, Mary Lloyd, daughter of Gersham Lloyd.

XI. 2gth April, 1752 — gth November, 1770. JOHN CAMPBELL OF MAMORE, afterwards fourth DUKE OF ARGYLL. Born about 1693, and was a lieut.-colonel in 1712 ; A.D.C. to his kinsman John, Duke of Argyll and Greenwich, during the Jacobite rising of 1715 ; colonel of the Scots Fusiliers, 1738 ; brigadier- general at the battle of Dettingen, 1741 ; major-general, 1744 ; lieut. -general, 1747 ; colonel of the Greys, 2gth April, 1752 ; and governor of Limerick, 1761. On isth April, 1761, he succeeded as fourth Duke of Argyll ; K.T. and general, 1765. Died in November, 1770. Married, 1720, Mary Bellenden, third daughter of John, second Lord Bellenden.

SIR JAMES BALFOUR PAUL 63

XII. ioth November, 1770— 4th January, 1782. WILLIAM, EARL OF PAN- MURE. Third son of Harry Maule of Kellie, third son of George, second Earl of Panmure. He was born in 1700, and entered the army, serving as an officer in the Scots Foot Guards ; he was at Dettingen and Fontenoy. Colonel, 25th Foot, 1747 ; of the Royal Scots Fusiliers, 1752 ; M.P. for Forfarshire from 1735 to 1782 without, it is said, once opening his mouth except to say " What a shame," when the mob tried to break the windows of St. Stephen's Chapel during a riot in 1745. On ist April, 1743, he was created an Irish peer under the title of Earl Panmure of Forth ; major-general, 1755 ; second in command at Gibraltar, 1756 ; lieut. -general, 1758 ; general, 1770. In the last-mentioned year he obtained the colonelcy of the Scots Greys, which he retained till his death on 4th January, 1782. He was handsome, popular, very hospitable and benevolent, and a great gourmet.

XIII. i8th April, 1782— 3ist January, 1785. GEORGE PRESTON. Son of Major William Preston of Gorton. He served almost all his life in the Scots Greys, entering the regiment as cornet, i6th July, 1739. He obtained the lieut. - colonelcy, 25th February, 1757, and commanded the Greys during the Seven Years' war. He was transferred, as colonel, to the I7th Light Dragoons, 2nd November, 1770 ; major-general, 1772 ; lieut. -general, 1777 ; and returned to the Greys as colonel, i8th April, 1782. Died 3ist January, 1785.

XIV. 4th February, 1785— 24th November, 1795. JAMES JOHNSTON. It has not been ascertained to what family this officer belonged, but he commenced his military service in the Royal Horse Guards, fought at Dettingen and Fontenoy, and was major in the regiment in 1750 ; lieut.-colonel, 1754, and commanded it during the Seven Years' war. Colonel, First Irish Horse (now 4th Dragoon Guards), 1762 ; major-general, 1770 ; colonel, nth Dragoons, 1775 ; lieut.- general, 1777. He obtained the colonelcy of the Greys in February, 1785, and died 24th November, 1795.

XV. 2nd December, 1795 — 30th October, 1796. ARCHIBALD, IITH EARL OF EGLINTON. Born iSth May, 1726. Joined the Greys as cornet, I5th March, 1744 ; on 3ist October in that year he purchased a commission as captain in Colonel Fleming's Regiment. He raised the 78th Regiment of Highlanders, and had a commission as their lieut.-colonel, 4th January, 1757. He commanded this regiment in America, where he served with distinction under General Amherst. Governor of Dunbarton Castle, 1764 ; deputy ranger, Hyde Park and St. James's Parks, 1766 ; colonel, 5ist Foot, 1767 ; major-general, 1772 ; lieut.-general, 1777 ; governor of Edinburgh Castle, 1782 ; general, 1793 ; colonel of the Greys, 2nd December, 1795. Died 3Oth October, 1796. Married first Lady Jean Lindsay, daughter of George, Earl of Crawford, and secondly, in 1783, Frances, only daughter of Sir William Twysdan of Baydonhall.

XVI. 2nd November, 1796 — 28th March, 1801. SIR RALPH ABERCROMBY. The detailed account of the career of this distinguished and popular officer can- not be given here : the following brief summary must suffice. The eldest son of George Abercromby of Tullibody, he was born in October, 1734. Cornet, 3rd Dragoon Guards, 1756 ; went with his regiment to Germany in 1758 and fought under the Duke of Brunswick ; lieutenant, 1760 ; captain, 1762 ; major, 1770 ;

64 ROYAL SCOTS GREYS

lieut.-colonel, 1773 ; major-general, 1787. Fought in the Flanders campaign under the Duke of York and was publicly thanked by that commander for his conduct at Roubaix. Knight of the Bath, 1795 ; commanded the West Indian Expedition in 1796 ; commander-in-chief in Ireland, 1797, and in Scotland, 1798. He was in command of the ist Division in the Dutch campaign of 1799, and and if anyone could have made it a success, he was the man ; but he was super- seded by the Duke of York, who made a sad mess of it. He was appointed com- mander-in-chief in the Mediterranean in 1800, and was mortally wounded in the hour of victory at the battle of Aboukir, dying on 28th March, 1801. Married, 1767, Mary Anne, daughter and co-heir of John Menzies of Ferntower. She received a peerage after her husband's death, 28th May, 1801, as Baroness Abercromby.

XVII. i6th May, 1801 — 27th January, 1813. SIR DAVID DUNDAS. The son of an Edinburgh merchant, who was a cadet of the ancient family of Dundas of Dundas, he was born about 1735. After beginning the study of medicine he abandoned that science and obtained in 1752 a commission as lieutenant in the Engineers under his uncle, Colonel David Watson, who was at that time making a survey of Scotland. In 1756 he joined the 56th Foot, and in 1759 had command of a troop in a newly raised regiment of light horse (now the i5th Hussars). He served in Germany in 1760 and 1761 ; was A.D.C. to Major-General Elliot in Cuba, 1762 ; major, isth Dragoons, 1770 ; lieut.-colonel, lath Light Dragoons, J775 .' quartermaster-general in Ireland, 1778 ; lieut.-colonel, 2nd Irish Horse (now 5th Dragoon Guards) ; major-general, 1790 ; colonel, 22nd Foot, 1791 ; commanded a brigade of cavalry at Tournay, 1794 ; colonel of the 7th Light Dragoons, 1795 ; quartermaster-general, 1796. He commanded a division in the expedition to Holland under the Duke of York in 1799 ; colonel of the Scots Greys, i8th May, 1801, and governor of Fort George; general, 1802 ; Knight of the Bath, 1804 ; colonel of the Rifle Brigade, 1809 ; commander-in-chief, 1809- 1811 ; colonel, ist Dragoons Guards, 1813. Died i8th February, 1820. Dundas was a scientific soldier and published several treatises on military tactics. He married Charlotte, sister of Lieut-. General Oliver de Lancy.

XVIII. 27th January, 1813— 4th January, 1815. WILLIAM JOHN, FIFTH MARQUESS OF LOTHIAN. Born I3th March, 1737 ; cornet, nth Dragoons (a regiment commanded by his father), 26th June, 1754. After serving as a captain in the 5th Dragoons, and major in the i8th Dragoons, he obtained the lieut.- colonelcy of the I2th Dragoons in 1760, and subsequently held the same rank in the 4th Regiment of Horse, the Second Troop and then the First Troop of Horse Guards, the latter being formed into the first regiment of Life Guards in 1788. He succeeded his father in the peerage in 1775, and was created a K.T. nth October, 1776. He was removed from his command in 1789 on the recovery of the King, owing to his having supported the claim of the Prince of Wales to the Regency ; general, 1796. In 1798 he got the colonelcy of his old regiment, the nth Dragoons, and was transferred to the Greys in January, 1813. Died 4th December, 1815. Married, 1762, Elizabeth, only daughter of Chichester Fortescue of Dromiskin, co. Louth.

XIX. i2th January, 1815— I2th August, 1839. SIR JAMES STEUART OF COLTNESS, Bart. Born August, 1744. Cornet, ist Dragoons, I7th March, 1761,

SIR JAMES BALFOUR PAUL 65

and served with that regiment in Germany, 1761, 1762 ; captain, I05th Royal Highlanders, I3th January, 1763 ; travelled in France and Germany for two years ; captain, 5th Royal Irish Dragoons (now Lancers), 1766 ; major, I3th Dragoons, 6th November, 1772. The following year, on his father succeeding to the estate of Coltness, he took the additional surname of Denham, and was known as Steuart-Denham till nearly the end of his life, when he resumed his original name of Steuart. Colonel, I2th Light Dragoons, gth November, 1791 ; major-general, October, 1793 ; from 1795 to 1797 he had command of the cavalry in Scotland ; in the last mentioned year he was made a local Lieut.-General with the command of Munster, and highly distinguished himself by his statesmanlike ability during the insurrection of 1798. Lieut.-General, ist January, 1798 ; general, 1803 ; colonel of the Greys, lath January, 1815 ; G.C.B., 1830. Died I2th August, 1839. Married Alexia, daughter of William Blacker of Carrick, co. Armagh.

XX. 25th August, 1839 — 28th May, 1851. SIR WILLIAM KEIR GRANT. Son of Archibald Keir, H.E.I.C.S. Born 1772. Comet, I5th Light Dragoons (now I5th Hussars), 30th May, 1792 : lieutenant, 1793 ; served in the Flanders campaigns of 1793-4. He took part in a singularly gallant exploit at Villiers- en-Couche, when two squadrons of the I5th and as many of the Austrian Leopold Hussars saved the Emperor Francis II. from being taken prisoner. For this he received one of the nine large gold medals presented to the British officers concerned : when he recorded arms in 1805 his medal occupied a conspicuous place on the shield. He was also made a knight of the Military Order of Maria Theresa. He fought in the Russian and Austrian Armies, 1799-1801. Lieut.- colonel 22nd Light Dragoons, 3rd December, 1800 ; after the peace of 1801 he was A.D.C. to the Prince of Wales, and to Lord Moira in Scotland ; adjutant-general to the King's troops in Bengal, 1806 ; colonel, 1810 ; major-general, 1813. From 1806 to 1820 his services were entirely in the East ; commander-in-chief in Java, 1815 ; Persian decoration of the Lion and Sun, 1820 ; K.C.B., 1822 ; lieut.- general, 1825 ; G.C.B., 1835 ; colonel of the Greys, 25th August, 1839 ; general, 1841. He died 7th May, 1852. Married, 1811, Rebecca, daughter of Captain John Palmer Jackson, R.N.

XXI. 28th May, 1851 — 25th August, 1858. ARCHIBALD MONEY. For the first time in its history the Greys had a colonel who does not seem to have been a Scotsman, though his actual parentage has not been ascertained. He joined the nth Hussars as a cornet in 1794, in which regiment he served for twenty-five years, becoming brevet lieut. -colonel in 1814. He was with it in Flanders and Scotland, in the Cadiz expedition, in Egypt in 1801, in the Peninsular cam- paigns of 1811-12, and at Waterloo, where he commanded the regiment towards the close of the day. C.B., 1815 ; colonel, 1837 ; major-general, 1846 ; lieut.- general, 1854 ; colonel of the Greys, 28th May, 1851. Died 25th August, 1858.

XXII. i4th September, 1858— I7th July, 1860. LORD ARTHUR MOYSES WILLIAM HILL, afterwards LORD SANDYS. Second son of Arthur, second Marquess of Downshire, by Mary Trumbell, created (1802) Baroness Sandys. Born loth January, 1792. Cornet, loth Hussars, 1809 ; lieutenant, 1810 ; captain, 1813 ; brevet-major, 1815 ; joined the Greys as captain, 1816 ; brevet lieut.- colonel, 1819 ; lieut. -colonel Scots Greys, 23rd March, 1832 ; colonel in the

66 ROYAL SCOTS GREYS

Army, 1837 ; major-general, 1846 ; colonel, 7th Dragoon Guards, 1853 ; lieut.- general, 1854 ; colonel Scots Greys, I4th September, 1858. Died I7th July, 1860. Unmarried.

XXIII. i7th July, 1860 — 3oth January, 1864. SIR ALEXANDER KENNEDY CLARKE-KENNEDY of Knockgray. Son of John Clarke of Nunland, and grand- son of the Rev. Alexander Kennedy of Knockgray, to which estate he succeeded and took the additional surname of Kennedy. Born 1782. Cornet, 1st Royal Dragoons, 1802 ; lieutenant, 1804 ; captain, 1810 ; major, 1825 ; lieut.-col., 1830 ; colonel in the Army, 1841 ; major-general, 1854 ; lieut.-general, 1860 ; colonel Scots Greys, I7th July, 1860. He served in the Peninsular campaign and was at Waterloo, where he was twice wounded, and had two horses shot under him. He was an A.D.C. to Queen Victoria. Died 30th January, 1864. Married, 1816, Harriet Rebekah, daughter and co-heir of John Randall.

XXIV. 3ist January, 1864— 22nd September, 1881. SIR JOHN BLOOMFIELD GOUGH, G.C.B., A.D.C. Son of the Very Rev. Thomas Bunbury Gough, Dean of Deny. Lieut.-general in the Army, 1862. Married, ist, 1840, Carmina, daughter of E. Hitchins ; 2nd, 1846, Margaret, daughter of Major-General Sir John McCaskill, K.C.B. ; 3rd, 1855, Elizabeth, daughter of George Arbuthnot of Elderslie. Died 2Oth September, 1891.

XXV. 23rd September, 1891 — qth February, 1900. GEORGE CALVERT CLARKE, C.B. Fifth son of John Calvert Clarke. Born 23rd June, 1814. Ex- changed as captain from 8gth Foot, 1845 ; major, 1858 ; lieut.-colonel, 1866 ; colonel, 1891. Died, unmarried, igth February, 1900.

XXVI. gth February, 1900 — loth July, 1905. ANDREW NUGENT, eldest son of Patrick John Nugent of Portnaferry, oo. Down. Born 30th March, 1834. Cornet, 1852 ; lieut, 1854 ; captain, 1856 ; major, 1866 ; lieut.-colonel, 1869 ; colonel in the Army, 1869 ; colonel of the Greys, 1900. Died, unmarried, loth July, 1905.

XXVII. nth July, 1905. ANDREW SMITH MONTAGUE BROWNE, eldest son of Captain Patrick Montague Browne of Janeville, co. Down. Born 1836. Lieut., 1855 I captain, 1858 ; major, 1869 ; lieut.-colonel, 1877 ; colonel in the Army, 1881 ; major-general, 1893 ; colonel 3rd Dragoon Guards, 1903 ; colonel of the Greys, 1905. Married, 1872, Alice Jane, daughter of Lieut.-Colonel James A. D. Fergusson.

H.I.M. NICHOLAS II., EMPEROR OF RUSSIA, was appointed colonel-in-chief of the Greys, 8th December, 1894.

II

THE SCOTS GUARDS

BY CAPTAIN CHARLES B. BALFOUR OF NEWTON DON, LATE SCOTS GUARDS,

LORD-LlEUTENANT OF BERWICKSHIRE

THE Scots Regiment of Foot Guards had its origin in the civil wars of the seventeenth century. In 1642 a force was raised in Scotland to help the Protestant settlers in Ulster, who were hard pressed by the Irish insurgents under Sir Phelim O'Neile. Scotland, at the joint request of the King and of the Parliament of England, was to find the men, while the latter undertook to provide the money for maintaining them in Ireland.

Ten regiments of foot and 600 horse landed in Ulster. To follow their campaigns in the north of Ireland would exceed the limits of this narrative ; but it may be said that in circumstances of great difficulty, not the least of which was the failure on the part of the English Parliament to observe their part of the bargain, they saved the situation in Ulster. For seven years they remained there, and when, in October, 1649, the remnant of the army returned to Scotland, their numbers were so reduced that those who remained on pay were formed into one battalion of six companies of 66 men each, and a body of 40 horse. The infantry were known as the " Irish Companies," and this body of veterans moved from one quarter to another in the Lowlands of Scotland until King Charles II. landed in 1650.

On 5th July he was proclaimed king, the Irish companies having been assigned to him on the 3rd as a Lifeguard of Foot, and Lord Lome was appointed colonel of the regiment. On 22nd July the king ordered new

68 THE SCOTS GUARDS

colours to be issued to the regiment at Falkland Palace. These were very unlike the colours of to-day. The ensigns were blue — that of the colonel bore on it the royal arms as marshalled in Scotland — and each of the others displayed a royal device, but on one side only. On the other side of each ensign were the words in large gold letters : " Covenant. For Religione — King — and Kingdoms."

The Foot Guards took part in the defence of Edinburgh against Crom- well, and suffered so severely at the battle of Dunbar that only two companies could afterwards be mustered for attendance on the king. Lieut.-Colonel James Wallace of Auchans and Major Bryce Cochrane were taken prisoners, and many other officers were killed ; but they saved their colours, for in the illustrated roll of Scottish colours taken at Dunbar — drawn up by order of the English Parliament— no colours resembling those of the regiment appear.

The Foot Guards were on duty at Charles II.'s coronation at Scone on 1st January, 1651, but their depleted ranks were never filled up, and at the end of July, when the march to Worcester began, they were only 236 strong. On 3rd September, 1651, the Scottish army was annihilated at Worcester ; and the King's Life Guard of Foot shared in the general fate.

During the Commonwealth Scotland was garrisoned by the parlia- mentary army under General Monck, and it was not until the greater part of the English troops were withdrawn that the king set about reorganising the Scottish forces.

The first to be embodied were the Foot Guards. On 5th January, 1661, one company was sworn in and placed as a garrison in Edinburgh Castle, under command of Captain Robert Straiton. A second company was taken on pay in February as the garrison of Dunbarton Castle. In April a troop of Life Guards was formed ; in May another troop ; and on 1st May of the following year Charles II. signed a warrant for the " Establish- ment of a New Regiment of Foot Guards to his Matie consisting of six hundred souldiers." There were to be six companies, as in the original battalion. It was not, however, till August, 1662, that any additions were made to the existing establishment. In that month three field companies were raised by beat of drum in Edinburgh, and in September the sixth company was raised for the garrison of Stirling Castle. On I3th September five companies were reviewed in Edinburgh by the Lord High Commis-

CAPTAIN CHARLES B. BALFOUR 69

sioner, the Earl of Middleton, and on i6th September the regiment received new colours. These were red, with the white St. Andrew's Cross on a blue canton ; and in the centre the royal badge of the Golden Thistle — • surmounted by the imperial crown, and encircled with the motto " Nemo me impune lacessit " in gold letters.

The Earl of Linlithgow was appointed lieut.-colonel of the regiment without a company, although he drew captain's pay in addition to his own. Sir James Turner, a veteran of the continental and civil wars (original of the famous Dugald Dalgety), was appointed major with a com- pany. The precepts for the pay of the field and garrison companies were issued to him as major. This rule was observed until the augmentation of the forces in 1666, when the number of companies in the Guards was increased.

The connection between the garrison and field companies was then discontinued, on the ground that the augmentation would enable the officer commanding to overtake all necessary field duty without calling for de- tachments from the garrisons, as had hitherto been the custom. It was about this time also that Linlithgow was promoted to the rank of colonel.

Soon after the review of the five companies in Edinburgh in September, 1662, the regiment marched to Glasgow, and all six companies were there again reviewed by Middleton ; and thus at the beginning of their history the Scots Foot Guards were connected with the two cities of Scotland from which they still draw so many of their recruits.

As in 1650, so in 1666, the first engagements of the Foot Guards were in civil war, for in the latter year they took part in the action against the Covenanters at Rullion Green, and early in June, 1679, a detachment under Lord Ross beat off the attack of the Covenanting army on Glasgow. Thence they proceeded to Bothwell Brig, and it was the charge of the Guards under Lord Livingstone which broke the defence of the bridge. In 1682 a grenadier company was added to the regiment — the first of its kind in Scotland. Two years later Colonel James Douglas, brother of the Earl of Queensberry, at a parade on Leith sands took over the command of the regiment from Linlithgow, who exchanged the profession of arms for that of the law, and was appointed Lord Justice-General.

Douglas was a keen soldier, and brought the regiment to a high state of efficiency. Under his command it was increased to two battalions,

70 THE SCOTS GUARDS

one of which in 1686 went up to London and joined the camp formed by King James at Hounslow Heath, being brigaded with the other two regi- ments of Guards for the first time. The uniform of the regiment is recorded at this time as " red coats — lined with white — white breeches and stockings." The pictures of the battle of Bothwell Brig at Dalmeny and Dalkeith repre- sent the breeches and stockings as dark grey.

King James VII. changed the colours of the regiment from what they had been under Charles II. to the national flag of Scotland— the St. Andrew's cross on a blue ground covering the whole flag — with no other device, the colonel's colour being plain white ; and these in all probability con- tinued to be the regimental colours until the Union.

On the outbreak of the revolution in 1688 both battalions, along with the rest of the army in Scotland, were ordered to England. One battalion went to London, where it is recorded that the feeling of the men was strongly anti-Catholic, and that they declared they would not fight against the Protestants. The other battalion was with King James at Salisbury, and fell back with him to Maidenhead, where it was joined by the battalion from London, and, in spite of Colonel Douglas's remonstrances, the whole regiment went over to the Prince of Orange. Douglas himself went north to Scotland, but soon after threw in his lot with King William, who gave him a high command in his army in Ireland, where the 2nd battalion of the regiment took part in the battle of the Boyne, I3th August, 1690, and in the first siege of Limerick, where it lost heavily.

The ist battalion had meanwhile been ordered to Flanders, where it had its first experience of campaigning abroad, and under Marlborough shared in the successful action at Walcourt, in 1689. A diary kept by an officer in the regiment, which is still in existence, illustrates the plan of this action, and also plans of many of the camps which they occupied in the campaign.

After returning to Scotland to recruit, the 2nd battalion joined the ist in Flanders, and in April, 1691, both battalions were brigaded with the ist Regiment of Guards, the Coldstream Guards and the Dutch Guards, under the command of Douglas, their colonel, as brigadier. While in camp at Gerpynes under King William's command, his Majesty granted to the captains of the Scots Guards the double rank of lieut.-colonel, a privilege conferred on the ist and Coldstream Guards by James II. ; and

CAPTAIN CHARLES B. BALFOUR 71

to the lieutenants of the three regiments the double rank of captain. Soon after, in July, Douglas died, and was succeeded in his command of the regiment by Colonel George Ramsay, brother of the 3rd Earl of Dalhousie, and in the command of the brigade of Guards by the 2nd Duke of Schom- berg, son of the famous field marshal.

In the campaign of 1692 the Guards were present at the battle of Steen-

kirk, and were heavily engaged at Neerwinden or Landen in 1693. The

defence of the village of Neerwinden was entrusted to the brigade of Guards,

the Royal Scots, and the 7th Fusiliers, and the weight of the French attack

fell on the ist Guards and the Scots Guards. Three times in overwhelming

numbers the French came on. At the first onset the ist Guards were com-

pelled to fall back on the Scots Guards, with whom they rallied, and the

force of nine battalions against twenty-six successfully repelled the assault.

<-~ *A no better. A third time with fresh forces the French

•-"-Uo was expended did the British

70,] 2J ^^-ATl/jvi. >rces of the enemy.

e first battle honour

S ^"8'nien« " e§e of Namur, where

rcg'ment ;„ ;d the outworks. On

2unx ._.w ; stormed the fortress

and effected a lodgment, ~._ garrison capitulated.

The war dragged on for two years more anu ---- ed with the peace of Ryswick in 1697.

The 2nd battalion Scots Guards returned to England in 1696 and to Scotland in 1697, where they were joined by the ist battalion from Holland at the end of the year.

For the next twelve years the regiment was in its own country, quartered in Edinburgh and Leith, and although the war of the Spanish Succession broke out in 1701, its services were more required at home than abroad.

The state of affairs in Scotland was critical : the establishment of the army had been reduced to a minimum ; there was discontent over the failure of the Darien expedition, and friction between England and Scotland, causing frequent riots in Edinburgh, which the Guards were called out to suppress. It is evident that the government found it necessary to keep in the capital troops on whom they could rely. It was not, however, merely by the maintenance of law and order that the

0,] 2J -l/jvi

"e 2' ancT7ns°rut from after «

lvJ"'dl " : "c°rama

70 THE SCOTS GUARDS

one of which in 1686 went up to London and joined the camp formed by King James at Hounslow Heath, being brigaded with the other two regi- ments of Guards for the first time. The uniform of the regiment is recorded at this time as " red coats — lined with white — white breeches and stockings." The pictures of the battle of Bothwell Brig at Dalmeny and Dalkeith repre- sent the breeches and stockings as dark grey.

King James VII. changed the colours of the regiment from what they had been under Charles II. to the national flag of Scotland — the St. Andrew's cross on a blue ground covering the whole flag — with no other device, the colonel's colour being plain white ; and these in all probability con- tinued to be the regimental colours until the Union.

On the outbreak of the revolution in 1688 both battalions, along with the rest of the army in Scotland, were ordered to England. One battalion went to London, where it is recorded that the feeling of the men was strongly anti-Catholic, and that they declared they would not fight againc* the Protestants. The other battalion was with King James at S-" and fell back with him to Maidenhead, where it was joined T from London, and, in spite of Colonel Douglas's r<- regiment went over to the Prince of Oran^' to Scotland, but soon after threw '- him a high command in v'

of the regiment tool ^,

and in the first siege

The 1st battalion Anders, where it

had its first experienc <tnd under Marlborough

shared in the successful ... in 1689. A diary kept by an

officer in the regiment, \ ^iii in existence, illustrates the plan of

this action, and also plant <tf many of the camps which they occupied in the campaign.

After returning to Scotland to recruit, the 2nd battalion joined the 1st in Flanders, and in April, 1691, both battalions were brigaded with the ist Regiment of Guards, the Coldstream Guards and the Dutch Guards, under the command of Douglas, their colonel, as brigadier. While in camp at Gerpynes under King William's command, his Majesty granted to the captains of the Scots Guards the double rank of lieut.-colonel, a privilege conferred on the ist and Coldstream Guards by James II. ; and

CAPTAIN CHARLES B. BALFOUR 71

to the lieutenants of the three regiments the double rank of captain. Soon after, in July, Douglas died, and was succeeded in his command of the regiment by Colonel George Ramsay, brother of the 3rd Earl of Dalhousie, and in the command of the brigade of Guards by the 2nd Duke of Schom- berg, son of the famous field marshal.

In the campaign of 1692 the Guards were present at the battle of Steen- kirk, and were heavily engaged at Neerwinden or Landen in 1693. The defence of the village of Neerwinden was entrusted to the brigade of Guards, the Royal Scots, and the 7th Fusiliers, and the weight of the French attack fell on the ist Guards and the Scots Guards. Three times in overwhelming numbers the French came on. At the first onset the ist Guards were com- pelled to fall back on the Scots Guards, with whom they rallied, and the force of nine battalions against twenty-six successfully repelled the assault. A second attack fared no better. A third time with fresh forces the French came on, and not until their last cartridge was expended did the British and Dutch give ground, overwhelmed by the superior forces of the enemy.

King William was not a successful general, but the first battle honour on the regimental colours was gained in 1695 at the siege of Namur, where on 8th July the brigade of Guards stormed and carried the outworks. On 20th August the grenadier companies of the brigade stormed the fortress and effected a lodgment, and on 26th August the garrison capitulated. The war dragged on for two years more and ended with the peace of Ryswick in 1697.

The 2nd battalion Scots Guards returned to England in 1696 and to Scotland in 1697, where they were joined by the ist battalion from Holland at the end of the year.

For the next twelve years the regiment was in its own country, quartered in Edinburgh and Leith, and although the war of the Spanish Succession broke out in 1701, its services were more required at home than abroad.

The state of affairs in Scotland was critical : the establishment of the army had been reduced to a minimum ; there was discontent over the failure of the Darien expedition, and friction between England and Scotland, causing frequent riots in Edinburgh, which the Guards were called out to suppress. It is evident that the government found it necessary to keep in the capital troops on whom they could rely. It was not, however, merely by the maintenance of law and order that the

72 THE SCOTS GUARDS

presence of the Guards in Edinburgh gave security to the inhabitants. In February, 1700, a disastrous fire broke out in the Parliament close, which raged for twenty-four hours, and a battalion of the Guards was called out to help in getting it under. Their efforts saved the Parliament House from extinction, and a special grant was voted to them by the Lords of the Treasury as a reward for their services.

A second grenadier company was added to the regiment in 1702, and in 1704 a Highland company, clothed in Highland dress, and armed with broadswords, targets, guns, side pistols and dirks. The addition of these two companies made up the strength of the regiment to eighteen companies. The Highland company was stationed in Inverness for the protection of the country north and west of Loch Ness. Two other com- panies of the same character, on the establishment of the Scots Fusiliers, performed the same duty in the country to the south and east of the loch.

In 1707 the Union of Scotland and England took place. The facings of the regiment were changed from white to blue, in conformity with those of the other two regiments of Foot Guards ; while the St. George's cross of the ist and Coldstream Guards, and the St. Andrew's cross of the Scots Guards were combined in the Union flag as the colours of all three regiments. Also, in all probability the present badges, of which there is authentic record for the first time in 1712, were granted at this time.

The colours of the Guards differ from those of the regiments of the line in that the King's colour is crimson, and the regimental colour the Union. Queen Anne granted as badges the royal arms of Scotland, the Union badge of the thistle and rose as displayed on the great seal of Scotland from 1603, and the star of the Order of the Thistle, with appropriate mottoes, to be borne on what were then the colonel's, lieut.-colonel's and major's colours, and are now the king's colours of the ist, 2nd, and 3rd battalions respectively. The regimental colours carry in rotation company badges which were granted to each company at this time also. The king's colours of the Guards are only lowered to members of the royal family or to foreign crowned heads.

With the union of the legislatures the separate army establishments in Scotland and England came to an end, and it became possible for govern- ment to move troops from or to any part of Great Britain. Accordingly there was no longer the necessity for keeping the Scots Guards — now desig-

THIRD REGIMENT OF FOOT GUARDS

Now THE SCOTS GifARns Private 1746

CAPTAIN CHARLES B. BALFOUR 73

natedthe 3rd Regiment of Foot Guards — at home, and the 2nd battalion was sent to Spain in 1710, where it joined the British contingent of some 4000 men under Stanhope, as part of the allied forces commanded by Staremberg, who in July and August fought the successful battles of Almenara and Saragossa ; but in December the British force under Stanhope was cut off and surrounded by Vendome with a force ten times its number at Brihuega. All day on the gth the British held out, till their ammunition was exhausted ; then, as no relieving force appeared by night- fall, Stanhope was compelled to surrender, though not without honour after his gallant defence. In his despatches he recorded that " Colonel Verrier of the Scots Guards was killed, after having performed wonders with his battalion." Colonel Verrier was a French Huguenot who had become naturalised as a Scot. The 2nd battalion remained in Spain as prisoners of war until 1713.

At home the regiment was now commanded by William, 2nd Marquess of Lothian. Colonel Ramsay died in 1705, but the colonelcy was not filled up until April, 1707, Lieut. -Colonel William, 5th Earl of Dalhousie, being in command in the interval. In 1712 the Marquess received orders to march south " to attend on Her Majesty's person." Accordingly the ist battalion, with the exception of the Highland company, which did not follow until 1714, left Scotland, and for two hundred years after no detach- ment of the Scots Guards did duty in their native country, until his present Majesty, King George V., was attended by a guard of honour of the regi- ment when he visited Edinburgh and Glasgow in state at the beginning ot his reign, thereby setting a precedent which it is hoped will not be allowed to fall into oblivion.

The battalion reached St. Albans in May, whence it proceeded to Dover, Deal and Sandwich to embark for Dunkirk, which it garrisoned until September, and then returned to England, and in January, 1713, took up its share of the London duties. The 2nd battalion arrived in London from Spain in May, 1713, and shortly after the two battalions were inspected in Hyde Park.

Later in the year Lothian was removed from his command, in consequence of his political views not being in accordance with those of the new Tory ministry, and on loth October, John, 2nd Earl of Dunmore, was appointed colonel of the regiment, a command which he held for nearly forty years.

74 THE SCOTS GUARDS

Henceforward the three regiments of Foot Guards at home and abroad were on duty together, and mixed detachments from the three were con- stantly employed as units. For instance, when George I. in 1714 landed at Greenwich the Grenadiers of the three regiments were on duty, and during his stay there provided the king's guard. It is noteworthy that " pursuant to an order from his Majesty " the drummers of the Guards beat " the English March and the Scots Reveillez."

Beyond a raid on Vigo in 1719, in which seven companies drawn from the three regiments took part, the 3rd Guards saw no service abroad until Great Britain was drawn into the war of the Austrian Succession in 1742. In May a brigade of Guards, consisting of the ist battalions of the ist Cold- stream and the 3rd Guards, joined the allied forces in Flanders, which were under the command of Field Marshal the Earl of Stair, a former lieut.- colonel of the regiment. The slowness of the Dutch prevented any forward movement till the following year, when King George II. took command of the Allies, and defeated the French at Dettingen. This remained the last occasion on which a British monarch has been present with his army at the front until King George V. followed the example set by his ancestor. Dettingen is the second battle honour on the colours of the Scots Guards.

The brigade was still on the Continent in 1745, under the Duke of Cumberland as commander-in-chief, when he fought the disastrous, but by no means inglorious, battle of Fontenoy. In this action the brigade was under the command of Colonel George Churchill of the Coldstream Guards, who had succeeded Charles, Duke of Marlborough, as brigadier in 1743. In their advance against the enemy lines they met the French Guards face to face. When within fifty yards Lord Charles Hay, of the ist Guards, " stepped forward with flask in hand, and doffing his hat, drank politely to his enemies. ' I hope, gentlemen,' he shouted, ' that you are going to wait for us to-day.' " The Guards cheered, the French replied, and opened fire, " and then," continues Fortescue, " the British muskets, so long shouldered, were levelled, and with crash upon crash the volleys rang out from end to end of the line— first the ist Guards, then the Scots, then the Coldstream, and so on through brigade after brigade, two battalions loading while the third fired — a ceaseless, rolling, infernal fire. . . . Nineteen officers and six hundred men of the French and Swiss Guards fell at the first discharge." Then the British

CAPTAIN CHARLES B. BALFOUR 75

advanced steadily, but, being unsupported by the Dutch, exposed to a cross fire, and surrounded by reserves brought up by the French (amongst them being the famous Irish brigade), they were compelled to fall back. But even in their retreat the ranks of the Guards were unbroken. The French Household Cavalry charged, the Guards faced about and broke the charge by their fire, and so, halting and firing at intervals, they retired in perfect order ; and when the casualty returns were made up, though the killed and wounded averaged some 250 in each battalion, not a man of the brigade of Guards appeared as " missing."

Later in the year the events of the '45 led to the recall of the Guards from Flanders in September ; but, except for a body of 400 volunteers from the three regiments under the command of the Earl of Panmure of the 3rd Guards — who took part in the reduction of Carlisle — they had no share in that inglorious campaign.

In 1747 the 2nd battalions of the three regiments of Guards were sent to the Continent, where the war still continued. The Earl of Panmure was in command of the service battalion of the 3rd Guards, which, with that of the ist Guards, was under the immediate command of H.R.H. the Duke of Cumberland, the Coldstream battalion being with another portion of the allied forces under the Prince of Orange. At the battle of Lauffeld on 2nd July, the ist and 3rd Guards held the village of Vlitingen on the right of the Duke of Cumberland's force, having the Austrian contingent on their right. The Guards maintained themselves in the positions allotted to them until, in consequence of the success of the French on another part of the front, they received the order to retire. The withdrawal of the allied army was effected in good order. It fell back on a position covering Maes- tricht, from which fortress it had been the object of the French to cut it off. The conduct of the British troops on this day won the admiration of their gallant enemy. Next year the peace of Aix-la-Chapelle was signed, but in less than ten years the Seven Years' war broke out. In the interval of peace the Earl of Dunmore died on i8th April, 1752, and was succeeded in the colonelcy of the regiment by John, qih Earl of Rothes.

A brigade of Guards consisting of the ist battalions of each regiment took part in a raid on the French coast in 1758, which proved abortive, but their discipline called forth high praise from the general commanding.

76 THE SCOTS GUARDS

In 1760 a brigade of the 2nd battalions — and a Grenadier battalion drawn from each of the three regiments — was sent to Germany under Major- General Julius Caesar of the Coldstream Guards to join the allied forces under Prince Ferdinand of Brunswick, the British contingent being com- manded by the Marquess of Granby. In 1761 the brigade was at Velling- hausen or Kirchdenkern, where Ferdinand won an easy victory over Marshal de Broglie. On 24th June, 1762, the brigade of Guards, the 5th (Northum- berland Fusiliers), and the 8th (now the King's Liverpool), fought a furious battle with the left wing of the French army at Wilhelmsthal or Gravenstein, during which an attempt on the part of the French to outflank the left of the British line was met by Lieut. -Colonel Molyneux of the 3rd Guards wheeling back his flank companies, with the Coldstream in support. The attack was repulsed, and the battle ended in the complete victory of the Allies. A month later the colours taken from the French were presented to King George III. at St. James's Palace.

On 8th August detachments from the Coldstream and 3rd Guards were engaged in an unsuccessful attack on the town of Melsungen. They pene- trated to the chevaux de frise, but were unable to force the gates. The town, however, soon afterwards surrendered, as the French continued to retreat before the Allies. Next month, on 2ist September, was fought the last and one of the bloodiest actions of the war, on the river Ohm at the bridge of Briicke Miihle. Prince Ferdinand had secured the bridge by occupying the castle of Amaeneberg on the far side of the river, and by a redoubt held by Zastrow's Hanoverians on the eastern bank. From 5 A.M. till dark the French attacked, the concentration of their artillery on the redoubt being so tremendous that the garrison had to be constantly relieved, so severe were the losses they sustained. The grenadier battalion of the Guards relieved the Hanoverians, the ist Guards the grenadiers, then the Coldstream followed by the 3rd Guards, and last of all the Hessians, till night put an end to the business without the French having attained their object. An account of an incident in the battle given in the Gentleman's Magazine a few years afterwards illustrates the character of the struggle.

" The Foot Guards suffered so severely that the soldiers piled up the dead bodies of their comrades and sheltered themselves behind them as behind a parapet. Thomas Twistleton, the late Lord Saye and Sele, then a lieut. and captain in

CAPTAIN CHARLES B. BALFOUR 77

the 3rd Guards, in the height of the slaughter reprimanding a sergeant whom he heard utter some expression of horror, was answered by him ' Oh, Sir, you are now supporting yourself on the body of your own brother.' This was his elder brother John, a lieut. and captain in the Coldstieam Regt., who unknown to him had just been slain, and the sergeant had been a servant in the family."

In November preliminaries of peace were signed in Paris, and in February, 1763, the 3rd Guards landed in England.

The Earl of Rothes died on loth December, 1767, and was succeeded in the colonelcy by H.R.H. William Henry, Duke of Gloucester, who was transferred to the command of the ist Guards in April, 1770, and his place as colonel of the 3rd Guards was conferred on John, 4th Earl of Loudoun.

The next experience of campaigning for the 3rd Guards was on the other side of the Atlantic in the war of American Independence. A composite battalion of the Foot Guards— 1000 strong— of which 300 were supplied by the 3rd Guards, sailed for America in 1776. The battalion under the command of Colonel Edward Mathew, Coldstream Guards, was reviewed by the King at Wimbledon on igth March, and reached Staten Island in August. During the five years of the war the battalion was constantly engaged, and in no single action were they defeated. They fought at Brooklyn and at Brandywine, took part in the capture of Fort Washington, beat off the American attack at German Town, stormed the village of Free- hold and the post of Young's House, forced the passage of the Catawba River, and were heavily engaged in the successful action at Guildford Court House. Not till the concentration at York Town and subsequent surrender of the British force under Cornwallis did disaster overtake them. At the surrender in October, 1781, their numbers were reduced to 19 officers and 500 n.c.o. and men, half of their original strength. On the conclusion of peace in 1783 the battalion returned to England.

Two sergeants of the 3rd Guards — Sergeant W. Campbell and Sergeant J. Colquhoun — were promoted to commissioned rank as adjutants in 1779 and 1780 ; two of the earliest instances of the many promotions from the ranks in the regiment, which from 1770 to the outbreak of the present war were some 170 in number.

It must not be assumed that the duty imposed on the battalions of Guards who remained at home from 1763 to 1793 was of a light character. In the metropolis not only were they on duty at the royal palaces, and

78 THE SCOTS GUARDS

supplying a permanent garrison in the Tower of London, but they were constantly required for ceremonial occasions and for duties now carried out by the police. Prisoners were escorted by the Foot Guards, and at any trial where a popular disturbance was feared there was a detachment of them on duty at the court. Popular disturbances were indeed of frequent occurrence, and, as formerly in Edinburgh, so now in London, the 3rd Guards were called out for the maintenance of law and order. Two of the most notable instances were in 1768 and in 1780.

In 1768 there were demonstrations in honour of the notorious John Wilkes, then a prisoner in the King's Bench Prison. The Riot Act was read, and a picquet of the 3rd Guards had to fire on the mob. One William Allen was killed, a mishap which the supporters of Wilkes magnified into " an inhuman murder by Scottish detachments from the army." Ensign Alexander Murray (the officer in command), Corporal Maclury, and Private Maclaughlin, a grenadier, all of the 3rd Guards, were tried and acquitted ; and the Secretary of War, by the King's commands, wrote a letter approv- ing of the action of the Guards under very trying circumstances. In 1780 the Gordon riots broke out, arising out of a demonstration against Roman Catholics headed by Lord George Gordon, and developing into a scene of anarchy which lasted from June 5th to June I2th, during the whole of which time the Household troops were on duty. Three hundred of the rioters were reported to have been killed, and the damage to property and buildings was very great.

In 1782 the Earl of Loudoun died, and his successor, John, 5th Duke of Argyll, held the colonelcy of the regiment from gth May, 1782, until his death in 1806.

In 1793 began the war with the French Republic which was to last with little intermission for twenty-two years. In Flanders, Egypt, Spain, and finally at Waterloo, the 3rd Guards played a leading part, and added many a battle honour to their record.

In February, 1793, the French Republic declared war on Great Britain, and their armies invaded Holland. A brigade of Guards having been ordered to prepare for foreign service, H.R.H. the Duke of York paraded the brigade at the Horse Guards and called for volunteers. Every man in the ranks stepped forward. The ist battalions of each regiment under Major- General Lake, ist Guards, with the addition of a grenadier battalion

CAPTAIN CHARLES B. BALFOUR 79

as in 1760, were inspected by King George III. and the Prince of Wales on 25th February in St. James's Park, and embarked on the same day at Greenwich for Flanders, to join the British forces, of which the Duke of York was appointed commander-in-chief. The first stages of the war were favourable to the Allies. On 8th May the Coldstream, 3rd Guards, and the grenadier battalion attacked a position held by the enemy beyond the wood of Saint-Amand, whence the Austrian forces had been three times repulsed with a loss of 1700 men. But the Guards were not to be denied ; the Coldstream stormed the position, with the 3rd Guards in support. The Coldstream battalion was almost annihilated, but falling back on the supporting line, they held the edge of the wood, which decided the fortunes of the day. Next morning the French were in retreat. On 25th July a body of 150 of the Guards led the British storming party against the forti- fications of Valenciennes : a lodgment was effected and the town surrendered on the 28th.

In this same month, the day before the capitulation, four newly formed companies of light infantry, two from the ist Guards and one each from the Coldstream and 3rd Guards, joined the brigade and were attached to the grenadier battalion. These light infantrymen were trained to act as skirmishers, and the tradition of their smartness and mobility still remains in the left flank companies of the regiment, who claim to be their repre- sentatives, as the right flank companies deem themselves heirs of the old grenadier companies. The latter are still the tallest men in the battalion, the left flank the next in height, each company in a battalion of Guards being graduated according to its place in line on a ceremonial parade, the shorter men in the centre of the battalion, the taller on the flanks. This addition of light companies made up the grenadier battalion to eight com- panies, four of grenadiers — wearing the fur cap which superseded the distinctive mitre-shaped cap in 1760 — and four of light infantry, whose new headdress was a kind of shako with a green feather. The other com- panies still wore the three-cornered hat, to be superseded by the shako early in the next century.

The next action of the campaign was one in which the brigade of Guards were the only troops engaged, and earned " the warmest thanks " of the commander-in-chief. On the morning of i8th August the Dutch contingent under the Prince of Orange had attacked the French position

8o THE SCOTS GUARDS

at Lincelles, at first with success, but in the afternoon strong French reinforcements came up and drove them back, the Dutch losing their guns. The Prince sent to the Duke of York for help, and the brigade of Guards — the ist Guards under Colonel Hulse, the Coldstream under Colonel Pennington, and the 3rd Guards under Colonel W. Grinfield — were sent against the French enemy, who by this time had twelve battalions strongly entrenched in position at Lincelles. General Lake arrived in front of the enemy at about 6 P.M., and at once resolved to attack. A contemporary letter briefly and graphically describes the share of the 3rd Guards in the action.

" The Guards alone were drawn up in line of battle, drove the enemy from the town, and in a very short time Ensign John Campbell of Schawfield had the honour to place the ' Bloody Flag ' [i.e. the crimson King's colour with the royal arms of Scotland] in one of the strongest redoubts. He and Lord Rollo jumped over the ditch among the very first, each carrying the colours, and gave three cheers, Schawfield halloaing to the men to follow, as eager as ever I saw him at a fox chase."

This onslaught of the Guards drove the French from their position, the Dutch guns were retaken and " Lincelles " was added to the battle honours on the colours. On 2gth October the grenadier battalion, the 3rd Guards, two Austrian battalions, and two squadrons of the 7th and I5th Light Dragoons, with some British guns, under the command of General Abercromby, attacked a French post at Lannoy, fighting a successful action with slight loss.

The year closed favourably for the Allies as a whole ; but misunder- standings had already arisen between the different commanders, and these, added to the bad generalship of the Austrian chief command and the diver- gent views of the separate Governments, proved the ruin of their cause. The French, on the other hand, composed their internal differences, and opened the campaign of 1794 with a force of 200,000 men under the redoubt- able Pichegru. A general attack on the enemy, planned by the Austrian command in May, broke down. The British forces were for a time isolated, and the brigade of Guards was actually surrounded at Roubaix. They extricated themselves from this predicament with a loss of close on 200 men ; but this marked the turning-point of the campaign, which ended in the retreat northwards of the allied force under circumstances of appalling hardship through the winter of 1794-5. Throughout the retreat

'•/*?« $**y" ^ " W

IRD REGIMENT OF FOOT GUARDS

Now THE SCOTS GUARDS Sergeant, Grenadier Company, 1790

CAPTAIN CHARLES B. BALFOUR 81

the brigade of Guards formed part of the rearguard. In March the British army reached Bremen, and embarked for England at the end of April.

At the close of 1797 recruiting parties were sent to Scotland to make up the 3rd Guards to war strength, and early in the spring of 1798 a battalion formed of the light companies of the three regiments took part in a raid on Ostend, which ended woefully. Lieut. -Colonel Campbell of the 3rd Guards was killed, and 9 officers and 285 men and n.c.o. of the battalion were surrounded by the enemy, and taken prisoners. Later in the year the ist battalion of the 3rd Guards formed part of a brigade of Guards sent to Ireland in consequence of the outbreak of the rebellion. It remained there until the following year, when it was recalled to take part in another descent on the coast of Holland.

This expedition to the Helder was undertaken in conjunction with a Russian force with the object of destroying or capturing the Dutch fleet and invading Holland from the north. The Guards from Ireland were now formed into two brigades : the composite grenadier battalion and the 3rd ist Guards constituting the ist brigade under Major-General D'Oyly, and the ist Guards, the ist Coldstream, and ist 3rd Guards under Major- General Burrard the 2nd brigade. The British force of 12,000 men was under the command of Lieut.-General Sir Ralph Abercromby, who, after severe fighting, effected a successful landing at the Helder on 27th August. On the 28th the town was occupied, and the Dutch fleet surrendered on the 3Oth. Abercromby then entrenched his force on the ground that he had won, along the line of the Zype canal, and here he was attacked by the French and Dutch on loth September. The enemy was driven back with heavy loss, and Abercromby reported that the two brigades of Guards repulsed with great vigour the column of French which had advanced to attack them. On the I2th the Russian contingent of 12,000 men arrived, making up the total force with fresh reinforcements from England to 33,000, and on the I3th the Duke of York took over the command of the whole army.

On igth September an unsuccessful attack was made on the enemy at Alkmaar, but it was renewed on 2nd October, and he was driven thence and from Egmont-op-Zee. Four days later he was forced back to Beverwyk and Haarlem. In his despatch of 7th October H.R.H. gave special praise to Colonel Clephane, 2 ist and last laird of Carslogie, " commanding four

82 THE SCOTS GUARDS

companies of the 3rd and one company of the Coldstream Guards, who by a spirited charge drove two battalions of the enemy from the post of Akersloot, making two hundred prisoners."

Now, however, matters were at a deadlock. The Allies had sustained heavy losses and were short of supplies, nor were they in sufficient strength to force the French position at Beverwyk. On the other hand, if the Allies were to cut the dykes the whole country would be inundated and the French drowned out. Negotiations were accordingly opened, and it was agreed that the Dutch fleet should be retained by the British, while 8000 Dutch and French prisoners of war were restored, and the Allies were to re-embark unmolested by the 30th of November. Thus ended the first stage of the great war with France so far as this country was concerned, a stage which reflected little credit on the strategy of the British Government. The second and third stages in Egypt and the Peninsula were soon to open.

Bonaparte had invaded and conquered Egypt in 1798 ; but Nelson's crushing victory and the destruction of the French fleet at the battle of the Nile on ist August of that year cut off the French army from all com- munication with Europe, and though Bonaparte himself managed to elude the vigilance of the British fleet and escape to France at the end of the month, his whole force remained in Egypt. In 1800 the British Government resolved to employ against the French army in Egypt a force which they had sent on a futile expedition to Vigo in August of that year, and which afterwards had teen concentrated at Gibraltar. Sir Ralph Aber- cromby having been entrusted with the command, he assembled his army at Marmorice Bay, on the coast of Asia Minor, at the end of December. It consisted of seven brigades, in all some 15,000 men, and included a brigade of Guards under Major-General the Hon. George Ludlow, ist Guards, com- posed of the same two battalions which had fought in Holland under Aber- cromby, viz. the ist Coldstream and ist 3rd Guards, the latter being commanded by Colonel Samuel Dalrymple. During January and February, 1801, the army underwent a thorough training at Mar- morice Bay, especially in disembarkation from boats in the face of an enemy, which was bound to be the first formation for attack to be undertaken in Egypt. On 22nd February the expeditionary force sailed, and anchored in Aboukir Bay on 2nd March, but a landing was delayed by gales until the 8th. At 2 A.M. on that morning the signal was

CAPTAIN CHARLES B. BALFOUR 83

given, and the boats moved off with the first division to disembark, con- sisting of the loth, 23rd, 28th, 42nd, and 58th Foot, the Corsican Rangers, the Coldstream and 3rd Guards, the Royal Scots and the 54th Foot. Under heavy fire from the shore one boat of the Coldstream and one of the 3rd Guards were sunk ; but the bulk of the force effected a successful landing, and, after severe fighting, drove the French from their line of sand- hills, with a loss of 600 soldiers and 100 sailors. By the evening Aber- cromby was in occupation of a strip of land some two miles in advance of the landing-place.

On the i3th the French were driven back to the lines of Nicopolis in front of Alexandria. Reinforced from Cairo, General Menou on the 2ist made a fierce attack on the British. The right of our line rested on the Roman camp on the shores of the Mediterranean, the left on the Alexandria Canal. It was on the right and centre that the weight of the attack fell — on Moore's, Stuart's and the Guards brigades. On the left of the latter were the 3rd Guards. The French, foiled in their frontal attack by the steady fire of the Guards, attempted to turn the left of the brigade, which was met by throwing back the flank companies of the 3rd Guards, " who for a time appear to have been very severely pressed, until the Royals from Coote's brigade on the left came forward to take the pressure from them." : The 3rd Guards lost nearly 200 officers and men, but the French effort failed, and General Orders record that " Major-General Ludlow and the Brigade of Guards will accept the thanks of his Excellency the Commander-in-Chief for the cool, steady, and soldier-like manner in which they repulsed the attack of the enemy's column." A last desperate attack on our right failed also, and the victory was won, but at the cost of Sir Ralph Abercromby's life, who was carried from the field only half an hour before the French retired, and died on 28th March. He was succeeded in his command by General Hutchinson.

The victory of Alexandria opened the way to the investment of the city, in which the brigade of Guards took part, while Hutchinson, with half of the British army and a Turkish force marched on Cairo, an Indian contingent advancing simultaneously from Kosseir. The French garrison of Cairo having surrendered on 27th June, Hutchinson returned to the siege of Alexandria. In August, Richard, Earl of Cavan, Coldstream Guards,

1 Fortescue.

84 THE SCOTS GUARDS

great-great-grandfather of the present earl (now commanding the Guards division in France), took over the command of the Guards brigade. On 2nd September Alexandria, the last stronghold of the French in Egypt, surrendered, and the campaign was over. The King's colour of the ist 3rd Guards, displayed in front of Pompey's pillar on the entrance of the British army into Alexandria, is now in New Zealand in possession of a descendant of Colonel Samuel Dalrymple.

The campaign of 1801 was the first success of the newly reorganised British army since the opening of the war in 1793. To all the regiments engaged therein was granted the honour of bearing on their colours the Sphinx, with the superscription "Egypt."

The Peace of Amiens only lasted from 25th March, 1802, to May, 1803, and Napoleon's " Army of England " at Boulogne kept the British forces at home for two years after. On the declaration of war the Guards were formed into three brigades, namely, ist brigade — ist and 3rd battalions ist Guards ; 2nd brigade — ist Coldstream and ist 3rd Guards ; 3rd brigade — the 2nd battalions of all three regiments, which formed the depot supplying drafts to the other brigades until 1810. The 2nd brigade formed part of Lord Cathcart's expedition to Hanover in 1805, which effected nothing, and was recalled after the crushing defeat of the Austrians at Austerlitz.

On the death of the Duke of Argyll in 1806 H.R.H. William Frederick, Duke of Gloucester and Edinburgh, was appointed colonel of the 3rd Guards.

Next year the 2nd brigade again went on foreign service with the ex- pedition to Copenhagen, which was sent to prevent the Danish fleet falling into the hands of Napoleon. This having been accomplished, the expedition returned home in October.

It fell to the lot of the ist brigade to accompany Moore to Coruna in 1808-9, but in March, 1809, it was again the turn of the ist Coldstream and ist 3rd Guards. In March 1809, the ist Coldstream, under Lieut.-Colonel Hulse, and the ist 3rd Guards under Colonel the Hon. E. Stopford, landed in the Tagus, under Brigadier-General Henry Campbell, ist Guards. A contemporary letter from an officer of the 53rd, Captain Carss, writing home in April, describes " the two battalions of Guards as 2200 strong, and the finest men I ever saw."

On 2nd May Sir Arthur Wellesley arrived to take over the command of the army. Ten days later he forced the passage of the Douro, and on

CAPTAIN CHARLES B. BALFOUR 85

27th-a8th July fought the battle of Talavera. It began at 6 P.M. on the 27th, and the first phase lasted until 2 A.M., every attack by the French being repulsed. At 6 A.M. on the 28th the French renewed the attack, maintaining it vigorously until n A.M., when Captain Stothert, Adjutant of the 3rd Guards, in his narrative says : " the firing ceased as if by mutual consent for nearly three hours. At this time the wounded were carried off to the rear, and while engaged in this painful duty the British and French soldiers shook hands with each other, and expressed their admiration of the gallantry displayed by the troops of both nations." At 3 P.M. the enemy advanced against the ist division under Major-General Sherbrooke, of which the Guards formed part, and were met with a murderous volley which broke their ranks, followed up by the division advancing at the charge.

The Guards in their ardour pursued the retreating enemy too far, the enemy threw in his reserve, and the brigade, being first enfiladed by artillery and then attacked by the French cavalry, in a very brief space of time lost some 600 killed and wounded. The 48th and General Cotton's cavalry were ordered up in support, and the situation was saved. The Guards joined the 48th, and with loud cheers again charged the French. The whole British line took up the cheers : the last effort of the French had failed, and though firing continued until sundown on the 28th, they made no further attempt, and withdrew during the night.

Owing to the defeat of the Spaniards at Ocafta in November the British army had to retire into Portugal, and took up its winter quarters at Vizeu.

From July to September, while Wellesley was conducting the Peninsula campaign, the disastrous expedition to Walcheren under Lord Chatham was undertaken, with Sir Richard Strachan in command of the fleet. From the grenadier and light infantry companies of the Guards at home were formed two battalions, in which were the two flank companies of the 2nd 3rd Guards. The expedition was as costly as it was useless. Out of a force of 30,000 men 4000 died of Walcheren fever, and it is chiefly remembered by the satirical couplet on the commander-in-chief's policy of " wait and see."

" The Earl of Chatham, with his sword drawn, Stood waiting for Sir Richard Strachan. Sir Richard, longing to be at 'em, Was waiting for the Earl of Chatham."

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In the spring of 1810 the French forces in the Peninsula were strongly reinforced, so that Marshal Massena had 103,000 men at his disposal. When he moved in three columns under Junot, Ney, and Regnier into Portugal, Wellesley, by this time Viscount Wellington, retired on the famous lines of Torres Vedras, fighting on 27th September the battle of Busaco, when the French were repulsed with heavy loss. On loth October the British army entered the lines of Torres Vedras, and the two armies remained facing each other until March, 1811, the British headquarters being at Cartaxo. Here in general orders of 4th March, 1811, a fine tribute was paid to the discipline of the Coldstream and 3rd Guards battalions. " During the last two years during which the Brigade of Guards have been under the command of the Commander of the Forces, not only no soldier has been brought to trial before a general court-martial, but no one has been confined in a public guard."

Meanwhile three companies of the 2nd battalion of the 3rd Guards had been maintaining the reputation of the regiment and of the brigade in another part of Spain. Cadiz had been invested by Marshal Victor, and in February, 1810, a British force under Lieut.-General Graham (after- wards Lord Lynedoch) was sent out to reinforce the garrison, the ist brigade of which was composed of a battalion of six companies of the 2nd battalion ist Guards under Lieut.-Colonel Sebright, and a composite battalion of three companies from the 2nd Coldstream and three from the 2nd battalion 3rd Guards under Lieut.-Colonel the Hon. T. C. Onslow of the 3rd Guards, the brigade being commanded by Major-General Dilkes of the 3rd Guards. After a siege of a year, Graham carried out a movement against the French culminating in the brilliant victory of Barrosa on 5th March, 1811. Here the French were driven from their position on the heights with a loss of 3000 men, two guns, and several standards and colours which were later deposited in Whitehall Chapel as trophies. General Graham reported " that the brigade of Guards had gloriously maintained the high character of his Majesty's household troops in an action where all had distinguished themselves." Out of a total of 1243 casualties, 374 were in the brigade of Guards, and the Prince Regent gave orders that " Barrosa " should be added to the honours borne on the colours. In May the twelve companies of the brigade embarked for home, being relieved by the 3rd battalion of the ist Guards, ten companies strong, who remained there until the siege was raised in August, 1812.

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On 5th March, iSu, Wellington began the advance which ended in France in April, 1814. At Fuentes d'Honoro on 5th May the Coldstream and 3rd Guards were on the right of the ist division, which itself occupied the right of the line. In front were the picquets of the Guards, about 100 rank and file under Lieut. -Colonel Hill of the 3rd Guards, which were cut off and surrounded by the French cavalry early in the action, Lieut.- Colonel Hill and several men being taken prisoners. Later the light in- fantry of the Guards, under Lieut. -Colonel Guise of the 3rd Guards, took their revenge by breaking up an attack of the French light infantry. Through all the attacks which followed the British line held firm throughout the day. On the 6th and 7th the two armies remained facing each other ; on the 8th the enemy withdrew. It is related that during the action the 92nd Highlanders came into position short of provisions, and were supplied by the Guardsmen with a ration of biscuits from their haversacks, a bounty which the Gordons received with hearty cheers.

In September Sir Brent Spencer was succeeded in the command of the ist division by General Graham.

In 1812, after the storming of Cuidad Rodrigo on igth January, and the victory at Salamanca on 22nd July, Madrid was entered by the Allies on I2th August. Shortly after the unsuccessful siege of Burgos, the ist bat- talion ist Guards landed from England, and on nth November the 3rd battalion ist Guards joined Wellington's army from Cadiz. These two battalions were then formed into the ist brigade of Guards, under Major- General K. A. Howard, Coldstream Guards, Major-General Campbell, ist Guards, having now been promoted to the command of a division. Major-General the Hon. E. Stopford of the 3rd Guards succeeded him in the command of the 2nd brigade of the Coldstream and 3rd Guards, the command of the ist battalion 3rd Guards devolving on Colonel the Hon. Thomas Fermor. These two brigades formed the ist and 2nd of the ist division, the 3rd and 4th consisting of the King's German Legion, the divisional commander being Lieut. -General Sir William Stewart, afterwards succeeded by Major-General K. A. Howard, whose place as Brigadier of the ist brigade was taken by Major-General John Lambert, ist Guards.

A serious outbreak of sickness kept the ist brigade at Oporto until I3th July, 1813. They were not, therefore, with the Coldstream and 3rd Guards at the victory of Vittoria on 2ist June, where the ist and 5th divisions

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were on the left of the British line ; but they rejoined the ist division in time to take part in the siege of San Sebastian, in the storming of which, on 3ist August, the 200 men of the Guards who formed part of the storming party, 750 strong, sustained 160 casualties.

On October 7th the ist and 5th divisions under Graham forded the Bidassoa and entered France. Shortly afterwards Sir John Hope (after- wards 4th Earl of Hopetoun) took over the command of the left wing of the army. Sir Thomas Graham having been sent to command the expedition from England to Holland. This consisted of a force of 8000 men, including a brigade of Guards drawn from the 2nd battalions of each regiment, six companies to each of the three battalions, with Colonel Lord Proby, ist Guards, in command. The intention was to help the Dutch who had risen against the domination of Napoleon. It landed in December, 1813, and the brigade of Guards went to the Hague, whence they were moved shortly to the neighbourhood of Bergen-op-Zoom. On 8th March, 1814, a force of 4000 men, whereof 1000 were drawn from the brigade of Guards, attempted to carry the fortress of Bergen-op-Zoom by a coup de main. Of the three storming parties, that of the Guards alone succeeded in making good their footing on the ramparts, where they held their ground all night, but were obliged to withdraw in good order in the morning of the gth. In brigade orders special praise was given to Captain the Hon. James Rodney, 3rd Guards ; Ensign Good, Coldstream Guards ; and Ensign Pardoe, ist Guards, who led the advanced and ladder parties. Peace having been signed on 23rd April, 1814, the British troops entered Antwerp, where the Guards remained until August, 1814, when they moved to Brussels, and were there when Napoleon escaped from Elba in March, 1815. The 2nd battalion of the 3rd Guards had left England under Lieut.-Colonel William Rooke ; but he was succeeded in February, 1814, by Colonel F. Hepburn, who was in command at Waterloo.

To return to events in the Peninsula. In November, 1813, the right wing of the British army descended the Pyrenees, driving the French on the loth from the lines of Saint- Jean-de-Luz to Bayonne and the Nive. On December loth, nth, I2th, and i3th Soult attacked the British, first on theur left and then on their right in a series of actions on the Nive. The Guards on the heights of Bidart were engaged on the loth and nth, the ist brigade being more in action than the 2nd. Soult's attacks having

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failed he transferred the bulk of his army to the right bank of the Nive, and fought a sanguinary battle at Saint-Pierre, where he was finally defeated.

During the winter of 1813-14 the headquarters of the Guards were at Saint- Jean-de-Luz. Early in February Sir John Hope advanced with the left wing of the army to invest Bayonne. On the night of the 22nd Major-General Stopford, with the 2nd brigade of Guards, marched to the mouth of the Adour, and by the evening of the 23rd the light company of the Coldstream, five companies of the 3rd Guards, two of the 6oth Rifles and Congreve's rocket battery had crossed in boats and on pontoon rafts and established themselves on the spit of sand on the far side. Here they were attacked at sundown by two French battalions 1300 strong ; but the steady fire of the Guards, and the alarm and execution caused by the rocket battery (now used in action for the first time) broke the charge of the French columns, which fell back in confusion. Next day the remainder of the 2nd brigade and the ist brigade of Guards crossed and took up their posi- tions north of the citadel to complete the investment of Bayonne. Here was fought the last battle of the war — fought, indeed, actually after the signing of the Treaty of Paris on nth April, the news of which had not reached the combatants.

In the early hours of the morning of I4th April the French made a desperate sortie from Bayonne, directed against the village of Saint-Etienne, which was held by the German legion and Major-General Hay's brigade ; the centre of the line being held by the picquets of the 2nd brigade of Guards, on whose right were the picquets of the ist brigade. The enemy pene- trated into the village of Saint-Etienne. The picquets of the 2nd brigade were driven in, Major-General Hay was killed and Brigadier-General Stop- ford was wounded, his place being taken by Colonel Guise, 3rd Guards. The German legion retook Saint-Etienne, the ist brigade of Guards on the right moved up on the enemy's flank, and co-operated with Guise's 2nd brigade in driving him back into the citadel, at dawn, with a loss of some 900 men. But the British losses had been heavy also. In the darkness and confusion the commander-in-chief, Sir John Hope, had ridden into the enemy's ranks ; after his horse had been shot under him, and he had been twice wounded, he was taken prisoner. In the 2nd brigade, the Coldstream had 245 casualties, and the 3rd Guards 203, losing the following officers : Captain Luke Mahon, Captain White and Capt. Shiffner, and Lieut, and

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Adjutant Francis Holburne. Their remains were buried close to where they fell, at the foot of a tree, which, broken by a 24 Ib. shot, was formed into a cross over the graves by their comrades. Part of the tree still remains, and the small cemetery having been enclosed and put into thorough order some forty years ago by the relatives of Captain Shiffner and Lieut. Holburne, is carefully tended to this day.

Four days later the news of Napoleon's abdication reached Bayonne, and hostilities were suspended. The two Peninsula brigades of the Guards returned to England in 1815, while the brigade composed of the 2nd battalions of the three regiments remained, as we have seen, in Belgium. Napoleon, having escaped from Elba, reached Paris on 2oth March, the Congress of Vienna broke up in haste, and the Allies assembled their forces— the British, Hanoverians, Dutch, and Belgians being concentrated in Belgium under the command of the Duke of Wellington.

Early in April the 3rd battalion of the ist Guards arrived from home, and Major-General Cooke was placed in command of a Guards division, the ist brigade, composed of the 2nd and 3rd battalions of the ist Guards, under Major-General Peregrine Maitland, ist Guards, and the 2nd brigade of the 2nd Coldstream and 2nd 3rd Guards under Major-General Sir John Byng (afterwards Lord Torrington) of the 3rd Guards, with Colonel F. Hepburn in command of the 2nd 3rd Guards.

On June I5th the news arrived that the French had crossed the Sambre and attacked the Prussians. Between 2 and 3 A.M. on the i6th the Guards division left Enghien for Quatre-Bras, to support the allied forces, which were hurrying into position there. After a march of 25 miles the division came into action, the ist brigade leading. They cleared the Bois de Bossu, and repulsed the flanking movement of the French against the right of the 5th division. The 2nd brigade on arrival moved up in support, the light companies only of the 3rd Guards and Coldstream coming into action, the former under Lieut.-Colonel Home and the latter under Lieut.-Colonel Macdonell, brother to Glengarry. The ist brigade sustained 548 casual- ties, the light companies of the 2nd brigade only 7, all in the 3rd Guards.

Although Ney failed in his attack at Quatre-Bras, Napoleon had defeated the Prussians at Ligny, and in consequence Wellington withdrew the allied army from Quatre-Bras on I7th June, and by 5 P.M. was in position on the ridge of Mont-Saint-Jean, to the south of the village of Waterloo. To

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the light companies of the Coldstream, 3rd Guards and ist Guards was allotted the defence of the chateau of Hougomont. It lay in front of the right of the allied line ; on the rising ground behind it were the 2nd brigade of Guards in immediate support, and on their left the ist brigade. The light companies forming the garrison of the chateau were commanded — the ist Guards by Lieut. -Colonel Lord Saltoun, the Coldstream by Lieut.- Colonel Henry Wyndham, the 3rd Guards by Lieut.-Colonel Charles Dashwood, the whole being under command of Lieut.-Colonel Macdonell of the Coldstream. The companies of the Coldstream and 3rd Guards were posted in the wood to the south of the buildings, those of the ist Guards in the orchard to the east. Three companies of Hanoverian Jagers, sent up as a reinforcement, joined the advanced picquet of the 3rd Guards, which was under command of Captain Evelyn and Ensign Standen.

Macdonell spent the night of I7th-i8th in putting the buildings and garden walls into a state of defence. At 10 A.M. the light companies of the ist Guards were relieved by a Nassau battalion, which then took over the defence of the wood. About eleven o'clock, after a heavy cannonade, Jerome led the attack on Hougomont with a column of four regiments, and the Nassauers and Jagers were driven out of the wood. Macdonell broke the French attack on the chateau, Saltoun and his light companies were sent forward again, and together with those of the Coldstream and 3rd Guards cleared the wood of the enemy. The great north gate of the chateau was kept open to receive ammunition from the brigade in rear, and at i P.M. a cart load arrived just before another furious attack by the enemy. This time the French swarmed into the wood, and fighting foot by foot, the light companies of the ist Guards fell back on the orchard, those of the Coldstream and 3rd Guards on the chateau. The enemy, strongly rein- forced, pushed through the wood and made a determined attack on the 3rd Guards as they retired on the great north gate. In the hand-to-hand fighting which ensued, two brothers, Sergeant and Corporal Graham of the Cold- stream, and Sergeants Bryce, McGregor, and Ralph Fraser, and Private John Lister of the 3rd Guards, specially distinguished themselves. Sergeant Fraser, indeed, in order to cover the withdrawal of his men, engaged single- handed the French Colonel Cubieres, who was in command of the attacking battalion, pulled him from his horse, and rode back on it into the courtyard. Mingled together, Guardsmen and Frenchmen crushed through

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the gateway ; but at this supreme moment Lieut.-Colonel Macdonnell with three officers of the Coldstream— Wyndham, Gooch, and Harvey— Sergeant John Graham, and such men as he could muster, rushed forward, driving the French near the gate before them. Then Macdonell and Graham, uniting their whole weight on the great gates, closed them in the face of the French reinforcements, barred and barricaded them, and the crisis was over. " The success of the battle of Waterloo turned upon the closing of the gates of Hougomont," wrote the great Duke.

The chateau, however, was still surrounded by the French, so Byng moved down the Coldstream under Colonel Woodford to reinforce the garri- son of the chateau, leaving two companies on the ridge to protect the colours ; and sending the 3rd Guards under Colonel Hepburn into the orchard and wood. Hepburn sent the grenadier and another company of the 3rd Guards under Lieut.-Colonel Home to support Saltoun in the orchard. These, with Saltoun's men and some Hanoverian Jagers whom he had rallied, made a determined attack on the enemy, who had brought up a gun to bear on them. They failed to take the gun, but drove the French out of the orchard and re-occupied and held the outer hedge. Between 2 P.M. and 3 P.M. the 3rd company of the 3rd Guards, under Lieut.-Colonel Mercer of Fordell, relieved Saltoun, who returned with the survivors of the light companies of the ist Guards to the ist brigade and for the rest of the day the 3rd Guards under Colonel Hepburn in the wood and orchard, and their light company and the Coldstream in the chateau, stood firm against every assault of the enemy. Under concentrated artillery fire the chateau, the chapel and the stables were set on fire ; the whole of the French 2nd corps, some 30,000 strong, was launched against them again and again, but at the close of day Hougomont was still held by the Guards, and the Duke briefly recorded in his despatch of next day :

" I had occupied that post with a detachment from General Byng's Brigade of Guards which was in position in its rear ; and it was for some time under the command of Lieut.-Colonel Macdonell (Coldstream Guards) and afterwards of Lieut.-Colonel Home (3rd Guards) ; and I am happy to add that it was maintained throughout with the utmost gallantry by those brave troops, notwithstanding the repeated efforts of large bodies of the enemy to obtain possession of it." 1

'The Duke was misinformed as to the details of the defence of Hougomont. Colonel Home never had a separate command ; it was Colonel Hepburn who commanded the 3rd Guards in the orchard and wood. In a letter in the possession of the Hon. Hew Dalrymple, Colonel Hepburn says " the Duke realises he had been misinformed, but is not a man to correct a mistake publicly."

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The losses of the 3rd Guards were 39 n.c.o. and men killed and 188 wounded ; Captains Ashton, Crawford and Hon. H. Forbes and Ensign Simpson were killed ; Lieut-Colonels Bowater, West and Dashwood, Captains R. B. Hesketh, Montgomerie and Evelyn and Ensigns Lake and Baird were wounded. In addition, two of the Duke's aides-de-camp, Lieut.-Colonel C. F. Canning and Lieut.-Colonel the Hon. Sir A. Gordon, both officers of the regiment, were killed, also Captain and Adjutant W. Stothert, brigade-major to the 2nd brigade of Guards.

In recognition of the services of the Guards division the Prince Regent granted the rank of lieutenant to all ensigns of the three regiments then serving or to be hereafter appointed, thus completing the double rank which, in the case of the captains and lieutenants of the Scots Guards dated from 1691, when it was granted to them by King William III. during the campaign in Flanders. In 1871 the " double rank " was abolished by Royal Warrant.

After Waterloo the allied armies entered Paris and the 2nd battalion remained there until January, 1816, when it returned to London along with the 2nd battalion ist Guards, now designated Grenadier Guards in remem- brance of the rout of the French Grenadiers de la Garde by the ist brigade of Guards at the close of the battle.

For some years after the peace there were disturbances in various parts of the kingdom, and until the establishment of the police force the Guards were frequently called on to deal with rioting and to maintain order. In 1819 the Cato Street conspiracy to assassinate members of the cabinet was discovered and suppressed. Ireland also was in a state of discontent, and a battalion of Guards was ordered to Dublin in 1821, and from this time onward until 1845 a battalion was regularly quartered there, the 3rd Guards taking their first turn in 1824. In 1826 disturbances broke out in Manchester, and the ist battalion were sent there in May, with the 2nd Coldstream, the latter being relieved in July by the 3rd Grenadiers.

In December of the same year an insurrection broke out in Portugal, and its government appealed to Great Britain for assistance. A body of 5000 British troops was despatched there under Sir Henry Clinton, in- cluding a brigade of Guards composed of the ist Grenadiers and 2nd 3rd Guards under Maj or-General Sir Henry Bouverie. To replace these battalions in London, those from Manchester were brought up. The battalions in

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Portugal remained there until April, 1828, and from that time to the Crimean war the regiment performed no service abroad.

On 26th June, 1830, William IV. succeeded George IV. on the throne, and on 24th June of the following year, two months before his coronation, he was graciously pleased to restore a Scottish title to the 3rd Guards, and directed that they should be designated in future the Scots Fusilier Guards. In 1832 the shako, worn by all except the grenadier companies since 1801, was superseded by the bearskin cap, which is still worn by the Guards. Dark grey trousers had already superseded white breeches and black gaiters in 1823 ; and swallow-tailed coatees with epaulettes came into vogue in 1820 in lieu of the short coat worn between 1795 and that date. White trousers were worn in summer. This uniform continued until 1856, when the full dress tunic was introduced and white trousers were abolished. With minor alterations this has continued to be the full dress uniform until the present day.

H.R.H. the Duke of Gloucester died in 1834, and was succeeded as colonel of the Scots Fusilier Guards by George, 5th Duke of Gordon, on whose death in 1836 George James, 2nd Earl Ludlow, was appointed ; and in 1842 H.R.H. the Prince Consort was given the command, which he held until 1852, when he was transferred to the command of the Grenadiers, and was succeeded by H.R.H. George, 2nd Duke of Cambridge.

In 1854 the Crimean war broke out, and on 28th February the ist battalion paraded for service abroad. From Wellington Barracks they marched to Buckingham Palace, where they were inspected by Queen Victoria and the Prince Consort, the Duke of Cambridge being also present. They embarked the same day at Portsmouth in ss. Simoon, and joined the brigade of Guards at Malta, the other two battalions being the 3rd Grenadiers and ist Coldstream, with Brigadier-General Bentinck, Cold- stream Guards, in command. At the end of April the brigade was moved to Scutari, thence to Bulgaria, and at the beginning of September to the Crimea ; where the ist division, consisting of the brigade of Guards and the Highland brigade (42nd, 79th, and 93rd), under the command of H.R.H. the Duke of Cambridge, landed on I4th September.

On the igth the advance towards Sevastopol began, and on the following day was fought the battle of the Alma. Here, on the heights above the river, the Russian army under Menshikoff was drawn up to oppose the further

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advance of the Allies : the main portion occupied Kurgane Hill in front of the British, the French attack being directed against Telegraph Hill on our right.

The Light Division led the British attack : General Codrington's brigade of the 33rd (Duke of Wellington's), 23rd (Welsh Fusiliers), and jth (Royal Fusiliers), were in front of the brigade of Guards, General Buller's brigade being in front of the Highland brigade. Codrington led his men through the vineyards on the river banks, across the Alma and up the slopes to the first breastwork, which they took, but found the Russian reserves in front of them, by which they were gradually forced back. Meanwhile the brigade of Guards was moving up in support, Grenadiers on the right, Scots Fusiliers in the centre, Coldstream on the left. On reaching the stone wall of the vineyards the brigadier gave the order to break the ranks and get over the wall and across the vineyard as best they could. In this way the Scots Fusiliers crossed vineyard and river, halting on the further bank to re-form in comparative shelter from the enemy's fire. At this moment Codrington, finding himself hard pressed, sent back an urgent message for the Guards to come on, and Major-General Bentinck rode up and ordered the Scots Fusiliers to advance before they had re-formed line. Up the hill they went, fixing bayonets as they advanced, unsupported on either flank, for the Cold- stream, owing to bends in the rivei, had been compelled to wade through it three times, and the Grenadiers on the right had crossed partly by a bridge and partly by fording, both battalions were in consequence in process of re-forming ; indeed, the left flank company of the Scots Fusiliers were delayed with the Coldstream.

As the battalion advanced up the hill some of the Light Division, borne back by the Russian masses, broke through its ranks, and swept back with them two or three of the companies on the left. Others of the Light Division joined the rest of the battalion, which continued to advance till they were within twenty yards of the Russian redoubt. Then, finding themselves still unsupported, they were halted and commenced firing. At this moment someone rode up to Lieut.-Colonel Sir Charles Hamilton, who was in command of the battalion, and told him to give the order to retire ; the order was accordingly given. The late Sir Reginald Gipps, who went through the action, was perfectly clear on this point. Whether the message was intended for the Fusilier battalions of the Light

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Division is not known ; but the order having been given, the battalion began to fall back, until the officers, seeing the Grenadiers advancing on the right, realised that there had been some mistake, and gave the order to resume the advance. Owing to the men of the Light Division retiring through the battalion, and the subsequent mistaken order, there was some confusion. The colour party, consisting of Lieut. Robert James Loyd Lindsay (afterwards Lord Wantage), who carried the Queen's colour, Lieut. Arthur Henry Thistlethwayte with the regimental colour, Sergeant James McKechnie, Sergeant Nicholas Lane, Sergeant William Bryce, and Sergeant Angus McLeod, were for some moments isolated and surrounded by the Russians. There were four-and-twenty shot-holes in the Queen's colour, and the pole was shot asunder, but both officers were unwounded. Lane was killed, McLeod was mortally and McKechnie slightly wounded, but the small knot of determined men stood firm. The Coldstream passed on the left, the Grenadiers on the right, halted and opened fire to give the Scots Fusiliers time to regain their formation. This was accomplished in a few minutes, the battalion closed up on the colour party, took its place in the general line, and the advance was resumed, " the enemy giving way before them, and, as they came up to the crest, the companies which had been borne back by the retiring Light Division rejoined, and the whole brigade was complete." 1 Guards and Highlanders poured a continuous fire into the Russian masses till they began to waver, then charged, driving them from their position, and the heights of the Alma were won.

Lieut. Lindsay was thanked by the Duke of Cambridge in front of the brigade on parade for his conduct in command of the colour party, and both he and Sergeant McKechnie were among the first to receive the Victoria Cross at the end of the war. Lieut. Thistlethwayte died of illness not long after the Alma. Private William Reynolds and Drill-Sergeant John S. Knox also received the V.C. for their conduct in rallying men round the colours at the critical moment. Knox received a commission in the Rifle Brigade in April, 1855. The battalion lost 43 n.c.o. and men killed and 121 wounded ; of the officers Captain Viscount Chewton died of wounds received, Lieut.-Colonels Berkeley, Dalrymple, Hepburn and Haygarth, Captains Astley, Bulwer, Buckley and Gipps, and Lieut, the Hon. H. Annesley, were wounded. The defeated Russians were not

1 History of the Coldstream Guards, vol. iii.

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pursued, and after three days the allied army moved round Sevastopol to Balaclava, and began the investment of the city from the south side. Work in the trenches began on loth October.

So far as the brigade of Guards was concerned, the siege may be divided into four periods. During the first period, from loth October to 5th November, the day of the battle of Inkerman, the Guards furnished its proportion of four picquets of 50 to 70 men each in conjunction with the Highlanders until 25th October. On that date the Highland brigade was moved to Balaclava ; thenceforward to 5th November the whole of the picquet duty of the ist division fell on the brigade of Guards, which also furnished daily working parties of 50 men to assist the Royal Engineers. The average strength of the whole brigade during this period was 1560 men.

The siege guns opened fire on iyth October. On 25th October the Russians attacked Balaclava ; but as the brigade of Guards was only in support and took no part in the action, it is not within the scope of this narrative to describe the battle in which the British cavalry won undying renown. The immediate result of the action, however, was to split up the ist division, the Highlanders being moved down from the hills to the plain for the defence of Balaclava, while the Guards remained encamped on the heights overlooking the Tchernaya river and the valley of Inkerman, in rear and supporting the camp of the and division. Hence it came about that when, on 5th November, the Russians made their determined attack on the right of the British line before Sevastopol, the brunt of it fell on this division and on the brigade of Guards.

The morning was dark and foggy, and the enemy's advancing columns were unobserved until they were close on the line of picquets. By 7.30 A.M. the 2nd division had driven back this first attack under General Soimonoff, and a second attack under General Dannenberg had begun, converging on two spurs of the heights called the Inkerman Tusk and the Kitspur. At the extreme edge of the latter was a breastwork called the Sandbag Battery, round which the hottest fighting of the day surged for hours. This position was held by the 4ist and 4Qth under General Adams, who was soon hard pressed, and sent back to the camp of the Guards in rear asking for support. The brigade, with the exception of the companies who had been on out- lying picquet for the night, was already on the move under the Duke of

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Cambridge and General Bentinck. The Grenadiers under Colonel Reynard- son were leading, followed by the Scots Fusiliers under Colonel Walker, the total strength of the two battalions, as they turned out, being only some 700 to 800 men. The Coldstream, whose camp was further to the rear, were not far behind. The Russian force in front has been estimated at 7000.

Before the Grenadiers reached the Kitspur, General Adams had fallen mortally wounded, and the Russians were pouring into the Sandbag Battery. The Grenadiers charged instantly and drove them out, occupying the battery and the ridge of the Kitspur facing east. While the Scots Fusiliers moved up on the left, they were met by a fresh force of Russians, which they charged and drove down the hill ; the Fusiliers then prolonged the line of defence to the left. Next, the Coldstream under Lieut .-Colonel Dawson arrived and took up their position on the right of the Grenadiers.

Meantime those of the Grenadiers who were in the Sandbag Battery found that, owing to faulty construction, the parapet was too high to fire over, so they withdrew to higher ground, where their fire could be more effec- tive. Again the Russians surged into the battery, and Colonel Walker, being unaware that it was untenable, ordered a second charge of the Scots Fusiliers and drove them out once more. As before, the Russians re-formed under shelter and came on again, and a third time the battalion charged. Lieut.- Colonel Hunter Blair, M.P. for Ayrshire, and Captain and Adjutant H. Drummond fell, the former mortally, the latter seriously, wounded ; but again the enemy was driven down the hill, and the pursuit continued for some distance before Colonel Walker wa^ able to withdraw the battalion to the ridge again. He had already been hit twice. As he was giving orders to move higher up than the battery, which he now perceived to be unten- able, he was again wounded, and Lieut.-Colonel Francis Seymour took over the command of the battalion. General Bentinck at this time was also disabled by wounds, and the Duke of Cambridge, although commander of the division, took charge of the brigade. At this stage the action resolved itself into a series of hand-to-hand fights ; sometimes, ammunition failing, stones and rocks were hurled at the enemy, Guardsmen and Linesmen all fighting for their own hand in the brushwood on the Kitspur, but deter- mined to thrust back the masses in their front. During this melee the right flank company of the battalion joined in. It had been out all night in the trenches, arriving in camp after the brigade had left. They had heard

CAPTAIN CHARLES B. BALFOUR 99

the firing, and hastened up at the double towards the sound of the guns. But between them and the firing line a mass of Russian infantry interposed. Lieut. Lindsay, who had so heroically carried the Queen's colour at the Alma, was in command, and gave the order to fix bayonets and charge, leading the company with Sergeant Alexander Taylor. They cut their way through the enemy and so joined the battalion on the Kitspur : Lindsay was unhurt, but Sergeant Taylor fell beside him. As the fighting line broke up into groups and knots, it became impossible to restrain the ardour of the men as they once more succeeded in hurling the Russians down the hill and out of the Sandbag Battery. The Duke of Cambridge managed to keep together some 100 men round the colours of the Grenadiers on the crest of the hill, partly Grenadiers, partly Coldstream, partly men of the right flank of the Scots Fusiliers, whose exploit in reaching their position in the line has just been described ; but the bulk of the brigade surged down the hill, driving the Russians before them. At the foot they were checked by Gortschakoffs skirmishers on the Tchernaya, on their left was a fresh mass of Russians moving up the hill between them and the right of the 2nd division.

The Guardsmen in detached groups fought their way back to the 2nd division camp, where they re-formed, and here the party with the colours of the Grenadiers rejoined them, having gallantly forced their way through another Russian column which had surrounded them.1 It was now between ii A.M. and noon, and the French were coming up to reinforce our wearied troops. As they began to arrive General Canrobert asked Lord Raglan to allow the Guaids to accompany them in their advance. "Les Zouaves feront mieux s'ils voient les bons bonnets-a-poil avec eux." But Lord Raglan answered that the men were exhausted after fighting so long, and he could not send them. He did, however, make use of them to support two i8-pounder guns which were brought up, and which opened fire on the Russian batteries with excellent effect from Home Ridge, in front of the 2nd division camp. Before these batteries were silenced the Guards suffered many casualties from shell fire ; but they were not again called upon to advance. The brigade, including the picquets and working parties who joined up, went into action 1332 strong, and came out with a strength of 843.

1 How the colours of the Grenadier Guards were saved is well described by General Sir George Higginson in Seventy-one Years of a Guardsman's Life, pp. 199-201.

ioo THE SCOTS GUARDS

Lieut.-Colonel Francis Seymour, though wounded, remained in command of the Scots Fusiliers until the end of the day. Besides Colonel Walker and himself and Captain H. Drummond, Captain R. Gipps, Captain Baring, Captain Shuckburgh, Lieut. Blane and Surgeon Elkington were wounded. Colonel C. Seymour, A.A.G. to the 4th division, was killed by the side of General Sir G. Cathcart. Sixty-four n.c.o. and men were killed, and one hundred and fourteen wounded out of a total strength of 372. In consequence of their severe losses the brigade did not resume duty in the trenches until nth November.

From this date onwards to 23rd February, 1855, may be reckoned the second period, during which the average strength of the brigade sank to 680 ; but it was continually on duty in the trenches, except for the first twenty days of December. In addition, it furnished daily one-third of its total strength for outlying picquets, and the severity of this duty became so great that men coming off trench duty in the morning frequently went on outlying picquet in the afternoon. Thus, no man could look for more than one night in his tent between his turns of duty.

On 2ist February the number of men present under arms in the whole brigade had fallen to 296, and on the 23rd it was removed to the heights above Balaclava, where it remained during the third period, till i6th June, 1855. Dysentery, cholera, insufficient food and lack of warm clothing had thinned the ranks more than the enemy ; the whole medical history of the winter 1854-5 is melancholy reading ; but eventually drafts from home and healthier conditions restored the efficiency of the brigade. From i8th June to 8th September, the fourth period, the Guards were on duty almost daily in the trenches of the night attack. Between these dates, two more officers of the Scots Fusiliers, Captain and Adjutant F. H. Drummond and Captain D. F. B. Buckley were killed and five were wounded. Captain Buckley, indeed, was killed on 7th September in the advanced sap in front of the Redan, during the last guard which was mounted in the trenches. His body was found in front of the trenches by Sergeant James Craig, who volunteered with others to go out under a heavy fire of grape and small arms to look for their officer, who was supposed to be wounded. Craig, assisted by a drummer, brought the body in, for which act of gallantry he received the Victoria Cross. Later he was given a commission, as were eleven other non-commissioned officers and men of the regiment during the war.

CAPTAIN CHARLES B. BALFOUR 101

On 8th September this last guard of the trenches was relieved by the troops told off for the assault on the Redan. It joined the rest of the brigade which was in support. Though our attack on the Redan failed, that of the French on the Malakoff succeeded, and their possession of it rendered the Redan untenable. The following day the Russians evacuated Sevastopol, and the siege was at an end. The war smouldered on, but with no activity on either side, until February, 1856, when an armistice was declared, and the Treaty of Paris was signed on 3Oth March. The battalion embarked for home on nth June on the Princess Royal, landed at Portsmouth on 4th July and proceeded to Aldershot, whence the Crimean brigade on gth July went up by train to London and joined the other four battalions in Hyde Park, where the whole were reviewed by Queen Victoria.

After the Crimean war came a long period of peace, and it was not until 1861 that the Scots Fusilier Guards went on foreign service. Friction had arisen with the United States over the arrest by the captain of a Federal man-of-war of Messrs. Mason and Slidell, envoj's to Europe from the Confederate States, when on board a British ship. Matters looked serious, and an expeditionary force was sent to Canada, of which the ist Grenadiers and 2nd Scots Fusiliers formed a part. The Fusiliers had an adventurous journey in the Parana. Leaving Southampton on igth December they got into very heavy storms at the mouth of the St. Lawrence, and the ship actually ran aground on a sand-bank during a snowstorm on 3rd January, 1862, but succeeded in getting off and, going round to St. John's, New Brunswick, where the battalion landed safely on 22nd January. Thence it proceeded by sleigh and rail to Montreal, where it was quartered until September, 1864, returning to England in October. Going out prepared for what might have been an arduous campaign, officers and men enjoyed what was for long referred to as " our picnic in Canada."

Just before the battalion left home on I5th December, 1861, H.R.H. the Duke of Cambridge was transferred to the colonelcy of the Grenadier Guards, arid was succeeded by Sir Alexander Woodford, G.C.B., G.C.M.G., who died eight years or so after, in 1870. Sir John Aitchison, G.C.B., was then given the command, and on his death in 1875 was succeeded by Henry, Lord Rokeby, G.C.B., who had taken part as an ensign in the regiment in the defence of Hougomont, and had commanded the ist division in the Crimea after the Duke of Cambridge was invalided home in November, 1855.

102 THE SCOTS GUARDS

In 1877 Queen Victoria gave back to the regiment its old title of " Scot Guards," which had fallen into disuse at the Union of 1707, although for some sixty years after that date the regiment was designated in the Army Lists as the " 3rd (Scotch) Regiment of Footguards."

Trouble having broken out in Ireland in 1880, the ist Coldstream and ist Scots Guards were sent to Dublin, and in January, 1882, the 2nd Grenadiers to Cork. The ist Scots Guards and ist Coldstream returned to London in the spring of that year, their places being taken by their respec- tive 2nd battalions. When, therefore, the military revolt under Arabi Pasha broke out in Egypt, and the British Government were compelled to send out a force to restore order, the ist Scots Guards was the only battalion of the brigade of Guards in London for service, the others being the 2nd Coldstream from Dublin and the 2nd Grenadiers from Cork. The battalion sailed from Tilbury on 3Oth July in the Orient, having also on board H.R.H. the Duke of Connaught, in command of the brigade, and Lieut.-General Willis in command of the ist division, with their staffs. The battalion was commanded by Colonel G. W. Knox. They landed at Alexandria on I2th August, and moved to Ramleh, where the brigade assembled, facing Arabi's lines at Kafr-ed-Dauer. So soon, however, as the plans of Sir Garnet Wolseley, the commander-in-chief, were matured by the seizure of the Suez Canal, the whole force, except sufficient troops to cover Alexandria, was re-embarked on i8th August and transferred to Ismailia, where the brigade of Guards landed on the 22nd. On the 24th they moved out in support of the advance made by General Graham on Tel-el-Mahuta. Here they remained until gth September, and while General Graham moved forward to Kassassin, it was employed in clearing the fresh water canal and the railwa}' line of the obstructions placed there by the enemy. So effectively was this carried out that the officer com- manding R.E. ist division brought to the notice of the lieut. -general commanding the division " the excellent work done by the brigade of Guards on the important work of opening the communications on railway and canal."

On gth September the Guards moved forward to Kassassin in support of the troops engaged in the action which took place on that day, and on the night of i2th September joined in the advance on the enemy's position at Tel-el-Kebir, which was stormed and taken in the early morning of the

CAPTAIN CHARLES B. BALFOUR 103

I3th. During the action the brigade was in support of Graham's brigade, which was on the right of the line. The trenches were stormed and the whole position carried in half an hour, and Arabi's rebellion was crushed. Next day the Scots Guards entrained, and were the first battalion to reach Cairo on the i5th, where they marched up to the citadel, which had been occupied by a detachment of our mounted infantry that had pushed on immediately after Tel-el-Kebir. There the battalion was quartered for the remainder of its stay in Egypt. The campaign had not been an arduous one so far as fighting was concerned, but the work at Tel-el-Mahuta, when supplies were delayed in transit, had been heavy while it lasted. At the end of October the battalion left Cairo, and arrived in London on I3th and i6th November.

This campaign of 1882 was the last in which the British army wore the traditional scarlet and took their colours to the seat of war. Only the Queen's colour of the Scots Guards went out, and it was placed in store at Alexandria until the battalion reached Cairo.

In May, 1883, Lord Rokeby died, and General Sir Wm. Knollys, K.C.B., was appointed colonel, but barely survived a month after his appoint- ment. He was succeeded on 24th June, 1883, by H.R.H. the Duke of Connaught.

Our occupation of Egypt entailed responsibilities in the Sudan which the British Government had not foreseen. Mohammed Achmet had pro- claimed himself the Mahdi who was to restore Islam to its former glories, and had headed a revolt against the Khedive. In the eastern Sudan a similar movement was headed by Osman Digna. Their Dervishes anni- hilated an Egyptian army under Hicks Pasha in October, 1883, near El Obeid, and another under Valentine Baker Pasha in the neighbourhood of Suakin in February, 1884. The British Government having decided to evacuate the southern Sudan and to attempt the restoration of order at Suakin, sent out General Gordon to Khartoum to bring away the Khedivial forces there ; but Gordon having reached his destination found himself unable to return. General Graham had been sent with a force to Suakin ; but, instead of strengthening it and so securing the route by Berber to Khartoum, the Government withdrew all except a small garrison in April, and did not resolve, until too late, to attempt to relieve Gordon by the Nile.

io4 THE SCOTS GUARDS

The Nile expedition was organised in August, 1884. Sir Garnet Wolseley was given the command, and his first request on reaching Egypt in September was for a camel corps to be formed and added to his force, and one was made up accordingly from the Guards, Cavalry, and Royal Marines. The Guards Camel regiment, commanded by Lieut.- Colonel the Hon. E. Boscawen, Coldstream Guards (now Lord Falmouth), with Lieut. Charles Crutchley, Scots Guards, as adjutant, was composed of 280 Guardsmen, 40 from each battalion of the brigade, and 100 Royal Marines, 640 men from the cavalry regiments at home, 100 from the House- hold Cavalry and 80 from the Rifle Brigade. The Camel Corps left England on 26th September and landed at Alexandria on 7th October. Thence it was sent up the Nile, and reached a point above Dongola on 4th December, where it joined the Mounted Infantry.

The whole force, which it was intended to push across the desert from Korti by Gakdul to Metemmeh on the Nile below Khartoum, assembled at Korti on nth December under the command of Major-General Sir Herbert Stewart. On the 3oth it advanced to Gakdul Wells, where a post was established and garrisoned by the Royal Sussex. On I4th January, 1885, the advance was resumed, and next day it was ascertained that the Dervishes were in force near Abu-Klea to bar the road to the wells at that place. On the morning of the i7th the column marched in square towards Abu-Klea. In the centre of the front face were the Royal Artillery with the Mounted Infantry on their left and the Coldstream Guards on their right. Continu- ing the square down the right face came the Scots Guards, Grenadier Guards, Royal Marines, Royal Sussex, to the angle of the rear face. The Mounted Infantry held the angle of the front face, and part of the left face, the Heavy Cavalry prolonging their line round the angle of the left and rear face, the Naval Division occupying the space between them and the Royal Sussex. The igth Hussars acted as skirmishers outside the square. As the square advanced the Dervishes opened fire, but fell back until they reached a gully where some 5000 spearmen were lying concealed. These waited until the square was within 400 yards of them ; then rose in a body and swept down on it ; and were within half that distance of the left rear corner before the skirmishers had sufficiently cleared the front to allow those in the square to open fire. The whole weight of the onslaught fell on the heavy cavalry, who were forced back, and the square was broken. Immediately opposite

CAPTAIN CHARLES B. BALFOUR 105

to the breach where the Dervishes poured in stood the Guards and the Marines. Outside the square were masses of Dervishes at whom the front rank were firing. Orders were at once given for the rear rank to turn about, and a hand-to-hand melee ensued at such close quarters that neither Dervish spears nor British bayonets could be effectively handled. Those who took part in it have described it as more like a football scrimmage ; but at last the Dervishes were forced out, the square was re-formed, and by its fire broke up the enemy's attack. The British lost n officers killed or mortally wounded, and 65 men ; 7 officers and 85 men wounded.

Abu-Klea wells were reached in the afternoon, a post was established there, and on i3th January the advance to Metemmeh was resumed. On reaching Abu Kru the enemy was seen swarming out of Metemmeh. A zeriba was formed and garrisoned by half the force, while the remainder, consisting of the Guards, half the heavy cavalry and the Royal Sussex, under the command of Lieut. -Colonel Boscawen, advanced towards the river. Once more the Dervishes tried their wild rush ; but this time the fire from the square caught them in the open, and in five minutes the attack had melted away. The Nile was reached on the 20th, and the village of Gubat was occupied. On the 2ist a demonstration was made against Metemmeh, during which Lieut, and Adjutant C. Crutchley, Scots Guards, was severely wounded, and the commander of the force, Sir Herbert Stewart, received wounds from which he died on ijth February. Gordon's steamers appeared on the 2ist, and Sir Charles Wilson, who had succeeded to the command, left with them for Khartoum.

It is a matter of history how Gordon fell at the taking of Khartoum two days before Sir Charles got there, and nothing now remained but to withdraw the force which had so gallantly tried to save him. Sir Redvers Buller arrived at Gubat on nth February with reinforcements, and fell back with the Camel Corps on Korti, which was reached on gth March. Thence the Guards' Camel Corps went to Dongola, where they remained until they were ordered home at the end of May. While these events were taking place on the Nile the British Government decided to send an expedi- tion of 13,000 men to Suakin, against Osman Digna. The expedition was as abortive and as costly as that on the Nile ; but no discredit reflected on the troops who took part in it. Lieut.-General Sir G. Graham, V.C., was given the command. The infantry formed three brigades — the ist or Guards

106 THE SCOTS GUARDS

Brigade under Major-General A. J. Lyon Fremantle, Coldstream Guards, consisting of the 3rd Grenadiers, ist Coldstream and 2nd Scots Guards, the latter under the command of Colonel the Hon. Walter Trefusis. Later, the New South Wales battalion, the first Australian troops to take part in the wars of the Empire, was attached to the brigade of Guards, Captain the Hon. North Dalrymple, Scots Guards, being brigade major.

The 2nd Scots Guards, having embarked at Gravesend on the Pembroke Castle on 2ist February, 1885, reached Suakin on gth March. They dis- embarked the same day and joined the ist Coldstream, who had arrived on the 8th in the camp outside Suakin. The 3rd Grenadiers arrived on the loth, General Graham on the i2th, and on the I3th the work of laying a rail- way line to Berber began. The Dervishes occupied Hashin and Tamai — the former eight miles east, the latter sixteen miles south-west of Suakin, where Osman Digna had concentrated the greater part of his forces. On igth March a reconnaissance was made against Hashin, and on the 2Oth the position was attacked by the 2nd brigade, with the Guards Brigade in reserve. The Arabs were driven off with slight loss on our side, but among those killed in the action was Captain Dalison, Scots Guards.

Tamai was the next objective. On the 22nd Sir John McNeill with the 2nd brigade had advanced some eight miles towards it when he was fiercely attacked while the men were constructing a zeriba at Tofrek. The attack was driven off, but the fighting was severe. Next morning the Guards Brigade were moved up to Tofrek. The Coldstream and Scots Guards occupied the zeriba, while the Grenadiers returned with the Indian Brigade to Suakin as escort to the wounded, rejoining the column on the 26th to relieve the Scots Guards. Two days before Captain the Hon. North Dal- rymple, Scots Guards, had been severely wounded when with a convoy which the Coldstream and Marines were escorting from Suakin to Tofrek. He was succeeded as brigade major by Captain the Hon. F. Stopford, Grenadier Guards.

The New South Wales battalion, having reached Suakin on the 2gth of March, was moved up with the Scots Guards from Suakin, and the rest of the brigade from Tofrek, against Tamai on 2nd April. Next day Tamai was occupied and burnt, the enemy retiring to the south, after which the column returned to Suakin. Here a mounted infantry detachment of two companies was formed from the brigade, and it also contributed a company

CAPTAIN CHARLES B. BALFOUR 107

under command of Lieut. Neil Menzies,1 Scots Guards, and Lieut. George Wyndham,2 Coldstream Guards, to the newly raised Camel Corps. Both of these units were much employed in reconnaissances, but the rest of the brigade were turned on to heavy work in cutting roads, digging wells, and protecting the navvies who were laying the railway. The mortifying result of all this proved to be wasted energy, for by the middle of April the British Government decided to withdraw the expeditionary force from Suakin and to abandon the Sudan. Accordingly, re-embarkation began in May ; the brigade of Guards was transferred to Ramleh and thence to Cyprus, where it remained until August, the 2nd Scots Guards leaving on 27th August in the Poonah, and disembarking at Portsmouth on loth September. The Nile Camel Corps had left Dongola on ist June, and reached Alexandria on ist July, where they met their comrades from Suakin on the move from Ramleh to Cyprus. The Guards Camel Corps embarked at Alexandria on 4th July and reached London on I5th July.

The Scots Guards did not go again on active service or abroad until the outbreak of the South African War.

Queen Victoria's jubilee was celebrated in 1887, and in commemoration of the event her Majesty granted three additional company badges to the regiment, making up the number from thirteen granted by Queen Anne to sixteen, the number of the existing companies. To commemorate her diamond jubilee in 1897 her Majesty was graciously pleased in 1899 to present a State colour to the Scots Guards, the ceremony taking place on I4th July at Windsor Castle. The State colour of the Grenadier Guards dates from the time of Charles II., being the colour of the King's com- pany, and is presented to the regiment by each successive sovereign on his or her accession. King William IV. presented two State colours to the Coldstream Guards ; but the Scots Guards had not hitherto received one, and this mark of royal favour from Queen Victoria was highly appreciated by the regiment. The State colour is of crimson silk, heavily fringed, and bears the Star of the Thistle, surmounted by the Imperial Crown, and the battle honours of the regiment embroidered in gold and silver. It is only carried when a guard of honour is mounted over the person of the Sovereign, or at a royal review or inspection if ordered by him, and it

1 Succeeded in 1903 as eighth and last baronet of Menzies ; died in 1910.

2 Afterwards Under-Secretary of State for War 1898-1900, Chief Secretary for Ireland 1900-1905 ; died in 1913.

io8 THE SCOTS GUARDS

is only lowered to the Sovereign. It was this colour which accompanied the guard of honour furnished by the Scots Guards on the occasions of State visits made by King George V. to Edinburgh in July, 1911, and to Glasgow in July, 1914.

For a considerable time before 1899 our relations with the Transvaal Republic had been severely strained. During July and August large quan- tities of arms and munitions were imported into the Orange Free State, and so threatening had the situation become that in September the British force in South Africa had been raised to a strength of 25,000. On September 2gth a further field force of 47,000 men was authorised. On 7th October the Army Reserve was called up and general mobilisation ordered. On gth October President Kruger sent an ultimatum to Great Britain : the Orange River Free State then threw their lot in with the Transvaal, while Canada, Australia and New Zealand offered contingents to the mother country.

On nth October the Boers assumed the offensive and invaded Natal ; on the 1 2th the Free States commenced hostilities by attacking an armoured train going towards Maf eking, which place was shortly afterwards invested, as was Kimberley, and later, Ladysmith. Both battalions of the Scots Guards were engaged in the war, and on ist December a 3rd battalion was raised as a reserve battalion of the regiment. This battalion was disbanded on 3Oth September, 1906, and its colours were received by King Edward and deposited in Buckingham Palace, whence they were brought out again and restored to the regiment by King George, when under the stress of the present war the 3rd battalion was re-embodied on 5th August, 1914.

The ist battalion formed part of the brigade of Guards under Major- General Sir Henry Colville, Grenadier Guards, together with the 3rd Grena- dier Guards and the ist and 2nd Coldstream. They sailed under the command of Colonel Arthur Paget on 2ist October in the Nubia, and arrived at Capetown on I3th November, whence they proceeded to Orange River, where Lieut .-General Lord Methuen, Scots Guards, was assembling his division, made up of the brigade of Guards, the gih brigade, and, at a subsequent date, the Highland brigade. Methuen's aim was the relief of Kimberley, and he began his advance along the line of railway from

CAPTAIN CHARLES B. BALFOUR 109

Orange River on 2ist November, without waiting for the ist Coldstream, which was on its way by rail from Capetown, and did not join till the next day at Belmont Farm. The Boers were in position on the hills close to Belmont Station, where Methuen attacked them on the morning of the 23rd with the Guards and gth brigade. The Grenadiers and Scots led the attack of the Guards brigade, with the Coldstream in support. " In the grey dawn the firing line advanced to within 350 yards of the steep face of Gun Hill looming in front of them. Then heavy fire broke out from the defenders, but the attacking line pushed steadily forward to the foot of the kopje, and after a pause to recover breath and fix bayonets, clambered up the rocks in spite of the well-aimed fire of the Boers, who, however, did not wait for the final assault." 1 On reaching the top it was found that, owing to defective maps and the uncertain light of early dawn, the Grenadiers had actually carried the ground intended to be attacked by the Coldstream battalions, who were to have moved forward from their position in support at a given moment for that purpose. These battalions were, however, already being led against the further objec- tive of Mont Blanc beyond Gun Hill, on the right of the original attack. The Grenadiers moved on to support them ; the Scots, towards the centre of the position still held by the Boers, joined hands with the gth brigade, which had completed its work on Table Mountain on the left, and then, supported by the left half battalion of the 2nd Coldstream, the combined brigades finally cleared the ground of the enemy, who mounted their horses and hastily made off. Methuen, hampered as he was through his whole advance by his deficiency in cavalry, was unable to undertake any pursuit.

In the action Major the Hon. North Dalrymple, who had been wounded at Suakin in 1885, was again severely wounded ; 2nd Lieuts. C. Alexander and J. H. R. Bulkeley, with 26 n.c.o. and men, were wounded, and 17 were killed.

Methuen moved forward next day, and after an action at Graspan on 25th November, in which the brigade of Guards was not seriously engaged, attacked the Boer position at Modder River on the 28th. At 4 A.M. the division moved off, the gth brigade and the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders on the left, the Guards on the right of the line of railway. The Scots Guards were on the extreme right flank, with the

1 Times' History of the War in South Africa.

no THE SCOTS GUARDS

1st Coldstream in support on their right rear. Nothing had been seen of the enemy except a small force under Cronje, which, when shelled by our guns, withdrew to a sheltered position. At 8 A.M. it even seemed doubt- ful whether any enemy was in front at all. Ten minutes later a roar of musketry and pom-poms broke out. Colonel Stopford of the 2nd Cold- stream fell dead. The Maxim gun detachment of the Scots Guards was wiped out, Lieut. H. C. Elwes, who was commanding it, being severely wounded. The whole attack over the exposed ground on the right was held up.

All day the Guards Brigade lay in the open, keeping up a constant fire against the Boers in front, while the British artillery did magnificent work and enabled the gth brigade on the left under Major-General Pole- Carew, Coldstream Guards, to make some advance against the Free State contingent. The Free Staters at length became demoralised by our shell fire, and a mixed force of the gth brigade succeeded in crossing the Modder below the junction of that river with the Riet, and occupied Rosmead village. About four o'clock in the afternoon Lord Methuen was wounded, and the command of the division devolved on Sir Henry Colville, and of the brigade of Guards on Colonel Arthur Paget. When night fell the Scots Guards occupied a reservoir close to the banks of the Riet, and preparations were made to renew the attack in the early morning by moving the whole force to the crossing at Rosmead, which was held by Pole-Carew. During the night, however, the Boers fell back on Jacobsdal, and the British crossed the Modder during the 2gth. The Scots Guards lost 9 killed and 37 wounded ; Lieut. Elwes and 2nd Lieut. W. J. N. Hill being among the wounded.

On 6th December Lord Methuen was able to resume command, and resolved to attack Cronje's force, which was in position at Magersfontein, covering Kimberley. The Highland brigade had now joined, and on the night of loth to nth December began the attack on Magersfontein which ended so disastrously. The brigade of Guards was pushed forward in support when the operation had miscarried, and covered the withdrawal of the whole force on the I2th.

For some weeks the brigade lay at Modder River. On nth February, 1900, Major-General Sir Henry Colville assumed command of the gth division and was succeeded in the command of the brigade by Major-General Pole- Carew. On the i8th the brigade advanced to Klip's Drift, and thence to Bloemfontein, which it entered on isth March, with drums and fifes play-

CAPTAIN CHARLES B. BALFOUR in

ing, after having covered forty miles in twenty-six hours. On the i5th the 3rd Grenadiers and ist Scots Guards were despatched to open up the line towards Norval's Pont and establish communication with Gatacre, return- ing to Bloemfontein when this had been effected.

On gth April Colonel Arthur Paget was promoted to the command of a brigade, and Lieut. -Colonel W. P. Pulteney took over the command of the battalion : on the I2th Major-General Pole-Carew was promoted to the command of the nth division, and Colonel Inigo Jones, who had just arrived in S. Africa in command of the 2nd Scots Guards, became brigadier, and remained in command until the end of the war. During this month the brigade took part in the drive in the S.E. of the Orange River Free State, which relieved Wepener, and forced de Wet to retreat towards the S.E. The 2nd Scots Guards, whose part in the war will have to be described in a separate paragraph, were with the i6th brigade also taking part in this operation from Springfontein.

The advance on Pretoria began on ist May. On ist June the brigade entered the capital and took over the various guards from the Boers, who surrendered unconditionally. At Diamond Hill on i2th July the ist Scots Guards were detailed as escort to the 5-in. guns, and were not seriously engaged. They acted with the brigade in the advance to Komati Port against Louis Botha's force, and in the action at Belfast on 26th August it fell to the lot of the Guards to drive out of the town the small German force under Schultz which occupied it. This was effected with very few casualties. Komati Port and the Portuguese frontier were reached on 24th September, and the battalion returned to Pretoria on 3rd October. During November, along with the 3rd Grenadiers and ist Coldstream, it bore a share in the operations against de Wet on the borders of Cape Colony and the Free State.

Returning to Pretoria in December, it was employed in January, 1901, in mobile columns under Colonel Pulteney, Major G. Cuthbert taking over the battalion command on i7th January. It was in French's drive through the Eastern Transvaal in the beginning of the year, and when he took leave of his command at Vryheid on ist April he paid the battalion a high compliment in his farewell address.

" I have particularly admired your extraordinary power of marching . . . another point which has struck me is the discipline of this fine regiment . . . you

ii2 THE SCOTS GUARDS

have gone through many hardships and privations unprecedented in this long and weary campaign . . . you have maintained your splendid reputation throughout."

Later in the year the battalion was under Sir Bindon Blood, when he occupied Roos Senekal, the last seat of a Boer Government. In July it returned to Bloemfontein, remaining there until February, 1902, when part of the battalion was again on trek in the north of the Orange River Colony and in the Transvaal. On peace being declared the time-expired men — about half the battalion — went home, and on gth September the rest of the battalion left Bloemfontein for Capetown, embarked on the Winefredian on I3th September and reached England on 3rd October. On 27th October King Edward inspected on the Horse Guards Parade all the Guards battalions from South Africa, with the exception of the 2nd Scots Guards, which only reached England that day.

To revert to the doings of the 2nd battalion it will be necessary to go back to March, 1900. On the loth of that month it was inspected by Queen Victoria in Buckingham Palace Gardens, and on the I5th they sailed for S. Africa in the Britannic, landing at Port Elizabeth on 8th April. Colonel R. Inigo Jones went out in command of the battalion, but three days after his arrival was appointed to the command of the Guards Brigade, as stated in the narrative of the ist battalion. Colonel F. W. Romilly succeeded to the command of the battalion, and held it until the end of the war. The i6th brigade, 8th division, whereof the 2nd battalion now formed part, was made up of the 2nd Grenadiers, 2nd East Yorkshire, and ist Leinster Regiment, and was commanded by Major-General Barrington Campbell (now 3rd Lord Blythswood), an old officer of the Scots Guards. General Sir Leslie Rundle was in command of the division.

The i6th brigade was at once sent up to co-operate from Springfontein in the drive in the S.E. Orange River Free State, which had for its object the relief of Wepener and the removal of de Wet and his commanders from the district. The Guards Brigade, as has been already shown, were operating from the north. When the advance on Pretoria began in May, the 8th division were on the extreme right of the army, and in front of them, about Senekal and Bethlehem, was a strong force of Free State Boers. Rundle occupied Senekal on 26th May, but on the 23rd the Boers held up a force of Yeomanry at Lindley. To assist in the relief of this

CAPTAIN CHARLES B. BALFOUR 113

force the ibth brigade and the 2nd Royal West Kent, with cavalry and guns, moved out along the road from Senekal to Bethlehem. The enemy was found in force under the command of de Villiers at Biddulphsberg, and was engaged by Rundle on the 29th. The Grenadiers led the attack, but found themselves enfiladed by a Boer force concealed in a donga on their flank ; while at the same time they were exposed to a heavy frontal fire from rifles, pom-poms, and Krupp guns, which set fire to the long grass through which they were advancing. Before long it sprang into a blaze which completely held them up. The Scots Guards came up in support, but the attack having failed Rundle withdrew his force to Senekal. The commanding officers of both battalions were wounded ; but while the Scots Guards lost only 6 men killed and 16 wounded, the Grenadier losses were much heavier, 5 officers and 35 men killed and 100 wounded, and many of the latter suffered terribly from the flames of the burning grass.

During June and July the battalion was constantly on the move, the 8th division forming part of the force under Sir Archibald Hunter, which succeeded in rounding up Prinsloo in the S.E. of the Orange River Free State at the end of the latter month. At Slaapkranz on 28th July the Scots Guards attacked and carried the Boers' advanced position, and at 2.30 A.M. on the following morning occupied their main position without opposition. Prinsloo and de Villiers, finding themselves hemmed in on all sides by Sir Archibald Hunter's force, surrendered with 5000 men. During the action of the 28th, only 2nd Lieut. F. G. Alston and five men were wounded. More Boer commandos surrendered on the 3ist.

For the remainder of the year the 8th division remained in this part of the country, and the battalion was constantly on the trek. A sharp encounter with the Boers took place at Lombards Kop on 26th October, on a return trek from Standerton to Harrismith, when 2nd Lieut. Lord G. R. Grosvenor and seven men were wounded, and another on 22nd November at Tigerskloof, where Lieut. A. Southey and one man were killed and Major E. Hanbury and two men wounded.

During the early part of 1901 the battalion was employed on the defences of Harrismith, and suffered from a severe outbreak of enteric fever : at times, out of a strength of 800 men, 300 were in hospital. From April to the end of July they were on trek in the Brandwater basin and Vrede district, constantly in touch with bodies of the enemy, and were

ii4 THE SCOTS GUARDS

under fire 42 days out of 100, but with small loss : three men only were killed, and 7 n.c.o. and men, and one officer, Lieut. A. Brodie, wounded. During this trek they covered some 760 miles. In August they were sent from Harrismith to Pietermaritzburg in Natal, to take part in the reception of the Duke and Duchess of York, who are now King George V. and Queen Mary. Thence they returned to Potchefstrom in the Transvaal, and were employed on the blockhouse line there during September. On 2gth September, 1901, they were railed to Volksrust, marching from there with the 2nd West Yorkshire Regiment to Wakkerstrom, where under the command of Brigadier-General Bullock a blockhouse line was run from that point to Piet Retief on the Swaziland border. They continued in occupation of this line, holding back Louis Botha and his commando until he came in on 2Qth April, 1902.

Peace was signed on 3ist May, 1902, and in July the battalion was concentrated at Volksrust. On nth September they left by train for Durban, but owing to the engine derailing next day, were detained for a fortnight at Pietermaritzburg, and did not reach their destination until the 27th, when they embarked on the Michigan, reaching Southampton on 27th October. They were railed straight to Aldershot, and as they arrived too late for the inspection of the remainder of the brigade of Guards by King Edward on that day in London, they were inspected by him on 4th November in Buckingham Palace Gardens, where Queen Victoria had bid them God-speed before they sailed for South Africa more than two years and a half before. It is the proud boast of the Scots Guards that during this long campaign no " untoward incident " marred the record of the regiment. No Scots Guardsman surrendered himself a prisoner of war, and not a man was unaccounted for on parade when the rolls were called.

In May, 1904, H.R.H. the Duke of Connaught was transferred to the colonelcy of the Grenadier Guards, and Field-Marshal Lord Methuen, G.C.B., succeeded him as colonel of the regiment.

Mention has already been made of the raising and disbanding of the 3rd battalion, the latter event forming part of a number of army reforms introduced by the Government which came into office in 1906. Amongst these, Egypt was assigned as a quarter for a Guards battalion, and the ist Scots Guards succeeded the 3rd Coldstream there, leaving the Tower of

CAPTAIN CHARLES B. BALFOUR 115

London for the Kasr-el-Nil Barracks at Cairo on 25th February, 1911, and returning home on 2nd January, 1913.

When the story of the part taken by the Guards in the present war comes to be written, it may be confidently affirmed that in common with all other regiments of the British army they have worthily maintained their great traditions. They have met the Prussian Guards as their predecessors did those of King Louis and of the Emperor Napoleon, and with the same result. Cut off by the enemy at Festubert, a company of the Scots Guards fought to a finish like their ancestors at Flodden,

" Dying grimly, still unconquered, with their faces to the foe."

They were among the first to go out in August, 1914, and earned fresh laurels during the retreat from Mons. The 2nd battalion formed part of the original " incomparable 7th Division." Both battalions fought in the battle of Ypres. At Loos the final advance of the Guards recalls the stories of Fontenoy, Waterloo and the Alma. They had their share in the victory of the Somme. Indeed, the record of honours won by the two battalions of the Scots Guards in the field is evidence of how well they have played their part in this tremendous struggle. From August, 1914, up the 3ist December, 1916, these included 3 V.C., i K.C.B., 4 C.B., 4 C.M.G., 9 D.S.O., 26 M.C., 50 D.C.M., 85 Military Medals, in addition to 14 foreign orders and medals ; and last, but by no means least, 118 non-commissioned officers and men have been promoted to commissions.

III.

THE ROYAL SCOTS (LOTHIAN REGIMENT)

BY MAJOR M. M. HALDANE, THE ROYAL SCOTS

THE regiment now known as The Royal Scots, and formerly as The Royal Regiment, inherits the traditions and honours of several ancient bodies of Scottish troops, which acquired in the service of France, Sweden and other states a renown for valour, endurance and all other military virtues that has rarely been equalled and never surpassed. Wherever these troops served they always had the distinction of corps d' 'elite, and they have invariably claimed the right to the most dangerous posts, a right which appears to have been seldom refused to them.

Most of these corps were recruited in the Lowlands of Scotland, but one at least, Mackay's famous regiment, was raised principally in the far North. The Royal Scots have therefore the unique distinction of being the most ancient both of the Lowland and of the Highland regiments, and of being more truly representative of Scotland and the Scottish nation than any other. The list of the great pitched battles and sieges in which the regi- ment itself, or those corps of which it is the direct representative, have borne a prominent part, presents in itself an epitome of the history of Western Europe from the fifteenth century onwards, and a record truly worthy of the capital of Scotland, the centre of the present regimental district.

THE SCOTTISH ARCHER GUARD AND THE GENS-D'ARMES ECOSSAIS

These two corps were the most ancient in the standing army of the French Kings, and as such were accorded seniority and precedence.

n8 THE ROYAL SCOTS

They derived their origin from a force of 7000 Scots which landed at La Rochelle in September, 1419, under John Stewart, Earl of Buchan, son of the Regent Albany, to support the Dauphin (afterwards Charles VII.) in his war with England. On 2ist March, 1421, Buchan, commanding an army com- posed of his own Scots and their French allies, met the English under Thomas, Duke of Clarence, brother of Henry V. of England, at Beauge, and completely defeated them, Clarence himself being killed. In recognition of this service Buchan was appointed Constable of France. But fickle is the fortune of war. In 1423 Buchan returned to Scotland to raise recruits, and during his absence the Scots and French were badly defeated at Crevant by the English and Burgundians under the Earl of Salisbury (nth June, 1423). Buchan resumed the chief command when he returned to France, bringing with him his father-in-law, Archibald, 4th Earl of Douglas, and 10,000 fresh troops. But his star was near setting. On I7th August, 1424, he was attacked at Verneuil by John, Duke of Bedford, who was too wise to repeat his brother Clarence's mistake at Beauge in attempting to overthrow infantry with cavalry. Both sides fought on foot. After three hours of bloody work, the French broke and quitted the field in disarray, leaving the Scots contingent to be cut to pieces. It is said that nine thousand of them were killed. Both Buchan and Douglas fell ; their bodies were bought from the victors and buried on 24th August in the same tomb in the cathedral of S. Gratein at Tours.

This crushing victory of the English and Burgundians seemed, at first, to establish firmly English ascendancy in France, and so it did for some years. Bedford, a sagacious statesman and most puissant soldier, having been appointed Regent of France in 1422, prospered in his rule until the ill-starred siege of Orleans in 1429, " taken in hand," as he told the Privy Council, " God knoweth by what advice." After he allowed Joan of Arc to go to the stake in 1431, the cause of England began to decline. A private quarrel between Bedford and Philip of Burgundy led to a severance of the alliance between England and Burgundy, and the cause for which Bedford had so strenuously contended, the recognition of Henry VI. of England as King of France, was abandoned at the Council of Arras

in 1435-

The remnant of the Scots army commanded by Buchan and Douglas at Verneuil formed the nucleus round which grew the French King's body-

MAJOR M. M. HALDANE 119

guard of Scottish archers, and later the Gens-d'armes Ecossais. These two famous corps lasted until the eighteenth century, although by that time the union of the English and Scottish crowns had so modified the ancient entente between France and Scotland as greatly to alter the composition of the said regiments. During the seventeenth century there were but few Scotsmen either holding commissions or serving in the ranks. Many of the Scottish officers were transferred to Sir John Hepburn's new regiment in 1633, and the vacancies thus ensuing in the Bodyguard were filled by French gentlemen of Scottish descent. However this may be, The Royal Scots are now the only representatives of both, and may fairly claim to inherit their traditions prior to the above date. As the senior corps of the French army and the personal bodyguard of successive kings, they saw much glorious service in Flanders, Germany, Italy and Spain. As, however, they are not identical with The Royal Scots, it seems better to devote the space allowed to those corps that were actually absorbed into the regiment, merely recording here its claim to represent the victors of Beauge, in the same manner as one family may represent another by collateral descent.

GRAY'S REGIMENT

In 1620 Sir Andrew Gray, a Scottish gentleman, raised a regiment for the service of the Elector Palatine, Frederick IV., recently elected to the throne of Bohemia by the Protestants of that country ; or, rather, for the service of his wife Elizabeth Stuart, " The Winter Queen," daughter of James VI. and I. ; loyalty to the House of Stuart being undoubtedly the motive that attracted Scottish Catholics, such as Gray and Hepburn, to espouse the cause of the Protestant Elector against the Catholic Emperor, Ferdinand II.

Gray's regiment was partly recruited from that turbulent material for which the Union of the Crowns had left no place in Scotland, for it is recorded that 120 mosstroopers, arrested by the Wardens of the Marches, were drafted into it. In similar fashion, when Mackay's regiment was raised six years later, it received a draft of a number of Macgregors, imprisoned in the Tolbooth of Edinburgh for various offences. Indeed, the wars on the Continent in the beginning of the seventeenth century provided a ready outlet for the energies of a race that had been reared in

120 THE ROYAL SCOTS

Scotland during more than three centuries of almost continuous warfare with England and of incessant domestic feuds resulting therefrom.

Gray's regiment sailed from Leith in the end of May, 1620, and joined the forces of the Margrave of Anspach on the ist October. Spinola, commander of the Imperial forces in the west, had occupied the Palatinate, and after a sharp skirmish, in which the Scots distinguished themselves, the Margrave joined the army in Bohemia, where Gray's regiment was constituted the bodyguard of the Elector, then facing Bucquoi's army on the other side of the Danube. One of the most remarkable exploits in his- tory was performed by a soldier of the regiment named Edmond, the son of a baker of Stirling, who, without armour, and with his sword between his teeth, swam the deep and rapid Damibe, evaded the Austrian sentries and bore off the Count of Bucquoi, delivering him gagged and bound to the Prince of Orange. Edmond rapidly rose to the rank of colonel ; and retiring to Stirling, left the large fortune he had amassed to his daughter, who had married Sir Thomas Livingstone of Newbigging.

At the battle of Prague on the 8th November, 1620, Frederick lost both Bohemia and the Palatinate and fled to England. Gray's regiment then joined the force under Count Mansfeldt, performing many brilliant actions during the retreat through the Palatinate and Alsace into Holland.

On the 23rd July, 1622, Spinola invested Bergen-op-Zoom, which was so resolutely defended by the Scots that he lost 12,000 men and was forced to raise the siege on the approach of Prince Maurice. Mansfeldt, being now dismissed from Frederick's service, led his troops into Lorraine, where their discipline was sapped through lack of pay, and they committed great ex- cesses, until the Dutch, being hard pressed by Spinola, offered to take them into their service. On their way to Holland they were inter- cepted at Fleurus near Namur by a detachment of Spaniards under Verdugo and Gonzalez. Half armed and starving as they were, on the 3Oth August 1622 they broke through the well-equipped Spanish army and successfully entered Holland, their arrival compelling Spinola to abandon for the second time his attempts to take Bergen-op-Zoom.

In 1623 Mansfeldt's army was disbanded, and Gray, having made over to Captain John Hepburn the command of the remains of his regiment, returned to Scotland.

MAJOR M. M. HALDANE 121

HEPBURN'S REGIMENT (Swedish Service)

John Hepburn was one of the most remarkable of those soldiers of fortune of whom Scotland was so prolific a mother. Personally brave and fearless, he was at the same time a man of such military genius that not only did he become the most trusted officer of the great Gustavus of Sweden, but had been created a Marshal of France just before he was killed at the age of thirty-six. He was born of a Catholic family at Athelstaneford in East Lothian.

In 1625 he took service under Gustavus of Sweden in his war against the Poles, who were then besieging Mewe in West Prussia with an army of 30,000 men. Gustavus, being desirous of relieving the place, entrusted Hepburn with the principal attack. Leaving Dirschau, Hepburn timed his march so as to reach the foot of the hill occupied by the enemy at dusk, and guiding his own and two other Scottish regiments by a pre- cipitous path overgrown with trees, he led them past the enemy's out- posts. The Poles were found working at their trenches, which the Scots stormed at push of pike ; but being overwhelmed by numbers, Hepburn occupied a rock, which he held for two days against the Polish army. He thereby enabled Gustavus to reinforce the garrison of Mewe, whereupon the Poles retired.

The Scot;; troops were sent to Dantzig under Sir Alexander Leslie of Balgonie, and in 1626 bore a conspicuous part in the battle of Girlinerwals. In the following year Hepburn's regiment greatly distinguished itself at the storming of Kesmark in Prussia, and in the defeat of the Polish army which was marching to its relief . Later on it was present at the capture of Marienburg, and took part in the defeat of the Poles at Dirschau.

In 1629 the Emperor, jealous of the growing power of Gustavus, sent aid to the Poles ; but Gustavus was a match for their combined forces. In a fierce encounter near Thorn the Scots made a desperate onslaught. Gustavus, though twice taken prisoner, escaped through being dressed like a private pikeman. Captain Hume of Hepburn's regiment, who led the Scots, was less fortunate, and remained a prisoner in the enemy's hands.

In order to deal with the Imperialists, Gustavus concluded a six years' truce with Sigismund of Poland. His first enterprise was the relief of Stralsund, in which Leslie's Scots troops distinguished themselves.

122 THE ROYAL SCOTS

In 1630 Gustavus was able to take the field in force, and Hepburn's " Invincible Regiment " took the leading part in the relief of Riigenwalde, held by his old school-fellow and comrade, Munro, with a portion of Mackay's regiment, of whom more anon. Thence Hepburn's regiment proceeded to Kolberg, where, with Mackay's, it greatly distinguished itself in an action, which, however, miscarried owing to misbehaviour on the part of the Swedish troops. Kolberg fell on the 26th February, 1631. »

In that year Hepburn's old regiment, Mackay's Highlanders, Lumsden's Musketeers and Stargate's Corps were brigaded under the name of Hepburn's Scots Brigade ; or, to use the title by which it is better known, The Green Brigade. During its short service in the Thirty Years' War it made for itself a record that has never been excelled by any body of troops in history. In the meanwhile we must give some attention to the previous history of Mackay's regiment, afterwards known as Lord Reay's.

MACKAY'S REGIMENT

Mackay's regiment has the distinction of being the first in Great Britain, perhaps in the world, whose records have been printed. The volume, published in 1637, bears the title of Monro, his Expedition with the worthy Scots Regiment (called Mackeye's Regiment}.

This regiment, raised in the Highlands by Sir Donald Mackay in 1626, and consisting of 3000 men formed in fifteen companies, was intended for service under Count Mansfeldt, the leader of the army of the Elector Palatine, the " Winter King " of Bohemia. It embarked at Cromarty, and by the middle of October, 1626, had disembarked at Gliickstadt on the Elbe. The winter quarters were established in Holstein. An old German print of the period shows kilted figures, which are described as " the Irishmen (i.e. Erse or Highlanders) who in an emergency can march over 70 (English) miles in a day " !

Owing to the death of Count Mansfeldt, Mackay's original enterprise was abandoned, and he took service under the King of Denmark. After various manoeuvres, seven companies were ordered to march to Ruppin in Brandenburg, while four were left to defend the passage of the Elbe at Boitzenburg under Major Dunbar. Boitzenburg was shortly after attacked by Tilly's army, and after the Scots had spent all their ammunition, they

MAJOR M. M. HALDANE 123

repelled the assaults of the Imperialists in a hand-to-hand struggle. Tilly crossed the Elbe higher up, and Dunbar, under orders from the Danish King, retired. Shortly afterwards he was entrusted with the defence of the Castle of Bredenburg, which he gallantly maintained for six days. Incensed at his refusal to surrender, Tilly redoubled his efforts, stormed the castle and put all the garrison and inhabitants to the sword.

Before the remaining seven companies had left Ruppin the Danish forces in Silesia were defeated, and the Imperialists, pushing rapidly on, cut off their retreat on Holstcin. Mackay's regiment, therefore, joined the defeated army at Wismar. Of their stay here Monro has put on record the fact that the Highlanders endured the excessive flesh diet which was forced on them better than the other troops, and also notes that he has observed " that the townes of Germanie are best friends ever to the masters of the field, in nattering the victorious, and in persecuting the loser, which is ever well seen in all estates." Eventually Mackay's regiment was em- barked and landed at Heiligenhaven, whence it was sent to seize the Pass of Oldenburg. This it succeeded in doing, throwing up hasty fortifications, which were immediately attacked by the enemy. Apparently the regiment was in reserve when the attack took place, for it had to be hurried up to hold the pass when the Holsteiners began to fall back. In this unequal, though successful, enterprise three officers and four hundred men were killed and thirteen officers were wounded. That night, however, the army retired to Heiligenhaven : the retreat degenerated into a flight, and it was only the discipline of the regiment and the determination of its commander that enabled it to embark — the sole remnant of the Duke of Weimar's army, the rest of which surrendered next morning to the Imperialists. The regiment proceeded to Fiinen to refit, having lost in six months about two-thirds of its original strength. Mackay returned to Scotland to raise fresh troops, and on the igth February, 1628, was raised to the Peerage by the title of Lord Reay.

In November, 1627, Monro with four companies proceeded to Laaland to check the Imperialists, who had crossed the Belt into the island of Feh- marn. It is noteworthy that, in contradistinction to the habits of the German soldiery, the Scots here punished by death an offence of rape com- mitted by one of the men of the regiment.

On the 8th April, 1628, Monro, with four companies, formed part of

124 THE ROYAL SCOTS

an expedition to Fehmarn which successfully disposed of the Imperialist garrison of the island. A few days later the force was landed at Ecken- fiord, which was carried by storm. This was followed by a feeble attack on Kiel, which was repulsed, the few men of the regiment who were included in the assaulting detachment swimming to the ships to avoid capture.

Soon after this Wallenstein laid siege to the free city of Stralsund, whence prayers for succour were sent to the King of Denmark. The Reay Regiment, as it was now called, accordingly landed at Stralsund between the 24th and 28th May. Lieut. -Colonel Seton chose for it the most dangerous part of the lines, and for six weeks it remained in the trenches without relief. The most furious attack was made on the 26th June, under Wallenstein's personal leadership, but at daybreak the following morning the Scots, though they had suffered terribly, still held on to their ruined fortifications. The following day they were compelled to abandon the walls and to retire to an inner ravelin, where they defended themselves until the following morning, when by a fierce charge they drove the enemy away. Fortunately, the arrival of Lord Spynie with another Scots regiment saved the town from being surrendered.

Shortly afterwards, by an agreement between the Kings of Sweden and Denmark, the defence of Stralsund was undertaken by the Swedes, and Sir Alexander Leslie was appointed Governor. Reay's and Spynie's regiments marched to join the Danish army at Wolgast after a final rally against the Imperialists. It is stated that during this siege the regiment lost five hundred men, and that not one hundred escaped unwounded. Inasmuch as the Danish troops proved no match for the Imperialists, Reay's and Spynie's regiments narrowly escaped destruction. Reay's, barely 400 strong, was employed in covering the embarkation of the king's beaten army, and did so with success. Reay reorganised his regiment at Copenhagen, the strength being brought up to one thousand five hundred men in ten companies, by new levies from Scotland, and by the inclusion of a Welsh company under Captain Trafford.

In May, 1629, the preliminaries of peace between the Emperor and the King of Denmark were settled, and as the treaty contained a clause that the Scots auxiliaries were to be dismissed, the regiment took service under the King of Sweden. Somewhat sinister is the light thrown on its dis- ciplinary system from the warrant granted by Gustavus to Lord Reay,

MAJOR M. M. HALDANE 125

dated at Marienburg, I7th June, 1629, which provides in the regimental staff for four surgeons, two chaplains, four provosts, a court-martial clerk and court-martial beadle, a regimental magistrate and an executioner, while each company had three drummers and three pipers. The regi- ment now mustered about two thousand three hundred strong in twelve companies.

Gustavus landed in Pomerania on the 24th June, 1630, and almost immediately captured Stettin by a ruse in which Reay and his regiment played the principal part. Meanwhile six companies had been sent to Braunsberg. Thence they proceeded to Pillau and embarked for Wolgast in two ships. One of these was wrecked on the Pomeranian coast near Riigenwalde, which the Imperialists occupied, though the castle, which belonged to the Duke of Pomerania, a partisan of Gustavus, had been left in the hands of his retainers. Monro secretly sent a message to the com- mander of the castle, promising that, if he were provided with muskets and ammunition (for the Scots had lost theirs in the wreck), he would clear the town. Having obtained fifty muskets, the Scots were secretly admitted to the town at nightfall, and either killed or captured the entire garrison. Monro defended Riigenwalde for nine weeks until relieved by Sir John Hepburn.

Monro then marched to Colberg, at that time beleaguered by the Swedes, and was detailed to occupy the castle of Schiefelbein, a ruinous structure, where he was attacked by the Imperialists under Count Montecuculi, who occupied the town with eight thousand men. Monro burnt them out, on which Montecuculi attempted by a flank march to relieve Colberg ; but the main Swedish forces having come up, the Imperialists were forced to retire with some loss on the next day, the nth November, 1630. Colberg eventually capitulated to the Swedes, Reay's regiment being present when the garrison marched out with all the honours of war.

After the capitulation of Colberg, Reay returned to Stettin, where the regiment went into winter quarters, while he himself proceeded to Scotland to raise recruits. The plague was raging at Stettin during the autumn and winter of 1630, and it was noticed that the Scots troops suffered from it much less than the Swedes and Germans. Lord Reay did not return from Scotland, being busy there in raising fresh regiments for Gustavus, many of the officers of his own regiment being promoted into them.

126 THE ROYAL SCOTS

Early in January, 1631, Gustavus marched with eight thousand men on New Brandenburg. After the Scots had stormed a ravelin, the garri- son surrendered the place. Treptow and Letts were next captured, and on the I4th February the regiment marched on Demmin, which was taken, the Scots, as usual, having carried off the honours of the day.

THE GREEN BRIGADE

In March, 1631, Gustavus moved towards the Oder with the bulk of his forces. General Kniphausen being left in command at New Brandenburg with six hundred of Reay's regiment under Lieut.-Colonel Lindsay. The place was besieged by Tilly, who, fearing that Gustavus might attack him, pressed the siege hotly. For nine days the garrison made a heroic resistance, but at last the town was stormed and practically the whole garrison was massacred by the Austrians. Captain Innes and Lieut. Lumsden, who swam the wet ditch in their armour, appear to have been the only survivors.

Gustavus marched on Frankfort-on-the-Oder, then occupied by Counts Schomberg and Montecuculi with ten thousand veteran troops. The attack commenced on the 2nd April, 1631, and the following day, Palm Sunday, the town was taken. Hepburn's regiment stormed the Guben gate, Hepburn himself and Lumsden of Invergellie placing the petards against it. Severe losses were suffered from guns posted a little behind the gateway, some of which discharged " small shot." Meanwhile Mackay's regiment forded the moat, placed ladders against the walls, carried them by escalade, and joined Hepburn's men inside the Guben gate. When the Austrians cried for quarter the Scots replied " Remember New Brandenburg ! " Four colonels, thirty-six other officers, and some three thousand soldiers were killed, and fifty colours and immense booty were taken. The most notable defence was made by an Irish regiment under Colonel Walter Butler, who was wounded and taken prisoner. The Swedish losses were three hundred of the Green Brigade and five hundred of the Blue and Yellow Brigades.

Gustavus next marched on Landsberg, which was invested on the 8th April. The assault was made by two hundred and fifty musketeers of Mackay's Highlanders, and two hundred and fifty of MacDougall of Dow- battle's Dragoons, followed by Hepburn with one thousand musketeers.

MAJOR M. M. HALDANE 127

The assault was successful, and the Austrians, who were about twice as numerous as their assailants, surrendered.

On the 2gth April, 1631, Gustavus marched on Berlin, and halted at Potsdam. The vacillation of the Dukes of Brandenburg and Saxony pre- vented him from relieving Magdeburg, the sack of which town by Tilly's army is one of the most savage episodes in history. Gustavus was so justly indignant at the horrors perpetrated that he threatened to imprison the Duke of Brandenburg if he did not become his ally.

July was half over before Gustavus moved from Brandenburg and, marching by Rathenau, captured Werben, where he crossed the Elbe. Here he was attacked by Tilly, whose advanced guard received so severe a check that it was not until the 22nd July that he was able to return to the assault. The following day a counter-attack led by Monro, with five hundred of Reay's musketeers, brought about the retreat of the Austrians to Leipzig. On the 3ist Gustavus crossed the Elbe at Wittenberg, and on the 7th Sep- tember the battle of Leipzig was fought. The flight of the Saxon cavalry seemed to presage the loss of the day ; but on the Imperial cavalry follow- ing up this initial success with an attack on the Scottish regiments, the latter charged with the pike, driving them back with frightful slaughter. It is said that the Austrian army lost a third of its strength in killed. It was at this battle " that the Scottish regiments first practised firing in platoons, which amazed the Imperialists to such a degree that they hardly knew how to conduct themselves." The Scots brigade was publicly thanked in presence of the whole army. Owing to the flight of the Saxons, the Swedish army cannot have mustered much more than one-third of the strength of that of Tilly, yet its own loss did not exceed seven hundred men. This victory was one of the most decisive ever fought, for on its result depended the future of the Protestant religion on the continent of Europe.

From Leipzig Gustavus marched on Wiirzburg, taking many strongholds on the way. Monro pronounces the storming of Wurzburg to have been the greatest exploit performed during the war. Access to the castle was by a bridge, one arch of which had been broken by the garrison, and over the chasm, fifty feet above the rapid river, a single plank had been thrown. Tilly being close at hand, Gustavus asked the Scots if they would hazard the attack, " knowing that if they refused it was useless to expect any others

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to go upon such a forlorn hope." The venture was undertaken by the regiments of Sir James Ramsay and Sir John Hamilton. A detachment crossed the river in a boat, drawing off the attention of the garrison from the storming party at the bridge. A lodgment was made in the castle before nightfall ; but on the following day Gustavus ungenerously sent forward some Swedish and German regiments to complete the attack. This so offended Hamilton that he resigned his command, nor could all the excuses of the king induce him to resume it. This was, however, not the only occasion on which the Scots endured the brunt of the fighting, the spoils of which were reserved for the Swedes and Germans.

Gustavus next marched to Frankfort-on-the-Main, capturing further towns and castles on the way. The city opened its gates, but the garrison of the castle had to be driven out. December saw the fall of the strong castle of Oppenheim on the Rhine. The Green Brigade had to bivouac in the snow under fire of the enemy's cannon, which plagued them much at night when the camp fires gave a target. One hundred men each from Reay's and Lumsden's regiments were left as a garrison, and the army marched on Maintz, reputed to be the strongest fortress in Germany, where " Colonell Hepburne's Brigade (according to use) was directed to the most dangerous part, next the crossing."

The place surrendered after three days' siege, the garrison being allowed to march out, but without arms. Here the army remained until the 5th March, 1632. Out of the very large ransom paid by the townsmen, which was chiefly raised among the Jews, the Scots brigade seem to have got nothing, a matter that draws some caustic remarks from Monro.

From Maintz the army marched by Frankfort and Aschaffenburg into Bavaria. On the 26th March Donauworth fell, the honours of the day resting wholly with Hepburn and his brigade. It is interesting to note that the Rex Chancellor Oxenstiern ordered the German regiments to beat the " Scots March" in order to dismay the enemy. The Imperialists, however, charged ; the Germans " made a base retreate " ; and it was only the timely arrival of the genuine Scots that decided the day in favour of Gustavus. Probably no higher tribute has ever been paid to the valour of the Scots troops than this beating of their march by the Germans, which, indeed, seems to have amounted almost to a customary ruse.

On the 5th April began the celebrated struggle for the passage of the

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Lech, at which the terrible Tilly received his death wound. To Hepburn's brigade fell, as usual, the honour of leading the van when the passage was forced the following day. It lost heavily at the abortive siege of Ingol- stadt, where it occupied an exposed situation with orders to hold it at all costs, which it did. City after city was now taken, until on the 7th May the army, led by the Green Brigade, entered Munich. Only the Scots regiments were permitted to have their quarters within the city, where they formed the personal guard of the king. This speaks volumes for the dis- cipline of these regiments, for Gustavus made a special point of conciliating the inhabitants by forbidding plunder.

On the ist June Gustavus marched to meet Wallenstein, who, having rallied the Imperial armies in Bohemia, now threatened Saxony. The march was by Donauworth, Weissenburg and Fiirth, which was reached on the 7th June. Just before the series of actions for the defence of Nurem- berg began, Gustavus foolishly taunted Hepburn with being a Catholic. Hepburn at once resigned his commission, nor could all the King's efforts bring about a reconciliation. He remained, however, until after the principal action, performing several very gallant feats as an unattached volunteer. The principal action began on the 22nd August and lasted three days. The brigade, now commanded by Monro, suffered very severe losses, but the battle was indecisive. After enduring much privation, the army retired towards Neustadt on the I4th September.

The losses of the Scots brigade were so heavy that it was left at Dun- kelsbiihl to await recruits. After thanking the brigade for its services, the King marched northwards to meet his death at Liitzen. Meanwhile the Scots brigade with Ruthven's brigade and some Swedes had taken Landsberg, after a race between Monro and Ruthven as to which should first reach the walls, in which the senior brigade was foremost. Kaufbeuren and Kempten, with many smaller towns, fell before their onslaughts. In July, 1633, Monro of Obisdell's regiment being reduced to a strength of two companies, was incorporated in Reay's regiment. Monro himself returned to Scotland to recruit, leaving in command Lieut.-Colonel John Sinclair, who was killed at Neumark and was succeeded by William Stewart.

On the 26th August, 1634, Ferdinand of Hungary and Clam Gallas defeated the Swedes at Nordlingen. This was a most disastrous day for

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the Scots, who had almost turned the fortunes of the field, Reay's regi- ment being reduced from twelve companies to one. Not long afterwards this company, together with the remains of thirteen other Scottish regiments that had fought so long and so valiantly for Gustavus, were incorporated in the Scottish Regiment d'Hebron, a corps of the French army commanded by the old chief of the Green Brigade, Sir John Hepburn, whose name was made to assume that unfamiliar form by the French military officials.

LE REGIMENT D'HEBRON

The history of the regiment now known as The Royal Scots dates from the year 1590, when a body of Scottish infantry was raised to assist Henry of Navarre in his wars with the League. These troops, at first organised as independent companies, trained and commanded by officers drawn from the Garde du Corps Ecossais and the Gendarmes Ecossais, were in 1633 formed into a regiment under the command of Sir John Hepburn. In the same year a warrant was issued by the Scottish Privy Council empowering Sir John to raise twelve hundred men in Scotland, but from entries in the Gazette during the years 1634 and 1635 it appears that the establishment was eventually fixed at 3000 men.

In 1634 " le Regiment d'Hebron," as it was called, served at the siege and capture of La Mothe, being engaged in three attacks on the 4th June and a fourth on the igth July. Hepburn was subsequently engaged in the relief of the Swedish garrison of Mannheim, and on the 23rd December captured Heidelberg. It was in this year that the French army effected a junction at Landen with the remains of the Swedish army under Duke Bernhard of Saxe-Weimar, when the remains of the Green Brigade and other Scots troops, including Hepburn's own former regiment, were incor- porated in " le Regiment d'Hebron." Two years later this regiment had an establishment of 8816 officers and men, including the lieut. -colonel (Monro of Foulis), Major Sir Patrick Monteith, 15 captains, one captain-lieut., 93 lieutenants, 12 staff officers, I piper (the last survivor of the 36 pipers of Mackay's regiment), 664 non-commissioned officers, and 48 companies, each of 150 pikes and muskets.

The regiment served in the campaign of 1635 in Germany, distinguishing itself greatly in the rearguard actions fought near Metz, and being remarked

MAJOR M. M. HALDANE 131

on for the manner in which it bore the privations of the retreat. In the following year it assisted in the relief of Hagenau, and, at Hepburn's request, was given precedence over all other regiments in the French service. Hepburn was killed at the siege of Saverne in the summer of the same year. He was buried in Toul Cathedral, but his monument was destroyed during the French revolution. Sir John was succeeded in the command by one of the same name, probably his nephew, George Hepburn, who was killed while leading the regiment at the assault of Damvillers in Lorraine on the i6th October, 1637, and was succeeded by Lord James Douglas, third son of William, first Marquis of Douglas. The regiment was now known as " le Regiment de Douglas." In 1638 it took part in the siege of Saint-Omer, where the trenches were opened on the night of the 2gth-3oth June. On the i2th July the Scots repulsed a sortie made by the Spaniards and captured a strong post. The siege of Saint-Omer having been raised, the army next laid siege to Renty, which surrendered on the gth August, and finished the campaign of that season by taking Catelet by storm on I4th September.

On the igth May, 1639, sieSe was l&id to Hesdin, which surrendered on the 2Qth June, the regiment being brigaded with that of Champagne. Opera- tions continued against the Spaniards, and the regiment took part in a sharp skirmish near St. Nicholas in which four pieces of cannon were captured. In 1643 a Scots regiment commanded by Colonel Andrew Rutherford, afterwards Earl of Teviot, was raised for the French service, and played a conspicuous part at the battle of Rocroy on the igth May, 1643. It was also at the siege of Thionville, which capitulated on the loth August, after which it marched for Italy. Both Douglas's and Rutherford's regiments were engaged in the siege of Turin, which was invested on the I4th August, 1643, and surrendered on the 27th September. In the following year Douglas's regiment was again in Picardy, and took part in the siege of Gravelines. After two sorties had been repulsed by the regiment, the town surrendered on the 28th July.

In 1644 the Scots regiments were engaged in the siege and capture of Courtrai, of Dunkirk (which surrendered on the loth October), of Bethune and of St. Venant. In 1645 Lord James Douglas was killed in a skirmish at Alving near Douai, and the command was conferred on his eldest brother Archibald, afterwards Earl of Angus and Ormonde. It does not appear

i32 THE ROYAL SCOTS

that he ever commanded in person, and in 1653 he resigned in favour of his half-brother, Lord George Douglas.

Rutherford's regiment distinguished itself at the battle of Lens on the loth August, 1648. It was about this time that dispute became heated with the Picardy regiment, the oldest in the French line, and still in exis- tence as the ist Infantry Regiment, on the subject of precedence. Claiming an origin in 1569, the French officers were jealous of the Scots possessing the privilege of forming the right of the line, and gave them in derision the nickname of " Pontius Pilate's Bodyguard," a nickname which sticks to The Royal Scots to this day. It was in one of these disputes that an officer of Hepburn's made the famous retort that the Picardy regiment must be mistaken, for had the Scots really been Pontius Pilate's Guard and done duty at the sepulchre, the Holy Body had never left it. The sting of the retort appears to have been due to some recent dereliction of duty by sentries of the French regiment, in sleeping on their posts.

In 1648 and 1649 the Scots regiments were engaged in the neighbour- hood of Paris in the conflict between the Court and the Parliament. The Spaniards took advantage of the commotion to capture several places in Flanders, among them Ypres, which was garrisoned by three hundred men of one of the Scots regiments. They were eventually forced to surrender to superior numbers, but marched out on the 6th May, 1649, with all the honours of war.

In 1650 Charles II. endeavoured to obtain the transfer of the Scots regiments to Scotland for the war that ended at Worcester, but Louis refused to let them go. They were employed principally in Picardy and Flanders.

On the 2nd July, 1652, a battle between the royal troops and those of the Prince of Conde was fought in the suburb of Saint- Antoine. Douglas's regiment bore the brunt of the fighting, carrying the barricades and houses by storm and subsequently repulsing several furious counter-attacks. The Spaniards under Lorraine marched on Paris, and, although prevented by the check they sustained at Villeneuve-Saint-Georges from entering the city, they succeeded in effecting a junction with Condi's army at Ablon. After confronting one another for some weeks, the opposing armies moved into Champagne. Frequent encounters took place during this period in which Douglas's regiment took a prominent part, being specially distinguished

MAJOR M. M. HALDANE 133

at the siege and capture of Bar-le-Duc. This was followed by the siege of the castle of Ligny on the river Ornain. On the 2ist December the regi- ments of Douglas and York were detailed for the attack after the springing of a mine. They moved forward before the smoke had cleared ; and on reaching the walls across the frozen ditch, it was found that no breach had been made. The ice broke, and both regiments suffered considerable losses, but the castle surrendered the following day. Chateau Portieu was taken early in January, 1653, and Vervins fell on the 28th of the same month. In consequence of the losses sustained in these operations Douglas's regiment was sent into " quarters of refreshment " until the following June, when it was employed in various defensive operations against numerically superior Spaniards.

In 1654 the regiment appears to have been engaged on garrison duties, and does not again figure in action until the battle of Dunkirk Dunes, on the 24th May, 1658, in which, with Dillon's Irish regiment under Turenne, it fought side by side with Cromwell's troops against English, Scots, and Irish Royalist refugee regiments under the Duke of York, who had joined the Spanish forces. The Spaniards were defeated after a fiercely contested struggle and Dunkirk fell. The sieges of Bergues, Dixmude, Oudenarde and Ypres followed in quick succession. The war ended with the Peace of the Pyrenees in 1659, and in 1660 Rutherford's regiment was incorpo- rated with Douglas's, which was reduced to eight companies.

In 1661 Douglas's regiment was recalled to England from France to support the authority of King Charles, while the first regiments of the present British army were being raised. It returned in the following year to France, but in 1665, on the outbreak of war with the Dutch, who were supported by Louis XIV., Charles again recalled the regiment, which landed at Rye on the 25th June, 1666.

The establishment was now raised to twelve companies of one hundred men, and it is noteworthy that of the thirty-six officers, thirty-two bear names which are distinctly Scottish, two are apparently French, one is Irish and one doubtful. The list comprises nine Douglases, two Stuarts, two Rattrays and two Tyries ; the only distinctly Highland names are Alexander Munro and Kenneth Mackeny.

The regiment was quartered at Chatham, where in 1667 it took part in the defence against the Dutch fleet. From Chatham it proceeded in

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the autumn of the same year to France, being quartered in 1667 in Lille and in 1668 in Franche-Comte". In 1672 it was formed into two battalions of eight companies each, and was engaged under Mare'chal Turenne in the capture of Grave. In the following year it was present at the siege of Maestricht, and in 1674 was transferred to the Rhine, where it was present in several actions in the neighbourhood of Heidelberg, and bore a con- spicuous part in the victory of Molsheim. In January, 1675, it assisted in the capture of Dachstein, whence it moved to reinforce the garrison of Treves. After the death of Marechal Turenne before that place, the French field army retreated and Troves was besieged by the Imperialists, to whom it surrendered in September. The defence was prolonged by the conduct of the Scottish regiment, which stood firm when the French troops mutinied and attempted to force the governor to surrender. The regiment was also engaged in this year in the engagements at Turcheim and d'Altenheim.

In this year the Douglas Regiment changed its title and became known as Dumbarton's, in consequence of its colonel, Lord George Douglas, having been raised to the peerage as Earl of Dumbarton. It is to this circumstance that the favourite quick-step of the regiment owes its name of Dumbarton's Drums.1 In the following year the regiment formed part of Luxembourg's army on the Lower Rhine and greatly distinguished itself in the retirement at Saverne, where it gave an early instance of the fire discipline of British infantry by inflicting a severe check on the German cavalry which had driven in the French rearguard.

In 1677 the long and glorious record of the regiment in the service of France was brought to a close. It took part in the manoeuvres which led to the surrender of the Prince of Saxe Eisenach's division on an island in the Rhine, in the skirmish of Kochersberg and at the capture of Freiburg ; but the conclusion of an offensive and defensive alliance between Great Britain and Holland resulted in its final recall to England. It arrived in detachments between March and September, 1678, and these were quartered in various parts of the eastern and south-eastern counties. It was in this year that a grenadier company was first formed. In this year also an order was issued that all Roman Catholic officers who had not given the necessary certificate were to be displaced, in consequence of which

1 Two settings of this air, the oldest and a modern one, are given at pages 332, 333.

MAJOR M. M. HALDANE 135

the Earl of Dumbarton, who was of that faith, nominally ceased to command the regiment and was appointed to the chief command in Scotland.

On proceeding to Ireland in 1679, the muster roll of the regiment shows that it consisted of twenty-one companies, comprising eighty-two officers (exclusive of staff officers), sixty-three sergeants, sixty-three corporals, forty-two drummers, and eight hundred and ninety-one privates. One hundred and fifty-one are recorded as absent and eight dead, bringing the total down to 1050 of all ranks. The record of the staff officers shows that besides the adjutant, chaplain, surgeon, surgeon's mate, quarter- master and drum major, the regiment had a piper major, the first of that rank borne on the establishment of the British army. It is interesting to note here that the piper major was struck off the establishment from motives of economy about 1764, and that, in spite of the remonstrances of the Marquis of Lome and subsequent colonels, this historic office has never been revived in the only regiment in which it has appeared on the officers' roll.

In 1680 the regiment was engaged for the first time on service outside Europe. It landed at Tangier on the 2nd and 3rd August, leaving, however, five companies in Ireland. A detachment formed the forlorn hope of the force which left the town to cover the retreat of the garrison of Fort Charles, and in the subsequent fighting the regiment greatly distinguished itself and suffered considerable losses. It is interesting to note that megaphones were used to keep up communication between the town and the forts. Owing, however, to the presence of renegades in the Moorish forces, con- versation was conducted in Irish (i.e. Gaelic), until an Irishman or High- lander deserted to the enemy, when this also became impossible.

The regiment returned from Tangier in 1684 and a detachment formed the bodyguard of the Duchess of York at Tunbridge Wells. About the same time King Charles conferred the title of " The Royal Regiment of Foot," which was retained, with a short break, until 1881. The colours at this time bore the St. Andrew's Cross with the Thistle and Crown and the motto " Nemo me impune lacessit."

In 1685 the regiment was employed in the suppression of Monmouth's rebellion in the west. At the battle of Sedgmoor the seniority of The Royals was recognised in assigning them the right of the line, precedence being thereby yielded both by the King's Foot Guards (now the Grenadier Guards) and the Coldstream. Monmouth is recorded to have

i36 THE ROYAL SCOTS

been much perturbed on observing that The Royals were arrayed against him, remarking : " I know these men will fight. If I had them, I would not doubt of success." In the ensuing battle the regiment bore the brunt of the attack, suffering heavy casualties ; and Monmouth's standard was taken by Captain Robert Hackett. Twelve of the disabled men were admitted to the new charity of Chelsea Hospital. On the reduction of the establishment which followed the suppression of the rebellion all Englishmen in the regiment were discharged. In August King James restored Dumbarton to the formal command of the regiment, and in November he was gazetted lieut. -general.

In 1686 the regiment was finally divided into two battalions, and on 20th March the 2nd battalion was moved to Scotland to replace the Scots Guards, who were brought to London. This was the first occasion since the embodiment of the various regiments from which it was descended that The Royals had ever paraded as a regiment in Scotland.

The ist battalion moved in June to a training camp at Hounslow, but in August proceeded to Portsmouth on garrison duty, being relieved by Buchan's regiment, now the Royal Scots Fusiliers.

On the landing of William of Orange in November, 1688, both battalions were at Andover, whence they moved to Warminster. Dumbarton com- manded them, and wished to attack William with his regiment alone. King James, however, lost heart, and the royal forces fell back to Windsor. The unflinching loyalty of the regiment to its sovereign remained after James's flight to France ; and on the appointment of Schomberg as colonel in place of Dumbarton, who had accompanied his king into exile, The Royals, then at Ipswich, declared for James, and proceeded by forced marches to Scotland. They were overtaken at Sleaford by the Dutch General Ginkel (created Earl of Athlone in 1692), with a strong force of cavalry. Being hopelessly outnumbered and surrounded, they surrendered : the ringleaders were convicted of high treason at Bury assizes ; but King William, who is said to have expressed a strong admiration for the loyalty of the regiment to James, only cashiered Lieut. Gawen, who had headed the rising. This incident was the occasion for the Mutiny Act, the basis of our present Army Act. William's clemency was well rewarded, for after officers and men had acknowledged him as king, Jacobite agents had less success in producing desertion in The Royals than in other regiments.

MAJOR M. M. HALDANE 137

The 1st battalion joined the allied army in Flanders in June, while the 2nd battalion was raising recruits in Scotland. In August the ist battalion took part in the battle of Walcourt, where under the command of Colonel Hodges of the i6th, formerly the commander of the grenadier company of The Royals, it was acknowledged that the British troops behaved splendidly. By the beginning of 1690 the 2nd battalion had joined the ist in Flanders, and the regiment was represented at the battle of the Boyne only by its colonel, the Duke of Schomberg, who was killed there. In succession to him Sir Robert Douglas of Glenbervie, the lieut.-colonel, was promoted to the command in 1691.

In the following year King William failed in an attempt to recapture Mons, which had been taken by the French in 1691. He then marched to meet the French at Steenkirk, The Royals forming part of the advanced guard under the Duke of Wiirtemberg. The British artillery, under Captain M'Cracken of The Royals, who was killed later in the day, opened the action on 2nd June with a very effective fire. Sir Robert Douglas led his regiment to the attack, which was so hotly pressed that it was not until Marechal de Luxembourg had thrown in his fourth line, the French and Swiss Guards, that the twelve British battalions engaged were forced back. One of the colours of the Royals was captured by the French, but was retaken by Douglas himself, who was almost at once killed, but not until he had flung the colour back to his own men. Owing to the jealousy of the incompetent Count Solmes, no support was sent up, and King William was defeated with great slaughter. The French, however, were in no position to follow them, and the British regiments retired to their camp, covered by the Royal Fusiliers. The colonel of the latter regiment, Lord George Hamilton, fifth son of the third Duke of Hamilton, and afterwards Earl of Orkney, was promoted to be colonel of The Royals, in which he had once commanded a company.

On the 2gth July, 1693, William III. met his old opponent Luxembourg at Landen or Neerwinden, and suffered a crushing defeat, losing 76 guns and 80 stands of colours. Macaulay declares that this was the bloodiest battle of the eighteenth century. The French paid so dearly for their victory that Luxembourg could not undertake a pursuit, and King William led his shattered forces back to Brussels without further molestation. In this action The Royals occupied the left instead of the right of the line, the

i38 THE ROYAL SCOTS

grenadier company being posted in a house in New Landen. The allied troops at this point were The Royals, the Queen's, and two Danish battalions, who beat back the attack of four French brigades ; but the failure of the Allies elsewhere on the field caused them to yield their advantage.

The year 1694 was uneventful, but in 1695 William laid siege to Namur, whereof the incidents are so graphically described in Tristram Shandy. To The Royals was assigned the assault on the suburb of Bouge, which took place on the 6th or 8th July (the date is uncertain). The assault was com- pletely successful, Lord George Hamilton, colonel commanding the regiment, was wounded, and on loth July was gazetted brigadier-general for his services. On the 24th the French retired across the Sambre to the citadel and The Royals were marched to Genappe, though two officers were left to do engineer services. The regiment, however, was brought back before Namur had fallen. On 20th August the grenadier company, with grenadiers of other regiments, succeeded in effecting some lodgments in the citadel, and on the 26th the French marched out with the honours of war. The Royals were brought back to England in 1697 and were reduced to a peace establishment of 42 men per company.

The precedence of The Royals as ranking first after the Guards was confirmed by a fresh warrant in 1698. In the absence of regimental numbers, the changes in the title of a corps corresponding with the names of successive colonels are somewhat apt to confuse the reader. Thus The Royals, which bore successively the titles of Douglas's regiment, Dumbarton's regiment, Hamilton's regiment, appears in official documents of 1696, when Lord George Hamilton was created Earl of Orkney, as " My Lord Orkney's " or " The Royal Regiment of Orkney."

In 1701 both battalions sailed from Ireland for Holland, each composed of twelve companies, for the war of the Spanish Succession had broken out. William III. was dead, and Marlborough was appointed Commander-in- chief of the allied army. When he laid siege to Kaiserswerth in April, 1702, The Royals formed part of a covering force at Cranenberg under the Earl of Athlone. Probably there were but few veterans in the ranks who recog- nised under his brand new title the Dutchman Ginkel, to whom, as mutineers, they had surrendered at Sleaford in 1688. After the fall of Kaiserswerth The Royals were transferred to Marlborough's own command, serving in the covering force at the siege of Venloo. One battalion was engaged

MAJOR M. M. HALDANE 139

in the attack on Stevenswart, the other in the successful assault on Ruremonde.

There is nothing to record of the regiment in 1703, but in 1704 it marched with Marlborough to Bavaria. It formed two out of the five British battalions that were present in the important action of Schellenberg, and well did The Royals sustain the reputation which their predecessors in the corps had earned on the same ground seventy years before under Gustavus Adolphus. Thirty officers of the regiment were killed or wounded.

On August i3th was fought the battle of Blenheim. One battalion of The Royals attacked the village itself, while the other took part in the attack on the French centre. Both did well, and their casualties were not so heavy as at Schellenberg, for they lost but twelve officers at Blenheim. The 2nd battalion formed part of the escort that took the prisoners to Holland, while the ist remained to finish the campaign in Swabia. In the following year the ist battalion was engaged in the operations on the Meuse and at the successful siege of Huy in July. On the I7th of that month Marlborough attacked the French at Helixhem and drove them in, The Royals being engaged in the battle, and in a skirmish on the Dyle on the 2ist.

The year 1706 was busy and bloody. On the 23rd May The Royals played a conspicuous part in the battle of Ramillies, and were later em- ployed in the sieges of Dendermond, Ostend, Menin and Aeth.

In 1707 took place the union of Scotland with England, in consequence whereof the colours of the Royals were altered so as to combine the red cross of St. George with the white saltire of St. Andrew. The regimental badge, also, was recast, showing the Royal cipher within the circle of St. Andrew, surmounted by a crown.

In 1708 The Royals, with nine other regiments, were recalled to England to resist an attempt at invasion by King Louis of France in support of the exiled Stuart dynasty ; but as no landing was effected they returned to Flanders in April and were present at Oudenarde in the Duke of Argyll's division of twenty battalions, on which the brunt of the fighting fell. Marl- borough's design was to follow up this victory by marching upon Paris. leaving a force to mask Lille, where Boufflers lay with 15,000 men. But the Dutch commanders considered this plan too risky, wherefore it was decided to lay siege to Lille, the ancient capital of Flanders, which Louis XIV. had

i4o THE ROYAL SCOTS

acquired by conquest in 1667. It was a very strong place, both in its natural features and in the manner these had been strengthened by Vau- ban's fortifications, and Marlborough found it a difficult task to maintain communication with his base at Ostend. On 27th September a column was detailed under Major-General Webb to protect a train of waggons bring- ing supplies from that port, and Vendome marched with 20,000 men to attack it. The two forces met at Wynendale ; Webb skilfully lured the French into an ambush which he had laid in a defile ; a bloody encounter resulted in the enemy falling into disorder and retiring, and the convoy was brought safely into the British lines. Mr. Fortescue, whose energy in research is indefatigable, has failed to identify any of the regiments engaged in this brisk affair, except one battalion of The Royals. Their conduct is com- memorated in some doggerel verse composed by John Scott, a private in Lord Portmore's regiment, and entitled The Remembrance.

" Our comand throu the pass began to advance With courage, conduct and skille. The French brigade stronglie canonaded And some of our men they did kill. Our regiments that day advanced in array, And brisklie cleared the pass ; The Royal Scots marching in the front They dear enough payed for the sausse." l

In the following extract from the Amsterdam Gazette of gth October, 1708, due honour is done to the heroism displayed by a certain sergeant of The Royals in the capture of some outworks, but unfortunately his name is not mentioned.

" Yesterday a little after noon we carry'd sword in hand the rest of the two Tenailles and the Ravelin. A Sergeant of the Royal Regiment of Scots, advancing the foremost, observed that the French were not on their guard, as not expecting to be attacked. He called to our Ingeniers and Workmen to hasten to him, upon which the Grenadiers advanced and found little resistance from the French, who were surprized. Part of them were put to the sword, and several of them who attempted to escape by swimming were drowned, so that very few of 'em got into the town. The Captain, and forty men who were in the Tenaille, was made prisoners. We found in these works 5 pieces of cannon, 100 pounds of powder, 2,000 weight of Ball, 250 Rations of Bread and other provision. We immediately attempted to make a Lodgement ; but before we could cover ourselves, the Enemy fired so terribly from the Ramparts that we had 50 men killed and 100 wounded ; among the latter are Lieut-General Wilkins, Brigadier Wassemaar and Colonel Zeden, but neither dangerously. This brave action of the Sergeant, who was 'From The Scots Brigade in Holland, vol. iii. (Scottish Historical Society).

MAJOR M. M. HALDANE 141

also slightly wounded, was seen by the Prince of Nassau, and other generals, and the Prince recommended him to the Duke of Marlborough, who made him a Lieu- tenant that same day and has since made him a Captain."

When the Elector of Bavaria laid siege to Brussels in November The Royals formed part of the force detached to relieve that place, which was successfully effected. Lille having surrendered after a heroic defence, Marlborough proceeded in mid-winter to besiege Ghent, which place sur- rendered on 2nd January, 1709, The Royals having lost several men in a forlorn hope. After the city of Bruges had capitulated to the Allies, Marl- borough allowed his army two or three months of well-earned repose, and it was not until mid-summer that he undertook the reduction of Tournay and Mons. The operations against these strongly fortified towns consisted chiefly of trench work, mining and counter-mining, wearisome and san- guinary business of the very same character — cceteris paribus — as has been so obstinately carried on during the present war. Tournay surrendered on 2nd September, but on the approach of Marechal Boufflers to relieve Villars, who was defending Mons, Marlborough had to raise the siege in order to give the French battle at Malplaquet. Both battalions of The Royals were engaged in this, the costliest in casualties of all Marlborough's victories, but they suffered less than most of the other regiments.

In 1710 the regiment was present at the siege and capture of Doubs, followed by the taking of Bethune and Aire, at the latter of which it suffered heavily. In 1711 it bore a part in the capture of Bouchain on I3th Sep- tember, at the end of which year Marlborough, the victim of party rancour, was superseded and recalled home, the Duke of Ormond being appointed commander-in-chief. On the conclusion of the shameful peace with France, The Royals formed part of the garrison of Dunkirk, where they remained until the signing of the Treaty of Utrecht in April, 1713. The regiment was then reduced to peace strength and in the following year moved to Ireland, where it was split up into small detachments scattered over the country on police duties.

The record of The Royals for some years to come, in common with the rest of the British army, is not only dull but melancholy. Marlborough was dishonoured and driven into exile ; although he returned to England, on Queen Anne's death in 1714, and, the charges of corruption against him having been dropped, he was appointed Captain-General and Master of

i42 THE ROYAL SCOTS

the Ordnance, his influence with the army was no more ; the very tradition thereof had waned, and with it went the spirit of discipline. Lord George Murray, afterwards Prince Charles Edward's lieut.-general in the fatal '45, had joined The Royal Scots as ensign in Flanders in 1711 ; but that did not prevent him deserting to the Jacobites in 1715 and commanding a battalion at the battle of Sheriffmuir.

Discipline was lax, but punishment was as severe as ever. In 1727 The Royals were still on the Irish establishment when orders were received to increase the regiment to war strength. The enlistment of Irish recruits having been strictly forbidden, the expedient was attempted of sending Irishmen to Scotland, fitting them with Kilmarnock bonnets and passing them off before the general as genuine Scots. The device was detected, with the painful result that five officers of The Royals were cashiered and two were suspended.

In 1730 Sergeant Donald MacLeod was discharged from the Royals in order to act as drill sergeant to the independent Highland companies which are now the Black Watch. He had gained the rank of sergeant at the age of seventeen, and had seen much service under Marlborough He had fought duels with a French sergeant, a French officer, a German officer, an Irish giant, and, in 1715, with Captain MacDonald of Knoydart from the Highland army. He fought at Sheriffmuir, in which he killed two French- men, after having been dangerously wounded himself.1 After much dis- tinguished service in the Black Watch he left the army at the age of 88, living to be 103. It was in MacLeod's plaid that General Wolfe was carried off the field at Quebec.

The Earl of Orkney died in 1737 and was succeeded as colonel of the Royals by the Hon. James St. Clair, who had been gazetted to an ensigncy in the regiment in 1694, when he was six years old ! Ten years later he exchanged into the 3rd Guards.

The ist battalion of The Royals was involved in the disasters in- curred through the mismanagement of the expedition against the Spaniards in the West Indies in 1740. It formed part of the force of 3000 infantry sent out in 1742 to reinforce what remained of General Wentworth's division, which, originally 6600 strong, had been reduced by yellow fever and casualties

1 It docs not appear how MacLeod came to be at Sheriffmuir, unless as a volunteer, for The Royals remained in Ireland during the "15.

MAJOR M. M. HALDANE 143

to about 1700 effectives. It is not good to dwell on this shameful episode. The fever settled upon these fresh troops with frightful effect. The expedi- tion was recalled. When The Royals landed at Plymouth in December only one man in every ten of those who had sailed from Cork in February answered to his name. The battalion — what was left of it — was placed on the establishment of Great Britain, having been on the Irish establish- ment since its return from Flanders in 1713 ; but the 2nd battalion was placed on the Irish establishment.

Hitherto, although certain regiments, including The Royals, had received regimental numbers, many battalions continued to be known by the names of the colonels commanding them. This trace of feudalism was suppressed in 1743 by a warrant prohibiting colonels from putting their crests, arms or private badges on any part of the dress or accoutrements of their men, and directing that the regimental number should be used instead.

In that year the ist battalion of The Royals were sent to join the army in Germany, arriving at Mainz a few days after the battle of Dettingen. George II. had just resigned the chief command to Field-Marshal Wade, who had never seen active service and was seventy years old. Consequently, nothing effective was done until Wade having been invalided home, the Duke of Cumberland succeeded as commander-in-chief in October, 1744. He displayed more vigour in the campaign of 1745, and The Royals formed one of the ten battalions in the first line of attack on the bloody field of Fontenoy, where they lost 286 men. It was a drawn battle ; but Cumber- land had to beat a retreat to Lessines. In July, the British headquarters being at Brussels, he despatched the Royals, the 2Oth and 3ist Foot, with cavalry, to reinforce the garrison of Ghent. The column was attacked by the French at Alost. Colonel Pechell, commanding the 3ist, reported to Cumberland as follows :

" The enemy's fire broke the Hussars. Rich's Dragoons [now the 4th Hussars] followed, notwithstanding the fire from the Nunnery, for the Royal Scotch, march- ing close to 'em, drew on themselves the fire from the Nunnery, which favoured the passage of the Dragoons beyond the Nunnery ; but they soon found the causeway lined with the enemy's foot, whose fire would have destroyed them all if the Royal Scotch had not moved forward to their assistance and engaged that fire of the enemy, whilst the cavalry that had passed made the best of their way to Ghent."

Certainly the honours of that day rested with The Royals, for they were the only one of the three infantry battalions that fought its way into Ghent.

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But honour was their only reward ; a few days later Ghent was stormed and taken by the French, The Royals, with the rest of the garrison, being sent to France as prisoners of war. War was less ruthless in those days than it has become under German kultur ; prisoners were exchanged in September, and the 1st battalion of The Royals, returning to England in October, went into quarters in Kent.

Meanwhile the 2nd battalion had been engaged in less desirable duty. Prince Charlie had unfurled his standard at Glenfinnan on igth August, and the Highland chiefs, swallowing their misgivings, called out their clans to his support. Two companies of The Royals, marching under Captain Scott from Perth with the 6th Foot to defend Fort William, fell into an ambush, surrendered and were released on parole. The remaining com- panies of the 2nd battalion formed part of General Hawley's force encamped at Falkirk on 27th January, 1746, when it was attacked and routed by Lord George Murray. The Royals broke and ran with the rest, but they and the Buffs rallied and managed an orderly retreat. Sergeant Henson of The Royals seems to have distinguished himself in re-forming the battalion, for he was given a commission in SempilTs regiment.

At Culloden The Royals were in Albemarle's division, but of that doleful day, when Scot met Scot, we need record no more than is told in Private Alexander Taylor's letter to his wife, preserved in the records of the regiment.

" . . . It was a very cold morning, and nothing to buy or comfort us ; but we had the Ammunition loaf, thank God ; but not a Dram of Brandy or Spirits, had you give a Crown for a Gill, nor nothing but Loaf and Water. We had also the greatest difficulty in keeping the Locks of our Firelocks dry, for the Rain was violent. . . . The Battle began by Cannonading, and continued for Half an Hour or more with Great Guns. But our Gunners galling their Lines, they betook themselves to their small Arms, Sword and Pistol, and came running on our Front Line like Troops of hungry Wolves, and fought with Intrepidity."

In 1747 the ist battalion embarked for Zealand and was engaged with the 28th and 42nd Foot in an attempt to relieve Hulst, assisting to cut up an enemy detachment, which lost over a thousand men. On 5th May The Royals were attacked at Fort Sandberg, but after a desperate struggle, in which Major Sir Charles Erskine of Alva was killed, and half the battalion killed or wounded, the French were repulsed. Drafts from the 2nd battalion filled the losses in the ranks, and in 1748 came the end of the Seven Years' war, the regiment being reduced to a peace establishment.

MAJOR M. M. HALDANE 145

In 1757 the ist battalion was in Ireland. The 2nd sailed for Halifax, arriving in July, and a year later took part in the siege and capture of Louisburg, which surrendered on the 26th July, 1758. By September it had been transferred to join Abercromby's force on Lake George. It took part in the operations that ended in the abandonment by the French of Forts Ticonderoga and Crown Point.

In 1760 a detachment of the 2nd battalion had a share in some very trying operations against the Red Indians in South Carolina, while the remainder of the battalion was engaged in the operations which ended in the capture of Montreal. In the following year four companies were agayi engaged against the Cherokees in South Carolina, two were in garrison in New York and four others assisted in the capture of Dominica and Martinique.

In 1762 the four companies that had been engaged against the Cherokees proceeded to Cuba, where they took the principal part in the storming of Fort Moro, a battle honour which has been unaccountably denied to the regiment by the War Office, though granted to a regiment which was represented merely by a detachment in support. Havannah fell on the I3th August. Meanwhile the flank companies were engaged in the operations that turned the French out of St. John's, Newfound- land. In this year the Hon. James St. Clair died, and was succeeded in the colonelcy by his nephew, Sir Henry Erskine of Alva, who did not hold it long, for he died in 1765, and was succeeded by John, Marquess of Lome (afterwards 5th Duke of Argyll). The 2nd battalion having been broughl home in 1763, bore a hand in suppressing the Gordon riots in 1780, and in 1793 was engaged in the defence of Toulon, which had been occupied by Admiral Hood, in support of the French royalists against the army of the Republic. The defenders of Toulon included a motley horde of speci- inens of nearly all the " Dago " nations of Europe ; and as they proved i f little value, Toulon was abandoned, The Royals covering the retreat, it is noteworthy that the Republicans owed most of their success to Lieut.-Colonel Buonaparte of the artillery, who made his first mark as a soldier in this siege.

From Toulon the army proceeded to Corsica, where The Royals took part in the capture of Bastia and Calvi in 1794, besides putting in some lemark- able exploits, in co-operation with the sailors of the fleet, in carrying artillery up almost perpendicular rocks for the attack on Convention Redoubt. In

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the campaign in Holland of 1799 the 2nd battalion formed part of General John Moore's brigade and fought at Egmont-op-Zee.

Returning now to the ist battalion, we find it in 1781 taking possession without much difficulty of the Dutch colony of St. Eustatia in the Leeward Islands. Thence it proceeded to St. Kitts, where it was besieged in an old fort by a much superior French force, and was forced to surrender after a long and stubborn defence. The Royals, with some detached companies of other regiments, were allowed to march out with the honours of war and to go to England on parole, pending their exchange, which was effected in May, 1782. Lord Adam Gordon became colonel in this year ; but what probably was reckoned of greater moment by the men of the battalion was the enlistment in 1783 of Samuel M'Donald — " Big Sam " — a giant of 6 feet 10 inches, and of enormous strength, about whose memory many legends still circle.

The next expedition of the ist battalion landed them in Jamaica in 1790, to engage in hostilities with the French and the Negroes of San Domingo. But The Royals had to deal also with a far more deadly foe in the shape of yellow fever, whereof the cause and proper treatment were to remain alike unknown for nearly a century to come. The battalion was but 400 strong when it landed in February ; only 123 answered the roll-call in September. The total effectives out of seven battalions in the expedition numbered no more than noo. When the ist battalion returned to England in 1797 it consisted of 10 commissioned officers, 45 non-commissioned, 12 drummers, and 88 privates effective, having lost in the seven years 5 officers and 400 men.

With the eighteenth century was brought to a close a military era upon which no British soldier can look back with pride. The laurels won for the army by Marlborough had been suffered to wither ; few and scanty were the wreaths that had been gathered to replace them. Undoubtedly, the blame for this must be divided between generals who misused and mishandled splendid fighting material, and ministers who despatched the troops upon expeditions foredoomed to failure. But with the new century a fresh spirit was breathed into the upper ranks and saner counsels emanated from Downing Street. The memories of Abercromby, Moore and WeUesley must ever be revered by military men as the true pioneers of army reform.

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The last act of note in the eighteenth century was the formation of the trained corps of riflemen, which was soon to become the 95th regiment, now the Rifle Brigade. An experimental battalion was formed by drafts from fourteen regiments, the 2nd battalion of The Royals being called on to contribute a squad of two sergeants, two corporals and thirty privates. After being trained with the new weapon, all these squads were returned to their former battalions, except those from The Royals, the 27th and 7Qth Foot, which were retained as the nucleus of the new corps. This detachment was engaged shoulder to shoulder with the 2nd battalion in Pulteney's unsuccessful attempts upon Ferrol and Cadiz.

The new century dawned with brighter auspices. The 2nd battalion of the Royals formed part of the force which landed under Sir Ralph Aber- cromby on 8th March, 1801, in Aboukir Bay. Actions were fought on the i3th and 2ist, followed by the capture of Rosetta and the surrender of Cairo by the French. The share taken by The Royals in shattering Buona- parte's dream of the conquest of India is commemorated by the Sphinx and " Egypt " borne on their colours.

The 2nd battalion now returned to garrison duty at Gibraltar, where the evil results of an army system which combined lax discipline with a ferocious scale of punishment became painfully manifest. In March, 1802, the Duke of Kent (father of Queen Victoria), who had succeeded to the colonelcy of The Royals on the death of Lord Adam Gordon in August, 1801, was appointed governor of Gibraltar, with express instructions from his brother, the Duke of York, commander-in-chief, to restore discipline in the garrison. Perceiving that drink was the main source of the mischief, the new governor began by closing half the wine-shops, of which there were ninety on the rock, and forbade any but commissioned officers to enter those which remained open.1 The wine-sellers, in revenge, supplied the soldiers with liquor gratis, and at Christmas time a number of men of The Royals, maddened with drink, broke into open mutiny. Before they could be subdued the grenadier company of the battalion had to fire on their comrades, killing and wounding some, and frightening the others into submission. Three of the ringleaders were tried by court-martial and shot,

1 As the Duke of Kent incurred considerable unpopularity through his disciplinary acts, it is but fair to record to his credit that in closing these wine-shops he sacrificed £4000 a year, to which, as governor, he was entitled for licensing fees.

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and the 2nd battalion was sent in 1803 to join the ist battalion in the West Indies. The Duke of Kent was recalled to England in March ; his request for a court of inquiry on his conduct was refused, so was his request to be allowed to return to Gibraltar. He remained nominally governor, but with- out pay ; while the lieutenant-governor, Sir Thomas Trigge, revoked the disciplinary orders imposed by the duke, and matters became again as bad as ever in the garrison.

The 2nd battalion wiped out the disgrace incurred at Gibraltar by gallant conduct in the capture of St. Lucia and Tobago, which was recognised by the king commanding that "St. Lucia " should be placed among the honours on the colours. But the gallant fellows paid the usual deplorable penalty attached to service in that deadly climate. When it returned to England in 1806 its strength was officially reported as " i rank and file fit, 53 sick, 30 on command, 704 wanting." Meanwhile a 3rd and 4th battalion had been raised at Hamilton in 1804, and from these the 2nd battalion was made up to strength and sent to India, landing at Penang on i8th September, 1807.

The newly formed 3rd battalion embarked for service in Spain under Sir John Moore in 1808, was present in the march to Sahagun, when Captain Waters of The Royals captured the French despatch which caused Moore to decide upon retreat to Coruna. The steadiness and gallantry of the battalion in the battle at that place on I5th January, 1809, were honourably mentioned in general orders. Scarce time was allowed it to repair the losses incurred in the Peninsula, for in July of the same year it sailed with the ill-starred expedition to Walcheren Island. Next year it returned to the Peninsula, forming part of the 5th (Leith's) division in Wellington's expeditionary force. It was present at the battle of Busaco and in the retreat on Torres Vedras. In 1811 it was engaged at Fuentes d'Onoro ; arrived a day too late to assist in the storm of Ciudad Rodrigo on igih January, and in the assault on Badajos, 6th and 7th April, was retained by Wellington as his personal guard. The title of the regiment was changed by royal command on nth February from " the First or Royal Regiment of Foot " to " the First Regi- ment of Foot or Royal Scots." In the battle of Salamanca on 22nd July the Royals sustained 160 casualties, their divisional general, Leith, also being wounded. They formed part of Graham's column in the decisive victory at Vittoria on 2ist June, 1813, and in the following month they were

MAJOR M. M. HALDANE 149

engaged in the siege of San Sebastian, where this young battalion added signal lustre to the glorious record of The Royal Scots, being foremost in the desperate assaults on i7th and 2gth July. On the 2gth Lieutenant Macadam of the gth Foot led a party of seventeen of The Royals as a decoy to tempt the enemy to fire prematurely a mine in the breach. The ruse failed, and Macadam was the only one of the party that returned to the British trenches. In the two assaults the battalion lost 157 killed, 391 wounded and 135 prisoners. This sacrifice was not made in vain. " Our ultimate success," wrote General Graham (afterwards Lord Lynedoch) in his despatch, " depended on the repeated attacks made by The Royal Scots."

By an ironical stroke of fate the 3rd battalion of The Royal Scots, which regiment is the only lineal representative of a corps that rendered superb service to France for more than three hundred years, was the first to cross the French frontier after Wellington led his army from the Pyrenees in the winter of 1813-14. They were lightly engaged on the Nivelle, loth November, 1813 ; more heavily on the Nive a month later, and they were in Hay's brigade on I4th April, 1814, when Sir John Hope, all unaware that Napoleon had abdicated a week earlier and a suspension of arms had been arranged, was engaged in blockading Bayonne. The French made a strong sortie ; Major-General Hay and many a good soldier fell in that last action of the Peninsular war.1

Meanwhile, the ist battalion was engaged in the American war. In May, 1813, it took part in the action at Sackett's Harbour, and in the follow- ing month seized the enemy's post at Sodius. Four companies were for some time employed as marines, and in December the Grenadier company performed a brilliant piece of work in the storming of Fort Niagara. On the 2gth of that month they carried the enemy batteries at Black Rock and Buffalo.

In March and July, 1814, the battalion was engaged in the gallant, but unsuccessful, attacks on Longwood, and, later, in the successful repulse of the enemy at Niagara, for which it won high praise. In August it carried out with great steadiness the task of covering the retirement from the unsuccessful assault on Fort Erie, and in September repulsed one of the enemy's sorties. At the conclusion of peace the battalion returned home.

1 Major-General Andrew Hay commanded the 3rd battalion of The Royals at Corufia and a brigade in the Walcheren expedition. He raised the Banfishire Fencibles in 1798.

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In this year the 4th battalion performed its only foreign service. It had joined the allied force under the Crown Prince of Sweden at Stralsund in August, 1813, reviving thereby the memories of the days of Gustavus ; and eventually moved early in January, 1814, to join Graham's force in Holland, suffering severely on the march from the terrible winter weather. On the night of 3rd March it led the assault on Bergen-op-Zoom, and forced an entrance at the Water Port. For seven hours of darkness — from n P.M. till 6 A.M. on the 4th— The Royals held the works, and finally had to yield before overpowering numbers of the French ; not, however, before they had lost 41 killed and 75 wounded. The remainder, 593 of all ranks, sur- rendered as prisoners of war ; but they were not long in durance, returning to England in April after the abdication of Napoleon. The battalion sailed for Canada in May, returned to England in January, 1816, and was disbanded. The adjutant, Lieut. Galbraith, had sunk the colours in the Zoom before the battalion surrendered ; but the French fished them up again and placed them in the Invalides, where they still remain.

The 3rd battalion won its last laurels in the Waterloo campaign of 1815. It was in Pack's brigade of Picton's 5th division ; but in the battle of Quatre-Bras on i6th June The Royals were attached to Kempt's brigade. They were commanded by Major Robert Macdonald, who led them to relieve the 42nd and 44th regiments, which were being hard pressed by superior numbers. The Royals and the 28th Foot, forming squares, successfully withstood repeated attempts by the French Lancers to break them, and held their ground till nightfall, The Royals losing 218 killed and wounded.

The Royals were replaced in Pack's brigade before Picton's 5th division took up its position, forming the left centre of Wellington's line at Waterloo. The division was drawn up behind the road to Chain, its right flank resting on the Charleroi chaussee just north of the farmhouse of La Haye Sainte. Picton fell early in the action, but the division held its ground throughout that day in the face of Napoleon's great battery of 80 guns at La Belle Alliance and repeated attacks by d'Erlon's massive columns. The Royals here lost 143 killed and wounded. They had marched to Quatre-Bras on the i6th 624 strong : on the evening of the i8th only 261 answered the roll-call. The king's colour was saved with difficulty, owing to the chivalrous forbearance of the commander of a French battalion. Four officers of The Royals had fallen in succession when carrying it. When the fourth, Ensign

MAJOR M. M. HALDANE 151

Kennedy, fell, a sergeant of the regiment seized the colour, but the dead ensign's grip on the staff was so firm that the sergeant could not release it. He swung the lad over his shoulder and carried him and the colour together to safety ; but he, too, must have been shot down had not the French colonel ordered his men not to fire.

The 3rd battalion remained in France till March, 1817, when it completed fifteen years of active service and was sent home to be disbanded, those men whose time had not expired being sent to the ist and 2nd battalions.

The 2nd battalion has been mentioned as landing in India in the autumn of 1807, after being recruited up to strength with men from the 3rd and 4th battalions. The chronicle of the ensuing years is a melan- choly one owing to the terrible havoc wrought in the ranks by disease, much of which must be attributed to the preposterous dress which British soldiers were obliged to wear in tropical climes.

In the war with the Mahratta princes in 1817 The Royals played a leading part in the siege and storm of Nagpore, being the only European regiment in Doveton's division, and bear the name of that city on their colours in consequence. They gained another honour for the colours in the Burmese war of 1825, the name " Ava " commemorating the capture of the capital of Burma. In this campaign of thirteen months the battalion lost 9 officers and 418 n.c.o. and men, chiefly by disease, for the Burmese did not put up much of a fight. A quarter of a century's Indian service was brought to a close by the return of the 2nd battalion to England in 1832. It was quartered in Edinburgh — the same corps, indeed, as sailed for India five- and-twenty years ago ; but it contained but one individual, a private, who embarked with it in 1807, and he died soon after his return.

After four years in home quarters the 2nd battalion embarked once more, this time for service in Canada, where it was employed under Sir John Colborne in the distasteful duty of suppressing the rebellion of 1836. From Canada it was moved to Barbados, returning to England in 1846, in which year Sir James Kempt was appointed to the colonelcy of The Royals in succession to Sir George Murray, Wellington's famous quarter- master-general in the Peninsula, who had received the colonelcy on Lord Lynedoch's death in 1843.

Meanwhile the flank companies, which were in Hislop's army, distin- guished themselves at the crossing of the Suprah river near Maheidpoor.

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Thence they marched to the strong fort of Talnair, which they stormed on the 27th February, 1818, and later took part in the reduction of Trim- buck and Mallegaum. The eight battalion companies were with the force that forced the Peishwah to surrender, and five of them did good service at the siege and capture of Asseerghur.

The Duke of Kent died in 1820, and was succeeded in the colonelcy of The Royal Scots by the Marquess of Huntly (afterwards fifth Duke of Gordon), and he in turn was succeeded in 1834 by Lord Lynedoch, who, as Lieut. -General Sir Thomas Graham, had commanded Wellington's ist division in the Peninsula.

King George IV., who, when Prince Regent in 1813, had decreed that the regiment should bear the title of Royal Scots, now revoked that order, altering the name back to the First or Royal Regiment of Foot. This title it bore until 1881, when the time-honoured regimental numbers were super- seded by territorial designations, and The Royals became " the Lothian Regiment (Royal Scots)," and were clothed in Highland doublets and tartan trews. In the following year, however, the title was changed once more, let us hope for the last time, to " The Royal Scots (Lothian Regiment)."

In 1854 tne Ist battalion proceeded to the Crimea in the ist brigade of the 3rd division. It was present at the Alma, but being held in reserve was assigned no active part in the battle. On the 28th September it broke the first ground at Sebastopol, and on the 5th November about half the battalion was engaged in the hand-to-hand fighting at Inkerman in defence of a 68-pounder battery. The tale of that terrible winter of 1854-55, of the suffering endured by the allied armies in the trenches, and the lament- able deficiency of means provided to mitigate it, nothing need be said here. The lessons learnt in the Crimean campaign have been laid deeply to heart, and no branch of the British establishment has been brought to a higher state of efficiency than the medical and transport services. But it was far otherwise in 1854. In those trying five months the ist battalion of The Royals lost only seven men killed in the trenches, but 321 died of

In April, 1855, the 2nd battalion arrived in the Crimea and was brigaded with the ist. It so happened that throughout this campaign The Royal Scots enjoyed less opportunities than other regiments of distinguishing themselves in action ; though, to be sure, they bore a full share of hard

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work in the trenches. During the siege they lost four officers and 52 men killed in action, and the newly instituted Victoria Cross was awarded to Private Prosser of the regiment for acts of gallantry on i6th June and nth August, 1855.

After peace had been restored the ist battalion went to India in 1857, and the 2nd to Hongkong in 1858, being engaged in Sir Hope Grant's expedition and the capture of the Taku forts and Pekin in 1860.

Hitherto, although all the companies in a battalion of infantry of the line had come to be armed alike, the flank companies continued to be titu- larly distinguished as grenadier and light companies. That trace of eighteenth-century tactics was abolished in 1858, when it was prescribed that all the companies should be designated by letters of the alphabet.

More drastic were the changes brought about by Cardwell's reorganisation scheme in 1881, when the regimental numbers of the infantry were wiped out and the line battalions were linked in pairs as territorial regiments. The Royals, and the other regiments from the ist to the 25th, were less affected by the change, as each of them consisted of two battalions ; but the Militia of each district was attached as part of the territorial regiment. Thus the Queen's Regiment of Light Infantry Militia, which had been raised as the Fifty-first or Edinburgh Regiment of Militia in 1803, was now transformed into the 3rd battalion of The Royal Scots.

Seven years later the territorial system was extended to embrace the Volunteer forces in each district, those of the Lothians and Peebles being affiliated to The Royal Scots. This addition consisted of three battalions of the Queen's Edinburgh Rifle Volunteer Brigade, the Edinburgh Volunteer Battalion, the Leith Battalion, a sixth battalion from Midlothian and Peeblesshire, a seventh from East Lothian, and an eighth from West Lothian. In 1900 a ninth Edinburgh battalion (Highlanders) was raised — a kilted unit.

In August, 1899, the 2nd battalion of The Royals was in India. The ist battalion was in Ireland and received orders to prepare for foreign service. Mobilisation was complete before 24th October, and the battalion sailed for South Africa on 6th November, Lieut. -Colonel Morgan Paylei in command. As this was the first occasion in which the new system of army reserves was put to the test, questions were asked in the House of Commons as to the general result. The reply of the Under- Secretary of State, Mr. George

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Wyndham, deserves to be recorded. " THE ROYAL SCOTS," he said "is

THE ONLY REGIMENT IN WHICH EVERY RESERVIST IS ACCOUNTED FOR."

The ist battalion took part in the actions at Lopersberg, in January, 1900, Birds River in February and Labuschagne's Nek in March, after which it was reinforced by a company drawn from the Volunteer battalions at home. Later in the year the 3rd (Militia) battalion, having volunteered for active service, landed in South Africa and bore an honourable share in the operations until the close of the war in 1902. Although it was originally intended that this battalion should be employed only on lines of com- munication, it was soon put to more exciting work, and the powers of march- ing displayed by the men composing it earned for it the sobriquet of " The Bloody Greyhounds." The 3rd battalion lost 3 officers, i sergeant and 29 men killed in action during the war.

It would not be possible in the space at our command to follow the fortunes of the ist and 3rd battalions in the various actions of the African campaign ; but it was acknowledged both officially and through the testi- mony of their comrades in arms that they nobly sustained the reputation and tradition handed down to them through the centuries by their pre- decessors in The Royal Regiment. If the spirits of Buchan and Hepburn, of Mackay and Dumbarton, are permitted to take cognisance of affairs on this planet, they have good cause for pride in the regiment which they founded, formed and moulded. It has won success and encountered disaster ; it has gained victories and suffered reverses ; but in all its three hundred years of existence it has never earned reproach on the stricken field.

IV THE ROYAL SCOTS FUSILIERS

BY LIEUT.-COL. REGINALD TOOGOOD, LATE ROYAL SCOTS FUSILIERS

Attention ! all ye soldier lads who love the Twenty-first, And hear one of its gallant deeds in homely rhyme rehearsed ; On many a hard fought field, my lads, its laurels have been won, And always true are those who wear the number Twenty-one.

— Old Regimental Song.

THE origin of this regiment may be traced in an Order dated March, 1677, for the training as grenadiers of certain men of an Independent Company commanded by Charles, 5th Earl of Mar (that is, fifth in the earldom created by Queen Mary in 1565). They were to be instructed " in all things belonging to the artillery, as gunnery, casting of hand grenadoes and fyre works." By a commission dated 23rd September, 1678, the said Earl of Mar, being eighteen years of age, was appointed colonel of a regiment of foot to be raised in Scotland, whereof the nucleus was, no doubt, the existing Independent Company. In a list of the Scottish establishment, dated igth October of the same year, appeared " Ye Foote Regiment commanded by ye Earl of Marre," and on 26th November was issued an " Order to the Keeper of his Majesties Magazine in Edinburgh Castle to deliver unto the Earl of Marr or order 548 English muskets, also many stands of bandoliers, with 272 picks for the use of the regiment whereof his Lordship is Collonell." Despite the inexperience incident to his youth, Mar must have proved himself a capable commanding officer, for, although most of the corps raised about this time were disbanded after a short existence, his regiment was retained, the establishment being one colonel, one lieutenant-colonel, one major, one quarter-master, one chirurgeon, one chirurgeon's mate, one

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marshal and eight companies, each consisting of a captain, a lieutenant, an ensign, two sergeants, three corporals, two drummers and 100 privates. The battalion soon became popularly known for obvious reasons as " the Earl of Mar's Grey-breeks," but its official title was the Earl of Mar's Fusiliers. Infantry towards the close of the seventeenth century were generally armed partly with pikes and partly with muskets ; but the practice was introduced of arming every private in certain select corps with fusils — a light pattern of musket with a sling — and these regiments were distinguished as Fusiliers. According to a well-known work on military affairs entitled Histoire de la Milice Franfaise, by Pere Daniel, the first regiment armed with the fusil was one raised in 1671, which subsequently was converted into the Royal Artillery.

The fusil was the successor to the musket, and from its name we may presume that it was a French invention, or possibly Italian, from the word facile, a flint, one of its characteristics being that it was fitted with a flint lock, as opposed to the match lock, fitted to the musket. It was a shorter weapon, and consequently a handier one, but apparently not so effective, as it more often missed fire. Owing to its being shorter and lighter it was fired from the shoulder, and not from the breast as was the musket. There are two specimens of the fusil at the Tower of London, both dated nearly contemporaneously with the raising of the regiment.

The special duty for which fusilier troops were originally appointed was for the protection of the guns. It was necessary, therefore, that they should be lightly armed, and quick loaders. In addition to their firearms they carried along with them on the line of march the component parts of chevaux-de-frise, then called " turnpikes," and it was for this reason probably that fusils were provided with slings, so that the men could hang them over their backs if they wished to have their hands free. The word " fusil " was pronounced " fusee," which rather emphasises the presumption of a French origin, and the name was retained for the lighter fire- lock carried by all sergeants of infantry, after the suppression of halberts, until the issue of Enfield rifles in 1853.

The company officers of Fusilier regiments, and those of the flank com- panies of other infantry regiments, carried fusils after the discontinuance of spontoons. These latter weapons are defined in the Imperial Dictionary as " a kind of half pike — a military weapon formerly borne by officers of

LIEUT.-COL. REGINALD TOOGOOD 157

infantry and used as a medium for signalling orders to the regiment." In the regulations by the Duke of Cumberland, dated in 1743, we read : " It is His Majesty's Order that all officers on foot have espontons instead of half pikes." Spontoons or espontons were used in the English army until 1786, when it was ordered " Espontons to be laid aside and swords to be used." As stated above, the officers of Fusilier regiments never carried spontoons, as others did, but had fusils.

The 7th Royal Fusiliers claim to be the senior regiment of Fusiliers, although they were not embodied until 1685, seven years later than the Earl of Mar's Fusiliers ; but they owed the distinction of an earlier regi- mental number to the fact that the regiments on the Scots establishment were designated, at first, by the names of their colonels, and it was not until 1694 that Mar's Grey-breeks, known at that time as O'Farrell's Fusiliers, were assigned their place in the army list as the 2ist of the line.

Lord Mar's regiment was first employed on active service in the dis- tasteful duty of suppressing the Covenanters. It formed part of Monmouth's victorious army at Bothwell Brig on 22nd June, 1679, an& continued during the following five or six years to serve, chiefly in detachments, in putting down conventicles and hunting up recalcitrant Covenanters. This kind of work was little to the liking of Lord Mar, who, though he continued in favour of Charles II. as long as that easy-going monarch lived, soon fell into disgrace with his successor, James VII. and II. Having voted against the bill for the relief of Papists, he was deprived of the command of his regiment and of the keepership of Stirling Castle also. Three years later this gallant young earl died suddenly at the age of thirty-nine. He was succeeded in command of the Fusiliers by their lieut. -colonel, Thomas Buchan, who, being an ardent Jacobite, was deprived of his commission at the revolution of 1688.

The connection of the regiment with Ayr, where its depot now is, began in 1685, when six companies were quartered there, three at Glasgow, two at Paisley, and one at Inverness — twelve companies in all. Its first turn of foreign service came in 1689, when it embarked at Gravesend for Rider, to take part in the campaign opened in Holland and Flanders by William III. in May of that year against the ambitious designs of Louis XIV. of France. The regiment was commanded in this campaign by Colonel Francis

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Fergus O'Farrell, and formed part of the division under Marlborough. It was engaged in the successful affair at Walcourt in Hainault on 25th August, where the French Marechal d'Humieres lost 2000 men and some guns. A weary period followed — eighteen months of marching and defensive manoeuvres — until after the surrender of Mons to the French on lOthjApril, 1691, O'FarrelTs Fusiliers were brigaded, under General Ramsay, with the Royal Scots, Angus's regiment (afterwards the 26th Cameronians, now 1st Battalion Scottish Rifles), and the regiments of Mackay and Ramsay (repre- senting the Old Scots Brigade in the Dutch service). In a list of the troops serving in Flanders printed in July, 1691, the uniform of O'Farrell's Fusiliers is specified as " red, faced and lined with the same colour." The " grey- breeks " seemed to have been discarded for another pattern.

King William having taken command of the army in the field in the spring of 1692, marched to the relief of Namur ; but that place fell to the French on 20th June. In the same month Colonel O'Farrell of the Fusiliers and Colonel Sir R. Douglas of the Royal Scots were taken prisoners by some French cavalry, but were released on paying ransom.

In the stubborn three hours of conflict at Steenkirk on 3rd August our Fusiliers had warm work cut out for them, for they formed part of the advanced guard, and lost seven officers killed, namely, Major Keith, Captains W. White, Cygnol, R. Mackenzie and Sharp, Lieutenants Charles King and Edward Griffith, besides many n.c.o. and men.

In May, 1693, King William drew the British force together near Ghent, the Fusiliers being under their old Brigadier Ramsay, with the Leven or Edinburgh regiment (now the King's Own Scottish Borderers), and the Cameronian corps formerly known as Angus's. Angus, however, had been killed at Steenkirk, and the regiment was now designated Munro's. On i8th July King William, notwithstanding great inferiority in his numbers, resolved to await attack by the Duke of Luxembourg near Landen, and Ramsay's brigade was appointed for the defence of Laer, a village on the right of the position. The Fusiliers were extended along the hedges beyond the village, and about 6 A.M. on the igth became engaged with the white-coated infantry of the enemy. Ultimately, after a most bloody encounter, the enemy carried the position by sheer weight of numbers ; Ramsay's brigade became separated from the rest of the king's army, but succeeded in retreating across the Gheet and

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rejoining the main body at Neer Hespen. It was a defeat ; but it cost the French more dearly than the Allies, for although it was reckoned that at Landen King William lost 10,000 men, 69 guns, and 60 colours, his enemy had to admit 15,000 casualties.

The Fusiliers remained in the Low countries fighting incessantly, until the Treaty of Ryswick in 1697, when they returned to Scotland, having, as mentioned above, received permanent denomination as the 2ist Regiment of Foot.

Meanwhile they had lost their colonel, who seems to have earned King William's approval at first, for he promoted him to brigadier-general ; but, being appointed in command of Deinse, when that place was besieged in July, 1695, O'Farrell surrendered it without attempting any defence, and was cashiered by sentence of a general court-martial. It is but fair to O'Farrell's memory to state that Deinse was very imperfectly forti- fied, and there were only eight guns mounted for its protection. He did not feel justified in attempting to hold it against the Marquis de Feu- queres, and his regiment, in consequence, became prisoners of war, but was released when Namur surrendered to William in the same year after a siege of ten months.

The 2ist Fusiliers remained in Scotland until 1702, the year of Queen Anne's accession, soon after which the war of the Spanish Succession was declared against France, and the regiment was ordered to Holland to serve in the allied army under the Duke of Marlborough. It was commanded by the veteran Colonel Archibald Row, and was formed in a brigade with the 2nd battalion Royal Scots, the loth, i6th and 26th Foot under Brigadier- General the Earl of Derby. It was employed in the sieges of Huy and Lim- burg in 1703, and in 1704 marched with Marlborough into Germany. It formed part of the force which stormed the formidable positions of Schellen- burg on 2nd July, and on I3th August upheld the honour of their country and their corps in the action which Sir Edward Creasy has listed among the fifteen decisive battles of the world, namely, Blenheim.

Here the 2ist Fusiliers were selected to lead the attack against the French troops strongly entrenched in the village of Blenheim. They were supported by five other regiments of Lord Cutt's division, but the dominant figure was the brigadier-general, Colonel Row of the Fusiliers, who charged on foot at the head of his own regiment, and fell mortally wounded under

i6o THE ROYAL SCOTS FUSILIERS

the very muzzles of the enemy's muskets. Officers were exchanging sword- thrusts through the palisades when Lieut.-Colonel Dalyell1 and Major Campbell rushed forward to raise their colonel. Both were shot dead. Their men, maddened by the loss of their three field officers, made a desperate effort to force the defences. They could not accomplish the impossible, and received the order to retire. The moment they faced about, thirteen squadrons of French cavalry swept forward and over them. One of the colours of the Fusiliers was captured ; but the French, in turn, were routed by the fire of a brigade of Hessians, and the colour was retrieved by seven squadrons despatched by Colonel Lumley.2 The course of events during the remainder of that memorable day are part of European history. The Allies paid for their victory with about 5000 killed and 8000 wounded, the Fusiliers losing three field officers, two captains, and four subalterns killed, and eight officers wounded. Their loss in n.c.o. and men has not been recorded, but was undoubtedly heavy. The political effects of the victory were profound and far-reaching. The ostensible trophies included 100 guns, 24 mortars, 129 colours and 171 standards. Let him who gazes reverently on the tattered skeletons of two of these colours, which hang in the chapel of Chelsea Royal Hospital, reflect with pride that, although they be dim and dusk with the mirk of more than two centuries, the battle spirit of the Fusiliers is as formidable at this day as when the old regiment led the attack on the palisades of Blenheim.

Drafts from Scotland having repaired the losses sustained by the 2ist at Schellenburg and Blenheim, the regiment took part in the campaign of 1705 ; and in the following year it distinguished itself at Ramillies, where on 23rd May, 1706, Marlborough inflicted severe defeat upon the combined French, Spanish and Bavarian forces. The Fusiliers were brigaded with the 3rd Foot (now the Buffs) ; shoulder to shoulder with that famous corps they charged the enemy's left flank at a critical moment, and drove three French battalions into some marshy ground where they were nearly all killed or taken.

1 Lieut. -Colonel Dalyell was the son of General Thomas Dalyell of Binns. General John Thomas Dalyell, who is now (1917) the full colonel of the regiment, is his direct descendant.

1 The author of Fights for the Flag, in describing the attack by the Fusiliers on the palisades at Blenheim says : " The great breach at Badajos did not witness a more fiery valour ; but Blenheim was held by a force double in strength to that attacking it, with every advantage of position, and a front of fire more than double that of the British, and the attempt was hopeless from the outset"

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In 1707 the aist were not called upon for any severe service ; but, that being the year of the union of England and Scotland, the grand old title of " Scots " was taken away from those regiments which bore it, and the preposterous new-fangled one, " North British," was plastered on them instead. Behold, therefore, the Scots Fusiliers figuring for the next 170 years as the 2ist North British Fusiliers, under which designation, pre- fixed after 1712 by the title " Royal," they served until the year 1877, when once more the old name Royal Scots Fusiliers was restored to them by royal warrant.

In 1707, the time of the change, the regiment was commanded by Colonel Sampson de Lalo, a French Protestant refugee, under whom it served at the battle of Oudenarde (nth July, 1708), and at the siege of Lille (isth August- 23rd October). In 1709 the North British Fusiliers formed part of the force covering the siege of Tournay, and when that place fell on the 3rd September, Marlborough decided to attack the Marechal de Villars in the strong position of Malplaquet. In the fierce engagement there on nth September, last and bloodiest of Marlborough's victories, the regiment lost its Colonel de Lalo, who fell at the head of the brigade which he commanded ; three captains also, Munroe, Wemyss and Farley, were killed, and the general list of casualties was a heavy one. After Malplaquet the 2ist was employed in covering the force besieging Mons, a name which will stir in the minds of all Fusiliers many memories of the famous retreat from that place in the autumn of 1914, wherein the ist battalion of the regiment played so noble a part.1 Mons surrendered on 2oth October. In the subsequent campaigns of 1710, 1711, 1712 the Fusiliers were constantly fighting, as at Pont-a-Vendin, Douay, Bethune, Saint Vencent and Aire, also in 1711 at Arleux and Bouchain ; until at length after eleven years of incessant fighting the inglorious Treaty of Utrecht in 1713, and the regiment returned to Scotland.

The next active service to which the Royal North British Fusiliers were called was, unhappily, against their own countrymen. When John, sixth Earl of Mar, son of Earl Charles, the first colonel of the regiment, raised the standard of the Stuarts in the autumn of 1715, the 2ist marched with the

1 It is interesting to record that in August, 1914, when marching to the defence of Mons, they crossed the field of Malplaquet, and Colonel Douglas Smith (now Major-General) who was commanding, halted the regiment, and reminded them of the gallant deeds of their pre- decessors in 1708.

L

i62 THE ROYAL SCOTS FUSILIERS

Duke of Argyll's army from Stirling to suppress the rising. On I3th Nov- ember Argyll attacked Mar's Highland levies at Sheriffmuir. What ensued was little more than a bloody scuffle, in which both sides showed an equal want of tactical skill and each claimed a victory. The 2ist lost a captain, two lieutenants and 88 n.c.o. and men killed, besides a captain and 26 men wounded. The rising collapsed in January, 1716, and the Fusiliers then enjoyed an unwonted spell of home service, being quartered in Scotland from 1716 till 1729, and afterwards in Ireland till 1739.

The 2ist was included in an expeditionary force of 16,000 men which George II. sent out in 1742, under command of the Earl of Stair, to defend in Flanders the interest of Austria against France and Bavaria. Stair's army having been augmented by 16,000 Hanoverians and 6000 Hessians, George II. joined it in person, and was present at the battle of Dettingen on 27th June, 1743. The Fusiliers were commanded by Sir Andrew Agnew, fifth baronet of Lochnaw and Hereditary Sheriff of Wigtownshire.1

About mid-day a staff-officer warned Sir Andrew that the enemy was on the move. " Sir," replied Sir Andrew, " the scoondrels will never have the impudence to attack the Scots Fusiliers ! " He ordered the dinner call to sound, and set the example by himself beginning a hearty meal. But this was only bluff, to give his men confidence ; for he had already sent word to warn Lord Stair of the enemy's movements. The French continued to advance and had begun to deploy before the wary old baronet ordered the drums to sound the assembly. The Fusiliers fell in, and their colonel addressed them briefly : " My lads, ye see yon loons on the hill yonder. Weel, if ye dinna kill them, they'll kill you. Dinna fire till ye see the whites o' their e'en ! " Young James Wolfe, the future hero of Quebec, was present as an ensign in Du Roure's regiment (afterwards the I2th, now the Suffolk regiment), and described what happened in a letter to his father.

" The Gensd'armes or Mousquetaires Gris attacked the first line . . . they broke through the Scots Fusiliers . . . but before they got to the second line, out of two hundred there were not forty living, so they wheeled and came [back] between the first and second line," when all were killed, " except an officer with

1 His great-great-grandson, Lieut.-Col. Quentin Agnew, D.S.O., M.V.O., began his service in the 3rd (Militia) battalion of the Scots Fusiliers in 1879, served on General White's staff in India and Burma ; received a commission in one of the regular battalions in 1886 ; sub- sequently saw much active service in India, Burma and South Africa ; was appointed to com- mand of the 3rd (Special Reserve) battalion of Royal Scots Fusiliers in 1912, retiring under the age limit in 1917, but was subsequently employed on active service in France.

LIEUT.-COL. REGINALD TOOGOOD 163

a standard and four or five men who broke through the second line, and were taken by some of Hawley's regiment of dragoons. These unhappy men were of the first families of France."

Sir Andrew Agnew, having served in the 2ist Fusiliers for eight-and- twenty years, and having commanded the regiment for six years, was appointed in 1746 to the colonelcy of the loth Marines. His memory was long cherished by the Fusiliers, and the old quick-step of the regiment " The rock and the wee pickle tow," is still called " the Sheriff's March."

The Fusiliers suffered heavily in the defeat sustained by the British army at Fontenoy (nth May, 1745) ; Lieutenants Campbell, Houston and Sergeant were killed, Captain Sandilands, Lieut. Stuart and Quarter- master Stewart were taken prisoners : one field officer, three captains, and five subalterns were wounded, n sergeants and 259 rank and file were killed, wounded or captured. The regiment then went into garrison at Ostend, and when that place was invested by the French, the governor, being with- out proper means of defence, surrendered on condition of being allowed to withdraw the troops forming the garrison. The Fusiliers were then sent home to be attached to the army commanded by the Duke of Cumberland in suppressing the Jacobite rising. They did their duty, distasteful as it must have been, at Culloden, where Prince Charlie's cause was finally wrecked, and afterwards were sent back to Flanders to serve in the campaigns of 1747 and 1748, returning to England after the peace of Aix-la-Chapelle.

On 1st July, 1751, a royal warrant was issued prescribing details of clothing, colours and standards of the army. The following applied to the 2ist Regiment or Royal North British Fusiliers.

" In the centre of their colours the Thistle within the Circle of St. Andrew and the Crown over it ; and in the three corners of the 2nd or regimental colour the King's Cypher and Crown. On the Grenadier caps the Thistle, as on the colours, the White Horse, and motto over it Nee aspera terrent on the flap. On the drums and bells of Arms the Thistle and Crown to be painted as on the colours, with the rank of the regiment underneath."

From 1751 to 1760 the Fusiliers were in garrison at Gibraltar, and in 1761, war having once more broken out with France, they formed part of General Hodgson's expedition for the capture of Belleisle. The first attack on 8th April was a failure, the 2ist, under Lieut.-Colonel Edward Maxwell, counting 57 casualties, but the place surrendered on 7th June.

164 THE ROYAL SCOTS FUSILIERS

The next chapter in the history of the Fusiliers is one of disaster, but not of dishonour. After passing seven years in North America, and being brought back to England in 1772, it was dispatched again in 1776 for the relief of Quebec, then besieged by the Americans. The arrival of reinforcements caused the enemy to raise the siege. So far so good ; but in the following year the Fusiliers formed part of the force under Lieut. - General Burgoyne which surrendered to General Gates at Saratoga on I5th October.

Home again in 1781, the 2ist recrossed the Atlantic in 1789, were stationed in Nova Scotia for four years and were ordered to the West Indies in 1793 to support the French Royalists of Martinique.

After three or four years of hard fighting in these islands, resulting in the capture by the British of Martinique, S. Lucia and Guadaloupe, the loss of a large number of the Fusiliers in action, and a far larger number by disease, the regiment was brought back to Scotland in 1796. The name " Martinique 1794," which it is privileged to bear among its honours, should be held in special esteem by all present and future members of the regiment, as the memorial of a series of gallant exploits performed under most trying conditions of climate and hardships heroically endured. There is a diary of Lieut.-Colonel Dalgleish in existence giving many interesting details of the fighting in the West Indies which are too long to quote ; but there are one or two quaint entries which throw some light on soldiering in those days. Colonel Dalgleish joined the regiment in May, 1776, having served three years in the Scots brigade in Holland. The regiment was then in Canada, so he joined a recruiting party at Dundee as 2nd lieutenant, and he states that according to existing regulations the youngest (he probably means junior) lieutenant had to serve without pay. He went to Canada in 1777, and joined the regiment which formed part of General Burgoyne 's army, and remained a prisoner until 1780, when he was exchanged with Lieut. Joshua Branard of the Connecticut Militia. It will be noticed that in those days and in fact up to the year 1853, the junior rank in all Fusilier regiments was 2nd lieutenant, and not ensign as in all other regiments of the line. Under the date April, 1791, we find " the Regiment at this time had Drummer Boys — these had to keep up their own drums."

In a letter dated Fort Matilda, Guadaloupe, gth May, 1794, Capt. R. Mackay of the 2ist writes to Capt. Dalgleish (as he then was) : " If Taylor

LIEUT.-COL. REGINALD TOOGOOD 165

joins us here I beg he bring plenty of Porter, and Madeira, as we have not one bottle of either, and nothing but our Salt ration to eat, which does not agree well with me." In May, 1796, the following entry occurs : " General Orders from War Office regarding Uniform — Cord on Hats & Swords and Sword Knots." Under the date I2th April, 1797, when the regiment was quartered at Paisley, we find " Lieut.-Colonel Mayrick dispaches new hats and uniforms from London, also drums, all by waggon ; drum-majors' and sergeant-majors' coats to have silver lace." In October of that year Lieut.-Colonel Dalgleish disposed of his commission, and was succeeded by Lord Evelyn Stuart, a son of Lord Bute. On the voyage from the West Indies one of the transports was wrecked, and Capt. Grant and many men were lost, and also the whole of the mess equipment, including the mess plate.

The year 1804 is a notable one in the annals of the 2ist Fusiliers. Napoleon, it will be remembered, had assembled a large force at Boulogne, which he proposed to embark in flat-bottomed craft for the invasion of England. King George's government decreed an immediate and con- siderable increase in the standing army, and it was in accordance with this scheme that a 2nd battalion was added to the Royal North British Fusiliers. The men were raised in the counties of Ayr and Renfrew ; the new battalion had its headquarters at Ayr, and was placed on the establishment of the army on Christmas day, 1804.

As this battalion was disbanded in 1816, it may be convenient to insert here a brief review of its services. It remained at Ayr till August, 1806, when it was sent to Ireland. Here it lost two of its officers in a very lamentable manner, Major C. and Capt. Boyd fought a duel, in which Capt. Boyd was mortally wounded. There is no doubt that it was a duel honourably fought, but unfortunately there were no witnesses or seconds, and Major C. was tried on a charge of wilful murder and convicted. In spite of strong efforts made on his behalf for a reprieve he was hanged.

Having returned to Scotland, the battalion embarked at Fort George on 3oth December, 1813, to form part of a force of 8000 men operating under Sir Thomas Graham (afterwards Lord Lynedoch) in aid of the Dutch. This force was composed of ten regiments, detachments of the Grenadier Guards and Coldstream Guards, 4th battalion the Royal Scots, 2nd battalion

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of our regiment, the 33rd, 37th, 44th, 55th, 6qth and the 2nd battalion gist regiments. On the voyage across the North Sea the convoy experienced the most appalling gale, and one of the transports with half of our regiment on board was all but lost.

Graham was engaged in besieging the French in Antwerp ; but he detached half his force, including our Fusiliers, for the purpose of seizing Bergen-op-Zoom by coup-de-main. The troops were formed in four columns of attack under command of Major-General George Cooke. The cold at this time of year being terrific, it was calculated that the severe frost would prevent the sluices being used to raise and lower the water in the ditch surrounding this celebrated fortress. The assault was delivered by night ; it was unsuccessful, and on the morning of the gth, General Cooke had to retire with the loss of about half his force. A detailed account of the cam- paign in Holland, including the ill-fated attempt upon Bergen-op-Zoom, was contributed by an officer of the 2ist Fusiliers to the United Service Magazine for 1830, pt. ii. p. 385. In this disastrous affair the regiment suffered severely. Brevet Lieut.-Colonel Robert Henry, Capt. Nicholas Darrah, Capt. Donald Mackenzie, Lieut, the Hon. Francis Harvey Moires, Lieut. Harry Pigou, and 2nd Lieuts. Christopher Bulteel, John Dunbar Moody, David Rankin and Sir William Crosbie, Bart., being wounded, besides several men killed and wounded.

The 2nd battalion had no subsequent opportunity of distinguishing itself, Napoleon's abdication in April, 1814, having brought hostilities to an end, it was brought back to England in September, and on I3th January, 1816, was disbanded at Stirling, the colours being handed over to the honorary colonel of the regiment, General the Hon. William Gordon of Fyvie, whose descendant, the late Captain Alexander Gordon of Fyvie, presented them to St. Giles's Church, Edinburgh, where they are now preserved.

Reverting now to the ist battalion. It will be remembered that it had landed from the West Indies in 1797. Between that date and 1805 it served in various stations in Scotland and Ireland, and in that year it was brought over from Ireland, and formed part of the force which was present at the funeral of Admiral Lord Nelson in January, 1806. From London it was sent to Colchester, and on April embarked at Tilbury for

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Sicily. In March, 1807, an expedition under Major-General Fraser Mac- kenzie was ordered to proceed from Sicily to Egypt to assist the Mamelukes against the Turks under Mehemet Ali ; but an attack on Rosetta failed, and the army was forced to retreat to Alexandria. News of this reverse having been received in Sicily, reinforcements were ordered to proceed to Alexandria, and on the i5th May the 2ist and 6and regiments, with a detachment of the 2Oth Light Dragoons and Royal Artillery, embarked for Egypt. Shortly afterwards, however, the Turks sued for peace, and in October the Fusiliers returned to Sicily. During their stay in Egypt officers and men had suffered severely from ophthalmia. The following extract is from a diary kept by Corporal David Brown, who enlisted at Kilmarnock in 1805 and served with the light company in Sicily, Egypt and the United States. " I am sorry to say that we had upwards of 200 men some of them blind in both eyes, and some of one, and those that could see a little on being disembarked were put in front, and those that could not see took hold of his neighbour's coat tails until they arrived at the General Hospital, which was a shocking sight to see : This was occasioned by ophthalmia which raged very much in Egypt."

In June, 1809, the Fusiliers took part in the operations under Sir John Stuart, with the object of delivering the island from Murat, whom Napoleon had made King of Naples. The chief action in which they were engaged was at Messina, near which seaport General Cavaignac landed 4000 Neapolitan troops on the night of i7th September, 1810. The 2ist under Lieut. -Colonel F. Adam,1 together with the 3rd infantry battalion of the King's German Legion and two field-pieces interrupted the landing, and took prisoners such part of the enemy force as had already come ashore, numbering over 1000 of all ranks. In the capture of Genoa (i7th-igth April, 1813), the Fusiliers lost one lieutenant, one sergeant, and 14 men killed or wounded. At the peace of 1814 they were sent to Gibraltar, whence they sailed with the 2gth and 62nd Foot to join General Ross's force in Bermuda. The two other regiments being destined for Canada, the 2ist formed, with a battalion of Marines, the 3rd brigade of General Ross's

1 Afterwards General the Right Hon. Sir Frederick Adam, G.C.B., fourth son of the Right Hon. Wm. Adam of Blair Adam, Co. Kinross ; died in 1853. His portrait is included among those in the well-known picture of the Wellington Banquet now at Apsley House.

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force, the brigadier being Colonel Wm. Paterson of the 2ist. The troops disembarked on igth August in the Patuxent river about 4500 strong, with one 6-pounder and two 3-pounders — a lilliputian column judged by the scale on which war is now being conducted ; but it sufficed to beat the Americans on the 24th at Bladensburg, and to capture Washington, whither President Madison had fled for safety. The 2ist was the first regiment to enter the city, where, although private property was scrupu- lously respected, the capitol, and all other public buildings, and the archives were burnt by General Ross's orders. The Fusiliers lost 68 killed and wounded, including Major Robert Rennie severely wounded and Lieut. James Gracie killed. In commemoration of this remarkable exploit the regiment carries "Bladensburg" inscribed on their colours. Further, by royal warrant, i5th August, 1815, General Ross's widow and descendants were entitled to use the honourable title " Ross of Bladensburg " as a memorial of his loyalty, ability and valour.1

General Ross's next objective was Baltimore, in advancing upon which city he was killed in a skirmish in the forest, and the command of the expedition devolved on Colonel Brooke of the 44th Foot. His force was now reduced to about 3000 effectives, with which it would have been folly to attack the chain of palisaded redoubts held by 15,000 Americans, with many guns, on the hills round Baltimore. The British troops, therefore, re-embarked ; the 2ist went into quarters in Jamaica, where they received a strong draft from the 2nd battalion to repair their losses.

The next active service on which the Fusiliers were engaged was the expedition against New Orleans in December, 1814, and January, 1815. The Americans were strongly posted on both banks of the Mississippi some five miles below the city of New Orleans, the main body under General Jackson holding a position nearly a mile in extent on the left bank. This was one of the most unfortunate affairs to which British troops have ever been committed, all the more lamentable because, unknown to the com- manders on either side, peace between Great Britain and the United States had been concluded at Ghent on Christmas Eve. In the operations which foUowed the 2ist lost 4 officers, including Major R. Rennie and Captain

1 The present representative is General Ross's grandson, Sir John F. G. Ross of Bladens- burg, K.C.B.. K.C.V.O., LL.D., late Royal Artillery and Coldstream Guards, author of History of the Coldstream Guards. 1815-1885.

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Donald Macdonald of Tormore, Skye^and 69 n.c.o. and men killed, 5 officers and 161 n.c.o. and men wounded, and 9 officers and 229 n.c.o. and men taken prisoners. The commander-in-chief, Major-General Sir Edward Pakenham, who had served with great distinction under Wellington in the Peninsula, fell under the walls of New Orleans.

No story of the regiment would be complete without a special mention of Major Rennie. Shortly after the attack on New Orleans he was pro- moted to brevet lieut. -colonel for his gallant conduct at the capture of Bladensburg. In a letter written by Major Sir Norman Pringle of the regiment in reply to a statement in a work by Mr. Stuart entitled Three Years in North America, published in Edinburgh, 1833, which gives an account of the attack and capture of Washington, the following extract is of interest :

" And now from my heart I thank Stuart for the opportunity of paying a tardy and just tribute to the memory of one of my earliest and most esteemed friends — to one of the bravest soldiers that ever drew a sword — I mean the late Brevet Lieutenant-Colonel Rennie of the 2ist Scots Fusiliers, nephew of the late Sir David Baird. This officer had been wounded severely in the knee at the attack on Washington, and still more severely on landing to attack Baltimore. Neither of these wounds were yet healed, but nothing could prevent Rennie from performing his duty. Sir Edward Pakenham had given Col. Rennie a separate command for the purpose of acting on the American right flank, and here I shall forego the partial testimony of a friend, and record the gallantry of Col. Rennie in the words of his enemy General Jackson's biographer, Mr. Eaton, ' Colonel Rennie of the Fusiliers was ordered to storm a redoubt on the American right. Rennie executed his orders with great bravery, and urging forward arrived at the ditch, and reaching the works and passing the ditch Rennie, sword in hand, leaped on the wall, and calling to his troops bade them follow him. He had scarcely spoken when he fell by the aim of one of our riflemen. Pressed by the impetuosity of superior numbers who were mounting the walls, and entering the embrasures, our troops had retired to the line in rear of the redoubt. To advance or maintain the point gained was equally impracticable for the enemy. The situation of these brave fellows may be easily conceived. They were nearly all killed or taken prisoners.' . . . There is another circumstance connected with Colonel Rennie's death. The night previous to the action of the 8th January, he said to me ' I am always hit, and in case I should fall to-morrow, I beg you will use every endeavour to recover this ring, this brooch with some hair in it, and my watch, and, if you survive, deliver them to my sister.' After the attack on the lines had failed, a flag of truce was sent from Sir John Lambert to General Jackson. I wrote a few lines by the officer who carried it to the American General,

1 Lieut.-Coloncl Maurice E. M'Conaghney, who commanded one of the battalions in the present war, and was killed in action in April, 1917, was a great-grandson of Captain Donald Macdonald.

ITO THE ROYAL SCOTS FUSILIERS

mentioning my friendship for Col. Rennie, and his request to me. On the return of the flag of truce, I received a polite message from General Jackson saying that it gave him much pleasure to comply with any request made by the friend of so gallant a soldier as Col. Rennie ; that he had taken care to protect his remains, and had ordered for them an honourable grave — the watch, ring and brooch were all returned to me. . . . Well might the late Sir Alexander Cochrane say in his despatch to the Admiralty, dated i8th January, 1815, that the hardships undergone by the seamen and troops had rarely been equalled. I will venture to say that in the whole annals of glorious service the Admiralty never had the combined energies of British seamen, and soldier more severely put to the test ; all were animated by the same enthusiasm — officers and soldiers. Admirals and seamen were seen hauling on the same rope and dragging the same gun. It is not for British soldiers and sailors, any more than other mortals, to command success, but in this expedition they deserved it.

" I shall now speak of the retreat of our troops from the American shores. It will naturally be supposed that we were harassed to a degree by the enemy — that he followed up his victory by driving us before him. No, General Jackson knew better than to leave his stronghold. It was the prayer of every soldier that he would do so. We remained in our position until the i8th, and commenced our retreat on the evening of that day. A retreat equally honourable to the general commanding (Sir J. Lambert) and to the soldiers under him."

The 2ist was now brought home, landing at Cork just about the time that the battle of Waterloo was fought, and, having received fresh drafts from the 2nd battalion, was sent to France in July, under Lieut.-Colonel Maxwell, to form part of the army of occupation under Wellington. They were quartered for some time at Saint-Denis, and subsequently at Com- piegne, and other towns in France.

In 1816, Napoleon having been safely interned at St. Helena, the British army was drastically reduced, and the 2nd battalion of the 2ist Fusiliers was disbanded. The remaining battalion was ordered to the West Indies in 1819, where in 1823 it was employed in suppressing a formidable in- surrection of negroes in Demerara, for which the regiment received the thanks of His Majesty George IV., H.R.H. the Duke of York and the general commanding the Windward and Leeward Islands. Further, the Court of Policy of the Colony voted " as a special and permanent mark of the high estimation in which the inhabitants of the Colony held the services of Lieut.- Colonel Leahy the officers and soldiers of the 2ist Royal North British Fusiliers," 500 guineas to purchase plate for the officers' mess, 200 guineas for a sword for Lieut.-Colonel Leahy, and 50 guineas for a sword for Lieut. Brady. The last named officer, who had been wounded and taken prisoner

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at New Orleans, had specially distinguished himself by coolness and intre- pidity in critical circumstances. The gift of 500 guineas was applied to the purchase of a silver centre-piece which still adorns the mess table of the ist battalion. During its eight years' service in the West Indies the regiment lost by disease 8 officers and 400 men, and eventually returned to England.

After six uneventful years spent in quarters in England and Ireland, the regiment was sent to the Antipodes, and detailed for the unpleasant task of guarding in detachments gangs of convicts in New South Wales and Van Diemen's Land, as Tasmania was then called, until 1841, when it embarked for its first tour of duty in India. It returned to England in 1848 (the voyage home lasting nearly six months), having been absent on foreign service for 16 years, and it spent the next four years in detach- ments, first in Scotland and then in the north of England.

It is hardly necessary to state that ever since the Fusiliers were first embodied in 1678 as the Earl of Mar's Grey-breeks, the uniform of all ranks had been constantly subject to change according to the whim of royal personages and the taste, or want of taste, of military tailors. Ever since the abolition, about 1768, of the grotesque conical cap assigned to Grenadiers and Fusiliers, the distinctive head-dress of all Fusilier regiments had been a bear-skin cap, with a white hackle on the right side for the 2ist. About the year 1840, when Prince Albert married Queen Victoria, all the Fusilier regiments were ordered to wear, instead of the bear-skin, a hideous bell-topped chaco with a white pompon. The change was not popular, especially as it was believed that the chaco was " a German hat." The shape of the chaco was altered later, and the 2ist were given the distinc- tion of wearing a white plume, which old Fusiliers say gave the regiment a very fine appearance on parade.

When the headquarters of the regiment were at Hull in 1853, one hundred Minie rifles were issued for experiment. Lieut.-Colonel F. G. Ainsley, killed in the following year at Inkerman, was then in command, and keenly undertook the improvement of the shooting by his men. In order to en- courage them, he instituted a series of distinctive badges for markmanship. The ten best shots in each company were distinguished by crossed muskets sewn on the right sleeve, the best shot being further distinguished by grenade over the musket, and the best shot in the regiment by a crown

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over the grenade, thereby anticipating the system which was afterwards adopted, and prescribed by the School of Musketry.

In June, 1853, the 2ist Fusiliers were moved to Ireland, and in March, 1854, when in Dublin, its strength was augmented to twelve companies, the establishment being 1400 n.c.o. and men.

On I5th August they embarked at Cork for the Crimea. Before em- barkation they were inspected by Major-General Mansfield, who, after going down the ranks of three companies only, exclaimed : " That will do, Colonel Ainslie ; close your ranks and march past, I never inspected such a regiment ! "

The 2ist were attached to the 4th division of Lord Raglan's army, commanded by Major-General Sir George Cathcart, the other infantry regiments in the division being the 2oth, 46th, 5yth and 63rd Foot and 2nd battalion Rifle Brigade. Landing in Kalamita Bay on I4th September these troops went into bivouac on the seashore, and were drenched by pitiless rain all night. There was no service dress in those days ; no special campaigning kit. In whatever climate they were called on to fight, our Fusiliers embarked in ordinary marching order — to wit, a scarlet coatee with all the paraphernalia of wings, stock, etc., blue cloth trousers and full dress headgear, which, as above noted, consisted of a heavy chaco with a white ball or pompon. Cholera had already begun its ghastly ravages amongst the troops, and medical science had not yet succeeded in ascertain- ing its nature or grappling with it.

In the battle of Alma on the 20th September the 4th division was held in reserve, the only man of the division killed being Private Derrick of the 2ist ; and on the 27th it reached the heights above Sebastopol, where it continued encamped during the whole siege. The Fusiliers were under arms at Balaclava on 25th October ; but were not engaged in what was almost exclusively a cavalry action. At Inkerman they fought in two wings, the right wing being commanded by Lieut.-Colonel Ainslie, until he was killed, when Brevet Lieut.-Colonel Haines, who afterwards became a field marshal and full colonel of the regiment, succeeded him. Brevet Lieut.- Colonel Lord West commanded the left wing. The battalion paraded only 402 strong before the action, many of their men being on duty in the trenches and many others sick. It lost 2 officers killed and 5 wounded, 13 rank and file killed, and n sergeants and 90 men wounded and missing. " The

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Fusiliers," says Kinglake, in his voluminous chronicle of the campaign, " were magnificent troops, men of the finest natural quality, and highly trained."

Throughout that long and terrible winter of 1854-5 the old aist took a full share of peril and patience in the trenches. They furnished a party for the capture of the Quarries on 7th June ; they were engaged in the first assault in the Redan on the i8th, and were in reserve during the second assault on 8th September.1 After the fall of Sebastopol they formed part of the expedition to Kinbourn in October, and remained in the Crimea till May, 1856, when they sailed for Malta under their new commanding officer, Colonel Ramsay Stuart.

The strength of the 2ist Fusiliers, on embarking for the Crimea, was 330 officers and 974 n.c.o. and men. During the twenty months of active service there they received in reinforcement 25 officers and 575 n.c.o. and men ; total, 58 officers and 1549 n.c.o. and men. Two officers and 372 n.c.o. and men were killed in action or died in the Crimea, 25 officers and 221 n.c.o. and men were invalided home.

Medals and other decorations were harder to come by sixty years ago than they have since become. The following n.c.o. and men of the 2ist were awarded the medal for distinguished service in field during the cam- paign : Colour-Sergeant G. Yeates ; Corporals T. Denton, W. T. Morgan, W. Steggles and G. Woolcoot ; Privates G. Blackwell, No. 2381 J. Campbell, No. 2826 J. Campbell, R. Campbell, D. Curley, M. Grimmison, J. Kite, J. M'Guire, M. Maddigan and P. Murray.

While the regiment was at Malta, where it remained until 1860, the colours which it had carried in the Crimean campaign were retired, and on 28th January, 1858, new colours were presented by Lady Pennefather, wife of Lieut.-General Sir John Pennefather, commanding the troops in Malta. The old colours, presented to the regiment by King George IV., were placed with ceremony in the old parish church of Ayr in October, 1875, where they may still be seen opposite to the colours presented in 1858; thus the two sets of colours met once more.

In 1857 ^ was decided to increase the strength of the army by the addi- tion of second battalions to all infantry regiments of the line, up to and

1 There remains at least one survivor of the Fusiliers who took part in the attack on the Redan, namely, Major Richard Browne, residing at Teddington. Promoted sergeant in the Crimea, he subsequently became regimental sergeant-major of the ist battalion. Later he •was appointed quartermaster, and was loved and respected by all ranks.

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including the 25th King's Own Borderers. This order did not affect the 1st regiment, the Royal Scots, which had consisted of two battalions, and sometimes three or more, ever since 1686 ; but in April, 1858, the 2nd battalion of the 2ist Royal North British Fusiliers was formed, for the second time, at Paisley under Colonel Last, of the ist West India Regiment (and late of the ggth Foot). The nucleus of this new battalion consisted of a number of old soldiers recently returned from the Crimea, whereby the honourable traditions of the regiment and its admirable system of interior economy were preserved and handed on.

The ist battalion was sent to Barbados in April, 1860, where it remained till 1864, returning to England in August of that year, and occupying various quarters in the three kingdoms until I5th February, when it embarked for India. Before the battalion embarked, Colonel John Ramsay Stuart, C.B., bade farewell to them. He had served in the battalion for upwards of thirty-seven years, during thirteen of which he had been its commanding officer. He was succeeded in the command by Lieut.-Colonel J. T. Dalyell, now general and full colonel of the regiment. Another loss much felt in the battalion at this time arose through the transfer of Surgeon A. J. Greer to the I7th Lancers ; he had served fifteen years in the Fusiliers, and had won the affectionate esteem of all ranks, notably under the trying conditions of the Crimea campaign.

In 1865 all Fusilier regiments were relieved of the chaco, which, it may be remembered, had been prescribed as the regulation for full dress at the beginning of Queen Victoria's reign instead of the bearskin cap, and had never been either comfortable, becoming or popular in any of its phases. A sealskin cap was now made the Fusilier head-dress, and held the field till the old bearskin cap was restored, but without the white hackle of yore. In 1866 the nationality of the North British Fusiliers received official recognition in the addition of a diced border to the forage cap of officers and men.

In December, 1872, the two battalions of the regiment met for the first time, when the ist battalion relieved the 2nd at Madras. Both battalions were affected by the localisation of the forces scheme, whereby it was sought to strengthen the territorial connection of regiments with their several districts. The 2 ist Fusiliers were confirmed as the Ayrshire Regiment by the establishment of the depots of the ist and 2nd battalions at Ayr, as

LIEUT.-COL. REGINALD TOOGOOD 175

the 6ist Brigade Depot (now known as the 2ist Regimental District). A further change took place in 1877 when Lieut.-Colonel Pole Collingwood commanding the 2nd battalion succeeded in persuading the authorities to discard the unpleasing title of " North British " and restore the original " Scots." The regiment, accordingly, was styled henceforward the 2ist Royal Scots Fusiliers.

By Mr. Childers's Army Act of 1881 the uniforms of many regiments were considerably altered, our regiment, as well as all Lowland regiments of the line, being put into doublets and trews. Down to that date the pipers of the regiment had worn the Royal Stuart tartan, but this was now given up, and all ranks were dressed in the Campbell tartan. The two Militia battalions (as they then were) had their uniform similarly changed. Another change, small in itself and annoying to the regiment, was made at this time. The non-commissioned officers in the Guards and all Fusilier and Light Infantry regiments wore their chevrons on both arms, and not only on the right arm, as in other regiments. At this date this distinction was abolished, a petty economy being thereby effected.

By the same act the infantry regiments of the line were deprived of their historic numbers ; regiments with but one battalion were linked together, and fused so as to give each regiment two line battalions under one title, while the Militia and Volunteers included in the several terri- torial districts were constituted as auxiliary battalions of the territorial regiment. Under this arrangement the Scottish Borderers Militia became the 3rd Battalion Royal Scots Fusiliers, and the Prince Regent's Royal Ayrshire and Wigtownshire Militia became the 4th battalion. In 1890 the 3rd battalion was transferred to the King's Own Scottish Borderers as their 3rd battalion, and our 4th battalion became the 3rd.

We must now go back to the 2nd battalion, which, it will be remembered, was formed afresh at Paisley under Colonel Last in April, 1858. After a short tour of duty in Wales it was moved to Aldershot, where Colonel Last gave up the command, and was succeeded by Lieut.-Colonel Lowe from the 32nd Light Infantry. Colonel Lowe in 1862 exchanged with Colonel Robertson of the 6th regiment, who later was appointed adjutant-general, Madras Presidency, and is now Sir Donald Robertson, K.C.S.I. It was under his command that the battalion embarked on its first tour of Indian service on nth July, 1863, and was quartered in the Madras Presidency.

176 THE ROYAL SCOTS FUSILIERS

In May, 1872, a severe cyclone broke upon the Madras roads, several vessels dragging their anchors and stranding amidst the boiling surf. The Fusiliers, who were quartered in Fort St. George, rendered excellent service in assisting to rescue the unfortunate passengers and crews of the stranded ships ; their conduct on this occasion received cordial recognition by the Madras government, and the inhabitants and merchants presented a massive silver vase to the officers, which still adorns their mess-table. The bat- talion returned home in 1873, and, after passing five years in various quarters in Scotland and England, they were moved to Ireland in 1878, and were stationed in Dublin.

In August of that year the Duchess of Marlborough, the wife of the Lord-Lieutenant, presented new colours to the 2nd battalion. On nth of September the old colours were deposited in Greyfriars Church, the parish church of Dumfries, and on the 28th of that month the battalion left Dublin for the Curragh.

In the meantime a serious state of affairs had broken out in South Africa with the Zulus, and the Fusiliers were suddenly ordered on active service at ten days' notice to reinforce the British forces stationed there. They embarked on 2oth February, 1879, under command of Colonel W. Pole Collingwood. On their voyage out a somewhat stirring incident occurred. When entering Simons Bay in the teeth of a gale, the ship became un- manageable, and she ran stem on to the Roman Rocks. The incident was well described by a correspondent of the Ayr Advertiser who was on board.

" It was very dark, it was blowing a gale, and there were noo men on board. The captain gave his order with coolness and courage from the bridge ; the boats were made ready for lowering ; signals of distress were sent up and all made ready for lowering. The Scots Fusiliers behaved with admirable coolness, nothing could have been better ; the young fellows vied with their older comrades in their apparent contempt of danger. Happily for all on board the gale was increasing, and catching the ship on the port side, pushed her off the rocks, and putting on full steam we now went ahead and passing through forbidden water, over sunken rocks, we got into Simons Bay with no water to speak of in the hold. An episode is worth relating as an illustration of the good behaviour of the men. The instant the ship struck the rocks, the quartermaster at the wheel uttered an exclamation of horror, and crying ' All is lost ! ' made a rush to the nearest boat. Two or three young soldiers at once seized the wheel, and did their best to steer the ship until another quartermaster could be got hold of."

The battalion was transferred to H.M.S. Tamar, and landed at Durban on the 3ist March. On arrival it proceeded at once to Pietermaritzburg,

IST ROYAL NORTH BRITISH FUSILIERS

NOW THE ROVAI. SCOTS FUSILIEKS Sergeant 1830

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arriving there on 5th April. Two companies under Captain Willoughby remained there, the remainder proceeded to Ladysmith and joined Major- General Newdigate's division on the 24th May. " The 2ist," writes the special correspondent of the Daily News, in a letter dated the 25th May, 1879, " marched into camp yesterday from Doornburg. It looked very fit and soldier like, as the column came swinging over the ridge with its kilted pipers."

Colonel Pole Collingwood was now appointed to command the 2nd brigade, and Major Hazelrigg assumed command of the battalion, which was posted to the ist brigade. It is only the movements of this brigade, so far as they concern the Fusiliers, with which we are here concerned.

On 3rd June they reached the Ity-oty-ozi River close to the spot where the ill-fated Prince Imperial of France had been killed, and having crossed this river, camped on the ground just vacated by Wood's flying column. It was here that this battalion came for the first time under fire, being engaged in a slight skirmish against some Zulus.

Fort Newdigate was now constructed and garrisoned by two companies of the Fusiliers and a troop of the ist Dragoon Guards, to keep communica- tions open. On i8th June the remainder of the battalion resumed its march under Major Hazelrigg towards Ulundi. It was just before this battle that the battalion lost a very promising young officer, Lieut. J. H. Scott-Douglas, the eldest son of Sir G. H. Scott-Douglas, Bart., of Spring- wood Park, Roxburghshire. He was chief of the signalling staff of the 2nd division, and accompanied by Corporal Cottar, I7th Lancers, conveyed an important message, which owing to the state of the weather could not be transmitted by signalling, to Fort Evelyn, twenty miles from camp. He reached Fort Evelyn in safety, but on his return journey he and his orderly fell into an ambuscade of Zulus, and both were killed.

On the 4th July Lord Chelmsford, commanding the forces, fought and gained the battle of Ulundi. The division advanced in a hollow oblong square, its front and flanks being covered by cavalry under Redvers Buller, while its rear was protected by two squadrons of the I7th Lancers under Drury-Lowe and Shepstone's Basutos. For the first time for many days the colours were unfurled, and this is, it is believed, the last time that colours were taken into action. The Queen's colour, carried by 2nd Lieut, the Hon. A. Hardinge, had a bullet through it.

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At about 8.30 A.M. the Zulus were seen advancing from various quarters, the sun shining upon their white shields. Buller's cavalry were now far out, hovering on the three sides of the square, which was well closed up ; the men shoulder to shoulder with every rifle and gun loaded. The enemy began to close in on all sides. The guns moved out on the flanks, and got into action, while the cavalry galloped back to take refuge inside the square ; the infantry formed " fours deep," the two front ranks kneeling, and opened fire. On came the Zulus like a huge black wave, led by a chief mounted on a white horse, the warriors clashing their hide-covered shields and shouting their war cry. In spite, however, of their splendid bravery they could not withstand the deadly hail of bullets poured in by an oblique and concen- trated volley, and these gallant but ill-armed men, after a momentary pause, fled in dismay and tumult. They never came within thirty yards of the square. It is estimated that the enemy numbered between 15,000 and 20,000 men, of whom 1500 fell. The British force lost five killed and fifty wounded. Amongst the latter were Major Winsloe, who had served in the Crimea and who later commanded the 2nd battalion, with ten Scots Fusiliers. At a parade held two days after the battle General New- digate warmly complimented the battalion on its steady valour and cool- ness under fire, and expressed his intention of reporting their admirable conduct to H.R.H. the commander-in-chief. Colonel Winsloe subsequently received the C.B., and was appointed A.D.C. to Queen Victoria.

On the 26th August the battalion started on its march to Pretoria. Before arriving there, however, they were destined to take part in another adventure, the storming, capture and destruction of Secocoeni's stronghold, an isolated hill known as the " Fighting Kopje " in the Lydenburg district. Secocoeni was a Basuto chief who for some time past had caused the Cape Government considerable trouble ; he had taken up arms against the Trans- vaal Republic, and had sided with Cetewayo, the Zulu chief. The Fusiliers, as usual, bore their part nobly in this enterprise, losing three men killed and Captains Willoughby and Gordon and sixteen men wounded. After the subjugation of Secocoeni and his lawless Basutos the Fusiliers were ordered once more to proceed to Pretoria, the chief town of the Transvaal, where they arrived on the 22nd December.

In May, 1880, Lieut .-Colonel Gildea, who had joined from England, took over command of the battalion. On the i6th July of that year the

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regiment sustained a sad loss in the death by fever of Major and Brevet Lieut-Colonel Arthur Grey Hazelrigg, who had served twenty-five years in the regiment and had commanded the 2nd battalion at the battle of Ulundi and the affair of the Secocoeni stronghold.

About this period the attitude of the Boers, who had for some time been seething with discontent, assumed a serious position, and at length matters reached a climax. On the 2oth December, at Brunker's Spruit, an armed part of them attacked without warning a part of the 94th Regi- ment, now the 2nd battalion of the Connaught Rangers, some 300 strong, who with their band and colours were escorting a convoy from Lydenburg to Pretoria. About 120 officers and men were killed, and the remainder were taken prisoners, with the exception of Conductor Parsons of the commissariat and Sergeant Bradley of the 94th, who had managed to carry off the colours, tearing them from their poles and concealing them on their persons.

On 2ist December Colonel Gildea left Pretoria on a reconnoitring expedition, as he knew that the 94th had been ordered to march to Pre- toria and that the Transvaal Republic had been proclaimed. When about two miles from Pretoria he fell in with Parsons and Bradley, who handed over the colours of the 94th Regiment to him. Colonel Gildea, on his return to Pretoria, offered the colours to Major Fred Buckley Campbell of the 94th Regiment, but that officer asked the colonel if he would be good enough for the present to guard them with the colours of the Scots Fusiliers. To this request Colonel Gildea at once agreed, and the colours of the 94th were entwined with the colours of our 2nd battalion on their respective poles, and so remained until the end of the war. At a full dress parade on the 6th April, 1881, Colonel Gildea formally restored the colours to the 94th, who cordially thanked the Fusiliers for taking charge of them, adding that their kindness would never be forgotten by the 94th. It is these incidents, small in themselves, which promote the feeling of camaraderie between regiments.

On the outbreak of the Transvaal war the 2nd battalion of the Fusiliers was distributed as follows. At Pretoria — Headquarters with A, B, F and H companies, and half a troop of mounted infantry under Lieut. A. W. Collings. At Potchefstroom — C and D companies, with half a troop of mounted infantry under Lieut. Lindsell, the detachment being under the command of Brevet Lieut.-Colonel Winsloe. At Rustenberg — E company,

i8o THE ROYAL SCOTS FUSILIERS

under the command of Captain D. Auchinleck, one of the best and most beloved officers who ever served in the regiment.

The siege of Pretoria lasted for 102 days, and although Colonel Gildea was able to make certain reconnaissances in force up to February, 1881, after that date the garrison was able only to act on the defensive. On the 1 2th February Colonel Gildea and several men were wounded in a skir- mish near the Red House kraal. During the siege, which entailed very hard work and great privations, both the military and civilians showed the greatest fortitude and cheerfulness. Amongst those who particularly distinguished themselves was Mrs. Gildea, the wife of the gallant colonel, who was unremitting in her kindness and attention to the sick and wounded. Queen Victoria subsequently conferred on her the decoration of the " Royal Red Cross."

At Potchefstroom the first shots were interchanged between the British and the Boers on the i6th December, 1880, when a slight skirmish between our mounted infantry and the Boers took place. The attack did not last long, and the enemy retired with some loss. A detachment of the garrison occupied the Landroost's office under Captain Falls. On i8th December determined attacks were made on this post by the enemy; Captain Falls was killed and several of the men wounded. At length the post became untenable, and arrangements were made to evacuate it.

The fort, which was only 25 yards square, now sheltered the whole garrison, besides a number of women, children, horses and mules, and it was invested on three sides. As there was no water within the fort, save what could be obtained from a well which had been sunk to a depth of 30 feet, but which only yielded nine gallons a day, considerable suffering was entailed, especially among the women and children. Luckily a heavy rainstorm occurred on igth December and provided sufficient water until the 2ist, and on this latter day a further heavy rainfall took place. On this day all the horses and mules were turned adrift, so as to lessen the demand for food and water, and a second well was sunk, which fortunately yielded a good supply.

On ist January, 1881, the enemy opened a heavy fire on the fort, and in addition brought into play a ship's gun. This was silenced after about two hours, but several of the garrison had been disabled. The defences of the fort consisted chiefly of sandbags made from the tents and other

LIEUT.-COL. REGINALD TOOGOOD 181

materials available. The whole of the tents, except five reserved for the sick and wounded, were appropriated for this purpose, men, women and children all living and sleeping in the open. On the 22nd January a very gallant sortie was made by a party of eleven men led by Lieut. Dalrymple- Hay. Seven of them reached a trench which held eighteen of the enemy, of whom four were taken prisoners, eleven were killed or wounded and three made their escape. In February the food supply ran short, and the garrison began to suffer severely from dysentery, enteric fever and other kindred diseases. In March, the food being exhausted, and the sick and wounded dying for want of nourishment, it was found impossible to hold out any longer, and negotiations for surrender were opened. The garrison were then allowed to march out with all the honours of war, flags flying and drums beating.

At Rustenberg Captain Auchinleck, having received notice of the declara- tion of war by the Boers, at once set about building a small fort in the centre of the Maidan, and this he held with E company, which he commanded for over 100 days, although twice severely wounded. Captain Auchinleck informed the writer that the fort was a very poor affair, though it was the best that they could make in the short time ; that the Boers could have rushed it with the bayonet at any time, but luckily they had a great dislike to cold steel. With Captain Auchinleck was his subaltern Lieut. Despard, now chief constable of Lanarkshire, and a conductor named Luck of the commissariat, and these three had to take it in turns to be on watch every night, which left little time for sleep, considering the heavy duties by day. There was also a private of the commissariat named Bishop, two civilians, Butter and Hill, a volunteer lieutenant named Daniels and Dr. Ritchie — five Kaffirs completed the garrison. The garrison, on an armistice being declared, was at length permitted to march out with the honours of war. During the campaign Lance-Corporals H. Hampton and P. Cunnief and Private H. Bush gained the medal for distinguished service in the field. Peace was shortly afterwards declared, and on 3rd January, 1882, the battalion, being the last regiment to leave the Transvaal, em- barked at Durban for the East Indies, and were stationed at Secunderabad, relieving the ist battalion, who had gone home in December, 1881.

In 1884 the regiment had the unique distinction of having three of its battalions commanded by officers holding the appointment of A.D.C.

182 THE ROYAL SCOTS FUSILIERS

to the Queen. Colonel Gildea commanded the ist battalion, Colonel Winsloe the 2nd battalion and Colonel Walker the 3rd (Militia) battalion, all of whom held that appointment.

As stated above, the ist battalion arrived from India in December, 1881, and passed their service in various stations in England, Ireland and Scotland, finishing their tour of home service in 1896, when they embarked again for India, and on arrival were stationed at Sialkot.

Down to the time the ist battalion went to Aldershot in 1883 the pioneers of the regiment were permitted to wear white aprons and gauntlets, and as in those days the pioneers of all regiments wore beards, they had a fine appearance at the head of a battalion on the march. To the great disgust of the regiment this privilege was abolished by an order of the commander-in-chief. This tour of home service cannot be passed over without reference being made to an inspection of the ist battalion by the said commander-in-chief, the Duke of Cambridge, at Maryhill Barracks, Glasgow, when it was under the command of Lieut.-Colonel E. C. Browne, Captain Thorburn being adjutant and Sergeant-Major John Smith the regimental sergeant-major. At the end of the inspection his Royal High- ness, after alluding to a former inspection of the battalion by him, when he had paid it high compliments, said " Never in the old days of rigid move- ments, nor in the new, have I had the privilege of witnessing such an ex- hibition of drill and exercises in arms as to-day." This was a compliment worth having indeed from one who had known the army intimately ever since the old days of the Crimea.

We left the 2nd battalion at Secunderabad in 1882. In 1884 it was moved to Burma, the headquarters and four companies being stationed at Thayetmyo, the remaining four companies going to Tongoo. From December, 1885, to December, 1887, it was employed in small detachments with various columns sent to operate against the rebels and dacoits who infested the country. The honour " Burma 1885-1887 " bears witness to the Fusiliers' share in these operations, in which Major Auchinleck, who had been twice wounded in South Africa, died of wounds. In 1887 the battalion left Burma for the Bengal Presidency, going first to Umballa. It remained in various stations in this Presidency until November, 1896, when it returned to England under Lieut.-Colonel A. J. Pollock, and was stationed at Chatham,

LIEUT.-COL. REGINALD TOOGOOD 183

whence it furnished a detachment for the Tower of London during the absence of the Guards on summer drills.

It was now the turn of the ist battalion to see active service again ; this time in a wild stretch of mountainous country beyond the North West frontier of India called Tirah, the stronghold of the Afridi clan of Pathan tribesmen, which had never before been entered by a British force. Before leaving Sialkot it was inspected by Colonel W. J. Vousden, V.C., whose father served in the Crimea, was severely wounded at the battle of Inker- man, and was promoted to a lieutenancy in the regiment in recognition of his distinguished conduct on that occasion.

On i7th August, 1897, orders were received for the headquarters and one wing of the battalion under Lieut.-Colonel Spurgin to proceed to Kohat for field service, in consequence of disturbances on the frontier. On the 27th E and H companies were engaged, as part of the force under Major- General Yeatman-Biggs, C.B., in the action at the Ublan Pass. One who was there said to the writer that the " day of the action was one of the hottest I ever experienced, even on the Indian frontier, and we all suffered very much from heat and thirst." Captain A. G. Baird-Smith and Lieut. L. G. North were severely wounded during these operations, and one private was killed. On I7th November orders were received for the wing to join the Tirah Expeditionary Force under Sir William Lockhart, K.C.B. It was engaged in rearguard actions on 27th, 28th and 2Qth November, two privates being killed and four severely wounded. The half battalion forming part of the 2nd division under Major-General Yeatman-Biggs, C.B., was constantly engaged in the Bara Valley from 7th to I4th December, during which time the force was entirely cut off from com- munication with the rest of the world. The transport was cut down to a minimum, and there were no tents, although the cold was intense. Captain F. de S. Shortt was dangerously wounded, one private was killed, nine other ranks being severely or dangerously wounded, of whom two subsequently died of wounds, and five privates were reported missing. Among the wounded was Colour- Sergeant J. Walker, who fell into the hands of the enemy. He remained a prisoner of war in the hands of the Afridis for some weeks, and was on the whole well treated by them, which was a somewhat unusual experience, as the custom of the Afridis is to kill their prisoners. Owing to a difference of opinion among his captors he was

i84 THE ROYAL SCOTS FUSILIERS

assisted to escape, and was guided back to the British lines. Mountain passes over 8000 feet in height were traversed in the face of tribesmen renowned for their marksmanship, and the troops suffered considerably from exposure to wet and cold and hard work. The frontier clans, how- ever, received a severe lesson, and the regiment gained another honour, " Tirah," for its colours. On the last day of 1897 the Fusiliers returned to Peshawar. Captain Bowes, Captain Northcott and Captain Scudamore, D.S.O., were promoted brevet-majors in recognition of their services in these operations, and Sergeant Stewart Donald gained the medal for distinguished service in the field. The battalion remained in India until December, 1908, when it was moved again to Rangoon. On ist November, 1909, King Edward approved of the honorary distinction of " Martinique 1794 " being borne on the colours of the regiment.

On gth September, 1899, the 2nd battalion, having been stationed at Chatham on its return from India in 1896, was moved to the North Camp, Aldershot. In October of that year, on the outbreak of the South African war, it sailed from England for South Africa to form part of the greatest army that hitherto had been sent oversea from Great Britain. On arrival at Capetown it became part of the 6th or Fusilier Brigade under the com- mand of Major-General Barton, C.B. Half of the battalion was present in the action at Colenso, losing there n n.c.o. and men killed and 28 wounded. For gallant conduct in this affair Private G. Ravenhill was awarded the Victoria Cross. Under heavy fire he left his sheltered position, as one of the escort, three times to assist in withdrawing the guns of the i4th and 66th Batteries R.F.A., when the detachments serving them had fallen or been driven off.

The Fusiliers were with the Ladysmith relief force throughout General Buller's operations, and in February, 1900, were daily in action for thirteen continuous days, being specially mentioned in the commander-in-chief's despatches for the capture of Green Hill. They also bore a full part in the severe fighting in the assault and capture of Pieters Hill, when 4 officers and 24 n.c.o. and men were killed in action or died of wounds, and the colonel, 8 other officers and 60 n.c.o. and men were wounded. It was the signalling sergeant of the Scots Fusiliers who received the first message from Ladysmith after its relief.

The Fusiliers subsequently had their share of fighting in Cape Colony,

ROYAL SCOTS FUSILIERS

ILIEUT.-COL. REGINALD TOOGOOD 185

including the action at Rooidam, and they were the first British regiment who entered the Transvaal, the leading company of the advanced guard being under the command of Captain Quentin Agnew,1 and the two subalterns being Lieut. Fraser and Captain Vaughan of the 3rd battalion, attached as a subaltern. The battalion took part in the hoisting of the British flag at Christiana, the first Transvaal town captured.

It was about this time that the colonel with a party of three officers, the pipers and 105 n.c.o. and men proceeded to Potchefstroom (formerly mentioned in this brief story as having been gallantly held by a detach- ment of the regiment against the Boers in 1880 and 1881), and there hoisted a British flag. This flag, buried at the time of the peace of 1881 by the loyal residents of Pretoria, had shortly afterwards been disinterred by Colonel Gildea, and had remained in possession of his family until it was once more hoisted on the reoccupation of the Transvaal by the British.

The Fusiliers experienced much hard fighting in the Transvaal. Two companies were mentioned for their great dash at the action at Venkerstroom, and later, in October, 1900, the battalion was almost daily in action for three consecutive weeks, during the last six days of which it formed part of a small force surrounded at Frederickstadt by General De Wet and 3000 men. In the successful final attack on the Boer position the utmost gallantry was shown by the Royal Scots Fusiliers, who suffered heavily, two officers, Lieutenants Finch and Vernon Lewis, and u n.c.o. and men being killed; five officers (including Capt. Dick and Lieut. Elliot) and 36 n.c.o. and men wounded. Pipe-Major Muir was killed while playing a company across a thousand yards of bare level ground.

During the remainder of the war the battalion was engaged on trek, in garrison and, on the lines of communication, on blockhouse duty, upholding the reputation of the regiment under very arduous conditions. Whilst engaged on trek it made the record march of thirty-five miles in sixteen hours, and was specially thanked by Lord Kitchener for this performance. During the progress of the war five officers from the 3rd (Militia) battalion who had volunteered for duty 2 did good work with the

2 Captains G. Fergusson-Buchanan, G. Macalister, the Earl of Cassillis, D. Browne and J. E. Vaughan.

i86 THE ROYAL SCOTS FUSILIERS

battalion, bringing with them the men of the Militia reserve of that battalion to replace casualties.

The call made in January, 1900, for a volunteer service company from the territorial Volunteer battalions of the regiment was quickly responded to, and a company, complete in strength and detail, joined the battalion after the relief of Ladysmith, and served with it continuously until after the action at Frederickstadt, all ranks distinguishing themselves by steadiness, coolness and soldierlike behaviour. The company then proceeded down country for home, but was detained for garrison duty at Smal Deel for seven more months. A further service draft of Volunteers of one officer and 23 n.c.o. and men joined the battalion at Middelburg, Transvaal, in March, 1902, and served with the battalion on blockhouse duty until the pro- clamation of peace in June.

Many honours were gained individually during the war by officers, n.c.o. and men. Amongst the latter, one man, as stated above, was awarded the Victoria Cross, one warrant officer and nine n.c.o. and men the distinguished conduct medal, and three privates were promoted corporals for gallantry in the field.

An officer who served in the Natal field force, 1899-1900, though not belonging to the Fusiliers, wrote as follows about General Thorneycroft, C.B. :

" No one who was a member of that force will easily forget the nature and value of the services rendered by Colonel Thorneycroft, as he was then, during that arduous and anxious period. A striking figure from his enormous stature and splendid build, he was a man who made a strong impression on all who met him ; he inspired all with respect, and those who knew him well, or served with him, with a strong affection as well as admiration. The Natal army well knew how at a critical moment, on Spion Kop, he saved the situation, exposing himself fearlessly at point blank range in a way that seemed almost certain death, and by his personal example put fresh heart in small body of sorely tried and hard pressed infantry. Why he was not killed is a mystery ; possibly the following explanation suggested afterwards by a Boer who was there, may be correct, viz. : that his magnificent figure and stupendous voice so overawed them that for the moment they forgot to shoot. His subsequent action on Spion Kop was criticised, but not by anyone in Natal from the commander-in-chief to the youngest private, and it is impossible not to think that with a fuller knowledge based on personal experience of the country, this criticism would never have been made."

On the representation of Colonel Carr, C.B., who commanded the battalion throughout the campaign, the Royal Scots Fusiliers were again permitted

LIEUT.-COL. REGINALD TOOGOOD 187

to wear the white hackle in the sealskin head-dress as a recognition of their services in South Africa. This highly valued distinction, as before stated, was previously worn by the regiment, and when it was abolished about 1837 its loss was greatly felt.

The 2nd battalion returned to England in February, 1903, after having served in South Africa for over three years. The total casualties during the war amounted to 7 officers and 114 n.c.o. and men killed in action or died of wounds, disease, etc., and 12 officers, 143 n.c.o. and men wounded. The following soldiers of the regiment won special distinction for their gallantry on the field of battle in this campaign.

The Victoria Cross. Private G. Ravenhill. Battle of Colenso, I5th December, 1899.

Medal for Distinguished Conduct.

Sergt. -Major J. Steel ; Colour-Sergts. W. Kimberley, A. Ferguson ; Sergeants F. C. Roberts, R. Taylor ; Lance-Corporal J. Shields ; Privates W. Farr, R. M'Allester, W. Downie, A. Curdie.

On ist October, 1907, the 2nd battalion was moved to Dublin, being stationed at the Royal Barracks, whence it went to Londonderry, and subsequently to Gosport, where it was stationed at the outbreak of the great war on the 4th August, 1914, and on ist January, 1915, embarked at Southampton for Gibraltar. The ist battalion, which we left in Burmah, returned to England in 1914 and were stationed at Gosport, taking over the New Barracks recently vacated by the 2nd battalion. Their next move was to France on the outbreak of the great war.

Four new battalions were then ordered to be raised, and the ist, 4th, and 5th battalions to be mobilised. The 2nd battalion at this date was stationed at Gibraltar. The 6th battalion was formed at Ayr, under Lieut. -Colonel H. H. Northey of the regiment, and the 7th under Colonel D. Mackenzie Stuart, who had just given up command of the 2nd battalion, and whose father, Colonel John Ramsay Stuart, C.B., gave up command of the ist battalion in 1867. The 8th battalion was formed by Lieut. -Colonel H. V. Bunbury, formerly of the Royal Scots, and the gth battalion by Colonel Bremner. This last battalion remained at home during the war, and supplied drafts of officers and men as required to the other service battalions ; it has now ceased to be one of the units of the

i88 THE ROYAL SCOTS FUSILIERS

regiment, and has been turned into the 55th Training Reserve Battalion. The 3rd (formerly Militia) battalion, until lately under command of Colonel G. Quentin Agnew, M.V.O., D.S.O., and is now commanded by Lieut.-Col. D. H. A. Dick, formed the Special Reserve Battalion.

Perhaps to complete the story of the Royal Scots Fusiliers down to the outbreak of the great war in August, 1914, some reference should be made to the Regimental Association. This, we believe, has been of great service to those non-commissioned officers and men of the regiment and their families who, owing to sickness, old age and other causes, have fallen temporarily on evil times. It was started on its present basis in 1909, and from small beginnings is now in the fairly sound position of having invested about £4450 on sound security. No case is assisted without the fullest enquiry. One often hears the expression " a good regiment," and it appears to the writer that two of the essentials to fulfil this definition are, first, that the regiment should be known as " good fighters," and, second, that the men of the regiment should be well looked after. Those who have read the foregoing story, and who are aware of how the regiment has borne itself in the present war, will have no doubt in their minds that the Royal Scots Fusiliers have in the past fulfilled, and is in the present fulfilling, the first qualification, and it is hoped that the efforts of the association go towards fulfilling the second.

We have now come to an end of a short summary of the doings of the Royal Scots Fusiliers down to the outbreak of the great war, and we ven- ture to think that it is a glorious record. The regiment, during its career of 230 years, has served in every portion of the globe where British soldiers are to be found, except in China and the Straits Settlements. It bears on its colours the following honours : " Blenheim," " Ramillies," " Ouden- arde," " Malplaquet," " Dettingen," " Martinique 1794," " Bladensburg," " Alma," " Inkerman," " Sevastopol," " South Africa 1879," " Burma 1885-1887," " Tirah," " Relief of Ladysmith," and " South Africa 1899- 1902."

During the present war the seven battalions which have been engaged in it have shown themselves to be worthy heirs of the honours won in the two preceding centuries.

V THE KING'S OWN SCOTTISH BORDERERS

BY BRIGADIER-GENERAL MONTAGU GRANT WILKINSON, C.B., M.V.O. , LATE KING'S OWN SCOTTISH BORDERERS

THE King's Own Scottish Borderers, as the regiment is at present designated, has been known under various titles, such as Leven's or the Edinburgh Regiment, the Sussex Regiment, the 25th Foot, and King's Own Borderers. It has the privilege of being closely connected with the city of Edinburgh, where it was originally raised, and was named — as regiments were in those days — after the name of the colonel, and was first known as Leven's or the Edinburgh Regiment.

Owing to the five Border counties, viz. Berwick, Roxburgh, Selkirk, Dumfries and Kirkcudbright, being allotted as the regimental district, it has been assumed that the Scottish Borderers were named as borderers between Scotland and England, whereas they were in fact borderers between Lowlands and Highlands, having been raised in Edinburgh to defend the Lowlands against the Highlanders, and marched shortly after being raised to meet the Highlanders in battle at Killiecrankie. The corps was originally called Leven's or the Edinburgh Regiment, having been raised by David Earl of Leven, who landed in England with the Prince of Orange in November, 1688, and in March, 1689, received authority from the Scottish Convention of Estates to enrol a regiment for the defence of the city. According to some accounts the full establishment of 800 men was completed within four hours, and the new regiment immediately took possession of the Parliament House, and held it until the Estates of Scotland declared King William and Queen Mary sovereigns of that kingdom. The Duke of Gordon was

igo THE KING'S OWN SCOTTISH BORDERERS

at this time governor of Edinburgh Castle, and held it for King James until i3th June, when he surrendered, unconditionally on his own part, but on favourable terms for the garrison.

In the meantime the regiment was augmented to 1000 strong (accord- ing to some accounts this number was reached on the day the regiment was raised), and soon marched to the north under command of the Earl of Leven, and took part in the battle of Killiecrankie, which is described in the following extracts from the London Gazette :

" Edinburgh : July y>th. On Friday the 26th instant Major General Mackay marched from St. Johnstown, Perth, with about 4000 Foot and four troops of Horse Dragoons, and lay that night at Dunkell. The next day continuing his march, he was informed that the Viscount Dundee advanced towards him ; and about two miles on this side of Blair Athol, he came in sight of the Rebels, and drew up his men to attack them. The Fight began about five in the afternoon, and was very sharp for some time ; but some of our Regiments giving way, and Dundee's men exceeding ours in number, they being about 6000, part of our Forces were put into disorder; whereupon Major-General Mackay thought fit to retire with the rest towards Stirling ; where he arrived last night, with 1500 men, who retreated in a Body, and in good order : Of this number were the Regi- ments of the Earl of Leven and Colonel Hastings, who, as well Officers as Soldiers, behaved themselves with extraordinary Bravery and Resolution ; maintaining their ground to the last ; and keeping the Field after the Rebels were drawn off to the Hills. The loss on both sides is yet uncertain : On ours, the only Officers of Note that are missing are Colonel Balfour and Lieutenant-Colonel Mackay."

Another version is given in Douglas's Peerage and in Laing (vol. ii.) which says :

" The Viscount Dundee, after a conversation at the postern gate of the garri- son with the Duke of Gordon, governor of the Castle of Edinburgh, which then held out for King James, proceeded to Stirling, where he called a Parliament of the friends of the abdicated Monarch. The Convention sent a party to appre- hend him ; but he retired into Lochaber, and summoning a general rendezvous of the Clans, raised upwards of 2000 men, and had a reinforcement of 300 more from Ireland. With these he proceeded to Blair, in Athol; and Mackay, King William's General, advancing with 3000 foot and two troops of Horse, they met at the pass of Killiecrankie 27th June 1689, when Mackay was defeated, with the loss of 2000 men, and escaped with difficulty to Stirling, apprehensive of the pursuit of Dundee. But Dundee was now no more. After a desperate and successful charge on the Artillery, which he seized with his Horse, he returned to restore the battle on the Left, and to renew the attack against two Regiments that remained entire.1 At that moment, while his arm was extended to his

•Leven's Edinburgh regiment and Hastings's regiment, now the Somerset Light Infantry (1 3th Foot).

BRIGADIER-GEN. MONTAGU GRANT WILKINSON 191

troops, and his person conspicuous to the Enemy, he received a shot in his side, through an opening in his armour, and dropped from horseback as he rode off the field. He survived to write a concise and dignified account of his victory to James."

That Leven's regiment behaved well is confirmed by other authorities. Unfortunately the list of its loss in killed and wounded in this affair has not been preserved.

After the battle of Killiecrankie the magistrates of Edinburgh con- ferred upon Leven's or the Edinburgh Regiment the exclusive privilege in future of beating up at all times within the city for recruits without asking permission of the Lord Provost. The privilege was also given later of marching through the city of Edinburgh with bayonets fixed and colours flying. This privilege was exercised in late years when the ist battalion was sent to Edinburgh in 1896 on the occasion of the visit of the Emperor of Russia, in 1906 when a guard of honour was sent to Edinburgh for the unveiling of a memorial by the ist battalion, and again in 1911 when a party of the 2nd battalion went to Edinburgh from Belfast to hand over the old colours to be placed in St. Giles's Cathedral. On all occasions the drums and pipes beat up and obtained recruits.

The regiment, after having recruited its losses at Killiecrankie, formed part of the small army retained in Scotland for maintaining the internal peace of the country and remained there for two years. In 1691, the year after the battle of the Boync, it proceeded to Ireland with other Scottish troops under Lieut. -General Mackay, and on 7th June marched from Mullingar to Ballymore, which place was held by the Irish army, but after preparations had been made for the assault it surrendered at discretion.

General Mackay then advanced on Athlone, and the regiment took part in the siege of that city. After several unsuccessful attempts to force the passage to the bridge over the Shannon, it was determined to ford the river, which was deep and rapid. This was gallantly carried out by the troops under a discharge of grape and musketry, and, with the help of pontoons and planks over the broken arch of the bridge, they made good the crossing in several places. This so astonished the enemy that he abandoned the town, which was captured with very small loss.

The regiment was also present at the battle of Aughrim on I2th July, 1691, where the British forces, numbering 18,000 men, encountered the Irish army of 25,000, and entirely routed it, capturing a number of prisoners

192 THE KING'S OWN SCOTTISH BORDERERS

and every sort of munition. Then followed the siege of Galway in July, 1691, which place, after being closely invested, surrendered by capitulation on Sunday, 26th July, when the garrison was allowed a safe-conduct to Limerick. Leven's regiment suffered considerably at the siege of Limerick, but the actual casualties have not been recorded.

In March, 1692, the regiment embarked for Flanders, where it had some hard fighting, notably at the battles of Steenkerke (1692) and Landen (July, 1693). In the latter battle the Allies were forced to retreat, but the enemy suffered severe losses and paid a heavy penalty for his victory.

In 1695 Leven's regiment took part in the investment of Namur, which commenced on the 3rd July ; but the place, which was strong by nature, had been so much strengthened that both the town and citadel were con- sidered impregnable. On the i8th July, however, the attack was com- menced, and on the 27th of the same month the English and Scottish troops assaulted the advanced counterscarp, which enclosed the great sluice or waterstop, near the gate of St. Nicholas. In this work they were terribly exposed to the fire of the counter-guard and demi-bastion of St. Roch, and the enemy exploded a mine whereby twenty officers and upwards of 500 men of Leven's were killed. Some confusion ensued ; but the troops having rallied, returned to the assault with redoubled vigour, compelling the enemy to give way after a desperate resistance. The British pursued and effected a lodgment in front of the gate of St. Nicholas. Finally the town capitulated on ist September. The capture of this place was one of the greatest achievements of the army, and that the Edinburgh regiment was not in the background is abundantly manifest from the heavy casualties it sustained.

During this campaign the handles of the bayonets, being solid, were screwed into the muzzles of the muskets, so that when fixed the men could not fire. But the French contrived an improvement on the bayonet, by rendering the handles hollow, so as to fit over the muzzles, whereby the men were enabled to fire when the bayonets were fixed. It so happened that this improved method was first tried by a French regiment against Leven's thus described by Grose, the well-known writer on military antiquities :

" In an engagement during one of the campaigns of King William III. in Flanders, there were three French regiments whose bayonets were made to fix

BRIGADIER-GEN. MONTAGU GRANT WILKINSON 193

after the present fashion (1790), a contrivance then unknown in the British Army, One of them advanced with fixed bayonets against Leven's (now the 25th) Regi- ment, when Lieut. -Col. Maxwell, who commanded it, ordered his men to screw bayonets into their muzzles, thinking the enemy meant to decide the affair point to point ; but to his great surprise, when they came within proper distance, the French threw in a heavy fire, which for a moment staggered the men, who never- theless recovered themselves, charged and drove the enemy out of the Line."

In October, 1697, the skeleton of the Edinburgh regiment (to which Colonel Maitland had been appointed in room of the Earl of Leven on the igth March, 1694) was sent home to Edinburgh for recruiting its estab- lishment. So soon as this was accomplished the regiment was sent to Fort Augustus, Fort William and other stations in that part of the country, for the purpose of keeping the inhabitants in subjection ; remaining in the north, according to Governor Home's account, during the whole of Queen Anne's war, which ended by the Peace of Utrecht in April, 1713. But Colonel Farquharson, when revising the regimental records, found that Lawrence Sterne, whose father was a captain in the Edinburgh regiment, stated that it was stationed in Lisle in 1712, and in Dunkirke the following year, which seems to imply that it served under the Duke of Marlborough in some of his campaigns in Flanders ; but no positive evidence of this is forthcoming, nor can any information be gathered respecting the regiment for nearly fourteen years, except that on I5th April, 1711, William Breton succeeded James Maitland as colonel, and on 27th January, 1715, Breton was succeeded by Richard, Viscount Shannon.

Shannon's or the Edinburgh regiment, having been withdrawn from the north of Scotland, was engaged in the battle of Sheriffmuir on the I3th of November, 1715, where the Jacobite force under the Earl of Mar, about 9000 strong, both cavalry and infantry, were opposed by the Duke of Argyll with a force not exceeding 4000. The left of the Earl of Mar's men having attacked the right wing of the King's troops, a sharp conflict ensued for about half an hour, when Mar's men gave way, and the duke pursued them as far as the Water of Allan, three miles to the rear. He was supported by Brigadier Wightman with three battalions of infantry ; while Clanronald and Glengarry, with the right of the Jacobites, obliged the left of the King's troops under General Whethem to retreat ; and, having followed them for some distance, returned to the field, numbering

i94 THE KING'S OWN SCOTTISH BORDERERS

about 5000, and formed in rear of Brigadier Wightman, who in consequence faced about to oppose them.

In the meantime Argyll returned from the pursuit, and joined Brigadier Wightman, with whom he remained until the evening, when the Jacobites drew off towards Ardoch. The duke kept his position above Dunblane during the night, and next morning caused the wounded, and four pieces of cannon left by the enemy, to be carried off the field. The number of killed, it is supposed, was well over 500 on each side. Although both sides claimed the victory, the advantage was evidently in favour of the King's troops, as the Jacobites, having been unable to pass the Forth, retreated to Perth. There are various accounts of this affair, and it is very hard to obtain satisfactory evidence of the actual composition of the King's troops ; but undoubtedly the Edinburgh regiment was not on the flank that gave way and retreated to Stirling. The facts stated above are taken from Argyll's despatch, dated Stirling, I3th November, 1715, and an extract from the London Gazette dated Whitehall, i8th November, 1715. From these it appears that of the King's troops the Earl of Forfar was severely wounded and taken prisoner — " he had received two wounds, and was allowed quarter, but afterwards the rebels finding they could not carry him off, did, in a barbarous manner give him seventeen wounds more — his life is doubted." Lord Hay and Colonel Hawley were wounded. On the Jacobite side the Earl of Strathmore was killed, while the Earl of Panmure was severely wounded and taken prisoner, together with several gentlemen, including Walkingshaw of Barrowfield, Drummond of Logic, young Murray of Auchtertyre. Eight sets of colours were also taken.

Captain the Honourable Arthur Elphinstone of the Edinburgh regiment having been present with the corps at Sheriffmuir, on hearing that James had landed at Peterhead on 22nd of December following, took leave of the officers of the regiment, told them he resigned his commission, and im- mediately set off for Perth, where he joined James, who had arrived there.

In 1717, 10,000 men from the army were disbanded, and Shannon's Edinburgh regiment, after having made up its loss at Sheriffmuir by recruiting, remained quartered in Scotland until 1718, when it was sent to Ireland. Owing to hostilities having commenced against Spain, it was embarked from Ireland for the Isle of Wight, to join an expedition forming

BRIGADIER-GEN. MONTAGU GRANT WILKINSON 195

there ; but the transports were driven by contrary winds into Milford Haven and then passed up to Bristol, where the regiment landed and marched to Plymouth to embark again for the Isle of Wight. It then sailed with the expedition to Spain under Lord Cobham on 2ist September, 1719. Landing at Vigo Bay, the British reduced the place with little difficulty, and Ponte-Vedra submitted without resistance. The regiment then re- turned to Ireland, went to Wicklow in 1720, and marched to Dublin in 1721, in which year Lord Shannon was transferred to the Carabineers and John Middleton was made colonel in his place. After being quartered at Carrickfergus, Mullingar and Londonderry, the regiment sailed for Gibraltar in 1726, remaining there for ten years, though still borne upon the Irish establishment.

Owing to a secret treaty between the Emperor of Germany and the King of Spain, for placing the Pretender on the throne of Great Britain and wresting from her Gibraltar and Minorca, the Spanish Ambassador left the court of St. James, and soon after Gibraltar was invested by the Conde de las Torres at the head of 20,000 men. Reinforcements, however, arrived, and though the garrison suffered from sickness, they were plenti- fully supplied with provisions, and were able to withstand all attacks success- fully. Through the mediation of France, a cessation of hostilities took place and the siege was raised in the following May, 1732.

The Earl of Rothes was appointed colonel in room of John Middleton, who was removed to Lord Mark Kerr's regiment, the i3th Foot, on 29th May, 1732.

In 1736 all the privates of the Edinburgh regiment were drafted into Oglethorpe's regiment and sent to Georgia, where that corps was stationed. The commissioned and non-commissioned officers returned to Ireland to raise the battalion afresh to ten companies of thirty-four privates each.

The following is the oldest return of the officers of the Edinburgh regiment which has been retained — 1739 :

Colonel : Earl of Rothes.

Lieut. -Colonel : James Kennedy.

Major : Biggar.

Captains : James Dalrymple, David Cunningham, Henry Ballenden, Robert

Armiger, John Maitland, Richard Worge, Lord Colville. C apt. -Lieutenant : Fred Bruce.

ig6 THE KING'S OWN SCOTTISH BORDERERS

Lieutenants : William Baird, Walter Brodie, George Scott, Hairstreet James,

William Lucas, James Hamilton, David Watson, Archibald Douglas, David

Home, Charles Stevens. Ensigns : James Livingston, George M'Kenzie, Thomas Goddard, James

Sandilands, Robert Hay, Alexander Gordon, — Mackay, Thomas Goodrick,

Patrick Lundie.

In consequence of the Spanish war the Edinburgh regiment sailed in 1740 for the West Indies, its strength being 70 men per company, which was augmented in 1742 by a lieutenant and 30 men per company. Early in 1743 it was sent to England, re-embarking for Flanders with the igth and 42nd Foot. Landing at Ostend, they joined the Confederates a few days after the battle of Dettingen, which had been fought on 26th June. The regiment went to Ghent, but moved to Brussels the same year.

War was declared between France and Great Britain in March, 1744, the allied army consisting of British, Hanoverians, Dutch and Austrians. The Edinburgh regiment, which may now be designated by the number 25, which it retained for more than 150 years, went into winter quarters at Bruges.

On 25th April, 1745, Lord Sempil was removed from the 42nd High- landers and appointed colonel of the Edinburgh regiment in place of the Earl of Rothes, removed to the Enniskilling (6th) Dragoons. On the nth May, 1745, the 25th lost 206 officers and men at Fontenoy, where, owing to the apathy of their Dutch allies, the British were obliged to quit the field. Such, however, was the vigour of the British attack that at one period of the action, it is said, if the Dutch had fired but one shot, the vic- tory would have been ours. The retirement was carried out in such good order, the battalions facing about and fronting the enemy's every hundred paces, that there was not the least attempt made by the French to molest the Allies. Indeed, the enemy suffered so severely that they were unable to follow up their victory. The Allies having retreated from Ath took up a position and intrenched themselves beyond the canal of Antwerp, leaving the Edinburgh regiment, with a Dutch battalion and some detachments of Dutch troops, to defend Ath.

In the beginning of July the French invested Ath, but finding the garrison reinforced proceeded to Oudenarde, Ghent and Dendermonde, all of which surrendered to them in succession. In the end of September the enemy returned to Ath, where after a short time, owing to the misconduct of the Dutch troops, Sempil's Edinburgh regiment had to surrender, not having

BRIGADIER-GEN. MONTAGU GRANT WILKINSON 197

more than 400 effectives left. Howbeit, it received the most favourable terms, and marching out with all the honours of war, joined the allied army near Brussels.

About the middle of October, in consequence of the Jacobite rising under Prince Charles Edward, the regiment was brought home and, land- ing at Grays in Essex, moved shortly after to Coventry, whence it marched to Carlisle, arrived in Edinburgh, via Newcastle, in January, 1746, and occupied the castle. It then assisted in the relief of Stirling on 2ist January under the Duke of Cumberland, and went on to Aberdeen, where, on being joined by the Duke of Gordon, the Earls of Aberdeen and Findlater and several other persons of distinction, the Duke of Cumberland remained until the beginning of April, when the army marched to attack the Jacobite army, which was assembled at Inverness.

On Cumberland's arrival at Nairn he received intelligence that the enemy had taken post on Culloden Muir, distant about nine miles, with the intention of giving him battle. They attempted to surprise the King's troops by marching towards Nairn, in two columns, on the night of the I5th ; but from want of discipline and experience they found they would be unable to reach the duke's camp before sunrise the following morning ; they therefore began their retreat before daylight, and resumed their former position. Early on the morning of the i6th April the Duke of Cumberland advanced from Nairn and found the enemy drawn up in order of battle in thirteen divisions or clans to the number of about 4000 men, with a few pieces of artillery, but almost without cavalry, and altogether much inferior in numbers to the royal army, which the duke formed immediately into three lines.

About one o'clock in the afternoon the battle began by a cannonade. The Jacobite artillery, being ill served, had little effect upon the King's troops, whereas theirs did great execution upon the enemy. This made the Highlanders impatient for a close attack ; accordingly, their right wing advanced and charged the left of Cumberland's line, which suffered severely and was in a bad way. Whereupon Sempil's 25th (the Edinburgh regiment) and Bligh's 37th Foot advanced to their assistance, checking the Highlanders and repulsing them with great loss. A charge by the Dragoons on their left wing completed their discomfiture ; they fled in great disorder, though a small body of French troops covered their retreat. They

ig8 THE KING'S OWN SCOTTISH BORDERERS

were pursued as far as Inverness, and the road from Culloden House to Inverness was strewn with the bodies of killed and wounded. Their right wing, however, having rallied, marched off the field in tolerable order, with their colours flying and bagpipes playing, and dispersed as soon as they had quitted the plain. The contest lasted about half an hour, and Prince Charles's army lost about 1200 men in killed and wounded. The Edinburgh regiment lost only one private killed and thirteen wounded. Among the prisoners taken was Lord Balmerino, who, as Captain the Hon. Arthur Elphinstone, had thrown up his commission in the Edinburgh regiment after the battle of Sheriff muir in 1715 . He was afterwards beheaded on Tower Hill on i8th August, 1746.

The 25th then marched through Perth to Burntisland, where it em- barked in the beginning of August and landed at Williamstadt to form part of the force to assist Maria Theresa, Empress of Austria, the French of course fighting on the other side. It remained at Williamstadt until the middle of September, when it joined the army under Prince Charles of Lorraine on the 3oth, just as the battle of Roucoux commenced. It did not, however, take an active part in the engagement, but formed a part of the force to cover the retreat of the Allies, after which it went into winter quarters at Bois-le-Duc.

On the death of Lord Sempil, the Earl of Crawford was removed from the Highlanders and appointed colonel of the Edinburgh regiment on the 25th December, 1746.

In July, 1747, the regiment was engaged in the sanguinary battle of Val or Laffeldt, capturing two stands of colours, which were sent, the day after the battle, to the headquarters of H.R.H. the Duke of Cumberland, and were delivered by Ensign Melville.1 The regiment had i officer, 4 sergeants, and 26 rank and file killed, and 4 officers, 5 sergeants and 87 rank and file wounded and missing.

In 1747 the Edinburgh regiment took part in the defence of Bergen- op-Zoom, where, with other Scottish troops, it behaved with great gallantry. It was after only the column had lost two-thirds of its men that the position had to be evacuated. The French owned to six thousand wounded.

On ist December, 1747, William Earl of Panmure was appointed colonel of the 25th, in place of the Earl of Crawford, removed to the Scots Greys.

1 Afterwards General Robert Melville, died in 1809.

BRIGADIER-GEN. MONTAGU GRANT WILKINSON 199

At the end of June, 1748, the Edinburgh regiment marched to William- stadt, where it embarked the following November for Ireland, but owing to contrary winds the transports eventually arrived at Harwich in December. On the i8th January, 1749, it sailed from Harwich, and made the Downs on the igth, when contrary winds obliged it to remain until the agth, when it again sailed. This time a violent gale sprang up, driving one of the transports upon the coast of Normandy, about three leagues and a half from Caen. She became a total wreck, but the men were saved and marched to Caen. Thence they moved to Cherbourg, embarked on board an English transport and sailed for the Isle of Wight. After six weeks they re-embarked in a third transport and again sailed, but were driven into Falmouth, and detained there several weeks by stress of weather. They, however, ultimately reached Kinsale on 27th April. Such were the difficulties and uncertainties of transport compared with the present day.

The regiment was quartered in Ireland for six years, during which time the Earl of Home was appointed colonel in place of the Earl of Panmure. On 26th March, 1755, it moved to Scotland, then to England in January, 1756, where it remained till September, 1757, when it embarked with an expedition against the Isle of Aix. After the forts had been dismantled it returned to Spithead. On the 2Oth July, 1758, it embarked again for Germany, and on the ist August, 1759, was engaged in the battle of Thorhausen or Minden, where the British troops, allied with Prussians and Hanoverians, decisively defeated the French and inflicted heavy losses on them. The 25th was one of the famous six British regiments which received and repulsed charge after charge of sixty squadrons of the best cavalry of France, routed two brigades of French infantry and swept away a body of Saxon foot— all this under a heavy cross-fire of artillery. Well might Prince Ferdinand of Brunswick, who commanded the allied army, say, on revisiting the spot years afterwards : "It was here that the British infantry gained immortal glory ! "

The Edinburgh regiment had i officer and 19 men killed, and 7 officers and 128 rank and file wounded and missing. Together with other regiments that fought at Minden, the 25th still cherish the privilege of wearing roses on ist August in commemoration of the victory. Minden is noted in the annals of the British army as being the first engagement in which our troops took aim by placing the butt of the fire-lock against the shoulder

200 THE KING'S OWN SCOTTISH BORDERERS

and viewing the object along the barrel. Previous to this the firelock was brought up breast high and discharged towards the enemy a good deal at random, because it was considered unchivalrous to take aim.

The 25th was next engaged in July, 1760, in the engagement at Warburg against the French, their casualties being 12 killed and 26 wounded. On I5th October in the same year it fought at the battle of Campen, losing 4 officers and 28 rank and file killed, 7 officers and 30 other ranks wounded, and 45 taken prisoners. Lieut.-Colonel Lord Downe died from wounds received.

On I5th and i6th July, 1761, the regiment took part in the battle of Fellinghausen. In the special orders of Prince Ferdinand of Brunswick delivered after the battle he drew attention to the generosity and humanity with which the soldiers treated the great flock of prisoners they took, which, in his opinion, does them as much honour as subduing the enemy.

At the battle of Wilhelmstal, I4th June, 1762, the 25th was in the right wing of the army ; but was so slightly engaged as to suffer no casualties. During this campaign Sir Henry Erskine became colonel of the regiment in 1761, and was succeeded on 2gth December, 1762, by Lord George Henry Lennox. The regiment returned home in 1763 with a reputation second to none.

At Newcastle-on-Tyne a curious and interesting ceremony was per- formed when the tattered and war-worn colours, which for twenty years had led the Edinburgh regiment to victory, were buried with military honours. They had been carried at Fontenoy, Culloden, Roucoux, Val, Minden, Warburg, Campen, Fellinghausen and Wilhelmstal.

From May, 1764 to 1768, the regiment was quartered in Scotland, and in June, 1767, after being reviewed by the Marquis of Lome, marched to Dumfries, Annan and Kirkcudbright. It moved south in 1768, was reviewed by King George III. on 26th April at Hampstead, and on the loth and nth November embarked for Minorca, where it remained till December, 1775, when it returned to England.

In 1782 the Edinburgh Regiment was deprived of the title which it had made glorious on many a stricken field and in many a trying campaign. Henceforward for three-and-twenty years it was to bear the name of the Sussex Regiment. Military historians are not agreed as to the reason for this change. According to one account it was done in accordance with a

BRIGADIER-GEN. MONTAGU GRANT WILKINSON 201

scheme of the War Office to stimulate recruiting, whereby each infantry regiment of the line should bear the name of an English county. It was in compliance with the request of the Duke of Richmond, whose principal residence was at Goodwood in Sussex, and whose brother, Lord George Lennox, was colonel of the Edinburgh regiment, that the adjutant-general issued an order on 3ist August, 1782, to the effect that the 25th Foot or Edinburgh regiment was to take the name of the Sussex regiment. It is said that the colonel, Lord George Lennox, was strongly opposed to the change ; at all events, he never thereafter allowed the Scottish beats to be discontinued.

According to another account, while the regiment was quartered in the south of England Lord George Lennox sent a party to Edinburgh to beat for recruits, in accordance with undoubted privilege. The magistrates of Edinburgh, however, interfered to prohibit the enlistment of recruits, which so roused the indignation of Lord George that he petitioned the king that the name might be altered from the Edinburgh regiment to the Sussex regiment, which was done accordingly, and the 25th Foot bore the latter title until 1805.

On 29th August, 1782, the regiment was sent to reinforce the hard-pressed garrison of Gibraltar, which, under General Eliott, afterwards Lord Heath- field, was besieged by the combined forces of France and Spain. It arrived in time to take a share in resisting the culminating effort of the besiegers, when the royalty and nobility of France and Spain gathered on the surround- ing hills to witness the success of the famous floating batteries which had been prepared at enormous expense to annihilate the stubborn garrison. British pluck and red-hot shot, however, prevailed against their utmost efforts, until at last the shattered enemy raised the siege. On the 2oth January, 1783, preliminaries of peace were signed between Great Britain, France and Spain. During this time the 25th lost one officer and 34 rank and file.

The regiment returned to England in March, 1792, and in the following year transferred its services from the land to the sea, and acted as Marines, in which capacity they were fortunate enough to earn a large amount of prize-money by the capture of a vessel of the value of £1,000,000, and to participate under Lord Howe in the glorious victory over the French fleet off Brest on the ist June, 1794. The headquarters and one company of

202 THE KING'S OWN SCOTTISH BORDERERS

the regiment were on board the Marlborough in the van squadron under Admiral Graves, one company on the Gibraltar, centre squadron under Lord Howe, and one company on the Intrepid. Their casualties were i sergeant and 21 rank and file. The distinction with the Mural Crown given for this battle was refused a few years ago to the regiment because it only had three companies present, as the number to earn it was fixed at half a battalion. Part of the regiment was also present at the siege of Toulon (where Napoleon, then a lieutenant of artillery, was wounded by a British bayonet) and at the capture of Corsica.

Between 1793 and 1795 the 25th was present and took part in the actions at Ollioules, Heights of de Grasse and Heights of Pharon ; in the affairs near Malbousquet and Cape Brun, Heights of Arrennes, in the retreat from Toulon, the capture of the Martello Tower, the storming of Convention, the capture of St. Fiorenzo, of Bastia and Calvi, and in the action off Cape Noli, in the Gulf of Genoa; losing altogether one officer and 72 other ranks.

On the gth February, 1795, the regiment proceeded under sealed orders to the West Indies and arrived at Grenada on the 1st April. At Mount Pleasant they were attacked by brigands, whom they drove off, and after- wards, with three other regiments, the 2gth, 58th and 68th Foot, attacked the principal post of the enemy without success ; but the brigands lost very heavily and were eventually driven off from Pilot Hill, which was occupied and held by the 25th regiment.

The following order was published :

" Richmond Hill, Grenada,

I3th March, 1796.

The Commander-in-Chief has been pleased to signify his highest satisfaction at the conduct of Major Wright of the 25th Regiment, and the officers and men under his command, during the siege of Pilot Hill ; and to desire that the Com- mander-in-Chief's approbation thereof should be made known in the most public manner to the Army under his Command.

(Signed) J. G. DREW, Captain 45th Regt, Brigade Major."

On 25th February, 1795, a second battalion was raised, principally formed from detachments serving as Marines in the Mediterranean, British Channel and North Sea, together with such recruits as were formed at the depot. However, on 24th September the 2nd battalion was incor-

BRIGADIER-GEN. MONTAGU GRANT WILKINSON 203

porated with the ist battalion, which now was composed of ten companies, with two lieut. -colonels and two majors.

When on the voyage to join the regiment in the West Indies the trans- port conveying the officers and men of the disbanded 2nd battalion was captured by a French corvette. The officers having noticed a great want of discipline in the crew of the corvette, planned a scheme for seizing the ship, of which scheme Lieut. Johnstone, grenadier company, was the origin- ator ; but they were betrayed by one of their own men, a foreigner, and in consequence the officers were landed and imprisoned on the island of St. Martin's. They were then put on board of another ship in irons. But the high spirit of the men of this regiment was not broken by captivity. By a well-concerted plan they overpowered and secured the crew, and forced the master to navigate the ship into Grenada, where they joined the regiment.

In 1796 the 25th regiment was in Grenada at Richmond Hill, the only part of the island not in the hands of the insurgents, who threatened it in force. Reinforcements having arrived from Barbados and St. Lucia General Sir Ralph Abercromby attacked the enemy, inflicting severe defeat upon him and forcing him to surrender his camp on i8th May. The 25th returned to England in July, and remained at home till 1801.

In May, 1797, an attempt was made to seduce the garrison of Plymouth from its allegiance, and the sergeants of each corps in garrison determined to stop this by offering rewards for the detection of the offenders. The following proclamation was issued and signed by all the non-commissioned officers of the 25th regiment :

NEMO ME IMPUNE LACESSIT l

The subscribing N. -Commissioned Officers of His Majesty's 25th Regiment of Foot find with great regret that attempts have been made, by base and in- famous persons, to alienate some of the soldiers in this garrison from their duty to their King and Country by circulating inflammatory papers and hand-bills, containing the grossest falsehood and misrepresentation, thereby insulting the character of the British soldier. In order to bring such incendiaries to the punish- ment they so justly deserve, we hereby offer a reward of ten guineas (to be paid on conviction) to the person or persons who will inform upon, secure, or deliver over to any of the subscribers, the author, printer or distributor of papers or

1 It may be noted that although the old Edinburgh regiment had been officially known for fifteen years as the Sussex regiment, it retained and was proud of the defiant national motto of Scotland.

204 THE KING'S OWN SCOTTISH BORDERERS

hand-bills criminal, to the military establishment and laws of the Country ; or for any information against any person found guilty of bribing with money, or of holding out any false allurements to any soldier in this District, tending to injure the good order and discipline of the Army ; which reward of ten guineas is raised and subscribed by us for this purpose, and will immediately be paid on conviction of any such offenders.

GOD save the King !

In August, 1798, the regiment moved to Jersey, and remained there till I5th June, 1799, when it was quartered in the Isle of Wight. In August, 1799, it embarked at Ramsgate on the expedition to Holland. At this period many British regiments contained a proportion of foreigners, and the 25th was no exception to the rule. Consequently one sergeant and 84 rank and file who were Dutchmen were left at Deal to await the result of the landing in Holland. The 25th formed part of General Moore's brigade. The fortifications, naval and military magazines, and shipping of the Helder were first secured, and ample supplies being landed, the army was ready to move forward by 3ist August. It was under the command of H.R.H. the Duke of York, and was joined by about 10,000 Russians under General Essen. During the action at Egmont-op-Zee and preliminary operations the 25th lost 3 officers and 36 other ranks killed and 8 officers and 76 other ranks wounded. In October of the same year, owing to the Russians exceeding their orders by advancing too far, a general engagement was brought on at Castricum on unexpected ground, whereof the result was that the British were forced to retire on their position of the Zype, and shortly after the Duke of York found it expedient to commence negotiations, which ended in the evacuation of Holland and the with- drawal of the forces. The 25th regiment landed in England 313! October, 1799.

On 27th May, 1801, it left England as part of the reinforcements sent to Egypt and joined the division under Major-General Coote before Alexandria, arriving at Aboukir Bay on gth July. On I2th August the investment of Alexandria commenced ; on 3rd September the Allies took possession of the French lines and outworks, and the surrender of the garrison of 11,000 was complete.

The 25th then proceeded to Malta about loth September, and went on to Gibraltar on igth November, news having been received that hos- tilities with France had ceased, and a treaty of peace was daily expected.

BRIGADIER-GEN. MONTAGU GRANT WILKINSON 205

Here the regiment remained till June, 1803, when it embarked for England and proceeded shortly afterwards for Ireland.

In October, 1805, a second battalion was raised at Penrith. Lord George Henry Lennox died in 1805, having held the colonelcy of the 25th regiment since 22nd December, 1762, a period of forty-two years and three months. He was particularly attached to the regiment : so much so that, notwith- standing his great interest and his being a personal friend of the king, George III., he was understood to have declined being removed to any other corps. He was truly a father to the corps, never sparing any expense in its equipment, and never failing to use all his interest in promoting the officers to every vacancy that occurred ; and he has been known, in antici- pation of a failure in this respect with the commander-in-chief, to have solicited and succeeded with His Majesty in preventing promotion from passing out of the regiment.

King George III. now commanded that the regiment should take the name of " King's Own Borderers " in place of " The Sussex." Thereby it became a royal regiment, the facings being altered from yellow to blue on 7th May, 1805.

On 24th December, 1807, the 25th King's Own Borderers sailed with the fleet under the command of Admiral Sir S. Hood and made the Island of Madeira, which was supposed to have been taken possession of by the French ; but this being found not to be the case, after dropping two regi- ments and some artillery and engineers, the 25th regiment with others sailed for the West Indies in the beginning of January, 1808, and in January, 1809, joined the fleet for the capture of Martinique. The great action was fought on 2nd February, and on the 24th the fort and all the dependencies of the island surrendered. A detachment of the Borderers also took part in the capture of the Island of Guadaloupe in February, 1810.

On igth March, 1811, an allowance of £25 per company per annum was granted by the Piince Regent to regiments serving at home, in aid of the officers' mess. This was supposed to be in lieu of the duty upon wine allowed to the officers of the royal navy, and is now commonly known as Regent's allowance.

On the 25th June, 1813, a colour-sergeant was appointed to each com- pany in obedience to the circular dated Horse Guards, 6th June, 1813.

The regiment remained in the West Indies until 1817, when it embarked

206 THE KING'S OWN SCOTTISH BORDERERS

on isth June for England, after the following general order had been issued :

" Hd.-Quarters, Barbadoes,

I2th June, 1817.

The Commander of the Forces has received very favourable reports of the correct and creditable state of discipline evinced upon all occasions by this respect- able corps, during a service of many years in this Command ; and he requests that Lieut.-Colonel Farquharson will offer to the Regiment the assurance of the Lieut-General's best wishes for their future welfare."

On 24th December, 1819, an order was issued by the adjutant-general notifying that His Majesty had been pleased to approve of the flank com- panies of the 25th regiment being permitted to wear on their appointments the word " Martinique," in commemoration of the distinguished services of that part of the regiment which participated in the reduction of the island of Martinique, in the month of February, 1809.

On 23rd February, 1820, the King's Own Borderers received permission to bear on its colours and appointments the word " Egmont-op-Zee," in commemoration of its very distinguished services at that place on 2nd October, 1799. The regiment was at this time constantly well reported on and considered to be in a very highly satisfactory state. One of the many good reports made is given as a sample :

" loth May, 1821.

The Major-General has the greatest satisfaction in expressing to Colonel Farquharson the high opinion he entertains of the 25th Regt., King's Own Bor- derers. Though the Battalion is in a very divided state, the same uniformity and good system was evident in the detachments as characterised that part of the Regiment stationed at Head Quarters. Such discipline not only reflects the greatest credit on the zeal and talents of the Commanding Officer, but also on the Field Officers, Captains and Subalterns, for their active cooperation in carrying the same into effect."

The regiment remained in various home stations until I2th December, 1827, when it embarked for the West Indies, where it appears to have spent a good deal of its service about this period. It arrived at Barbados on 28th and 2gth January, 1826. Between that time and 1829 there was much sickness, the hospital and medical arrangements and sanitary pre- cautions being very different from those at the present time. One officer and no men died of disease in 1828.

In March, 1835, the 25th embarked for Ireland and took up quarters

BRIGADIER-GEN. MONTAGU GRANT WILKINSON 207

at Templemore. Nothing of interest is recorded until July, 1839, when it was ordered to hold itself in readiness to proceed to Canada ; but on the 24th August this was countermanded, and fresh orders were received to prepare for service at the Cape of Good Hope. The 25th sailed in two trans- ports on 28th September, arriving in Table Bay, all well, on I2th March, 1840, and occupied the Main Barracks.

In 1842 the Dutch Boers of Natal became disaffected, repudiating their allegiance to the Crown of Great Britain. The Queen's troops having suffered severely in attacking the Boers' encampment, detachments of the 25th regiment were despatched, and arrived at Port Natal on 26th June. The insurrection was speedily quelled. Major D'Urban of the 25th was specially thanked for the part taken by the detachment he com- manded in the operations.

At the end of 1842 the regiment proceeded to India, and was quartered in the Madras Presidency. In 1848, owing to disturbances and the chance of a rupture with China, it was held in readiness to proceed there ; but was sent instead in August to Ceylon, where some riots had taken place. It was recalled to India in January, 1849, in consequence of the scarcity of troops in Bengal arising from the Sikh war.

In 1853 the Borderers proceeded to Seringapatam, having by their exemplary conduct earned the encomium passed on them in the following extract from an order issued by the Governor on their leaving Madras :

" The exemplary conduct of the 25th Regiment during the period it has been stationed at the Presidency has been specially brought to the notice of the Right Hon. The Governor by the Chief Magistrate, who reports that, while freely mix- ing with the inhabitants, the men have at all times comported themselves in so peaceable a manner as to have gained the confidence of the natives in a degree that he has never before witnessed, there being no instance of outrage against the person or property by any man of the Regiment since its arrival.

There is no better evidence of the real state of discipline of a corps than the steady orderly conduct of all ranks in quarters ; and in this respect, as well as in the mode in which their military duties have been performed, the Borderers have well maintained the reputation of their distinguished corps."

In April, 1854, the Borderers returned to England. New colours were presented to the regiment by Lady Smith on 23rd July, 1856, Lieut.- General Sir Harry Smith being in command of the Northern District. The old colours were cut up and pieces of them were presented to the officers.

208 THE KING'S OWN SCOTTISH BORDERERS

In October, 1856, four companies were formed into a depot to form part of a depot battalion.

Although the regiment had been at home for only two years, it was sent to Gibraltar in January, 1858. About this time the authority for pipers being borne upon the strength of the regiment having been called in ques- tion, the following letter was received from the Horse Guards on 24th April, 1858:

" 25th Foot, King's Own Borderers. Sir,

I have laid before the General Commanding-in-Chief your letter of the loth ultimo, with its enclosure, relative to the pipers possessed by the 25th Regiment ; and am directed to acquaint you in reply, that as it appears from Lieut.-Colonel Hamilton's report that the permission for these men is lost in time. His Royal Highness will authorise their continuance.

It must, however, be clearly understood that these men are to be on the foot- ing of bandsmen, and not of drummers, as regards their being borne on the strength of the Regiment, and also that the public is put to no expense for their clothing as pipers.

(Signed) W. F. FOSTER, Dept. Adjt.-General."

In December, 1859, a second battalion was formed at Preston in Lanca- shire, being the third raised since the first embodiment of the regiment in 1689. The present 2nd battalion was raised in accordance with an order dated Horse Guards, 7th of November, 1859, an(i received its first recruit on the 28th December of the same year. It was completed to its full com- plement of 53 sergeants, 49 corporals, 14 drummers and 932 privates, by the 2gth of March, 1860. Brev. Lieut.-Colonel Allan from the 8ist Foot was brought in as lieut.-colonel. Captain H. J. Walker from ist battalion was appointed major, and five other officers from the ist battalion. Two months after completion to full complement the battalion was inspected on loth May, by Lieut.-General Sir John Pennefather, K.C.B., who expressed unqualified approval of its great state of efficiency, declaring publicly that he would bring most prominently before the notice of the commander-in- chief the extraordinary progress so young a battalion had made both in drill and discipline.

In May, 1862, the 2nd battalion left for Edinburgh, and on 25th April, 1863, colours were presented in the Queen's Park by Lady Juliana Walker, who handed them to Ensigns Leadbetter and Shirley. On the 28th July, 1863, the 2nd battalion began its first tour of foreign service, sailing in

KING'S OWN BORDERERS

Now THE KING'S OWN SCOTTISH BORDERS

BRIGADIER-GEN. MONTAGU GRANT WILKINSON 209

H.M.S. Himalaya for Ceylon, where it was stationed till January, 1868, when it went on to India.

On 2 ist May, 1864, the regiment was allowed to resume the glengarry forage-cap with dice-band border. In 1871 the 2nd battalion won the cup given by the commander-in-chief in India, Lord Napier of Magdala, for good shooting, beating twenty-seven other regiments.

Meanwhile the ist battalion remained at Gibraltar till 3rd June, 1862, when it proceeded to Malta, whence it sailed for Canada on 8th June, 1864, arriving at Quebec on the 28th. It was called upon to assist in quelling an attempt by Fenians to threaten the frontier of Canada in 1866. After a short brush the Fenians were driven off with a loss of about 5 killed and 1 6 prisoners, and the rising died out.

In 1867 the Snider breech-loading rifle was issued to the regiment in place of the old muzzle-loaders, but being found defective in the breech, alterations were made which rendered necessary a new kind of cartridge, and for some time, notwithstanding the frequent incursions of the Fenians, the regiment was without a round of ammunition. In 1867 the ist battalion returned to England and lay with headquarters in Glasgow and two com- panies in Stirling, where the depot companies had already proceeded under Captain Hope, leaving two companies at Ayr and one in Paisley.

In March, 1869, authority was received for the issue of a new pattern chaco-plate as a special grant to the regiment. This plate consisted of the Castle of Edinburgh encircled by a wreath of laurel and surmounted by a crown, with the mottoes, " Nisi Dominus frustra " and " Honi soit qui mal y pense."

From 1870 to October, 1875, the ist battalion served at various stations in Ireland, embarking on I2th October, 1875, in H.M.S. Malabar for India, where it arrived at Fyzabad in November. The 2nd battalion, in the mean- time, was in India till February, 1875, thence moved to Aden, and arrived at Shorncliffe 27th March, 1876.

The ist battalion in India suffered severely from a cholera epidemic in 1878, and was under orders for Dum Dum ; but at the express wish of all ranks not to be passed over for active service, on 2ist October, at three days' notice, it proceeded to the front to join the Peshawar Valley field force under the command of General F. F. Maude, V.C., C.B., and arrived at Jumrood on i7th December. The cause of the trouble in

210 THE KING'S OWN SCOTTISH BORDERERS

Afghanistan was the murder of the British envoy, Sir Louis Cavagnari. The battalion took part in the second Bazaar Valley expedition, advancing in three columns from Jumrood, Ali Musjed and Lundi Kotal by the Bori Pass. Most of its time was, however, taken up on the lines of com- munication, where it performed a lot of hard work. It took part in a small punitive expedition against the Zakka Khels in January, 1879, afterwards proceeding to Lundi Kotal, where it remained till peace was signed at Gundamuck. It then moved to Peshawar. In December, 1879, it formed part of the Cabul field force under command of General Doran, and took part in the operations against the Momunds early in 1880. On 27th January part of the battalion marched into Jellalabad, while the remainder joined the Lughman Valley Expedition, under Major-General Bright, forming part, later, of the column that operated against the Waziri in April.

In 1881 all infantry of the line were organised as territorial regiments with affiliated Militia. The Borderers, however, instead of having its depot in Scotland, as was expected, was, much to the astonishment of all, sent to York in May, 1880, with the four depot companies which for some time had been with the battalion at home. It was first proposed that the title should be " The York Regiment, King's Own Borderers," the affiliated Militia battalions being the 5th and 2nd West York Militia, which were to become the 3rd and 4th battalions, and both of these donned the glen- garry with diced border ! Exceedingly strong protest was made against turning one of the oldest Scottish regiments out of Scotland. A deputation, headed by some Scottish members of parliament and others, waited on the Secretary of State for War, Mr. Childers, to inform him of the profound sense of injustice felt by the officers and all others connected with the regi- ment. Mr. Childers was convinced by the arguments submitted to him, and on 3oth June, 1881, Major C. E. Hope, commanding the depot at York, received this telegram : "It has been decided to locate the 25th King's Own Borderers at Berwick- on-Tweed as ' King's Own Borderers ' with no Militia or Volunteer battalions." The West York Militia, who were then on parade, were dismissed by their commanding officer when the news was taken to him, and on the next parade there were no dice-band glen- garries. It had been a great fight to save the regiment from destruction, but it had been won. Apparently the authorities at the time had no knowledge

BRIGADIER-GEN. MONTAGU GRANT WILKINSON 211

of the history of the regiment, and were equally ignorant of why the regiment had been raised or where. The depot moved to Berwick-on-Tweed in July, 1881, where it is now located. The counties comprising the regimental district were Berwickshire, Roxburgh, Selkirk, Dumfries and the Stewartry of Kirkcudbright.1 In 1881 the old colours of the ist battalion were sent to Edinburgh and deposited in St. Giles's Church.

In January, 1882, Queen Victoria approved of the King's Own Borderers adopting the dress of a Lowland regiment, viz. doublet, trews, claymore, etc. The tartan prescribed was what was known as the universal pattern, irreverently known as the M'Childers, having no historical association with the regiment. Endeavour was made to secure the Leslie tartan, being the family tartan of the Earl of Leven and Melville, but permission could not be obtained at the time of the change.

In 1880 the 2nd battalion moved to Ireland, and was stationed at Fermoy, Kinsale and Dublin until 1886. While at Fermoy in 1881 and 1882 it was constantly employed in aid of the civil power, assisting the police in carrying out evictions and other irksome duties ; but the friendly relations between the men and the Irish people were never strained, even when they had to protect the police at Mitchelstown.

In February, 1886, the 2nd battalion embarked at Kingstown for Gibraltar, but in June of the same year returned to England, and was at Aldershot till 1888. It took part in the great reviews to celebrate the jubilee of Queen Victoria in 1887. When out on manoeuvres in the following year it received orders to proceed to Egypt on short notice.

At the end of November this battalion left Cairo for Suakin, where it remained till January, 1889, during which time it helped to raise the siege of that place by the Dervishes, and on the aoth December, 1888, took part in the action of Gemaizah, the good conduct and perfect discipline of the battalion earning General Sir Francis Grenfell's special approbation. It left Cairo on 3Oth July, under command of Colonel Talbot Coke, to assist in driving back the Dervishes, upon whom Sir Francis Grenfell inflicted a heavy defeat, completely routing them at Toski before the Borderers could arrive.

In 1887 it was finally decided to give the regiment a 3rd (Militia) battalion, and the 3rd battalion Royal Scots Fusiliers, formerly known as the Scottish

1 The eastern half of Wigtownshire was subsequently added to the district.

212 THE KING'S OWN SCOTTISH BORDERERS

Borderers Militia, and recruited from the same district as the King's Own Borderers, was transferred to it. The regiment then became officially desig- nated " The King's Own Scottish Borderers." Nothing could have been happier than this selection. This time the authorities had undoubtedly done the right thing, and one much appreciated by the regiment, as the Scottish Borderers Militia, at that time commanded by Colonel Sir George G. Walker, K.C.B., had the reputation of being one of the finest Militia battalions in the kingdom. Special mention will be made of them later.

The 2nd battalion left Egypt in January, 1890, for India, where it started on a tour of duty at Sabathu.

The ist battalion left India in November, 1889, for Burmah, forming part of a punitive expedition against the Chins and Lushais in Upper Burmah, under Brigadier-General Symons, and throughout seven months' hard work, with much sickness, maintained an admirable and soldier-like spirit. It left Rangoon in December, 1889, and arrived at Plymouth on 7th February, 1890.

The 2nd battalion, under command of Colonel Henry Dixon, formed part of the Chitral relief force in 1895, greatly distinguishing itself at the taking of the Malakand Pass, and fighting successfully at the Swat River and Panjkhora River. Work still more severe was undertaken by the same battalion from October, 1897, until January, 1898, when it was engaged in the campaign against the Afridis in the Tirah country. Much hardship and danger had to be faced in marches through ice-cold streams and the mountainous passes of the North-West frontier, constantly under fire of the tribesmen. The Scottish Borderers were in action twenty-three times, including the capture of the heights of Dargai, Sampazha Pass, Arhanza Pass, Tirah and Bara Valleys, at Bagh and the Shimkanar Pass, and also in many rearguard engagements ; and had four officers and 36 men killed and wounded during the operations. No higher tribute could be paid to any body of men than that paid to them by their Brigadier, General Westmacott, who, in bidding good-bye to a large number of time-expired men, said : " I am very sorry to see so many of you going off, and trust you may never regret going. We have been together now for some months — long enough for me to find out for myself what I had always heard, that the Borderers are one of the finest regiments in the service. You have been tried very highly : con- stant rearguard actions, marching through ice-cold water, and then going

BRIGADIER-GEN. MONTAGU GRANT WILKINSON 213

up on the highest hills on picquet duty, and fighting all night without either food or blankets : and I have never heard a murmur or an unsoldier-like word. It is you men, and men like you, who have made the name of the Fourth Brigade famous throughout the civilized world. I am very proud of having had the Borderers in my command, and it will be my pride, so long as I live, that I have commanded the Fourth Brigade."

During the Tirah campaign distinguished conduct medals were awarded to Colour-Sergeants Cross and Milton, Sergeants Armstrong, Watson and Jackman, and Drummer Challis.

The ist battalion, being quartered at York in 1896, proceeded on 25th September to Edinburgh, and furnished a guard of honour under Captain G. Verner at Leith railway station on the occasion of the visit of the Emperor and Empress of Russia. The rest of the battalion lined the streets. The battalion exercised its ancient privilege of marching through Edinburgh with bayonets fixed and colours flying, and also of beating up for recruits. In 1897 it took part in the celebration of Queen Victoria's diamond jubilee, lining the streets in the vicinity of Buckingham Palace.

In 1898 a detachment of the same battalion carried out a recruiting march, arriving from Aldershot at Berwick-on-Tweed on I2th September, then marching through Duns, Coldstream, Jedburgh, Melrose, Galashiels, Hawick, Langholm, Lockerbie, Annan and Dumfries. The reception throughout the march was enthusiastic in the extreme and was a great success. The battalion then crossed from Stranraer to Belfast and thence to Dublin. At the end of 1899 it received orders to prepare for service in South Africa, and proceeded to Aldershot.

On 4th January, 1900, the ist battalion embarked on the Braemar Castle, a strength of 27 officers and 1082 other ranks, Lieut.-Colonel Godfray in command. In addition, a company of mounted infantry was formed, consisting of 4 officers and 126 rank and file. On arrival in South Africa it formed part of the 7th division under Lieut.-General C. Tucker.

It moved forward with the division in pursuit of General Cronje, and on I5th February lost eight men in making its first acquaintance with the Boers at Waterval Drift. It marched with the column to Paardeberg, and assisted in investing Cronje's force from i8th to 27th February, and in resisting General De Wet's attempts at relief. On the 22nd their position at Osfontein was attacked by the enemy, who was repulsed and swung

2i4 THE KING'S OWN SCOTTISH BORDERERS

to the left, only to find himself surrounded by the Buffs, who took eighty prisoners. On the zyth the Borderers had the satisfaction of witnessing the surrender of Cronje and over 4000 Boers.

This was followed on yth March by the action at Poplar Grove, but the speedy flight of the Boers on finding themselves outflanked gave little opportunity for fighting. The march to Bloemfontein was continued on the nth, and the capital of the Orange Free State was occupied on I3th March. Here the battalion had a spell of rest, very welcome after long marches and short rations.

The country round Bloemfontein was much harassed by small patrols of the enemy, working from Karee, a point about twenty miles north of Bloemfontein on the railway, where a formidable line of hills was occupied by the enemy in strong force, with guns. On 28th March the Scottish Borderers formed part of a column sent to dislodge the enemy, and to them fell the honour of bearing the brunt of the fight. As they advanced, eight battalions of infantry moving in echelon, the hills in front seemed so silent that it was thought the Boers had abandoned the position, when suddenly at short range a tempest of fire opened upon two companies of the Borderers. The companies principally exposed got under cover and reformed, a hot artillery and musketry duel then ensuing between the opposing forces. The numbers of the Boers and the strength of their position made it impossible for some time to push the attack, but the flanking movement of the cavalry brigade under General French at length alarmed the Boers, and late in the afternoon they abandoned their trenches and fled, leaving the path clear for the advance of Lord Roberts to Pretoria. This ridge was strategically important, and from 2Qth March to 2nd May was the most advanced post.

The total loss in the eight battalions was 160 killed and wounded, of which number 83 were Scottish Borderers, principally in A and B companies, in which two officers were killed and three wounded. An independent eye-witness on the Staff stated that the behaviour of the Scottish Borderers was one of the finest things he had ever seen.

On 3rd May Lord Roberts' main force assembled at Karee and com- menced the march on Pretoria. The Scottish Borderers were present in the actions at the Vet River on 5th and 6th May and the Zand River on loth May. On I2th May Kroonstadt was occupied, the ist Volunteer

BRIGADIER-GEN. MONTAGU GRANT WILKINSON 215

Service Company joining the battalion there. The advance was rapid, and on 3ist May the army entered Johannesburg. Two days were spent there, and then a move was made on Pretoria, thirty miles distant. On 4th June the enemy was found in force on the ridges commanding the narrow nek which led to the Boer capital. After some hot fighting the ridge was taken, and that night the Borderers lay on the hills hungry and cold, with the electric lights of Pretoria twinkling below them. Next morning, following the Guards, the brigade to which the Borderers were attached marched into Pretoria.

At this time Christian de Wet commenced harassing the lines of com- munication, and attacked Major Haig of the Borderers, who, having about 1000 details as well as some men of his own regiment, drove him off. The battalion was then drafted into General Ian Hamilton's new force, consisting of four battalions of infantry, some artillery and some Colonials. This column joined in the combined movement eastwards and went as far as Balmoral, where a storm of unusual violence was encountered, resulting in the loss by exposure of over 300 animals. The enemy, however, offered very little resistance.

De Wet was now attempting to break into the Transvaal and join hands with Delarey, who was harassing the garrison of Rustenburg ; Hamilton's for cewas therefore recalled and despatched westwards. The enemy was dislodged from Zilikat's Nek on 22nd August, the Borderers losing about forty men in casualties. Continuing the march the battalion held Com- mando Nek, while the remainder of the force marched on Rustenburg, where Baden Powell was relieved and brought in. Passing through the Witwatersberg at Hekpoort, it marched on through Kaalfontein to Vlak- fontein and Oliphant's Nek, where resistance was met and overcome. A further advance through difficult country brought the column to Warm Baths, whence it trekked back to Pretoria. A well-known writer says that this force put in as much hard work in fighting and marching as any body of troops in the whole campaign.

Early in May, 1901, the battalion moved to Krugersdorp and thence to Naauwpoort West to join the mobile column commanded by Brigadier- General H. Dixon, himself an old Borderer. On the 2Qth this column was operating at Vlakfontein in the dangerous country near the Magalies- berg range of hills, a neighbourhood which had been the scene of more

216 THE KING'S OWN SCOTTISH BORDERERS

than one mishap to British arms. On its way back to camp the column found a veldt fire raging, and suddenly from out of the smoke 500 Boer horsemen dashed upon the rearguard, under support of a fierce musketry fire from another party of Boers. In a few minutes two British guns were captured and turned upon the rest of the column, and the rearguard was broken and scattered. However, the companies of the King's Own Scottish Borderers, with those of the Derbyshire regiment, came speedily to the rescue, and in a dashing charge re-captured the guns and drove back the Boers, who vanished into smoke, leaving forty-one of their number dead on the field. In this brisk encounter it is gratifying to know that the Volunteer Service Company shared in the honours of the day. The casualties amounted to 175, but very few amongst the Borderers.

The mounted infantry company of the Borderers did much excellent service throughout the war and were reported by their various column commanders as highly efficient. Lieutenant and Adjutant G. H. B. Coulson won the Victoria Cross on i8th May, 1901, by his heroic self-sacrifice in rescuing a comrade from danger, after having on many previous occasions displayed great coolness and gallantry under fire ; but, alas ! he did not survive to wear it.

From June to September the Borderers were in a column that hunted the kloofs and dengas of the Magaliesberg with singular success. The most notable incident of this period was the capture of Commandant Woolmaraus and thirty Boers in a kloof at Damhoek, by Major Mayne and a small party of the Borderers (Galloway section of Volunteer Service Company). The battalion then occupied a blockhouse line on the Mooi River, being moved afterwards to a line from Naauwpoort West to Tafee Kop, where it remained until peace was concluded on the 3ist May, 1902.

The Militia and Volunteers were in no way behind their regular com- rades in the spirit shown by them during the campaign. The 3rd (Militia) battalion volunteered for active service and proceeded to South Africa in March, 1900, and did not return until June, 1902. During that time it did excellent service in the arduous and dangerous work of guarding the lines of railways from the marauding Boers, while the Volunteer Service Com- panies joined the regular battalion and shared with it the hardships and perils of the campaign. The total casualties during the campaign amounted to ii officers and 126 n.c.o. and men killed or died of wounds, disease,

BRIGADIER-GEN. MONTAGU GRANT WILKINSON 217

etc., and 5 officers and 90 n.c.o. and men wounded. .Seventeen Distin- guished Conduct Medals were won by non-commissioned officers and men.

At the end of 1898 authority had been given for the regiment to adopt the Leslie tartan in place of the universal tartan issued in 1882 ; but, although the officers took it into wear, the new pattern was not issued to the rank and file until the end of the Boer war. The Scottish Borderers had long been anxious to wear this tartan, being that of the family of the Earl of Lcven and Melville, and Lord Leven himself had used all the influence he could to obtain the requisite authority ; for the tartan meant something to the regiment, which the universal tartan did not.

The ist battalion returned from South Africa, arriving at Queenstown on i6th February, 1903, and proceeded to Belfast. H.R.H. the Duke of Connaught, commanding the forces in Ireland, inspected the battalion on I2th May, 1903, and distributed South African medals. In July of the same year King Edward VII. visited Belfast, Newtownards and London- derry, and the ist battalion at each place formed guards of honour and lined the streets. The regiment at the same time took into wear a Kilmar- nock bonnet, which had been approved as the full dress head-dress in lieu of the blue helmet. A blackcock's tail is worn fastened under the brooch.

After the Tirah campaign in 1898 the 2nd battalion remained in India till November, 1903, when it went to Burmah, leaving Rangoon again in December, 1905, for Aden, where it was quartered for a year before return- ing home in 1906, when it was stationed in Glasgow.

The ist battalion, after their tour in Ireland, went to Colchester in January, 1905, proceeded to Egypt in November, 1906, and was quartered in Cairo. In 1906 it was supplied with the S.M.L.E. rifle and bandolier equipment. While this battalion was at Colchester the following observa- tion was made by General Lord Methuen, commander-in-chief, Eastern command, in his annual report :

" The only fault I can find in this Battalion is paucity of numbers. I know of no Battalion where there is a higher tone or a more soldier-like spirit — no regi- ment I would sooner put a son into. It is true the men are small, but only because they are young, and it is a good sign to see the Territorial system working so well."

On 4th October, 1906, an interesting ceremony took place in Edin- burgh in connection with the regiment, namely, the unveiling of a group

218 THE KING'S OWN SCOTTISH BORDERERS

of statuary placed in one of the pedestals of the North Bridge in com- memoration of the officers and men of the King's Own Scottish Borderers who had fallen in action in Afghanistan, India, Burmah, Egypt and South Africa between the years 1879 and 1902. A guard of honour, composed of four officers and 100 other ranks, with band, drums and pipes from the ist battalion at Colchester, was present, together with representatives from the depot, 3rd battalion and Volunteer companies. An interesting feature was a detachment of veterans, mostly in civilian dress, who were drawn up behind the Volunteers. The ceremony was of a dignified and impressive character, and attracted a large amount of public interest. The unveiling ceremony was performed by Lieut. -General Sir E. P. Leach, V.C., K.C.B., C.V.O., commanding-in-chief the forces in Scotland, in presence of the Lord Provost Sir Robert Cranston and many past and present officers of the regiment. At a luncheon given by the Lord Provost, Magistrates and Council of the city in the City Chambers, Sir Robert Cranston made stirring reference to the regiment and its special privileges, and the duty of civilians towards those soldiers of Scottish regiments when they had left the colours and returned to civil life. The memorial was subscribed to by officers, n.c.o. and men of the regiment, and the surplus balance was devoted to the Queen Victoria School at Dunblane, for the special maintenance of sons of Scottish Borderers.

The ist battalion embarked at Port Sudan in February, 1911, for India, and was subsequently quartered at Ranikhet, Bareilly and Lucknow, a detachment taking part in the Delhi Durbar of 1912.

The 2nd battalion remained in Glasgow till 2yth January, 1910, and in the autumn of 1909 supplied the guard of honour for King Edward at Ballater, under command of Captain T. P. Wingate. The battalion moved to Holywood Barracks, Belfast, in January, 1910.

On I7th October, 1912, the old colours of the 2nd battalion were sent to Edinburgh to be deposited in St. Giles's Church, where a most impressive ceremony took place. The battalion sent over a guard of honour of five officers and 100 rank and file, with band, drums and pipes. Smaller parties representing the depot, the 3rd and the Volunteer battalions were also present. The ist battalion Black Watch, who were quartered at the castle, sent a complimentary guard of four officers and 50 men. The Rev. Dr. Wallace Williamson accepted the colours on behalf of the authorities of

BRIGADIER-GEN. MONTAGU GRANT WILKINSON 219

the Church and delivered a fine address. After the ceremony there was a very large gathering of past and present officers and members of the regimental association.

In November, 1912, the 2nd battalion moved from Holywood, Belfast, to Dublin. On 26th July, 1914, a daring and successful attempt was made to land guns and ammunition for the Irish volunteers at Howth, where over 1000 men took possession of them. A party of Constabulary and 100 of the King's Own Scottish Borderers were sent out from Dublin to prevent the removal of the arms. Shots were fired from revolvers, and only about twenty rifles were captured. On the return march the party of 100 Borderers was reinforced by about 200 more from barracks, but was met and stoned by a very hostile crowd near O'Connel Bridge. Although no order appears ever to have been given, shots were fired and two or three of the crowd were killed and several injured, a number of the soldiers also being injured.

The 2nd battalion was in Dublin and the ist battalion in Lucknow on the 5th August when war was declared against Germany.

The regiment has fought in the following battles and campaigns, the names of officers commanding being given in brackets.

1689-1693 : Killiecrankie, Athlone, Aughrim, Galway, Limerick, Stein- kirk and Landen. (David Earl of Leven.)

1696 : Siege of Namur. (James Maitland.)

1715-1719 : Sheriffmuir and capture of Vigo. (Richard Viscount Shannon.)

1736 : Siege of Gibraltar. (John Earl of Rothes.)

1745-1746 : Fontenoy, Ath, Culloden. (Hugh Lord Sempil.)

1746—1747 : Roucoux, Val. (John Earl Crawford.)

1757-1760 : Expeditions against Rochefort and St. Malo, Minden, War- burg and Campen. (William Earl of Home.)

1761-1762 : Fellinghausen and Wilhelmsthal. (Sir H. Erskine.)

1782-1783 to 1801 : Siege of Gibraltar, Toulon, Corsica, Egmont-op- Zee, Alexandria and Cairo. (Lord George Lennox.)

1807-1809 : Capture of Madeira and Martinique. (Hon. George Fitz- roy.)

1878-1880 : Afghan Campaign. (Colonel Ruddell, Majors Ramsay and Terry.)

1888 : Soudan. (Colonel J. Talbot Coke.)

> THE KING'S OWN SCOTTISH BORDERERS

1889-1890 : Chin Lushai. (Colonel Carleton and Major Stoney.) 1895-1898 : Relief of Chitral and Tirah. (Colonel H. G. Dixon, C.B.,

A.D.C.) 1900-1902 : South Africa. (Colonel Godfray, C.B., and Colonel Mayne,

C.B., Majors Wilkinson and Macfarlane, D.S.O.)

As mentioned above, the Scottish Borderers Militia was added to the King's Own Borderers as the 3rd battalion in 1887. This battalion was originally raised and embodied at Dumfries in 1798, when Britain was threatened with invasion by France. Among other measures then taken for the defence of the country was an Act passed in July, 1797 (37 George III. cap. 103), authorising the raising by ballot of 6000 Militia in Scotland. The Act appointed the Lords-Lieutenant and their deputies to carry out the provisions therein contained in August, 1797. When that time came it was found impossible to carry the Act into execution, as there was strong opposition, and the cry was raised that the Act was a violation of the Act of Union. It was thought this was only the first of a series of measures for enforcing military service, and that some pretext would be seized for ordering the Militia on foreign service. The authorities, however, took all available means of informing the people of the real nature of the Act, and at the same time appealed to their patriotic spirit. These measures were successful, and the disturbances appear to have ceased almost as suddenly as they arose.

At the close of 1798 the Earl of Dalkeith was able to say that " he had much pleasure in observing the alacrity with which young men came forward when the first quota of Militia was called out." Five counties were associated with that of Dumfries to form the regiment then, and long afterwards it was known as the Dumfriesshire Militia.

The first numbers called on to serve were as follows :

Peebles - - - 51 Kirkcudbright - 125 Selkirk - 25 Wigtown - - 90

Roxburgh - - - 150 Dumfries - - 247

The first commanding officer was the Earl of Dalkeith (afterwards 4th Duke of Buccleugh), who held the command from 1798 to 1837. After performing garrison duty at Edinburgh Castle, Dunbar, Kirkcaldy, Mussel-

BRIGADIER-GEN. MONTAGU GRANT WILKINSON 221

burgh and Dalkeith, the regiment was disembodied in 1802. The Edin- burgh Evening Courant of ist May, 1802, gave a pleasant picture of the relationship between officers and men that had been formed during the four years of service together. The men of the different companies drew their respective officers in carriages through the streets of Dalkeith, and afterwards carried them on their shoulders, with the highest demonstration of gratitude and attachment.

On the 26th June, 1802, an Act was passed to place the Scottish Militia on a permanent footing (42 George III. c. 91), and in May, 1803, the regi- ment was again embodied and marched to Musselburgh, where it remained three years. Eight months were then spent in Edinburgh Castle, and the subsequent two years at Dalkeith. The regiment was now recruited from Dumfries, Roxburgh and Selkirk. One of the earliest complimentary letters about it was received from Major-General Leslie and was inserted in regi- mental orders.

" Musselburgh,

2ist May, 1809. My Lord,

Not having the honour of meeting your Lordship, I take this method of expressing the great satisfaction which the orderly, good conduct, soldier-like appearance, and excellent discipline of your Lordship's Regiment has given me ever since they made a part of my Brigade. This testimony can add nothing to the merit of the corps, but I feel grateful in bestowing it. I have the honour to be,

Your Lordship's obedient servant,

(Signed) D. LESLIE, M.G. The Earl of Dalkeith."

In 1809 the regiment marched to Haddington, and a year later proceeded to Woodbridge in Suffolk, where the men were engaged in constructing coast defences until July, iSir, when they embarked for Ireland. After serving two years in that country the regiment returned to Dumfries for a stay of a few months, when it proceeded again to Dalkeith.

The discipline of the army was in these days enforced with what now seems atrocious severity. The attention of the commander of the forces in Ireland at this time was called to this state of matters, and a general order was issued pointing out " that where corporal punishment had been most prevalent, general officers have found most room for disapprobation, and pointing out that when the commanding officer of a regiment performs

222 THE KING'S OWN SCOTTISH BORDERERS

his duties with punctuality, precision, firmness, temper and impartiality, there are very few instances where the due exercise of these high military qualifications have not produced, in all placed under their command, habits of obedience and regularity, and feelings of contentment and confidence." Out of the eight regiments thus honourably mentioned it is pleasant to observe the name of the Dumfries Militia.

On the I5th August, 1814, the regiment was again disembodied. Thus they had been for fifteen out of sixteen years at the outset of their career soldiers in everything but name, and during the whole of that time received nothing but praise from the general officers under whom they served.

In April, 1815, orders were given to raise men by beat of drum at four guineas bounty, with a guinea to the bringer, but there is no record of the success of the endeavour. On 20th May in that year the colonel was ordered to have clothing prepared for the full establishment of the regiment within a month after the receipt of the order. Before that time had elapsed the battle of Waterloo had been fought and won, rendering the embodiment of Militia regiments unnecessary.

On igth April, 1819, Colonel the Duke of Buccleugh died at Lisbon, and was succeeded by his brother-in-law, Charles, 5th Marquis of Queens- berry, who as Sir Charles Douglas, Bart., of Kelhead, had served as a captain from 1798 to 1808. For a considerable time after this the old constitutional force suffered chilling neglect at the hands of successive governments. From 1814 to 1820 no trainings were performed : after which there is a gap of five years. In 1825 the regiment was inspected after its training and received a most gratifying report from the inspecting officer, Major-General Sir Sydney Beckwith. From 1825 till 1854 there were no trainings, and the regiment ceased to exist, except in so far as there was always a cadre of officers and a small permanent staff.

On the 28th February, 1833, the numbers of the Militia regiments of Great Britain and Ireland were rearranged by ballot. The Dumfriesshire then became No. 81, which it retained till it became the battalion of a Territorial regiment.

On 3rd April, 1837, Colonel the Marquis of Queensberry died, and was succeeded by his brother John, 6th Marquis.

From 1825 the Militia remained in a state of coma till the outbreak

BRIGADIER-GEN. MONTAGU GRANT WILKINSON 223

of the Crimean war. Attention was then bestowed upon this long-neglected force. An Act was passed on i2th May, 1854, authorising the sovereign to embody the Militia whenever there was war with a foreign power. The Scottish Borderers was one of the first to be embodied on ist February, 1855. An extract of an account written by the late Colonel Sir G. G. Walker, K.C.B., in 1877, describes the difficulties that had to be encountered in the resuscitation of the regiment.

" It would be difficult to imagine anything more cheerless and depressing than the muster parade of the Regiment at Dumfries. There was a bitter frost with heavy snow, for the winter was a severe one, elsewhere than on the ridges round Sebastopol. Groups of dingy-looking men and lads gathered about the street corners, and smoking and shivering, waited what would come, with a dull mixture of distrust and curiosity.

A dingy room, approached through a close and a common stair, with a window looking down Assembly Street had been hired as an orderly room, and here was made such preparation as might be for our first parade.

At 10-0 A.M. two improvised buglers, in plain clothes, sounded some imita- tion of the assembly on two battered cornopeans. The Colonel, with the Adjutant and the few officers who had as yet joined, descended into the street, and aided the ten staff sergeants, of whom just half were inefficient from age and infirmity, to lead and hustle the Battalion into some semblance of a column. It was no easy task, but was succeeded after a fashion. The Grenadier Company at the head of the column standing about the spot now occupied by the fountain, the Light Company near the Midsteeplc. It was a sorry spectacle. Of the officers, only two, the Colonel and the Adjutant, were in uniform, five or six of the staff wore antiquated coatees and wings : the remainder and the whole of the rank and file were in plain clothes, 262 rank and file only answered to their names, out of 334 enrolled.

There was no trouble about issue of arms, clothing, necessaries, etc., for the simple reason that there was none to issue. It was over six weeks before the men were all clothed, and considerably longer before they were armed. After many entreaties one chest arrived from the Tower, and was found to contain 500 bayonet scabbards, the muskets, belts and bayonets not arriving for weeks afterwards.

After the men had fallen in the noise and confusion from the crowd surround- ing us became so intolerable that the Colonel ordered us to march to the un- finished Militia Barracks, where we were comparatively quiet. There was barely standing-room among the building materials, the men were noisy and bewildered, the cold was intense, and it was past mid-day before the men were paid off.

For drill purposes, a field had been hired in the outskirts of Dumfries, about 300 yards from the present station, and on the following morning it was decreed we should march there. How to move 270 utterly undrilled men, without con- fusion, through the streets was a problem. It was solved by making all hands turn to the right (we were standing in column by the left) ; the front and rear men were ordered to take each other's hands, and the whole moved off two and

224 THE KING'S OWN SCOTTISH BORDERERS

two and hand in hand ! Of the drill sergeants, at least half were absolutely incapable, consequently the officers had to act as drill-instructors, as best they could, reading up one evening what they had to teach the next day."

Notwithstanding all these drawbacks the regiment was inspected in June the same year by Lord Melville, then commanding-in-chief in Scotland, who expressed himself both gratified and astonished at the efficiency so quickly obtained.

Colonel the Marquess of Queensberry retired in 1854, and was succeeded by Lieut.-Colonel John M'Murdo, who had previously served in the Indian army and had retired with the rank of major. The headquarters during embodiment were at Dumfries, but companies were detached to Kelso, Hawick, Jedburgh and Annan, until disembodiment in May, 1856.

It is said that the difference between the rough materials gathered together in February, 1855, and the well-disciplined, soldier-like men who were present at the disembodiment was most remarkable, and reflected great credit on the commanding officer, and on all others who took part in effecting the change.

During the Indian Mutiny in 1857 a portion of the Militia was embodied, to supply the place of regiments ordered to India. The Dumfriesshire was the first Scottish regiment embodied. It assembled at Dumfries on ist October, and on the loth, only nine days after its assembly, it unanimously volunteered for foreign service. It remained embodied till April, 1859, being stationed in the South Camp, Aldershot. A great deal of praise was earned during this period from the authorities at Aldershot, and it is pleasing to note that the battalion did not suffer by comparison with the regular troops.

Early in February, 1858, the old percussion muskets, which had been issued during the Crimean war, were exchanged for the new Enfield rifle. In 1857 the regiment received new colours, but they were not consecrated, and were received with no public ceremony. The regimental colour was yellow (the facings of the regiment) with small Union Jack in the corner, and in the centre a wreath surmounted with a crown and the words Dumfries, Roxburgh and Selkirk Militia within the wreath.

From 1859 to the South African war, January, 1900, there was no embodied service, and the annual trainings took place at Dumfries at Kingholm Camp, or in brigade with the Ayr and Galloway Militia at Ayr.

BRIGADIER-GEN. MONTAGU GRANT WILKINSON 225

In 1867 Colonel John M'Murdo died and was succeeded by Colonel the Hon. Henry Butler-Johnstone, who retired in 1873, when the command devolved on Colonel George Gustavus Walker of Crawfordton.

On the 27th July, 1877, new colours were presented to the regiment by the Duchess of Buccleugh. The colours were the gift of the ladies of the counties, and there was a very interesting ceremony, which was largely attended. The regimental colour was yellow, and on the king's colour was inscribed: " LXXXI. Scottish Borderers Militia." Colonel G. G. Walker was the commanding officer at this time, and during the twenty years he had command, from 1873 till his retirement on account of ill- health, the regiment rose to a very high state of efficiency. In recognition of his services as a Militia officer he was in 1884 appointed A.D.C. to the Queen, and later in 1892 was made a K.C.B. Several changes took place during his period of command, as in 1881 when all Militia regiments were made battalions of line regiments, to carry out the new Territorial system ; the Scottish Borderers Militia becoming the 3rd battalion of the Royal Scots Fusiliers. However, in 1887, owing to the King's Own Borderers having no affiliated Militia battalion, and as they recruited from the same counties as the King's Own Borderers, the battalion was transferred and became the 3rd battalion King's Own Scottish Borderers. Owing to these changes new colours were received, and an imposing ceremony took place on 20th July, 1888, when the Duchess of Buccleugh presented them.

In 1882 the regimental preliminary drill of recruits was abolished by general order, and it was directed that in future recruits were to be trained on enlistment at the depots. An exception was made in the case of the Scottish Borderers, and the continuance of the practice of a preliminary drill of the recruits has, in the opinion of the officers, done much to promote the efficiency of the battalion. Since the order was given, recruits were given the option of being trained at the depot, but few availed themselves of it.

On Colonel Sir George Walker's retirement, Colonel Archibald Hume of Auchendolly was appointed to command. In 1898 the battalion cele- brated its centenary — and in August took part in manoeuvres on Salisbury Plain. In October Colonel Hume was succeeded by Colonel J. Maxwell- Witham of Kirkconnell.

The battalion, being one of thirteen Militia regiments embodied by a

226 THE KING'S OWN SCOTTISH BORDERERS

special army order dated 4th January, 1900, was called out on the 25th January, and proceeded to Belfast for training. On being asked to volunteer for active service abroad, true to former traditions the officers and men at once replied they were willing. On gib. March the battalion sailed from Queenstown in the Kildonan Castle, and on arrival at Cape Town proceeded to Modder River ; three companies moving to Dronfield, eight miles north of Kimberley. It put in a lot of useful work in the Kimberley district, at Warrenton, Jacobsdal, Vryburg, etc., and on 2gth January the headquarters and two companies moved to Bulawayo. The detachments left at Vryburg and Jacobsdal eventually rejoined head- quarters at Bulawayo. Here the headquarters and certain companies remained till the battalion was ordered home, companies and parties being constantly detached for various duties, including armoured trains, one of which was named " His Majesty's Train, Borderer."

On 29th May, 1902, the battalion embarked at Cape Town in the Roslin Castle, the strength being 14 officers, 255 n.c.o. and men. Lieut. Colonel J. Maxwell-Witham, C.M.G., had been in command during the whole of the campaign. The regiment had an enthusiastic reception on its return to Dumfries in June, 1902, after an absence of over two years. The following order was published by the officer commanding Kimberley district igth May, 1902 :

" On the departure of the detachment of the 3rd Battalion King's Own Scottish Borderers from Kimberley, the Officer Commanding the district desires to thank them for the excellent services rendered by them during so many long, weary, and at times critical, months at Koffyfontein, and later at Jacobsdal.

" The Battalion as a whole has been more or less intimately connected with the Kimberley district from an early stage in the war, and its services are by no means forgotten or unappreciated. It is doubtful if any Militia Battalion leaves South Africa to enjoy its well-earned rest at home with a higher reputation than the 3rd Battalion King's Own Scottish Borderers."

After the training of 1904 Colonel Maxwell-Witham retired from the command and was succeeded by Lieut.-Colonel C. V. E. Laurie, D.S.O., of Maxwellton. The battalion has since been commanded by Lieut.-Colonels W. C. Critchley-Salmonson and H. W. A. F. Crichton-Browne, the latter being in command when the European war of 1914 broke out. In December, 1904, the king approved of the battalion being permitted, in recognition of services rendered in South Africa, to have upon its colours " South Africa, 1900-1902."

BRIGADIER-GEN. MONTAGU GRANT WILKINSON 227

In conclusion the 3rd battalion has always held a very high record for efficiency in musketry as well as in drill, discipline and interior economy. It has always been a principle of first moment that all the officers of the regiment should either belong to or have family connections with one of the Border counties, and this rule has done much to create and foster that esprit-de-corps for which the Borderers have always been remarkable. " Once a Borderer always a Borderer."

The Volunteer battalions at first affiliated to the King's Own Scottish Borderers were :

The ist Roxburgh and Selkirk (Border Rifle) Volunteer Corps.

The 2nd Volunteer Battalion (Berwickshire).

The 3rd Volunteer Battalion (Dumfriesshire).

The Galloway Rifle Volunteer Corps (Kirkcudbright and Wigtown).

The ist Administrative Battalion, Roxburgh Rifle Volunteers, was formed on gth November, 1861, with headquarters at Melrose, and included ist, 2nd, 3rd, 4th and 5th Roxburgh Rifle Volunteer Corps, to which were added in 1862 the ist and 2nd Selkirk Rifle Volunteer Corps. The title of " The Border Rifles " was conferred upon the battalion in 1868. In 1863 the uniforms of all the corps were assimilated, the slate grey being retained for tunics, trousers and shakos. Blue Kilmarnock bonnets were worn in undress till 1885, when they were replaced by glengarries. The headquarters of the battalion were transferred from Melrose to Newtown St. Boswells on 3oth June, 1878, and on 7th April, 1880, under W.O. authority, the battalion was consolidated under the title of ist Roxburgh and Selkirk (The Border) R.V.C., with nine companies, two each at Hawick, Galashiels and Selkirk.

In 1887 (by general order 61 of May) the battalion was transferred from the 2ist (Royal Scots Fusiliers) to the 25th (King's Own Scottish Borderers) Regimental District, and in the same year one of the companies was removed from Selkirk to Galashiels. On ist April, 1892, a loth company was raised at Hawick. In 1901 the establishment was raised to twelve companies, but in 1902 these new companies were again reduced, the headquarters being transferred to Melrose, and the cyclists formed into one company with head- quarters at Newcastleton. In this year the helmets were replaced by a grey felt hat with black and white feathers, turned up on the left side with

228 THE KING'S OWN SCOTTISH BORDERERS

a badge of the Douglas heart, and crown, and the motto Doe or die. The first commanding officer was Lord Polwarth, appointed in 1861.

The 2nd (Berwickshire) Volunteer Battalion was formed on igth November, 1863, as the ist Administrative Battalion, Berwickshire Rifle Volunteers, with headquarters at Duns. The companies wore various kinds of uniform except the 6th and 7th, which adopted what had been decided on for the whole battalion, viz. scarlet tunics and scarlet cuffs and collar, black braid all round and Austrian knot, dark grey trousers with ij-inch scarlet stripes, dark grey shakos with red band, royal arms in front, and a light green ostrich-feather plume and cock's feathers for officers. The headquarters were moved from Duns to Coldstream in 1876, and about the same time the uniform was modernised. In 1880 blue helmets with silver star and crown badge replaced the shakos, and the battalion was consolidated as the ist Berwickshire Rifle Volunteers, with seven companies.

In 1884 the battalion was transferred to the Royal Scots and adopted their uniform. In 1885 the headquarters were moved back to Duns, and in 1887 the battalion was transferred to the 25th (King's Own Scottish Borderers) Regimental District, and became the 2nd Volunteer battalion of that regiment by general order 181 of 1887. In 1891 a new company was raised at Duns, bringing the establishment up to eight companies, viz. at Duns, Coldstream, Ayton, Greenlaw, Lauder, Earlston, Chirnside and Ladykirk. In 1900 a cyclist section was formed and a new company at Ladykirk, but in 1905 one of -the companies at Duns was disbanded. In 1900 the helmet was replaced by the glengarry bonnet with diced border as the sole head-dress, and the tartan of the trews changed to Leslie. Sashes were permitted to be worn by sergeants.

The regiment was first commanded by Hon. A. F. Cathcart in 1863.

On 4th January, 1862, the ist Administrative Battalion, Dumfriesshire Rifle Volunteers, was formed, with headquarters at Dumfries. The first commanding officer was Lord H. I. M. Douglas-Scott, appointed 8th February, 1862. The original uniform was Elcho grey tunic and trousers, with scarlet collars, cuffs, piping and Austrian knot, Elcho grey shakos, with scarlet band and ball-tuft, with a bugle and crown badge and " 60 " (the county precedence number) in the centre of the bugle. The undress cap was a grey Balmoral bonnet, with blue, grey and red diced border, but was re- placed in 1864 by a round grey forage cap with scarlet band. In April, 1880,

BRIGADIER-GEN. MONTAGU GRANT WILKINSON 229

the battalion was consolidated as the ist Dumfriesshire Rifle Volunteers, with headquarters at Dumfries, and ten companies, two at Dumfries, and one each at Thornhill, Sanquhar, Penpont, Annan, Moffat, Langholm, Lockerbie and Lochmaben. In March, 1885, the Penpont company became a section of that at Thornhill, and a new company was formed at Eccle- fechan, and in 1888 the headquarters of the Lochmaben company were removed to Canonbie.

The battalion was transferred by general order in May, 1887, from the 2ist (Royal Scots Fusiliers) to the 25th (King's Own Scottish Borderers Regimental District, and it assumed the title of 3rd Volunteer Battalion of the latter regiment by general order 181 of December, 1887, consequent upon which in February, 1888, the uniform of the King's Own Scottish Borderers was adopted. The helmet was introduced with this uniform and was worn until 1900, when the glengarry was used as the sole head- dress, and the trews were changed to Leslie tartan. The headquarters at Dumfries included a large drill-hall. The Annan company had similar arrangements, and the battalion in all possessed twelve rifle ranges.

The Galloway Administrative Battalion of Rifle Volunteers was formed on 30th June, 1860, with headquarters at Newton-Stewart, and William K. Lawrie was appointed the first commanding officer on the same date. The original uniform of the corps was steel or dark grey, but varied greatly from year to year, one company appearing one year with plumes of cocks' feathers and the next with shakos of Highland Light Infantry pattern, etc. Uniformity was first attained in December, 1873, when the whole battalion was clothed in dark grey tunics and trousers, with scarlet cuffs, collars, piping and Austrian knot, dark grey shakos with black ball-tuft and black belts. In May, 1883, the shako was replaced by a plain blue glengarry, and in 1905 the uniform was changed to drab service dress with scarlet piping on the trousers, and glengarry with diced border and K.O.S.B. badge. In March, 1885, headquarters were transferred to Castle Douglas, and in 1899, by Army Order 65, the battalion was removed from the 2ist to the 25th (King's Own Scottish Borderers) Regimental District. On 6th September, 1904, battalion headquarters were removed from Castle Douglas to Maxwelltown.

All the Volunteer battalions contributed to the Volunteer service com- panies for service in South Africa with the ist battalion King's Own Scottish

230 THE KING'S OWN SCOTTISH BORDERERS

Borderers, while a certain number of others served with various other regiments. The service companies of the Border Rifles consisted of Major A. Haddon, Lieuts. Craig, Brown and J. Herbertson and 82 men ; 2nd Volunteer battalion, Captain J. Stevenson, Lieuts. R. Stoddart and R. Christie-Thomson and 63 men ; 3rd Volunteer battalion, Lieut. R. J. Cunningham and 72 men ; Galloway Rifles, Captain J. Blackwell and 80 men. Besides these 4 officers and 49 men served with other corps.

The Volunteer service companies did exceptionally good work and were brought to notice on several occasions. On i7th August, 1901, the com- mander-in-chief telegraphed from Pretoria to Colonel Kekewich : "I am much pleased to hear of your success, and the good work of Major Mayne and Volunteer Company, King's Own Scottish Borderers." This telegram was in connection with the capture of thirty armed Boers and their com- mandant, Woolmarans, near Damhoek, on the loth August, 1901, when Lance-Corporal J. M'Millan and Private R. Dixon of the Volunteer company were promoted corporals, and Colour-Sergeant R. Grierson of the same company specially mentioned by the general commanding-in-chief for distinguished gallantry in the field.

The commanding officer of the ist battalion spoke as follows on 2ist May, 1902 : " The Commanding Officer, on the departure of the Second Volunteer Service Company, wishes to place on record the good work done by them in the field during the time they have been attached to the ist King's Own Scottish Borderers. He wishes to thank all ranks for their cordial support on all occasions, and takes this opportunity of wishing them, in the name of the Regiment, a speedy and safe return home."

In 1908 the Volunteer battalions became Territorial Force battalions, the ist Border Rifles and 2nd Volunteer Battalion K.O.S. Borderers being amalgamated as the 4th (the Border Battalion), the K.O.S. Borderers; and the 3rd Volunteer Battalion K.O.S. Borderers and the Galloway Volunteer Rifles became the 5th (Dumfries and Galloway) Battalion King's Own Scottish Borderers. The Hon. Colonel of the 4th battalion is Colonel Sir Richard Waldie-Giiffith, Bart., and Colonel J. Murray Kennedy, M.V.O., is hon. colonel of the 5th battalion.

BRIGADIER-GEN. MONTAGU GRANT WILKINSON 231

NOTE I

The Name and Privileges of the Regiment

On the 7th May, 1805, shortly after the Hon. Charles Fitzroy was appointed colonel of the 25th regiment, King George III. commanded that it should be called " The King's Own Borderers." It thus became a royal regiment, and the facings were altered accordingly from yellow to blue. Soon afterwards the regiment adopted a breast-plate with " King's Own Borderers " inscribed upon it, and a badge upon the plate with the White Horse in the centre of the shield encircled by the words, " In veritate religionis confido," but down to the gth May, 1828, there was nothing to show why they had adopted the White Horse, and why they had annexed to the White Horse a religious motto which had no connection with it.

In the year 1828 the regiment was about to receive a new pair of colours, and there being no authority in existence for inscribing upon them any- thing whatever save the words " King's Own Borderers," the late General the Hon. C. Fitzroy stated on the gth May, 1828, to the adjutant-general to the forces the circumstances that King George III., at the time he directed the regiment should take the name of " King's Own Borderers," commanded also that it should adopt the motto of In veritate religionis confido, and the colours then about to be prepared had those words accordingly inscribed upon them, but the matter had not been fully placed on record.

It was desired that this omission should be rectified, and that the origin of the assumption of the motto should be placed on record, and that which was conceived to be the true meaning of it made manifest. As the regiment had been raised for the purpose of guarding the city of Edinburgh, it had taken the name of " The Edinburgh Regiment," as well as that of the colonel commanding it (vide Gazette, 28th March, 1689). The arms of Edin- burgh are a castle on a shield, with the words Nisi Dominus frustra, and it is supposed that when King George III. commanded that the regiment should adopt the motto In veritate religionis confido, it was with reference to the religious motto of Nisi Dominus frustra that belongs to the arms of Edinburgh. It was therefore proposed that the badge of the regiment should be the castle of Edinburgh with the motto Nisi Dominus frustra, and the name of King's Own Borderers placed round it, and that the whole should

232 THE KING'S OWN SCOTTISH BORDERERS

be surmounted by a crown, to show that the corps is a royal regiment, and that the new motto which King George III. commanded to be adopted should be placed in two corners of the colours attached to the crest of England, in contradistinction to the lion of England, which is borne by the 4th or King's Own regiment. By this was attained the twofold object of better identifying the motto In veritate religionis confido with the pleasure of the king, and also of more closely explaining the meaning of it with reference to that of the motto of the city of Edinburgh. And as it was supposed that the regiment must have borne the White Horse of Hanover in common with some other regiments as a badge, it was proposed to set it in the fourth corner of the colours with the appropriate military motto of Nee aspera terrent. This was officially sanctioned in 1832, but the crown was to be surmounted by a lion, and placed over the motto In veritate religionis confido.1

I have been unable to find a record of the actual letter from the magis- trates of Edinburgh conferring upon Leven's or the Edinburgh regiment the exclusive privilege of beating up at all times for recruits without asking the permission of the Lord Provost shortly after the battle of Killiecrankie ; but in 1829 the following letter was sent by the Lord Provost of Edinburgh, in answer to one from Major Chambers, who was in command of the depot companies in the castle of Edinburgh.

" Sir,

I this day read your note to me of the nth current to the Magistrates and Council ; and I was authorized to inform you that, so far as they can restore the privileges of the 25th Regiment, they are most happy to do so ; and therefore your men may beat up for recruits through all the streets any day of the year, Sunday of course excepted.

The Magistrates and Council hope also that your Regiment may soon be restored to its primitive name and honours ; and if they can in any way aid you to obtain them, it will afford them much pleasure. I have, etc.,

(Signed) W. ALLEN, Lord Provost.

To Chambers, Commanding King's Own Scottish Borderers."

" Harley Street,

9th May, 1828. Sir,

I beg leave to state, for the information of Lord Hill, that on his late Majesty appointing me to the 25th Regiment, the Regiment, by his Majesty's gracious

1 The lion and crown has been irreverently known as " The Dog and Bonnet."

BRIGADIER-GEN. MONTAGU GRANT WILKINSON 233

order, was made Royal, and the facings changed to Blue, and, by his Majesty's express dictations, styled ' King's Own Borderers,' and the motto ' In veritate religionis confido,' particularly named by his Majesty, and directed to be placed as part of the insignia on the Colours ; which commands were, of course, obeyed, and adhered to ; and I should be very tenacious in preserving the motto thus named, as a mark of respectful memory of his late Majesty's commands ; from a personal consideration, as well as conceiving it a mark of distinction and favour to the Regiment.

I have, etc.,

(Signed) CHAS. FITZROY, General,

Col. 25th or King's Own Borderers. To the Adjutant-General, Horse Guards."

" London,

24th March, 1832. Sir,

We have the honour to acquaint you the following memorandum appeared in the Gazette of the 23rd instant, viz.

His Majesty has been graciously pleased to permit the 25th Regiment of Foot, or " The King's Own Borderers," which on its formation in the year 1689 was called the Edinburgh Regiment (it having been raised, in the short space of a few hours, for the purpose of guarding the City of Edinburgh) to bear on its Colours and appointments the arms of Edinburgh, with the motto " Nisi Dominus frustra " ; also to retain the motto " In veritate religionis confido," which was authorized by His late Majesty King George the Third, in reference to the badge and motto above specified. The motto to be placed under the crown, surmounted by a lion in two corners of the regimental colour.'

We have the honour to be, Sir, etc.,

(Signed) GREENWOOD. The Officer Commanding 25th Foot."

" London,

6th October, 1832. Sir,

We have the honour to acquaint you the following memorandum appeared in the Gazette of the 5th instant :

In addition to the distinctions formerly granted to the 25th Foot, His Majesty has been pleased to permit the Regiment" to bear " The White Horse" and the motto " Nee aspera terrent " 1 in the fourth corner of the regimental colour. We have the honour, etc.,

(Signed) GREENWOOD. The Officer Commanding Reserve 25th Foot."

Shortly after the regiment had become King's Own Borderers, and as a royal regiment adopted royal blue facings instead of yellow in 1805, the

1 " Danger affrights them not " : a motto which the annals of the K.O.S.B. prove to have been no vain boast. The Roman poet's eulogy might well be claimed for this regiment :

" Serpens, sitis, ardor, arenas, Gaudia virtutis." — ED.

234 THE KING'S OWN SCOTTISH BORDERERS

pipers took into wear the royal Stuart tartan, presumably with the sanction of His Majesty George III., and have continued to wear it ever since, a period of over no years. The authority to wear this tartan was evidently lost and does not appear in the authority to have pipers, which was given in 1858.

It is difficult to ascertain when regiments were first numbered, but numbers will be found affixed to every regiment in Millan's Secession of Colonels for 1744, nevertheless, for some years later regiments con- tinued to be designated by the names of their colonels in the Gazette accounts of engagements. The Borderers were, however, always known as " The Edinburgh Regiment " as well as by the name of their colonel.

NOTE II

On the Origin of the King's Own Scottish Borderers BY ANDREW ROSS, Ross Herald

IN his family history of the Melvilles and Levens Sir William Eraser states that David Earl of Leven

" raised a regiment of his countrymen in Germany and Holland. The proposal to do so emanated from the Elector of Brandenburg, and was highly approved by the Prince of Orange, who thought, however, that the task would be a somewhat difficult one in respect of the rank and file, though officers would be easily got . But the enrolment was accomplished within a comparatively short time, the proposal being made in August, and the Earl's commission as colonel being dated on 7th September 1688, and this regiment which became the 25th was honoured to render very important service in effecting the Revolution. At the head of it, the Earl accompanied the Prince to England in the following November, and when Plymouth surrendered, as it was the first of the English towns to do so, the Earl received instructions to proceed thither with his regiment, receive the town and garrison it, which was done."

After a reference to the revolution in Scotland and to the presence of the Earl of Leven in the Convention of Estates held in Edinburgh in March, 1689, the narrative proceeds :

" A day or two after the Convention met in Edinburgh the military character of the Earl was recognised, and he was entrusted in this capacity with the necessary

ANDREW ROSS 235

powers to secure that their deliberations should be conducted in peace. The Duke of Gordon had possession of the castle and held it for King James, refusing to surrender. Claverhouse and his dragoons were in the town, he himself attending the Convention. But on discovering that the meeting was unfavourable to James, Claverhouse had a hasty conference with the Duke of Gordon at the western postern of the fortress, and departed to rouse the Highlands in his master's interest. In consequence of this an order was issued empowering the Earl of Leven to raise a regiment eight hundred strong to guard the town, disperse all parties bearing arms save themselves, and prevent any person entering or leaving the Castle. His own regiment being still about Plymouth, the Earl formed the new regiment out of entirely fresh levies, but these were chiefly and readily supplied by west-countrymen, who had come to Edinburgh for the special purpose of strengthening the hands of the promoters of the Revolution. The measure however was merely temporary, until the arrival of regular troops from England, whither the Scots had sent their regiments for the time.

..." Permission was also accorded to him to quarter his regiment, which was now under orders to proceed from England to Scotland, wherever he pleased in Fife. King William's first Scottish parliament sat in Edinburgh on 5th June, 1689, but the Earl of Leven is not mentioned as taking any special part in its work further than being present and protesting for the precedency of his title over the Earl of Callendar. There was other business on hand more congenial to his military tastes. His regiment was now with him having left Plymouth in the month of May for Chester, thence to pass to Kirkcudbright by sea ; and the Earl received a new commission as its colonel, with the captaincy of a company in it from their Majesties King William and Queen Mary, which was dated 20 June 1689, but was ordered to rank from 7th September of the previous year, the date of his last commission granted by the King as the Prince of Orange." l

The facts as gleaned from the public records and contemporary authorities, in one or two details confirm, but more frequently contradict these state- ments.

The Earl of Leven accompanied the Prince of Orange in his invasion of England in November, 1688. On 7th March, 1689, the earl received a pass for Scotland,2 and was present at the opening of the Convention of Estates at Edinburgh on Thuisday, the i4th of that month.3 On Monday the i8th he was authorised by the Convention to levy a regiment of 800 men by beat of drums and to rendezvous them in the Abbey Close.4 The call was so instantly responded to that on the same day 500 men entered on

I The Mdvilles Earls of Melville, and the Leslies Earls of Leven, by Sir William Eraser, vol. i. p. 248 et seq.

- Calendar of State Papers : Domestic, 1689-90, p. 16.

II Acts of the Parliaments of Scotland, Record Edition, vol. ix. p. 3. 4 Ibid. p. ii.

236 ORIGIN OF KING'S OWN SCOTTISH BORDERERS

pay.1 By Wednesday the 2Oth, four sergeants, six corporals, six drums, a scrivener and 168 private men were added, bringing the numbers up to 685. z The officers then present with the regiment were two captains, two lieutenants and two ensigns, who are noted as having joined on the 2oth.3 On the 25th Captain Henry Verriere, a Huguenot officer in the earl's regiment in England, received a pass to join his colonel.4 On the same date the commander-in-chief, Major-General Hugh Mackay, arrived in Edinburgh with the skeletons of the three Scots-Dutch regiments com- manded by Colonel Barthold Balfour, Colonel George Ramsay and himself.5 The general brought a supply of money, and the earl's share enabled him to bring up his levy to 780, the strength authorised for the English establish- m?nt.«

The news of the earl's feat travelled quickly. In the London Gazette, Monday, March 25th-Thursday, March 28th, 1689, it is stated that the Convention " ordered 800 men to be levied under the command of the Earl of Leven, who likewise came over with his Majesty ; which were raised and armed in two hours' time, and appointed to guard the town." In the regimental record the account is given with the variation that the regiment was raised in four hours.7 In the latest official record it is stated to have been completely recruited up to 1000 men within the space of four hours, and this tradition is confirmed by an entry in the books of the Scottish Treasury.8

No further reference to the recruiting of the regiment at this period appear in the Scottish records, as it was paid from the English establishment.9

The swiftness with which the regiment sprang into being is unparalleled in our military annals, and in the opinion of the individual most competent

1 Treasury Sederunts, from I3th September, 1688, to 4th August, 1690. H.M. Register House, Edinburgh.

Ibid. » Ibid.

Calendar of State Papers: Domestic, 1689-90, p. 41.

Acts of Parliament, ix. 21.

Memoirs of Major-General Hugh Mackay, Maitland Club, 1833, p. 6.

Records of the King's Own Borderers, by Capt. R. T. Higgins, 1873, p. I.

Short Histories of the Territorial Regiments of the British Army, edited by R. de M. Rudolf. I.S.O. of the War Office, London. No. 25.

• In April, 1689, the Scottish Treasury pay £50 ... Stg. to the Earl of Leven " for advances and levy money for 24 seamen taken as volunteers to serve their Majesties forces." These men no doubt served in the fleet.

ANDREW ROSS 237

of judging, Major-General Mackay, commanding in Scotland, it was com- posed of some of the best recruits raised in Scotland at a time when the cream of the country was eager to join the army. They were the men who faced Dundee at Killiecrankie, where they behaved in a way which repeatedly called forth the general's commendations.1 They were a body totally distinct from the western men with whom Sir William Fraser confuses them.2 None of the western men joined Leven's. In March, 1689, they declined to serve under any officers other than those elected bv themselves.3 To the number of several hundreds they had mounted guard on i8th March around the castle of Edinburgh to intercept communication between the castle and the city.4 They returned home on the 28th of that month after receiving the thanks of the Convention for their services,5 and thfey formed the nucleus of the Cameronian Regiment, late 26th. The blockade of the castle was continued by the three Scots-Dutch regiments, each of which was quickly augmented to two battalions of 1200 men.6 On the 2nd of April the Earl of Leven obtained permission to withdraw the regiment to Fife to quarter it where he thought suitable.7

Turning now to the Leven Regiment in England, the earliest reference observed to it is in a marching order by King William :

" Our will and pleasure is that forthwith upon the receipt of this our order, you with your Regiment now in garrison at Plymouth do march with what expedi- tion you conveniently can unto our city of Chester, and having with the assistance of the Mayor and magistrates of the said city, provided such shipping as shall be necessary, that you embark your said Regiment and transport the same to Kirkcubrig, or any other port which you can best make upon the west of Scotland, when you will receive our further directions. Given at our Palace at Hampton Court the 22 clay of March 1688-9." Addressed " To the Earl of Leven or his Lieutenant Colonel." 8

1 Mackay's Memoirs, pp. 57, 59, 256, 273.

2 There is no room (or doubt on this point. The order for the Convention dated 2ist March, 1689, runs thus : " The Meeting of Estates doe ordaine that such Centinells as the Earle of Leven hes levied be payed by James Oswald, Generall receiver, att six shillings Scots per diem since the tyme of their respective enrollments, and that the officers be payed conforme ; As also that the Countrymen who have served as guardes hitherto have a week's pay from Mundaj last in the same manner to the number of f yve hundered, And that ther officers have the thanks of the meeting." Acts of Parliament, ix. 18. The payment to the Le/en recruits duly appears in the Treasury Accounts. There is no record of payment to the countrymen (Cameronians), whose principles did not permit of their accepting it.

3 See the Note on the Angus Regiment in this volume.

4 Faithful Contending!. '- Acts of Parliament, ix. 23. 6 Mackay's Memoirs. ' Acts of Parliament, ix. 33. 8 War Office Records, Chancery Lane, London, Class 5, vol. 5, fol. 114.

238 ORIGIN OF KING'S OWN SCOTTISH BORDERERS

This is the order alluded to in a letter from Sir James Dalrymple of Stair to the Earl of Melville, Lord Leven's father, dated from London, 23rd March, 1689, where he writes : "I was yesterday at Hampton Court and spoke with both the King and Mr. Renting [Bentinck]. I got an order for the Regiment to march to Chester and then to be provided in a ship to Kirkcudbright." 1 For some unexplained reason the order was not carried out. Two or three days afterwards the news reached London of the extraordinary rapidity with which Lord Leven's regiment in Edin- burgh had sprung into existence,2 and on the nth April Sir James writes Lord Melville : " I had gotten a warrant for Lord Leven's Regiment to march to Scotland by Chester, but I thought it unnecessar to bring a handfull of strangers that way, and to retard the officers." 3

The officers then proceeded to Scotland alone. What became of the " handfull " of private men referred to by Sir James can only be surmised. The corps mustered at the landing at Torbay on 5th November, 1688, two hundred and twenty-seven private men, as appears from the following warrant :

" Our will and pleasure is that you forthwith prepare and send the debentures for the pay of Our Regiment of Foot commanded by Our Right Trusty and Right Wellbeloved Cousin and Councillor Daniell Earl of Levin according to the severall numbers and for the respective times hereafter menconed the same to be computed att the rates allowed by our Establishment to the officers and souldiers of our army regiments, vizt. one colonell, one lieutenant colonell nine other captains six lieutenants eight ensignes on chirurgeon and his mate, one adjutant ten Serjeants tenn corporalls ten drummers and 227 privat soldiers, to be allowed from the 5th of November 1688 inclusive (being the day We landed in England) to the ist March i688[89] exclusive. And from the said ist day of March to the last of December 1689 inclusive one collonel one lievtenant collonel one major nine other captains, 12 lievtenants 12 ensignes one chirurgeon and his mate, one adjutant one quarter master one chaplaine 24 Serjeants 36 corporalls 24 drummers and 780 private soldiers. And Our further pleasure is that you make out like deben- tures for the pay of the said Regiment from the ist of January i68g[9o] to the last of August past according to such muster rolls as shall be taken off them for the months of September and October last by the commissary general of Our musters in Scotland or his deputy, pursuant to our Establishment of the said Regiment. And We do likewise direct that in your said debenture you include the pay of 12 captains of arms at i4d a day each from the said ist of March i688[8g] to the last of December 1689 aforesaid. And for so doing this shall be your warrant.

1 The Leven and Melville Papers, p. 3.

2 London Gazette, from Monday, March 25th to Thursday, March z8th, 1689. ' The Leven and Melville Papers, p. 10.

ANDREW ROSS 239

Given at Our court at Kensington on this 26th of November 1690, in the second year of our reign. By his Majestys command." 1 Addressed to the Earl of Ranelagh.

Judging by the fate of other weak regiments at the time, there is little doubt that Leven's was incorporated with other corps. The new king and his advisers regarded the three kingdoms simply as recruiting grounds for the army in the Netherlands, and corps were formed, broken up and incorporated with others with little regard to nationality. Even the Guards were not exempt. The experience of the three Scots-Dutch regiments which accompanied Major-General Mackay to Edinburgh is in point. While in the south the king stripped them to strengthen his English regi- ments, and on arrival in Scotland they mustered barely noo men.2 They were ordered to be recruited at home to a strength of 1200 men each.3 It may be added that at the revolution the garrison of Plymouth was under the command of the Earl of Bath, colonel of the loth Regiment of Foot, who had then been governor for many years.4 Intimating his adherence to the Prince of Orange within a fortnight of the landing at Torbay,5 he was continued in his post, which he held for some years subse- quently.6 The Earl of Leven at no time held that command.

With the exception of three Huguenots, the officers of Leven's were men of Scots families, Hamiltons, Gordons, Fullertons, Maxwells, Moncrieffs, and so forth.7 The commissions of the Earl of Leven as colonel and of William Arnot as lieutenant-colonel are both dated 2Oth June, i689,8 the others are of subsequent dates in that year. The regiment remained in Fife until the end of May, 1689, 9 when it moved to Dundee,10 and before the encounter with Dundee at Killicrankie (27th July, 1689) mustered 900 men, 200 of whom were on the day of battle in garrison at Inverness.11 Major-General Mackay pays a high tribute to the ability and courage of

I English Treasury Records, 5^,215. ' Mackay's Memoirs, p. 5.

Life of Lieut.-General Hugh Mackay of Scourie, by John Mackay of Rockfield, 1842, p. 18. 3 Ibid. p. 21. * Dalton's English Army Lists, i. 12.

5 Dalrymple's Memoirs, vol. ii. Appendix, second pagination, p. 335.

6 Dalton, ii. 31, 38. ' Dalton, iii. 85.

8 Warrant Book, Scotland, I5th May, i68g-26th February, 1690.

8 Acts of Parliament, ix. 81. lo Mackay's Memoirs, p. 253.

II A Military History of Perthshire, by the Marchioness of Tullibardine, p. 256, n. I, and the authorities there cited.

24o ORIGIN OF KING'S OWN SCOTTISH BORDERERS

the officers of Leven's on that day.1 Immediately afterwards the regiment was quartered in Edinburgh and Leith,2 where its ranks so quickly refilled that in the following December it was called upon for reinforcements for the Scots regiments in the Netherlands.3 It remained in the south of Scotland until November, 1691, when it received orders to proceed to Holland, sailing from Leith in February following.4 It served with distinc- tion throughout the war, which was brought to an end by the peace of Ryswick, concluded in October, 1697. On ist February, 1698, the regiment, then under the command of Brigadier Maitland, was ordered to return to Scotland to garrison Fort William.5 On its arrival Colonel Hill's regiment, which for many years had formed the garrison, was disbanded, and for several years Leven's occupied the post.

At a meeting of a Board of General Officers held in London on Wednesday, 25th February, 1712, summoned by Queen Anne,

" to enquire into the commission of the Earl of Leven, Colonel of your Majesty's Regiment of Foot, now under the command of Brigadier Breton, touching a particular clause therein, which has been represented to your Majesty to entitle the said Regiment to a higher rank than has been by the General Officers allowed to it. As also that the said General Officers should lay before your Majesty, the time the said Regiment actually came upon the English establishment, and whether it was ever in service with the Regiments of Sterne, Newton, Sutton, Handasyd, Sabine, or Primrose, and if so, what rank it then had with respect to any of those Regiments.

" The General Officers do therefore most humbly acquaint your Majesty, that a commission from the late king bearing date the 20th of July 1689, 6 has been produced unto them constituting the Earl of Leven colonel of the said Regiment, wherein there is a clause authorising and appointing the said Earl, to take rank in marching and encamping, or in garrison as if that his said Majesty's commission had been dated upon the yth of September preceding which the General Officers take leave to observe to your Majesty, to be two months before the landing of that king in England.

" The General Officers do further find by an authentic Certifycate that the said Regiment came under the Earl of Ranalegh's care of payment upon the 5th of November 1688. 7 But the same does in no way appear ever to have had

1 Mackay's Memoirs, pp. 258, 273. * Ibid. 284.

3 Calendar of Slate Papers: Domestic, 1690-91, p. 182.

' Eraser, i. 264.

6 Warrant Book, Scotland, 6th April, i695-2nd June, 1698.

8 The date in the Warrant Book. Scotland, is zoth June, 1689.

' The date of the landing at Torbay.

ANDREW ROSS 241

rank of any of the regiments before mentioned, some whereof it has been upon service with, which regiments were accordingly posted by the Regulation made at Roosbeck Camp in the year 1694." 1

The warrant of William III., dated from the Roosbeck Camp loth June, 1694, laid down the rule that " a Scotts Regiment coming upon the English establishment should take a rank with other Regiments from that time." 2

There could be no question of the precedency of the i8th Foot (Sterne's), an Irish regiment summoned to England on the threat of the Prince of Orange's invasion in 1688, and which remained on English pay until it re-embarked for Ireland in August, 1689. 3 The circumstances of the other four regiments were different. The commission of the first colonel of the igth Foot (Sabine's) was dated the 28th of February, 1689, but as the regiment was formed of independent companies raised about the middle of November, 1688, it was granted precedence from 20th November, i688.4 The same remarks apply to Newton's (20th Foot).5 The first commissions in the 22nd (Handasyd's), in the 23rd (Sabine's) and in the 24th (Primrose's) are all dated 8th March, 1689, and the three corps came into existence between that date and the August following.6

As the general officers point out in their report, the Prince of Orange was not in England in September, 1688. It was not then in his power to fix the status of any Scots or English regiment. It is clear, therefore, that although the corps brought over by the Earl of Leven at the revolution drew English pay from 5th November, 1688, yet its subsequent disappear- ance, the raising of the new regiment in Edinburgh and the issue of commissions for it on 2oth June, 1689, decided the Board in fixing the rank and precedence of Leven's.

1 War Office Records, Chancery Lane, 71, 2, fol. 151.

'Ibid. 26, 7, fol. 129.

3 Cannon's Historical Record of the iSt/i Foot, pp. 1-6

* Cannon's Historical Record of the igth Foot, pp. 1-2.

6 Cannon's Historical Records of the 2oth Foot, pp. 1-2.

• Cannon's Historical Records of the 22nd Foot, pp. 1-3; Of the 23rd Foot, pp. 1-2; Dalton's English Army Lists, iii. 69, 70, 71.

VI

THE CAMERONIANS (SCOTTISH RIFLES) I. THE 26TH CAMERONIAN REGIMENT

By ANDREW ROSS, Ross Herald.

THE time when, the place where and the way how the Cameronian Regiment came into existence unite in making the story of its origin one of the most remarkable in British regimental annals.

When King James VII. and II. took the step so fatal to his interests, of withdrawing the regular troops from Scotland in November, 1688, his power in that country came to an end, and for some months the Cameronians were masters of the south of the kingdom. Known in history by various names in the past — United Societies, Society People, Mountain Men, Hill Men or Cameronians — they had maintained throughout the reigns of Charles II. and his brother James VII. the binding obligation of the National League and Covenant of 1638 upon the King and people of Scotland, and of the Solemn League and Covenant of 1643 upon the rulers and the ruled of the three kingdoms of Scotland, England and Ireland. They led the rising which was quelled at Rullion Green, 28th November, 1666, and that which ended at Bothwell Brig, 22nd June, 1679. Down to the latter date their attitude as loyal subjects was one of protest against the laws enacted and put in execution by the Parliament and Privy Council of Scotland. But in their Sanquhar Declaration of 22nd June, 1680, they renounced allegiance to Charles II. as King of Scotland, and declared war against him.1

At Torwood in Stirlingshire, in September of the same year, their leader, Mr. Donald Cargill, excommunicated the King, the Dukes of York,

1 The Sanquhar Declaration is printed at length in Wodrow, 2nd edition, iii. 212.

244 THE CAMERONIANS

Monmouth, Lauderdale and Rothes, General Dalyell and the Lord- Advocate, Sir George Mackenzie of Rosehaugh,1 and this sentence was found posted on the walls of Edinburgh two days after it was uttered. In their Apolo- getical Declaration in November, 1684, they re-stated their position and declared war anew. Thenceforth, the forms of justice so far as they were concerned were dispensed with, the execution of the laws being committed to the commanders of the military forces, the Cameronians were compelled to take refuge among the bogs and muirs of the southern uplands. Diminished in numbers by the fierceness of the persecution, but unbroken in spirit, they still presented a front to their opponents, when the news arrived of the landing of the Prince of Orange in England. With quick resolve they summoned a meeting of their party to be held in the Vale of Douglas, near the town and castle of that name in the county of Lanark, to decide upon their future procedure. Among them were some hundreds of armed men formed in companies under officers of their own selection. Their leader was Captain Daniel Ker of Kersland in the county of Ayr. He had been a fugitive in the muirs since the time of the Argyll Rising in 1685, and his patrimony was in the hands of the Earl of Melfort. Under his leadership the Cameronians proceeded in the winter of 1688 to turn the tables upon their opponents. There was no force in the country to oppose them, and they went through the lowland counties of the kingdom ejecting from their charges those of the parish clergy who had been inducted by the bishops.2 The Prince of Orange having summoned the Estates of Scotland to meet at Edinburgh on I4th March, 1689, the Cameronians sent a delegation of their own, accompanied by their ministers, to attend the Convention and secure a settlement of Church and State in accordance with their views.

A body of 500 supporters came also, so well armed and organised under their own officers that they were invited by the authorities to blockade the Castle of Edinburgh, then held by the Duke of Gordon for King James, so that the Estates might meet and vote with safety.3 Accordingly, on i8th

1 A Hind let Loose, p. 138.

* The Memoirs of John Ker of Kersland in North Britain, Esq. London, 1727, vol. i. pp. 7-11.

3 Siege of the Castle of Edinburgh, Bannatyne Club, p. 42. A Short Memorial of the Sufferings and Grievances, past and present, of the Presbyterians of Scotland : particularly of those called by the Nickname Cameronians. Printed in the year 1690 : page 40.

ANDREW ROSS 245

March they commenced work on the trenches planned to intercept com- munications between the castle and the city, and remained on duty until the 25th, when they were relieved by Balfour's, Mackay's and Ramsay's regiments of the Scots Brigade, which, coming from Holland with William of Orange, had been commanded to Scotland to oppose Viscount Dundee. For these services they were ordered a week's pay to run from i8th March ; but the Cameronians had come prepared to fend for themselves in the dis- charge of what they considered their plain duty, and they declined to accept the payment voted by the Estates. Three days afterwards they received the thanks of the Estates for their " good acceptable and seasonable services," and were invited to betake themselves home with their arms.

The delegates remained to watch the proceedings of the Estates. When that body decided to offer the crown to William and Mary, rigid Cameronians raised objections. They dreaded " sinful association " with men several of whom not long before had been their persecutors. They desired to know the conditions on which the Prince of Orange was to be chosen king, "so to evidence to the world that though we are against tyranny and tyrants, yet we are for magistracy and magistrates when they are duly constituted and appointed ; and that we hate anarchy equally with tyranny, and are for order and government." Events moved too quickly for them. The paper containing their declaration was not submitted to the Estates. It was proposed instead that "in this juncture of affairs, when religion, liberty, country and all were in great danger," the Cameronians should raise a regiment of twenty companies in two battalions, under the Earl of Angus as colonel, and William Cleland, son of Thomas Cleland, garner keeper to the Marquess of Douglas, the earl's father, as lieut. -colonel. The adherents of the party were summoned to meet at Douglas on the 2gth April to consider the proposal.

A great multitude assembled ; all agreed that the regiment should be raised. Still there were hesitations and doubts. It was urged that to have a regiment of the Society people under pay would involve sinful association with malignants in the army ; that they would be obliged to fight under and obey the officer commanding in Scotland, Major General Hugh Mackay, " whom they knew not nor what he was for or against." So they tried to bargain with the military authorities. They proposed that in the regiment to be raised the superior officers and captains of companies

246 THE CAMERONIANS

should be men of integrity, willing to renew the covenant obligation ; that each company should select its inferior officers, those already chosen being continued in their posts ; that the regiment should choose its own minister, with an elder in each company, and that the military laws against immoral conduct of speech and behaviour should be put into severe execution. Finally, they desired that the regiment should have liberty to represent to government the grievances and oppressions of byegone years, and impeach the chief instruments thereof in Church and State. Their proposals were sent to Edinburgh for consideration by the authorities.

Meanwhile the captains named by the men, with others selected by William Cleland, were busy organising their companies, and another meeting was held at Douglas on I2th May. Two days were spent in wrangling over the conditions of service. The military authorities declared it impossible to accept them, and at a council of war held in Douglas Castle on the morn- ing of the I4th, they resolved to abandon the idea of raising the regiment.

Cleland had determined otherwise. His commission as lieut.-colonel had passed the Committee of Estates on 28th April, and he had in his pocket the marching orders dated I2th May for a regiment which was still to be formed. He had spent the night before in canvassing the men with a simple form of declaration to which the military authorities had no objection. He now appeared before them as they were drawn up in companies by the Douglas Water, and first addressed himself to the company of his brother- in-law, Captain John Hadow. He declared he had met several of his friends who agreed to enlist on terms which he now desired Captain John Campbell of Moy to read : " To declare that you engage in this service, of purpose to resist popery and prelacy and arbitrary power, and to recover and establish the work of reformation in Scotland, in opposition to popery, prelacy and arbitrary power in all the branches and steps thereof, till the government in church and state be brought to that lustre and integrity which it had in the best times."

The reading was followed by an exhortation from the chaplain, Mr. Alexander Shields. The procedure was repeated before each of the twenty companies in turn. Military spirit rose high, all agreed to serve.1 And so, " all in one day, without beat of drum or expense of levy money," the Angus Regiment was raised. It is a tradition in Maybole, the capital of

1 Faithful Contending! Displayed, Glasgow, 1780, pp. 370-404.

ANDREW ROSS 247

Carrick, that the first to enlist was a man from Knockbrake in the neighbourhood of that town.1 Among them was young John Blackader, son of the minister of Troqueer, serving as a cadie in the regiment he was destined to command.2

The marching orders of I2th May directed the lieut. -colonel to proceed to Perth, halting at Stirling on the way thence to send to the Committee of Estates a report on the condition of the regiment, and on what was required to complete its equipment. On 20th May there mustered 1200 centinels, 40 drums, 60 corporals, and 40 sergeants.3 On ist June the strength was returned at a colonel, lieut. -colonel, major, aidmajor, surgeon and mate, 20 captains, 20 lieutenants, 20 ensigns, 40 sergeants, 60 corporals, 40 drums and 1140 centinels. From Stirling magazine they received 400 pikes and 500 firelocks, with powder, ball and match, 40 halberds and 40 drums. They were then quartered at Kilsyth, St. Ninians, Doune and Dunblane.4 At the latter town on loth July the regiment was again mustered. There were present 1307 non-commissioned officers and men. The rolls, which have been preserved, are unique among Scots lists for the variety of surnames. Hamiltons were most numerous, twenty-eight of them, and Douglas, Oliphant, Cunningham, Johnstone, Muir, Lockhart, and Wallace frequently occur. Many names have disappeared or are now rarely met with, such as Allwayes, Bogrie, Carbney ; there are two Dreedans, both sergeants, Fauloe, Glencairn, Heich, Haning, Hair (nine), Kago, Lang- rig, Manersone, Perat, Raveltoune, Stobo, Sherpra, Torrokill, Wheelas, Wallett, Wicketshaw. There are fifty-six Macs, indicating a contingent from Galloway, such as Corporal John MacMath and Corporal Gilbert M'lvreck but there is a centinel Gregory M'Gregory and a Sergeant John M'Gregor, and the wonder is how they got into that galley.5

In July, 1689, they were at Perth, where they remained to be at the disposal of Major-General Hugh Mackay,6 who was overthrown by Viscount Dundee at Killiecrankie on Saturday the 27th of that month. When the first

1 Information from Mr. James Gibson, Town Clerk, Maybole.

- The Life and Diary of Lieut. -Colonel J. Blackader of the Cameraman Regiment and Deputy- Governor of Stirling Castle. By Andrew Crichton, Edinburgh, 1824, p. 73.

3 Treasury Sederunts, H.M. Register House, Edinburgh.

4 Acts of the Parliaments of Scotland, Record Edition.

* Muster Rolls, Army Portfolios, H.M. Register House, Edinburgh. 6 Leven and Melville Papers, p. 33.

248 THE CAMERONIANS

panic of the defeat was over, the Cameronians were ordered to advance to Dunkeld, and arrived on Saturday, I7th August. In a hostile country Lieut.- Col. Cleland set about preparations for the security of his post. The stone walls round the policies of the Marquess of Atholl's house, the building itself and the church adjacent were made defensible for infantry. Four outposts were established in the town. Captain William Hay and Ensign Lockhart with 28 men were stationed " on a little hill," with a stone fence at its foot. Lieutenant Forrester and Ensign Campbell at the west end of the town with 24 men, a lieutenant with 14 men at the east end, and Lieut. Stuart in a barricade at the cross with 40 men. On Monday the igth Lord Cardross arrived with two troops of horse and three of dragoons. On Tuesday morning the combined force sallied out to reconnoitre, and drove back for a mile or two a body of Highlanders who were observing their proceedings, inflicting a loss of thirty men. At night Lord Cardross received an order to fall back on Perth. He urged that in face of the enemy it was necessary he should remain. The reply was a peremptory summons to return, which he felt compelled to obey. Some of the officers and soldiers of the Angus Regiment, on the departure of the cavalry, proposed that they also should march away, the post being difficult of defence, and the numbers of their opponents continually increasing. The lieut. -colonel and the other officers " used all arguments of honour to persuade them to keep their post. And for their encouragement and to assure them they would never leave them, they ordered to draw out all their horses to be shot dead. The souldiers then told them they needed not that pledge for their honour, which they never doubted, but seeing they found their stay necessar, they would run all hazards with them."

At daybreak on Wednesday the 2ist the main body of the Highlanders, about 3000 strong, under Lieut. -General Cannon, attacked the four de- tached parties in the town. The MacLeans led, and after a fierce struggle all four detachments were compelled to retire with loss on the main body. Hector MacLean of Torrestan and Hector MacLean, a son of Kingerloch, were killed, and Sir Alexander MacLean of Otter severely wounded.1

The outposts forced, the assailants surrounded the mansion-house and church. Notwithstanding the shot " liberally pour'd in their faces," they pressed up to the slender defences and broadsword met pike and halberd.

1 Account of the History of the Clan MacLean by a Seannachie, London, 1838.

ANDREW ROSS 249

The supply of bullets ran out, lead was stripped from the roof of the mansion- house, melted, run into furrows in the ground, cut into slugs and distributed amongst the musketeers. The lieut. -colonel was mortally wounded by two balls and struggled to reach the church that his fall might not dis- courage his men. The major and the two senior captains were killed, and the command fell on Captain Monro, who handed over his own charge to Lieut. Stuart of Livingstone. The conflict increased in intensity, and the houses in the town nearest the scene of conflict were filled with Highland marksmen whose aim was deadly. Parties of the garrison sallied out with burning faggots on their pikes and set fire to the houses from which the destructive musketry came. The Highlanders, discouraged by the stub- bornness of the defence, drew off about an hour before noon, when the Cameronians " gave glory to God and praised him, after they had fitted them- selves for a new assault." The loss of the Cameronians was stated by themselves at four officers and 15 men killed, two officers and 50 men wounded.1 A Jacobite writer places their loss at 300. 2 The successful defence of Dunkeld neutralised the effects of Dundee's victory at Killie- crankie. It depressed King James's friends as much as it encouraged King William's. It set free for the Irish campaign the English regiments then in Scotland.3 With one exception they departed for Ireland, the last detachment sailing from Portpatrick on iyth October.4 There re- mained but Sir James Leslie's5 (late i5th, the East Yorkshire). During its stay in Scotland that corps was so largely recruited there, that it was called on regularly to furnish its quota of reinforcements to the Scots regi- ments serving in Flanders,6 until it went there itself in June, 1694. 7 In December the Cameronians were reduced to thirteen companies of sixty men each, including the grenadier company.

1 The Exact Narrative of the Conflict at Dunkeld betwixt the Earl of Angus' s Regiment and the Rebels. Collected from several Officers of that Regiment who were Actors in or Eye-witnesses to, all that's here narrated, in reference to these Actions, Edinburgh, 1689.

2 Memoirs of Locheill, Abbotsford Club, pp. 286-87.

3 Register of the Privy Council of Scotland, igth September, 1689, H.M. Register House.

4 Ibid. 28th October, 1689.

5 Ibid. 26th September, 1689.

• Privy Council Register, various dates 1691-93.

' The History of the Campagne in the Spanish Netherlands, Anno Dom. 1694. With the Journal of the Siege of Huy. By Edward D'Auvergne, M.A., Rector of St. Brelade in the Isle of Jersey, and Chaplain to their Majesties Regiment of Scots Guards. London, 1694, p. 16.

25o THE CAMERONIANS

Before August, 1690, four companies were detached to join the garrison of Inverlochy, which already consisted of four companies of the Argylls, nine of Grant's, and Menzies of Weems's company. Sir John Hill, com- manding the garrison at Inverlochy, wrote on 4th July, 1690 : " I have such a parcel of rogues that I am perpetually in trouble with them, except Angus's men, who carry well." 1 The other nine under Lieut.-Colonel John Fullarton, who had succeeded Lieut.-Colonel Cleland, were stationed at various points in the Highlands. In January, 1691, the grenadier company was provided with " pie-coats and shirts, grenadiers' caps, patrontashes and belts, grenadier caps badges and belts, and sixty bayonets with slipones conform." z The regiment was then stationed at Arbroath and Montrose, Captain Herries with his company being in garrison at Kildrummie, the modern Castleton of Braemar. On 2gth August Lieut.-Colonel Fullarton certified that John Wright, late a soldier in the Angus regiment, was disabled in the engagement with the Highlanders at Dunkeld, and a warrant was issued by the Privy Council to Dr. Adam Freer, overseer of the Invalids, to place him on the Invalid Roll and pay him accordingly.3

The Angus Regiment embarked at Leith for Flanders in February.4 In March they were encamped at Halle in South Brabant, along with the Scots Guards, the ist battalion of the Royals, Ramsay's and Mackay's of the Scots brigade, and Hodge's Regiment (late i6th Foot, now the Bedford- shire) . While stationed here Lieut. John Blackadder fought a duel with Lieut. Robert Murray of The Royals, who was killed. Through the influence of the Count de Solms, Blackadder was pardoned and restored to his rank (W.O. Records 26. 7. folio 18). In May they were encamped near Brussels as part of General Ramsay's brigade, which consisted, in addition, of the two battalions of the Royals, Mackay's and Murray's of the Scots brigade, and O'Farrell's (now the Royal Scots Fusiliers). At this time the regiment had white facings.5

On gth July King William reviewed the fifteen English battalions then present with the army, and on the I3th the ten Scots battalions. They were two of the Scots Guards, two of the Royals, Mackay's, Graham's

1 State Papers, Domestic, 1690-91, p. 48. » Treasury Sederunt, H.M. Register House.

s Invalid Portfolio, Gen. Register House.

1 Some Account of the 26th or Cameraman Regiment from its Formation to the present period, London, 1828, p. 4. • Ibid. p. 4.

ANDREW ROSS 251

and Lauder's of the Scots brigade, O'Farrell's, Leven's (now the King's Own Scottish Bordeiers), and Angus's1 regiments. The last-named corps took part in the battle of Steenkirk, 3rd August, when King William attacked the Duke of Luxembourg. That day Angus's was brigaded with Cutts's (disbanded 1697) and Mackay's and Graham's of the Scots brigade. The Duke of Wirtemberg commanded the first line of the King's army, con- sisting of six battalions, including the Royals and the Scots Fusiliers, and by a vigorous attack thrust back the enemy through the denies and hedges, and took post in the wood on the right of the French line, on which he opened a vigorous cannonade. The regiments of Cutts, Mackay, Graham and Angus were interlined with English horse, and advanced to the right skirt of the wood ready to support Wirtemberg in a further advance. On the left were Hesse's (late 6th), Lauders' of the Scots brigade and Leven's (late 25th), interlined with the left wing of the horse. A narrow valley was now all that separated the main lines of the armies, and Wirtemberg again advanced to the attack. A desperate conflict ensued, but in the end the French remained masters of the field, although their losses were too severe to permit of them following up the advantage. Amongst the slain was the young Earl of Angus, Lieut. -Colonel John Fullarton, Major Daniel Ker of Kersland who had led the Cameronians in their rabbling of the curates in 1688, with other officers and many privates from the town of Douglas. The colonelcy was given to Lieut. -Colonel Andrew Munro from the Royal Scots, fourth son of Sir Robert Munro, third baronet of Foulis.2 The regiment, however, long continued to be known as the Angus Regiment, and the Angus star (heraldically termed a mullet), still in use by the corps, is the last survival in the British army of those family distinctions which George I. and George II. took so much pains to eradicate.3

A more disastrous conflict was that of Landen or Neer-Winden, i8th July, 1693, where King William was out-generalled by Marshal Luxembourg. The Cameronians, with O'Farrell's, Mackay's, Lauder's and Leven's were under Brigadier-General Ramsay on the right of the line. After a long

1 A Relation of the most Remarkable Transactions of the last Campaigns in the Confederate Army, under the command of his Majesty of Great Britain ; and after, of the Elector of Bavaria, in the Spanish Netherlands, Anno Dom. 1692, London, 1693, p. 33.

* Ibid. pp. 41, 46.

3 The star is derived from the arms of Douglas, which display three stars or mullets argent on a chief azure. It is now conjoined in the regimental badge with the bugle carried by the old goth Perthshire Light Infantry. — ED.

252 THE CAMERONIANS

struggle the King was compelled to leave the field with the loss of his artillery and many standards and colours, 214 officers killed, 296 wounded, 6000 rank and file killed and prisoners, and 4000 wounded. The Cameronians had Captain Stuart and Ensign Hutchison wounded, and Captains Alex- ander, Campbell, Fullarton and Munro prisoners ; their loss in rank and file is not stated. On the 7th of August the King moved to Halle. There was great sickness in the camp and many officers died, including Colonel Munro of the Cameronians, and the command was given to Colonel James Ferguson, a cadet of Badifurrow, formerly in Scots brigade, but latterly Lieut. -Colonel of the Cameronians.1 The regiment went into winter quarters at Ostend.

In 1694 reinforcements arrived from Scotland, and in the following year the regiment marched from its winter quarters to Dixmude, and on gth June was engaged in the attack on Fort Kenoque at the junction of the Loo and Dixmude canals. The attack failed, and the losses, amounting to about 400 killed and wounded, fell chiefly on the Cameronians and Tiffin's regiment (Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers, late the 27th Foot), Captain Turnbull of the Cameronians being among the killed. The Cameronians then marched to take part in the siege of Namur, which fell on 25th July, 1695. 2 The Peace of Ryswick was concluded in 1697, and as the English Parliament refused supplies for more than an establishment of 10,000, Ferguson's Cameronian regiment was taken, with some other corps, into Dutch pay. It remained in Holland until 1700, when it came on English pay and was sent to Scotland, and in 1702 passed again to Holland.3

The Cameronians served through all Marlborough's campaigns. A detachment, 130 strong, which took part in the attack on the entrenched position of Donawert held by the French and Bavarians under Count D'Arco (2nd July, 1704), lost one sergeant and 18 men killed, 2 officers, 3 sergeants and 57 men wounded. At Blenheim they were under command of Brigadier Ferguson. They mustered on that day 41 officers, 33 sergeants, 31 corporals, 24 drums and 522 private men. They had five officers killed, Captain Alexander Campbell, Lieutenants Archibald Douglas, George Seaton and

1 D'Auvergne s Campaign in the Netherlands, pp. 62, 94, 103.

1 The History of the Campagne in Flanders for the year 1695, with an Account of the Siege of Namur. By Edward D'Auvergne, M.A., etc. London, 1696, pp. 32, 45, 99.

» Historical Record of the Twenty-sixth or Cameronian Regiment. Edited by Thomas Carter. London, 1867, p. 29.

ANDREW ROSS 253

Moncrieffe, and Ensign James Hay. Wounded : Lieut.-Colonel Livingstone, Captains Smart, Blackader, Borthwick and Wilson, Lieutenant Ferguson, Ensigns Barnard, MacLean, Ogilvy, Row, Dalrymple, Oliphant and Marshall, and Quartermaster Stephenson. Brigadier Ferguson died suddenly at the Bush in Brabant, and on 24th October, 1705, Lieut.-Colonel John Borthwick succeeded to the command. On ist January following, Colonel Borthwick exchanged with John Lord Dalrymple, afterwards Earl of Stair, colonel of one of the regiments of the Scots brigade in the service of Holland, and on the same date George Lord Forrester became lieut. -colonel. The regiment was present at Ramillies on 23rd May, where Capt. Denon was killed and Colonel Borthwick, so lately its commander. The Cameronians then moved to Louvain on the 25th, to Brussels on the 26th and to Cambrai on 5th June. On 24th August Lieut.-Colonel George Preston from the Scots Greys succeeded as colonel to James Earl of Stair, who became colonel of the Greys. In this year the Cameronians assisted at the sieges of Dendermonth and Aeth, and before taking up their winter quarters at Ghent they were sent to Courtrai to assist in repairing the fortifications.1 On nth July, 1708, at the battle of Oudenarde they formed part of the right wing under Prince Eugene. They were exposed to a cannonade for nearly two hours and had many killed and wounded. The losses on both sides were heavy. At the siege of Lille the Cameronians were at first em- ployed with the covering army. On 7th September the besiegers effected a lodgment in an outwork, losing 1000 men in the assault. On the I2th Major Blackader was employed in an attack with 400 grenadiers, of which he gives the following account :

" About 12 we marched into the trenches, and about 4 Prince Alexander of Wirtemberg came and gave us orders. He desired me to speak to the grenadiers and tell them that the Duke of Maryborough and Prince Eugene expected they would do as they had always done — chase the French ; adding, that it was better to die there than make a false step. I answered that I hoped we should all do our duty. He then shook hands with me and went away- About 7 the signals being given by all our cannons and bombs going off together, I gave the word on the right, ' Grenadiers in the name of God, attack.' They sprang over the trenches and threw their grenades into the counterscrap, but they fell into some confusion. I then ordered out about 50 more to sustain them and went out myself. In a little time I got a shot in my arm, but as the bone was not broken and all the rest of the officers were wounded, I thought it my duty to stay and encourage the grenadiers to keep their warm post. About a quarter of an ' Historical Record, p. 51.

254 THE CAMERONIANS

hour afterwards the fire continuing very hot, I got another shot in the head. I then thought it was time to come off, and had great difficulty in getting out of the trenches in three hours." 1

The regiment took part in the fight at Wynendale, where the attempt of the French to intercept the supplies of the besiegers was beaten off with loss. The town of Lille was surrendered on 22nd October, and Marshal Boufflers retired into the citadel. Colonel Blackader rejoined the regiment on 24th of November recovered from his wounds. The works for the attack on the citadel being well advanced, a summons was sent to offer an honour- able capitulation, provided the garrison surrendered before the batteries opened. Marshal Boufflers accepted the offer and the garrison marched out on gth December with the honours of war. Ghent capitulated on the 30th.

Malplaquet was fought nth September, 1709. The share which the Cameronians had in this battle was, first, " in occupying a situation in which they were exposed to a cannonade the most severe they had ever suffered, and by which they experienced a considerable loss. The soldiers however endured it without shrinking, very patiently and with great courage." They were afterwards honoured with a task in which their discipline and resolution underwent another severe trial, and in which with some other regiments they rendered very good service, for it was by the success of Lord Orkney's attack on the enemy's centre that victory was secured to the allies. The Cameronians were ordered to occupy an intrenchment which the enemy had left ; the allied cavalry had suffered repulse, but the stand made by Orkney's troops enabled them to rally, and the ruinous consequences which must have attended their defeat were averted. This affair took place under the immediate observation of Marechal Boufflers, who in his dispatch attributes his loss of the battle to the con- duct of the allied infantry of which the Cameronians formed a part. Lieut. - Colonel Cranston, commanding the regiment, was killed along with Captain Shaw and Ensign Inglis. Lieutenant Cockburn, Ensign Burnet and Sergeant Wilson were wounded. Major Blackader succeeded to the lieut.-colonelcy on 28th October.

The Cameronians served at the siege of Douai, which was invested on the 23rd of April, 1710. The garrison made a sortie on the 7th of May and so

1 Life and Diary of Lieitt.-Colonel J. Blackader. p. 329.

ANDREW ROSS 255

severely handled the two regiments guarding the work parties that the Cameronians, who had been till then with the covering army, were ordered into the trenches, their first turn being on the I2th of May. On the lyth, before break of day, a second sortie was attempted, but the Cameronian sentinels gave warning and the attack was repulsed. The place surrendered on 27th June.1

The regiment was employed in the siege of Bouchain, which was invested on 25th August and surrendered on i3th September. At Bouchain on I2th October Colonel Blackader left the regiment after a service of twenty- two years. Returning to Scotland, he became deputy-governor of Stirling Castle, which, with the deputy-governorships of Edinburgh, Stirling and Dumbarton Castles remained until long after the Napoleonic wars the sole pieces of military patronage in Scotland, and were bestowed upon deserving regimental officers. They were abolished, indeed, only a generation or two ago, chiefly through the agency of a fussy demagogue who represented a Scots constituency in the House of Commons.

On igth May, 1713, Brigadier Preston, the colonel of the Cameronians, was appointed governor of Dunkirk. In September following the regiment left Dunkirk for Ireland, and was in that kingdom when the civil war of 1715 broke out in Scotland. At the same time there was a rising in England under Mr. Foster, who received a commission as general from the Earl of Mar. The Jacobite forces had occupied the town of Preston on loth November, putting to flight two troops of Stanhope's dragoons (afterwards disbanded) quartered there. General Wills, marching from the south with six regiments of dragoons and the Cameronians, reached the bridge of Ribble, near Preston, on the I2th. Mr. Foster, who con- sidered himself secure in that direction, received no intelligence of their approach, and a body of Highlanders under the command of Lieut. -Colonel James Farquharson of Invercauld rushed to defend the bridge, but were ordered to retreat to Preston. The Cameronians under Lieut.-Colonel Lord Forrester, supported by fifty mounted men from each of the six dragoon regiments, advanced to attack the town. After a severe struggle they were compelled to fall back ; but the entrance to the town by the Wigan road being less strongly held, Lord Forrester ultimately effected a lodgment in the enemy's line. Next day additional forces arrived, the town was com-

1 Historical Record, p. 69.

256 THE CAMERONIANS

pletely invested and surrendered on the I4th. Just as the successful defence of Dunkeld in 1689 gave a fatal turn to the Jacobite cause in Scotland at the Revolution, so now the capture of Preston brought to an end the rising in England in 1715. Of the 142 casualties sustained by King George's army in the engagement, 92 were in the Cameronians. Lieut.-Colonel Lord Forrester and Major Lawson were wounded, and Captain Preston died of his wounds.1

In 1716 the Cameronians returned to Ireland. On igth July John Hope, cadet of Kinross, became lieut.-colonel, succeeded on 5th April, 1718, by Robert Ferguson, a nephew of Brigadier Ferguson. On 3rd May, 1720, Philip Anstruther became colonel vice Brigadier Preston. The regiment remained in Ireland for eight years. It was in England in December, 1726, and embarked at Portsmouth for Gibraltar in January, 1727. It was present at the siege of the fortress in that year, and remained in the garrison until 1738, when it was transferred to Minorca, remaining there until 1748. In 1754 it was permitted to return to Scotland, and stayed there until the spring of 1757. During that time several English regiments were ordered to form second battalions, and many of them were sent to Scotland to enable them to do so. The Cameronians, now to be known as the 26th Regiment of Foot, although in Scotland at the time, were not allowed to raise a second battalion.

In the spring of 1757 they returned once more to Ireland. In 1760 Colonel Edward Sandford was removed from the colonelcy of the 52nd to that of the 26th.

In 1767 the regiment left Ireland for Canada, and was stationed there when the American revolution broke out in 1775. British ministers, who had provoked the colonists to rebellion by a series of impolitic and violent measures, made no preparations to enforce those orders whereof the voluntary and peaceable execution, in the existing temper of men's minds, could not reasonably be expected. When they were at last aroused from apathy, their attention was diverted from Canada to what are now the United States, where the danger appeared most imminent. All Lower Canada was left to the protection of two regiments, the 7th and the 26th, who were on a peace footing of 340 men each. The 8th Foot was in Upper Canada. These forces, slender as they were, were isolated in garrisons remote from J Some Account, pp. 38-40.

ANDREW ROSS 257

one another, which fell in succession into the hands of the enemy, until only Quebec remained.1 That city too was besieged, and was only relieved by reinforcements from Great Britain in July, 1776. When the fortunes of war placed large numbers of the insurgents in the hands of the British army, exchanges were effected. On 6th October, 1777, the Hon. Charles Stuart became lieut.-colonel, and in the same month the regiment, forming part of the command of Sir Henry Clinton, attacked and carried forts Mont- gomery and Clinton on the Hudson River. It continued under Clinton's command until 1779, when it was " turned over " bodily to other corps.2 In December, 1780, the staff under Captain William Myers embarked at New York, and on their arrival in Great Britain in 1780 was ordered to Tamworth in Staffordshire to recruit.

On i6th May, 1782, Major-General Sir William Erskine of Torry from the 8oth Royal Edinburgh Volunteers (disbanded 1783) was appointed colonel in succession to Major-General Lord Adam Gordon, appointed to the Royals.

In March, 1783, the regiment proceeded to Scotland, and was stationed at Musselburgh until October, when it embarked for Ireland. On i6th February, 1786, Sir William Erskine secured official permission for the regiment to be known in future as the 26th or Cameronian Regiment. They embarked at Kinsale for Canada, 24th May, 1787. Major-General the Hon. Sir Charles Stuart, K.B., on 25th March, 1795, succeeded Sir William Erskine of Torry as colonel. In May, 1797, the regiment was at Quebec, where it received a draft of 350 men from the 4th or King's Own Regiment of Foot. The greater part of these men were transferred without their consent. Soldiers were then enlisted for general service and were not allowed to return home with their regiments so long as any corps remaining on foreign service were incomplete. The system of recruiting for particular regiments came into force in 1798.

The Cameronians returned to Great Britain in 1800. On 28th March, 1801, Lieut.-General Andrew Gordon became colonel in succession to Lieut.- General Sir C. Stuart deceased. In this year the regiment formed part of Sir Ralph Abercromby's expedition to Egypt. It embarked, 24 officers, 31 sergeants, 14 drums and 462 rank and file, at Portsmouth on 28th May, under Lieut.-Colonel Lord Elphinstone, who had succeeded to the command 1 Some Account, pp. 41, 42. 8 Sows Account, p. 46.

258 THE CAMERONIANS

in 1798, and landed at Aboukir on i8th July following. They joined Major- General Eyre Coote's corps, and were engaged in the successful affair of i6th August and in the action of the 22nd which drove the enemy under the walls of Alexandria. They shared in the remaining operations of the siege until the surrender of the town on the 2nd of September. During their service in Egypt, officers and men were so reduced by ophthalmia and dysentery that there were scarcely enough men for the ordinary camp duties. Relief from these troubles was afforded by the embarkation on 23rd October, but although many recovered on the passage the effects remained long after the return home.1

The Cameronians left Plymouth for Scotland on ist November, 1802, and disembarked at Leith on the I3th. On the I5th they proceeded to Linlithgow, reaching Stirling on the following day, where they remained until ist February, 1803, when they commenced their march in three divi- sions for Fort George by Perth, Dundee, Aberdeen, Keith and Elgin, reach- ing their destination on the 2gth. They remained at Fort George until July, when they embarked for Leith, arriving there on the 3ist, and marched to Stirling, leaving two companies at Falkirk. In this year a second battalion was raised, into which a large number of old soldiers of the ist battalion were drafted. This 2nd battalion was stationed at various places in the United Kingdom during the period of its existence, and sent repeated drafts to the ist battalion until it was disembodied on 24th October, 1814. Early in December the ist battalion left Stirling on its route for Portpatrick, where it arrived on the i3th, passing through Glasgow, Kilmarnock, Ayr and Maybole. At the special request of the magistrates of Maybole the successive detachments on their march through the town on the 2nd, 4th, 5th and 6th of December, were halted to receive a " refreshment," the cost of which was defrayed by public subscription among the inhabitants, who seized this opportunity of showing for the sake of auld lang syne their good- will to the regiment.2

The battalion remained in Ireland until November, 1805, and on loth December sailed for Germany— 1000 rank and file. Of the five transports in which they embarked, two, the Maria and the Aurora, were totally lost. The Maria, in which were five officers and two companies and a half, was wrecked on the Haak Sands off the Texel on the I4th December, and 5 officers,

» Some Account, pp. 48, 49. « Historical Record, p. 105.

ANDREW ROSS 259

224 non-commissioned officers and men and 22 women and children were lost ; Captain Frederick Jones, Assistant-Surgeon Armstrong and 15 men who had volunteered for what was considered the hopelessly dangerous enterprise of attempting to reach the shore in a small boat to obtain assis- tance, escaped.1 The Aurora, containing the headquarters of the battalion under Major Davidson, struck on the Goodwin Sands, and all on board, including 9 officers, 250 non-commissioned officers and men and 30 women and children of the Cameronians, were drowned.2 By this double catas- trophe the regiment, which had been completed in the previous May to an establishment of noo rank and file, lost one half of its effective strength, including the grenadier company. A third transport was driven back to England and the men were landed at Deal. The other two transports contrived to land their men in Germany, so that four companies reached their destination and joined the expedition. The successes of the French, however, had been so rapid and decisive, that an operation directed, as this was, to a quarter of no vital importance was soon found to be inefficient. The troops were therefore withdrawn in February, 1806, after occupying the country between the Elbe and the Weser for about six weeks, and returned to the south of England.3

On 24th April Major-General John Lord Elphinstone was appointed colonel in succession to Lieut. -General Andrew Gordon deceased, and in the same month William Maxwell, younger of Monreith, a captain in the 23rd Light Dragoons, succeeded Lieut. -Colonel Hope in command of the Cameronians. In May, 1807, the regiment embarked for Ireland, practically a skeleton battalion, but it received several drafts from Scots militia regiments, Dumfriesshire in particular furnishing the regiment with eighty recruits. Still, on 24th December the battalion only mustered 514 bayonets. For this result the officers were lectured. The comment, after stating what was not the case, viz. that the strength was less by thirty men at the end of the year than it was at the beginning, runs on thus :

" This decrease was owing to a mistaken policy which had caused the offers to be rejected which were made by the men of several regiments of Irish militia, and particularly by those of the Galway, who would have volunteered into the 26th ; and thus the services of some hundreds were lost to the corps. Its nation- ality was indeed a principle of great value if discreetly managed, and well worthy of every reasonable effort to maintain it, but wholly to sacrifice the efficiency 1 Some Account, p. 90. « Ibid. * Ibid. p. 53.

26o THE CAMERONIANS

of the regiment to any abstract principle was an extreme which could not be justified." 1

The critics in their haste confounded numbers with efficiency. The officers soon reaped the reward of their determination to retain the national character of the corps. In the following June and August drafts of 477 men were received from the 2nd battalion in Scotland, and the establish- ment was raised to 1000 rank and file.

Thus reinforced the Cameronians formed part of the expedition fitted out under the command of Sir David Baird to co-operate with Sir John Moore in Spain. The general idea of the campaign was to employ a British corps of 30,000 infantry and 5000 cavalry to operate in the north of Spain with the Spanish army against the French. Moore's appointment as com- mander-in-chief reached him at Lisbon on 6th October. He was at the same time informed of the approaching departure of Sir David Baird's contingent from Falmouth. The original intention was that Moore advanc- ing towards the north-east from Lisbon, and Sir David towards the south- east from Coruna, should unite at Salamanca, Valladolid or Burgos.

Sir David reached Coruna on I3th October. To his astonishment the junta of Galicia, the province in which Coruna is situated, refused him permission to land. More than a fortnight was spent in vexatious correspondence, and when he was at length permitted to disembark his troops it was only on condition that he should do so in small divisions at a time and advance into Leon in the same manner. The numbers of the army (rank and file) which marched out from Coruna under Sir David were, Royal Horse Artillery 177, Royal Artillery 434, the 7th, loth and I5th Hussars — in all 1538 sabres, the ist and 3rd battalions of the 1st Foot Guards, the 3rd battalion of the Royals, the 2nd battalion of the i4th Regi- ment, the 2nd battalion of the 23rd, the 26th, 43rd, 5ist and 7&th Foot, and detachments of the 95th, the Rifle brigade — 7401 bayonets.2 One or two other corps accompanied Sir David.3 They did not disembark, but pro- ceeded to Lisbon, from whence Sir David received the 52nd, 5gth and

1 Some Account, p. 55.

-A Narrative of the Campaign of the British Army in Spain commanded by His Excellency Lieut.-General Sir John Moore, K.B. By James Moore. 2nd Edition, London, 1809, Ap- pendix, p. 55.

• They will be found enumerated by Mr. Fortescue in his History of the British Army, vol. vi. p. 297, n. 3.

ANDREW ROSS 261

8ist regiments, and some details of the royal waggon train, bringing up his total numbers to about 12,000. The 26th, under the command of Lieut. -Colonel William Maxwell, mustered 745 men. Colonel Maxwell's order book, now in the possession of his grandson, Sir Herbert Maxwell of Monreith, covering the period from ist November, 1808, to I3th April, 1809, has been placed at the disposal of the compiler to aid in the effort to present an articulate narrative of the share taken by the 26th in the campaign.

The Cameronians disembarked at Corufla on 30th October, and the next day marched for Betanzos. The first entry in Colonel Maxwell's order book is :

" G.O. Corunna, ist November, 1808.

Sir David Baird directs the utmost respect may be paid to the religious opinions of the people of the country. Whenever the Host passes, which will be known by the respect shewn by the people, officers will take off their hats and soldiers touch their caps. Guards will present arms and regiments or detach- ments marching halt and present arms. No soldier is to enter a church except he goes there from motives of devotion."

It may occur to the reader to speculate with what feelings the stern Covenanters who founded the Cameronian regiment would have regarded an order in these terms.

On 2nd November another General Order intimated that :

" As a compliment to the Spanish nation, the army will wear the red cockade in addition to their own. Cockades ate ordered for this purpose for the non- commissioned officers and men and will be sent from Madrid, bat in the mean- time the officeis are requested to provide themselves."

It is noted in General Orders of the following day that the ration of spirits was one-sixth of a quart per man per day. The 26th left Betanzos on the 6th November and Lugo on the nth, furnishing on that day an escort for the commissariat chest. Before leaving Lugo commanding officers were recommended to send back to Corufia such women as had not strength to accompany the regiments, and a subaltern of the 26th was detached to escort the sick and women back to the port. On the I5th, at Villa Franca, the regiment paraded. As pipe-clay was not to be had the soldiers were ordered to wash their belts. Astorga was reached on

Regimental Order Book of the 26th Foot.

262 THE CAMERONIANS

Meantime Sir John Moore, after setting his columns in motion, had left Lisbon on 27th October. He was at Almeida on 8th November, at Ciudad Rodrigo on the nth, and reached Salamanca on the I3th, vainly endeavouring by the way to ascertain the truth as to the real condition of the Spanish armies, of which such exaggerated notions had been formed at home. He was greatly desirous of penetrating the designs of the French marshals and of gaining some definite idea of the numbers they controlled. His chief dependence was upon the reports of his friend and aide-de-camp, Colonel Thomas Graham of Lynedoch, who a few years previously had raised the goth Perthshire Light Infantry.1 The colonel was then on duty at the headquarters of the central Spanish army, and the advices received from him and others caused Sir John the gravest misgivings. He wrote to Sir David from Salamanca on the igth to advance a part of his corps to Benavente, close up the rest to Astorga and then advance to Zamora. Sir John added that as the propriety of these movements depended upon those of the enemy, their execution was left entirely in Sir David's discre- tion, who was to be guided by the information he received.2 Sir David's reply from Astorga, dated 23rd December, stated that after consulting with the general officers of his division all were of opinion that, as the French were reported to have pushed as far forward as St. Vincento de la Burena and Colombas on the igth, it would be inadvisable to make any forward movement, and that in the event of their continued advance he proposed to retreat.3 His division was warned accordingly to be in readiness to march on the shortest notice and have always two days pro- visions in advance. The army was ordered to form three deep till further notice. Bandsmen and drummers were told off to assist the medical officers in the field ; when not required for that purpose, to guard the baggage mules and keep them well up.4

At Astorga on the 23rd Sir David was joined by Lord Paget, and in his orders for that day he expressed surprise that his lordship and staff had been allowed to come into the city by the Iron Gate at 4 o'clock in the morning without being challenged by the sentinels, and directed that the guards in future should be more vigilant. On the same day Sir David

1 Moore's Narrative, pp. 10, etc. There are frequent references in the course of the campaign tojthe value of the colonel's services. See p. 112.

» Ibid. p. 38. • Moore's Campaign, p. 48. « Regimental Order Book,

ANDREW ROSS 263

made " A Distribution of the army till further orders." It shows the composition of his force :

" 7th Light Dragoons loth „

Brig. -Gen. Slade.

Captain Tagle, B.M.

Lieut. -Gen. Lord Paget.

Lieut.-Col. Kelly, A.A.G.

Mr. Gordon, Acting Commissary.

I4> 23rCo1- Crawfurd. 43rd and 52nd Regts., Capt. Cruthers, B.M.

{Col. Anson. Capt. Murray, B.M. Capt. Cook, D.A.A.G. 5ist, 5Qth and 76th/Col. Chinny.

Regts., \Capt. Roberts, B.M.

The Royals, 26th, / Col. Hay.

and 8ist Regts., \Capt. Smyth, A.B.M.

Maj.-Gen. Ward.

Maj.-Gen. Manningham. Capt. Jones, D.A.A.G.

Baggage Master to the Army, Capt. Sanders, Royal Waggon Train. One brigade of artillery attached to each of Colonel Crawfurd's, Colonel Anson 's, and Colonel Hay's brigades." 1

On the 24th news reached Sir David that the French had advanced to Rio Seco and Ampudia, and he decided to fall back forthwith.2 Colonel May's brigade commenced their march at 10 A.M. on the morning of the 24th, the light infantry of the brigade with two bugle horns under com- mand of Major Gordon of the Royals, accompanying Captain Wall's brigade of guns. It reached Bembibre on the 26th, where 2537 pairs of shoes were issued to the troops. They were still there on the 28th.3 On the 27th Sir John Moore came to the decision that, although a further movement into Spain would be one of great hazard, yet it was worth the risk " if the government and people of Spain are thought to have still sufficient energy and the means to recover from their defeats." 4 Accordingly, he wrote to Sir David on that day to advance to Benavente.5 Before any step could be taken a second message from Sir John arrived, dated the even- ing of the following day, announcing the defeat and dispersal of the army of Castanos at ludela on 22nd November ; that he saw no chance of being able to effect a junction, and he had therefore determined to retreat on

1 Colonel Maxwell's Order Book, Astorga, 23rd November, 1808.

1 Moore's Narrative, p. 66. a Colonel Maxwell's Order Book.

4 Moore's Narrative, p. 65. 5 Ibid. p. 66-67.

\

264 THE CAMERONIANS

Portugal with his own corps, and desired Sir David to retire on Corufia.1 The retreat was accordingly resumed, the 26th reaching Cacabelos on 2nd December, Villa Franca on the 3rd and Soltrado on the 6th. From that place all sick and those unable to march were directed to be sent to Corufia. Lugo they reached on the 7th.2 At this point Sir David received intelli- gence from Sir John Moore, dated from Salamanca, 5th December, that the people of Madrid had taken up arms and were barricading the streets, and that, although he thought the French were too strong to be resisted in that manner, he had made up his mind " to give it a trial," and desired Sir David to retrace his steps to Astorga.3 This was followed by a more pressing message from Sir John the following day urging Sir David to return " bag and baggage " to Astorga. Sir David acknowledged these letters on the 8th, and once more marched to the south-east. He left Lugo on the loth, and as the regiments were to move by forced marches, no baggage was allowed but what could be carried on mules. Three days' provisions were carried by the men, the bread and rum by the commissariat. They reached Villa Franca on the nth, and Cacabelos on the i2th.4 On the 8th Sir John had written from Salamanca to Sir David that Madrid still held out " and as long as there is a chance we must not abandon the country," desiring him to push on to Benavente, and to send to Sir John to Zamora two regiments of cavalry and one brigade of horse artillery, keeping a regiment of cavalry and one brigade of horse artillery with himself.6 On the I2th he again writes to Sir David from Salamanca, intimating his inten- tion to march to Valladolid, from whence, according to the information he received, he might move on Palencia and Burgos, threatening the enemy's communications. He would in that event cover Sir David's force while it was assembling at Astorga and Benavente, " and may bring you on to me, or fall back on you as occasion requires." 6 On the I4th Sir John, by means of an intercepted letter written by Marshal Berthier to Marshal Soult, became aware for the first time of the fall of Madrid and the numbers and positions of the French troops. He at once advised Sir David from Alaejos that he had abandoned his intention of moving on the following day to Valladolid, and should instead be at Toro with his troops. " My

1 Moore's Narrative, p. 69. * Colonel Maxwell's Order Book.

1 Moore's Narrative, pp. 91, 92. ' Colonel Maxwell's Order Book.

8 Moore's Narrative, p. in. « Ibid. p. 118.

ANDREW ROSS 265

object is now to unite the army as soon as possible ; you at Benavente and I at Toro, from whence either by a forward or flank movement, the two corps can be united." * On the I5th and i6th Sir John was at Toro, on the I7th at Castro Nuevo. On the i8th, still bent on cutting the French communica- tions with Madrid, he crossed the Douro at Zamora and Toro, and marching by Villalpando and Valderas, arrived on the 20th at Mayorga. On the i6th the 26th were at La Banezo, and while Sir David's headquarters were at Benavente on the i8th, the 26th were still on the igth at La Baneza. On the 2oth Sir David, with the Guards and Manningham's brigade, united with Sir John at Mayorga. Here Manningham's brigade, which, after the redistribution of the infantry into four divisions by Sir John Moore on his junction with Sir David, now consisted of the Royals, the 26th and the 8ist, was ordered to halt until further notice ; but the order was recalled and the 26th reached Sahagun on the 22nd. On the 23rd Sir John announced his intention of marching that night to the Carrion and the next day to Saldanha to attack the corps under Marshal Soult. The march was timed to commence at 7 P.M. in two divisions, Sir David in command of the left. Part of the troops were already on the march when the general received information which satisfied him that Napoleon had penetrated his design, and that should he persist in his attempt the rapid concentration of the French armies would engulph his own force. The march was counter- manded, and orders were given to retreat to Astorga, Sir John taking the route by Benavente and Sir David that by Valencia. Sir David marched accordingly on the morning of the 25th. The light company of the Royals formed the advance guard, then followed in the order detailed Major- General Manningham's, Major-General Lord William Bentinck's, Major- General Ward's brigade and Captain Bain's brigade of artillery. The rearguard was composed of the old and outlying picquets.2 Sir David's instructions were to cross the Esla by the ferry opposite Valencia, and remain on guard on the other side until Sir John's division, marching on Benavente by Castro Gonzalo, had also crossed. On the night of the 25th Sir David's column reached Valdesason, and here complaints reached his ears of soldiers breaking into wine-cellars and bakehouses for wine and bread.3 There was at that time no scarcity of supplies, but the commissariat was hope- lessly disorganised. After the supply of ship provisions, which the soldiers 2 Colonel Maxwell's Order Book. » Ibid.

266 THE CAMERONIANS

took with them from Coruna, was exhausted, no regular provision was made for their wants by the commissaries, who, with an unbounded com- mand of money, and in a country of ample resources for the temporary supply of the troops, whose progress through the country was slow and measured, left them almost wholly destitute. Often it happened that, after arriving at the halting-place, parties had to be sent out to collect sheep, or oxen were taken from the baggage carts ; wood was to be fetched from a distance and wine brought from stores, instead of those articles being got ready at the convents by hired labourers. The soldiers' meal was thus deferred till midnight, and when obtained was indifferent in quality. These defects, in arrangements so necessary to the well-being of any army, were owing in part to the remissness and want of energy of the Spanish authorities, but much more to the total ignorance, inexperience and absence of almost every necessary qualification for the service displayed by the officers in the commissariat.1

In addition, the hardships of the incessant marching and counter-march- ing began to tell upon the strength and spirits of the men. Disappointment was universal, depression and discontent prevailed in the ranks, disheartened by retreat. On 26th December the Cameronians reached the Esla. The ferry- boat was useless, but a ford was discovered, as it was said, by the chance enterprise of an officer,2 and the division crossed over, the men carrying their arms and accoutrements over their heads, only with the loss of some bag- gage. On the 27th, when the Cameronians were at Toral,3 a brigade order was issued directing that at all times, when it should be necessary to press cattle, commanding officers were in the first instance to apply to the alcalde, and on no account to take draught cattle. Dating from his headquarters at Villa Manm'ana on the same day Sir David expressed his surprise at the number of women accompanying the army, and directed that they and the sick should be sent off immediately to Astorga and from thence to Lugo. By a second order of the same date the whole baggage of the brigade, the women and the sick, were dispatched that evening to Astorga under charge of an officer of the 26th.

On the 28th the brigade paraded at Villa Manniana for an inspection of arms and ammunition, the baggage being dispatched to Seguillo. The divisional order reads :

> Some Account, p. 58. » Ibid. p. 59. » Colonel Maxwell's Order Book.

ANDREW ROSS 267

" As there is great difficulty in baking bread in great quantities for the troops, what was issued yesterday must be made to go as far as possible and flour will be delivered to make up the deficiency. A greater allowance of meat, or perhaps a certain quantity of wheat, may be issued of which an excellent mess may be made. The above substitutes for bread will of course only be had recourse to in case of absolute necessity, and it is hoped by the extension of the commissary department and quarter masters of regiments, by whom every effort will be made to get the necessary supplies, this may be rendered unnecessary." 1

On the 28th the headquarters of the division were moved to Santa Maria, and by a regimental order dated from that place on the 2gth an inspection of the arms and accoutrements took place in the morning, followed by the major-general's inspection in the afternoon. At Sequillo on the 2gth general officers were ordered to reconnoitre the front flanks and rear of the cantonments, and to station posts at the most eligible points so as to communicate with each other by a connected chain of picquets. All heavy baggage, sick and women which were not sent off yesterday were sent off this day to Astorga, and two days' bread, to last for three days, was served out.2 On the 2gth also Sir John Moore left Benavente, and on the 3Oth united with Sir David's division at Astorga.

On the 3ist the Cameronians, who now formed part of the reserve, quitted Astorga on the march to Lugo. As there were no means of trans- port, great part of the ammunition and military stores were destroyed at Astorga, including the whole of the camp equipage of Sir David Baird's division which had been brought up from Coruna to that place.3 Sir John now realised that owing to the scarcity of provisions and the proximity of the enemy, forced marches would be necessary to reach the coast. The reserve reached Camberos on the evening of the 3ist, and on New- Year's day 1809 arrived at Bembibre. The weather and the commissariat did their worst. Deluges of rain fell, chilling and drenching the soldiers, who waded through vile roads deep in mud. In the fatigues and sufferings from hunger and bad weather the Cameronians had their share. From any participation in the excesses which were committed they appear to have been pretty free, as only one man in the regiment was punished.4 On the morning of 2nd January they set out for Villa Franca. That night they halted at Cacabelos. On the 3rd the French cavalry advanced and some skirmishing took place. In the evening Sir John withdrew the reserve to Villa Franca, and in view 1 Colonel Maxwell's Order Book. ' Ibid.

3 Moore's Narrative, p. 184. * Some Account, p. 60.

268 THE CAMERONIANS

of the approach of a great part of the enemy's army, at 10 o'clock at night left that town and arrived at midnight at Herrerias. On the 4th accounts were received of the respective advantages of Vigo and Corufia as points of embarkation. Sir John immediately sent off expresses to Rear-Admiral Sir Samuel Hood to request he would send round the transports to Corufia.1 On the same day the reserve reached Nogales, quitted it on the morning of the 5th, and that day reached Lugo. The army still occupied its position in front of Lugo on the 7th. On the evening of that day the Cameronians exchanged their quarters in the town for the field, but were not brought into action. The stragglers were not numerous, and nearly all rejoined on the 6th, the regiment being quite efficient when it took its post in the line.2 Only some skirmishing took place, and after offering battle all day the troops began to draw off after nightfall. Early in the morning of the 8th the army was again marshalled in array and offered battle to the enemy. Sir John rode through the ranks and had the pleasure of finding that in consequence of the orders he had issued, of the exertions of the officers, and, above all, of the hopes of an action, regularity was restored.3 Marshal Soult, however, made no sign. As it was impossible to maintain the position owing to the failure of the commissariat either to furnish stores or to bring them up from Betanzos, and as there were still eleven leagues to cover before that town could be reached, Sir John resolved to decamp without delay. At 10 o'clock at night, leaving fires burning to deceive the enemy, the brigades quitted their ground. After marching all night they arrived at Valmeda on gth January, exposed without shelter to torrents of rain. Early in the evening the march was resumed, and about ii on the morning of the loth the Cameronians arrived at Betanzos. In these eleven leagues the miseries and hardships of the march reached their climax. On arrival the regiment mustered only 14 officers with the colours and 50 men, 23 of the latter being of the light company. The greater part, however, came in during the day.4 Two days' bread and meat were issued in addition to one day's allowance of spirits, along with a pound of flour as a gratuity to each man,5 There was no parade on the loth except regimental roll-call, that the men might have full time to put their arms,

1 Moore's Narrative, p. 190. * Some Account, p. 61.

* Moore's Narrative, p. 198. * Some Account, p. 62.

* Colonel Maxwell's Order Book.

ANDREW ROSS 269

accoutrements and clothing into the best possible order for service.1 On the nth the army left Betanzos on its last day's march to Corufia. The Cameronians were quartered in the town, and the eighteen days' retreat in the depth of winter, through 250 miles of mountain defile and river, in weather and over roads unspeakable, was ended at last. The forced march, the shelterless bivouac, famine, cold and sickness had done their worst. They failed to overcome the British soldier, whose spirit, in spite of his suffer- ings, remained unbroken. The arms and accoutrements were all complete and in a serviceable state.2 The clothing was in tatters, and officers in charge of companies were empowered to provide out of the stores stockings and such other necessaries as were most needful. Five hundred pairs of shoes were issued to each regiment, and as cloth for breeches was not to be had, stout flannel drawers were issued to be worn under the rags.3

The transports had not arrived, and on the I2th the French appeared in force on the right bank of the Mero. On the I3th Sir David Baird's division, including the Cameronians, marched out of Corufia at mid-day to take up position on the rising ground immediately behind the town. On the i4th the enemy opened artillery fire, but when this was returned they drew off their guns.

On the evening of the I5th the British transports hove in sight, and next morning, when preparation for embarking was nearly complete, Marechal Soult advanced to the attack. The British force numbered about 15,000, the French 16,000. Soon after one o'clock the battle commenced on the right, which was the weak part of the position, and here the enemy made his most vigorous efforts, but these were successfully repelled. During the progress of the action, first Sir David Baird and aftenvards Sir John Moore were carried off the field wounded, but the enemy was compelled to draw back his left wing. Soult's next effort was against the British centre, where he was opposed by Manningham's brigade, forming the left of Sir David Baird's division, and by part of Leith's brigade, forming the right of Hope's division. By five o'clock not only was every attack successfully repulsed, but ground was gained at almost all points, and a more forward line was occupied than at the commencement of the action.4 General Cope in his dispatch wrote : " The brunt of the action fell upon the 4th, 42nd,

1 Ibid. ' Some Account, p. 26.

3 Colonel Maxwell's Order Book. ' Some Account, p. 63.

270 THE CAMERONIANS

5oth and 8ist regiments, with parts of the brigade of Guards and the 26th Regiment." l The Cameronians lost Lieuts. Cheevers and Nunn killed ; a round shot tore off the left arm of the colonel commanding, William Maxwell, and Lieuts. Shearman and Thompson, and Surgeon Messiter were wounded.2 When the Cameronians embarked the condition of all ranks was wretched in the extreme, and there was much sickness on the voyage home ; with the result that, on reaching England, numbers were sent to hospital, and when the regiment assembled at Horsham it mustered only 350 effectives. Reinforcements were received from Scotland, particularly from the Lanark- shire Militia, which made up the effective strength to 800 men.8

The Cameronians were not allowed much time for repose, but were told off to form part of the ill-starred and ill-managed Walcheren expedition in July. The regiment embarked at Portsmouth on the I5th under their old colonel, William Maxwell. Landing on the 30th they advanced towards Flushing, where the battalion was actively employed in the trenches and sustained some losses. On I3th August the British batteries opened, and the Cameronians were ordered to protect them. The fire proved so destructive that on the I5th the enemy sent out a flag of truce, and on the i8th the Cameronians had the honour of taking post at the east gate while the garrison denied as prisoners of war before them. On 7th September the regiment moved into farm-houses near the Scheldt. The weather was unfavourable and sickness among the troops increased rapidly. The in- capacity of the general dispirited the troops. The attack on Antwerp, which had been the main objective of the expedition, was abandoned. The armament and its commander returned home, leaving a large garrison at Flushing, which rapidly diminished under the Walcheren fever, and after a few months the survivors re-embarked, having destroyed the arsenal and fortress. The Cameronians landed at Portsmouth, and marched to Horsham barracks on New- Year's day, 1810, with only 90 men left effective of the 800 who had embarked six months before. Many rejoined from hospital afterwards, but many officers and men never recovered from what they had gone through.4 Colonel Maxwell, who had lost an arm at Coruna, was wounded again in this campaign. The annals of the other regiments employed tell an equally dismal tale. Few of those who underwent the

1 Moore's Narrative, p. 237. * Some Account, p. 66. * Some Account, p. 66.

4 Some Account, pp. 66-68.

ANDREW ROSS 271

ordeal of Walcheren, the most disastrous expedition in the history of the British army, ever again saw active service in the field.

In June the battalion was ordered to Jersey, remaining there until 23rd June, 1811, when it embarked for Portugal : 38 sergeants and 613 rank and file, a large proportion of them being men who had been invalided from Walcheren and now rejoined. On 3ist July they joined the ist division of Wellington's army at Alpalhao, being brigaded with the 24th, 42nd and ygth regiments, then under Lord Blantyre. Fever and ague made such havoc in the Cameronian ranks that the regiment was not fit to join in the siege and storm of Ciudad Rodrigo, 8th-2ist January, 1812, and it was ordered to Gibraltar to replace the 82nd. On 2ist May, 1813, George Earl of Dalhousie, became colonel in place of Lord Elphinstone. In 1822 the regiment moved to Ireland, having been reduced from ten to eight companies, and from 35 sergeants, 22 drummers and 650 rank and file to 29 sergeants, 12 drummers and 556 rank and file. On 25th March, 1825, the establishment was again augmented by two companies. Recruiting parties were immediately sent to Scotland, in addition to those permanently stationed at Glasgow and Edinburgh. Owing to the great distance which the Cameronians were then placed from their resources, it was not practicable so quickly to complete their new establishment as those corps did which recruited on the spot. This circumstance gave the latter an appearance of advantage ; but the continued popularity of the regiment is strongly shown by 148 recruits having joined in the last eight months of 1825 and 136 more in the first six months of 1826, so that a body of 284 men were raised in fourteen months who came almost all from Scotland. In thus applying to their countrymen to complete their ranks, the Cameronians, who, as a regiment, had not been in Scotland since 1803 (except indeed the 2nd battalion, which was disbanded there in 1814), had to contend against great disadvantages. The long period of their absence, the distance from their country when the recruiting commenced, the small number of men who had been able to obtain furloughs to see their friends, and the conse- quently very limited intercourse which had subsisted between them and their countrymen, were circumstances which could not but have a tendency to diminish their influence. Yet with all these disadvantages the established character of the regiment operated so powerfully in its favour that if there had not been a large proportion of old soldiers to discharge, which produced

272 THE CAMERONIANS

a continued diminution of numbers, the establishment would have been completed early in 1826.

The regiment remained in Ireland until October, 1827, when it was moved to England, and in May, 1828, embarked for India 38 officers, 39 sergeants, 20 drummers and 714 rank and file, under the command of Lieut.- Colonel Henry Oglander. This officer's entire energies were devoted to the happiness and prosperity of the men under his command. By the adoption of a few simple rules the health of the regiment and its consequent capacity for the King's duty was maintained at a high standard. The use of flannel belts and woollen bedgowns was enjoined. Drill took place at reasonable hours. Every precaution was taken to check excess in the use of liquor or fruit, and a regular diet of four meals a day ensured the soldier's comfort and health and placed in the hands of the commanding officer that which he prizes most highly, a healthy regiment always fit for the King's service.

The stay in India was marked by some incidents of regimental interest. The recruiting depot in Scotland was so successful that, having exceeded the establishment, recruiting was stopped. The appearance and conduct of the men were creditable, but they were not allowed to remain in the regiment. Calculating on the effect of the volunteering from corps about to return home to complete the deficiencies in the Cameronians, the commander-in- chief directed that the depot should be drafted into regiments thus circum- stanced, to effect which a bounty was offered as an inducement to the men to change ; so that the depot from which a fresh supply of good soldiers was expected became reduced nearly to a skeleton, since there only remained a few undersized men, with some old soldiers who were awaiting their discharge. In India 234 men were . transferred from a regiment then serving there, who were, according to the regimental record, no acquisition either in appearance or in morals.

On 7th December, 1830, the regiment started to march from Chinsurah. where they were stationed, to Kurnaul near Meerut, a distance of 905 miles. The feat was accomplished in 80 marches, being somewhat over n| miles daily, the longest being 16 and the shortest under 3 miles.1

Colonel Oglander, who had commanded since March, 1818, having been appointed brigadier at Cawnpore, resigned the command igth December,

1 Historical Record, pp. 167-68, 173.

THE CAMERONIANS

SCOTTISH RIFLES

Private 1914

ANDREW ROSS 273

1836, to Lieut.-Colonel William James. Although cholera and dysentery continued to claim an occasional victim, the health of the regiment con- tinued good, owing, in part at least, to the existence of a temperance society. On the outbreak of the war with China the regiment embarked at Calcutta on 24th March, 1840, mustering 28 officers, 44 sergeants, 16 drum- mers and 842 rank and file, leaving behind only 6 sick. Lieut.-Colonel William James was in command, but Colonel Oglander, relinquishing his sick leave and local rank as major-general, obtained permission to join, and overtaking the battalion at Singapore, resumed the command. Unfortunately, this excellent officer died of dysentery on 22nd June. Chusan was reached on 4th July, and a landing having been effected the following day, possession was taken of Tinghae, the principal city, with little opposition on the part of the Chinese. The 26th were encamped on a hill within the city walls, a mile and a half from the shore, up a very steep ascent. The regiment being without native followers had to carry their provisions and perform other fatigue duties, which, coupled with those of a military nature, were so severe as not to give a single day of rest, and all under a burning sun. Provisions, mostly salt and of the very worst description, and frequently so bad as not to be fit for use, a climate inimical to Europeans, and the irregularity of the ground, which would not admit of the tents being pitched so as to afford proper shelter, reduced the corps in six weeks to a mass of debilitated, dying soldiers. The sickness became so appalling that the regiment moved into the city of Tinghae in September, where four hundred sick were placed in a large building, ill adapted from its site and want of glazed windows for an hospital. An effort to re-embark the corps failed, the transports which had brought them having been filled with naval stores. A party, however, was embarked and sent to Manilla in November in hopes that the sea voyage would benefit them. Meanwhile the officer commanding received a communication from the adjutant-general's office, Calcutta, dated i3th November, 1840, stating that the Court of Directors of the East India Company had considered the report of the medical board on the health of the European troops ; the comparative immunity from mortality and sickness enjoyed by Her Majesty's 26th Regiment had impressed itself on the Court, and desiring to know the details of the arrangements adopted for the internal economy of the 26th for transmission to the home authorities.

274 THE CAMERONIANS

We hear no more of the system which secured to the Crown the services of healthy soldiers, instead of burdening its resources with invalids.

And now the regiment suffered terribly owing to want of the most ordinary forethought on the part of the officials concerned. The men sent to Manilla did not recover as expected. There were many deaths among them, and the survivors were in a wretched condition. Never- theless, it was by detachments of the 26th and 4gth regiments, under com- mand of Brevet-Major William Johnstone of the Cameronians, that the forts of Cheumpee were attacked and carried on 7th January, 1841. Shortly after possession was taken of the island of Hong Kong, and an armistice agreed to. It was acceptable to neither side. Hostilities were renewed, and the troops advanced towards Canton. Shortly after Lieut. -Colonel James left on sick leave and the command fell to Brevet Lieut. -Colonel Pratt, who led the regiment with distinction in the various services in which it was engaged. On 26th December this year the arrival of 262 recruits from home raised the numbers to 584.

The regiment was ordered north, and arrived at Ningpo on 7th February, 1842. Percussion muskets were issued to the regiment immediately before starting, which were gladly adopted in lieu of the flint-locks previously in use. After a series of smart operations, in which the Cameronians took the lead- ing part, the Emperor of China sued for peace, and the troops re-embarked and returned to Hong Kong on 3Oth October. In commemoration of the services of the 26th during these campaigns authority was given for the word " China " and the device of the Dragon to be inscribed on the regimental colour and appointments. On 20th December the regiment embarked for Singapore. Information was here received that Major Johnstone had been promoted to the brevet rank of lieut. -colonel for services in the Canton river, and on reaching Calcutta it became known that that officer had died at sea when on leave on igth October, 1842, of disease contracted in China.1

The headquarters arrived in Calcutta on the 7th of February, 1843. Lieut.-Colonel Mountain assumed command on i6th February, and before leaving India the regiment received the public thanks of the authorities for the signal service they had rendered. It landed at Gravesend, July- August, 1843, and immediately proceeded to Edinburgh. During the winter the corps made weekly marches, generally taking some gentleman's 1 Historical Record, pp. 185-198.

ANDREW ROSS 275

place or remarkable spot for its object. Arthur's Seat was one, and it was observed at the time that no regiment had been there for forty years.

On 3rd May, 1844, new colours were given by the Hon. Colonel Lord Seaton, consecrated by Principal Lee and presented to the Cameronians by Lady Douglas, wife of Sir Neil Douglas, the officer commanding in chief in Scotland, who before the regiment left issued a general order congratulating Lieut. -Colonel Mountain upon its fine appearance, the state of its arms, clothing and accoutrements, and of its interior economy.

In August, 1844, the regiment was moved to England, when volunteering for the 53rd Foot was encouraged, whereby it was brought considerably below the establishment. Had the regiment been permitted to remain in Scotland no doubt it would soon have filled, but owing to the changes in the recruiting officers there was much delay, and the lieut.-colonel was informed that unless the establishment was completed by the end of the year, recruiting would be extended to England and Ireland.

In May, 1845, the standard for recruits was lowered half an inch, with the result that about 200 recruits, mostly of an inferior description, were poured in upon the Cameronians in the course of a few days. In June the regiment went to Ireland, and in February, 1847, an order was received to recruit 1000 rank and file. This order for general recruiting was a blow at the nationality of the corps and was much regretted. In September, 1847, Colonel Mountain, C.B., quitted the 26th to accompany the Earl of Dalhousie, Governor-General of India, to Calcutta as his military secretary. He was succeeded in command by Major Hogarth.

On the 3rd of August Queen Victoria landed at Cork and a guard of honour composed of the two flank companies under Captains Layard and Casey was furnished from the 26th to receive her Majesty, the rest of the regiment with the other troops in garrison lining the streets as the Queen went through. Brevet-Major Mylius received her Majesty at Cove, since named Queenstown in commemoration of the event. Six companies of the regiment, 20 officers and 604 non-commissioned officers and men, proceeded to Gibraltar on 5th March, 1850, under the command of Lieut.-Colonel Hemphill, four companies being left behind at Cork as depot. On I3th

276 THE CAMERONIANS

May these companies, consisting of 10 officers and 462 non-commissioned officers and men, proceeded to Jersey, and next year to Wales. From Gibraltar the battalion companies sailed for Canada, the headquarters arriving off Quebec on 28th May. On 3ist March, 1854, Major-General Philip Bainbrigge, C.B., was appointed colonel vice Lieut.-Colonel Lord Seaton, G.C.B., removed to the 2nd Life Guards. On 3rd December the service companies proceeded to Bermuda. Two companies of the depot under Lieut.-Colonel Whittingham, C.B., joined the service companies at Bermuda, with two other detachments at separate times — in all about 327 men. Owing to the war with Russia the majority were young undrilled recruits, and a watchful superintendence over them was necessary in such a climate. Great attention was paid to prevent unnecessary exposure to the sun, and by limiting the hours and selecting shady places, drill was carried on and completed without any sickness being observable amongst them. In March, 1856, the Enfield rifle was issued to the regiment. On i8th October, 1859, the headquarters embarked for Portsmouth, and pro- ceeded thence to Kingstown. In May, 1860, the Enfield rifle was withdrawn and another weapon issued named the interchangeable rifle.

On 2nd and 6th May, 1861, the battalion left Ireland for Edinburgh in two detachments. For the second time a presentation of colours took place at Edinburgh, in presence of the troops in garrison, the Royal Scots Greys and a battery of the 7th Royal Artillery. They were the gift of Lady Belhaven, were consecrated by the Rev. James Millar, garrison chaplain, and presented by Major-General Walker, the regiment, under command of Lieut.-Colonel Carey, being drawn up on the north side of the parade ground in the Queen's Park, facing St. Antony's Chapel. The regiment removed from Scotland to Aldershot in four divisions in May, 1862. On 6th June an official memorandum was received requesting to know whether any authority had been received for men being employed as pipers in the Cameronians, and the result was that three were authorised. The regiment returned to India in 1855, under command of Lieut.-Colonel Shurlock Henning, and next year it won the silver cup given by Sir R. Napier, commander-in-chief at Bombay, to be shot for by non-commis- sioned officers of regiments in the Presidency.

In 1868 the regiment formed part of the Abyssinian expeditionary force. Leaving Belgaum 830 strong it landed at Zoula and was sent up

ANDREW ROSS 277

country in detachments. The men were armed with the Snider breech- loading rifle. After a march of fourteen miles across the desert the Camer- onians halted at Koomaylie, at the entrance of the great rocky valley or ravine known as The Passes, nearly fifty miles long, which leads up to the plain of Senate. On arrival there they received news of the release of the captives, the capture of Magdala and the death of King Theodore, and they were back in Bombayon nth June. In January, 1870, the Cameronians proceeded to Cawnpore, and by Lucknow to Fyzabad. In August, 1871, Colonel F. A. Willis from the 38th regiment assumed command, having exchanged with Colonel Henning. While at Fyzabad the Cameronians were the best shooting regiment in India and the second best in the army. They were at other stations in India before they left it on 25th November, 1874, reaching Portsmouth on 2ist January, I875.1

In May, 1876, Lieut. -Colonel Collins succeeded Colonel Willis in com- mand. On 7th August the regiment disembarked at Greenock from H.M.S. Orontes, and occupied Gallowgate Barracks, Glasgow. In March, 1878, when war with Russia seemed imminent, the Cameronians being in the ist Army Corps for foreign service, received 350 volunteers from twenty- three different regiments. On igth April the Army Reserve was called out and about 230 joined the regiment, making the strength about 1300 of all ranks. In July the Army Reserve was sent home. In August, 1880, the Cameronians were sent to Malta, whence they were ordered to the Cape in March, 1881 ; but the war there having come to an end, the Egypt was stopped at Gibraltar and the regiment was conveyed home to Portsmouth. Lieut.-Colonel Hale succeeded to the command in May. On 3ist May 300 Cameronians were sent to the 74th Highlanders, thus reducing the battalion to little more than a depot.

On ist July the reorganisation of the British army took place, and the 74th Highlanders ceased to be linked with the 26th. The 26th and the goth Perthshire Light Infantry were united as " The Scotch Rifles, Cameronians." This title was soon altered to " The Cameronians, Scottish Rifles." On the ist July, 1881, therefore, the history of the old single regiment, the 26th Cameronians, came to an end, the battalion under its new title remaining at Shorncliffe under the command of Lieut.-Colonel M. H. Hale. As rifle regiments carry no colours, a farewell ceremony

1 Conclusion of Records of the Twenty-sixth or Cameraman Regiment, pp. 1-5.

278 THE CAMERONIANS

of a somewhat pathetic character was transacted on 26th June, 1882. The old colours having been brought on parade, the Cameronians, clad in their new rifle uniform, marched past, saluted them, and then advanced in line and gave them a royal salute. The battalion then stood in line while the band played " Auld Lang Syne," and the colours were marched off parade for the last time. l

1 An interesting custom is still observed in the Cameronian Regiment, derived from the troublous times when the proscribed Covenanters had to observe precautions against being surprised by the forces of the Government when attending a hill preaching or conventicle. Whenever the regiment is in camp or billets the men parade for divine service with their rifles and, usually, five rounds of ball cartridge. A picquet is sent out and sentries are posted, and not until the officer in charge of the picquet reports " All clear " does the officer commanding the parade inform the clergyman that he may proceed with the service. When the regiment is quartered in permanent barracks, rifles are not carried, but each man has to bring the Bible which was issued to him with his kit on enlistment.

THE 90™ PERTHSHIRE LIGHT INFANTRY

[Now 2nd Battalion of the Cameronians (Scottish Rifles)\

/^VX the outbreak of the war of the French Revolution on ist February, ^-J 1793, several additions were made to the British army, and some of the new regiments were raised in Scotland. Mr. Thomas Graham of Balgowan,1 in the county of Perth, was one of those who asked and obtained letters of service entitling them to do so. His success was so complete that on i3th May, 1794, he was able to parade at Perth 7 officers and 746 non-commissioned officers and men before Lieut.-General Lord Adam Gordon, then commanding-in-chief in Scotland, who was highly pleased with the appearance of the regiment, which was made up of 95 Highlanders, 430 Lowlanders, 165 English and 56 Irish. It was equipped and drilled as a light infantry battalion, and added to the establishment as the goth Regiment of Foot, or Perthshire Volunteers. Brevet-Major George Mon- crieffe of the nth Foot and Captain Rowland Hill of the 53rd (afterwards Lord Hill) were both brought into the regiment with the rank of lieut.- colonel ; but Thomas Graham retained command as lieut. -colonel com- mandant. On 24th June the regiment mustered 29 sergeants, 43 corporals and 1042 private men. The completion of the battalion so elated Mr. Graham that he offered to raise a second of 1000 men. The offer was accepted, and he was able in August to report its completion. Two years afterwards this second battalion was " turned over " to the Marines.

Colours were presented to the ist battalion at , Winchester on 4th June, 1795, and in August following it embarked for the coast of France as part of an expedition formed to aid General Charette, one of the royalist leaders in La Vendee. The Isle Dieu was seized on 2gth September, by the force which was formed in two brigades, the second under Colonel Graham

1 Afterwards General Lord Lynedoch.

28o THE 90TH PERTHSHIRE LIGHT INFANTRY

consisting of the 78th and goth. It was occupied for two months, but the strength of the republicans prevented General Charette from obtaining any of the supplies destined for him, and the force, being too weak to assist him by any offensive movement, was recalled at the end of November.

In April, 1796, the regiment was sent to Gibraltar, whence in September 1798, it went with the expedition to seize Minorca. The island was reached on 6th November, and ten days later the governor capitulated. In April, 1800, a curious bit of luck fell to the corps, Captain M'Nair, the paymaster, had when in London some time before taken a ticket in one of the State lotteries in name of the regiment. It gained a prize of £20,000. In Sir Ralph Abercromby's expedition to Egypt in 1801 the goth was brigaded with the 8th, i3th and i8th Foot under Major-General Craddock. The army encamped on the shore of Marmorice Bay, where they were detained until the Turks chose to fulfil the obligations they had undertaken. A gale of unusual violence broke over the camp — a storm of hailstones, some of them as large as walnuts, sweeping down from the hills and covering the ground to a depth of two feet. The horses broke loose and the men were unable to face the freezing deluge. Great damage was done to shipping in the bay. Between the confusion caused by the storm and the dilatori- ness of the Turks it was 23rd February before the army sailed for Aboukir, and on ist March it anchored in the bay. The geographical informa- tion available was imperfect. No map of Egypt could be depended on. Sir Sydney Smith was the only officer who knew anything of the coastal district, and he furnished Colonel Rowland Hill of the goth with a map, which was found invaluable in the subsequent operations.

The weather prevented a landing until the morning of the 8th, when the ist division pulled for the shore under a heavy fire, and, forming up as they advanced, stormed the heights. In the meantime the boats returned for the remainder of the army, including the goth. All were landed before night, when a position was taken up about three miles from Aboukir, the right resting on the sea and the left on Lake Maadie. On the i2th Abercromby marched about four miles to Mandora Tower, where the column encamped in three lines. Next day he advanced to attack the French posted on a ridge of hills, the approach to which was perfectly open and afforded a clear field of fire to their artillery. As Sir Ralph determined to turn their right, their left being refused, the British

ANDREW ROSS 281

marched in two columns of regiments from the left. They had not far advanced out of the wood of date trees in front of Mandora when the enemy, leaving the height, moved down by his right, opening a heavy fire of musketry and artillery. The goth regiment under Colonel Row- land Hill led the right column, and the 92nd led the left. The advance guard of the goth, consisting of the flank and two battalion companies commanded by Lieut. -Colonel Kenneth Mackenzie, had only moved a short distance when it came under a hot fire, and a strong cavalry corps was observed preparing to charge. The rest of the battalion moved up, and, forming up as if on parade, awaited the onset of the French cavalry.

The goth wore helmets at that time, and were mistaken by the enemy for a body of dismounted cavalry. Anticipating an easy victory over those whom they imagined must be fighting under difficulties, they charged under General Bron, and were allowed to approach within a few yards, when a volley broke their ranks and a second obliged them to retire. The front shown by the goth was the means of saving the commander-in-chief from being made prisoner. His horse was shot under him and he was nearly surrounded by the enemy's troopers, when he was rescued by a party of the goth. Lieut.-Colonel Hill of the goth, having been struck from his horse early in the action by a musket-ball, which hit the rim of his helmet and wounded him on the head, Lieut.-Colonel Mackenzie took command, and on the retreat of the French cavalry formed up with the remainder of Major-General Craddock's brigade. The army now formed in two lines, the reserve in column on the right, the Guards in rear of the right of the second line and General Doyle's brigade moving on rear of the left in column. In this order they pushed on, the French retreating before them over the plain into their lines on the heights above Alexandria. Abercromby, anxious to follow up his success by capturing the position, continued to advance, ordering General Hutchinson with the second line to move forward to the left and secure a projecting rising ground. General Moore was directed to the right, so that both flanks might be assaulted at the same time. The first line remained in the plain rather to the right. General Hutchinson advanced to occupy the rising ground, and found some protection for his troops from the broken nature of the soil. The centre remained exposed, and came under a heavy fire from the enemy's guns, until Abercromby, not deeming it prudent to attempt the forcing of the

282 THE 90TH PERTHSHIRE LIGHT INFANTRY

heights, withdrew the army at sunset, to occupy the position won in the morning. In this engagement the French lost about 500 men. The British had noo killed and wounded. The casualties in the goth were 22 rank and file killed, 8 officers, n sergeants and 203 rank and file wounded. Next day the following order was issued :

" Camp four miles from Alexandria

14 March 1801.

The Commander in Chief has the greatest satisfaction in thanking the troops for their soldier like and intrepid conduct in the action of yesterday. He feels it incumbent on him particularly to express his most perfect satisfaction with the steady and gallant conduct of Major-General Craddock's brigade, and he desires that Major-General Craddock will assure the officers and men of the goth Regiment that their meritorious conduct commands his admiration. To the Q2nd and Regiment of Dillon an equal share of praise is due, and when it has been so well earned, the Commander in Chief has the greatest pleasure in bestowing it."

Early on the morning of the 2ist the French again advanced to the attack. It was General Menou's intention to make a feint against the British left wing, while his main body, forcing the centre and wheeling round to the right, should drive the British into Lake Maadie. It was an able design, but it was not carried into effect. General Craddock's brigade prevented any forward movement against the left, whilst Generals Moore and Oakes defeated all attempts made upon an old Roman camp which formed a main feature on the right. Towards the end of the engage- ment the British regiments ran short of ammunition ; but General Menou, finding that all his movements had failed, and that the impression made on the British lines justified no hopes of a tactical success, withdrew his troops in good order to the heights of his position. Sir Ralph Abercromby was struck by a bullet early in the morning, but continued walking about and directing the battle until the retreat of the enemy's columns, when he was taken on board the Foudroyant and died on the 28th.

The command devolved upon Lieut. -General Hely Hutchinson, who advanced on 5th May with a force composed of the brigades of Generals Craddock and Doyle, 4000 Turks under Caia Bey and twelve field-pieces. On the 8th they took possession of El Aft, and next day advanced to within four miles of Rhamanieh, where they beat off an attack by the French cavalry and light troops. The allied troops lay on their arms that night ; next day, as they were advancing to the assault, the fort surrendered, the main body of the French falling back in the direction of Cairo. Thither

ANDREW ROSS 283

they were followed by the British, and although sickness prevailed among the troops to an alarming degree, their spirits rose as they approached Cairo. On i6th June Hutchinson encamped at Shubrah, where he remained until the 2ist preparing for the assualt ; but on the morning of the 22nd a French officer with a flag of truce was brought before the general to arrange for the evacuation of Cairo and the return of its garrison to France, which was agreed to the following day. On gth August the army was redis- tributed, the goth forming part of the 3rd brigade commanded by Brigadier- General Hope,1 which joined the camp at Alexandria on the nth. General Hutchinson resumed command on the i5th, and expressed his intention of immediately besieging Alexandria. Hope's brigade moved into the front line on the following day. The siege was vigorously pressed until the 3oth, when General Hope entered the town to sign the capitulation. On the 3rd September the goth took possession of one of the gates of the city, and the Eygptian campaign being at an end the regiment was sent to Malta.

In preparation for inspection by General Fox at this time, a regimental order contains, inter alia, instruction that " the men's hair is well tied and dressed at the sides, and that the officers themselves are properly regiment- ally dressed. Uniform — jacket, red waistcoat and buff breeches, long gaiters, helmet and regimental sword and feather. . . . The officers are likewise desired to wear powder."

In December the goth Perthshire Volunteers were startled by a rumour that the men were to be called on to volunteer for some of the older regi- ments with a view to the reduction of the corps. In consequence of these reports Colonel Hill applied to General Fox, commanding the forces in the Mediterranean, and received the following reassuring reply :

gir " Head Quarters Malta 12 December 1801.

General Fox being informed that a report has been circulated that the men of the goth Regiment would be allowed to enlist in the older regiments, I am directed by His Excellency to say that such report is without any founda- tion, and that the reason of the goth not being included in the number of regiments allowed to enlist men from the Ancient Irish Fenciblcs is that the goth being looked upon as a national regiment, the recruiting of it is to be confined as much as possible to North Britons. DAT"

1 Succeeded his half-brother as 4th Earl of Hopetoun in 1816. As adjutant-general he was wounded in the engagement on 2ist March, and was appointed to command the 3rd brigade on gth August.

284 THE 90TH PERTHSHIRE LIGHT INFANTRY

The regiment reached Scotland about the middle of this year for the purpose of recruiting, and in March, 1803, proceeded from Fort George to Belfast. A second battalion was raised in 1804, and in January, 1805, the ist battalion embarked at Youghal under the command of Lieut.- Colonel John M'Nair for service in the West Indies, and was stationed in St. Vincent. It formed part of the force which landed in Martinique on 3Oth January, 1809, and received the surrender of Fort Royal by the French on 24th February. The goth also had a share in the capture of Guadaloupe in February, 1810, after which the regiment returned to St. Vincent. From the West Indies it proceeded to Canada, arriving at Quebec on 20th June, 1814, and crossed over to Fort Niagara, which it occupied until 22nd May in the following year, when hostilities with the United States ceased and the fort was given up. A few weeks afterwards the regiment left Canada to form part of the army of occupation in France. It was in May of this year that an order was issued directing that the goth should be armed, clothed and drilled as the other light infantry corps in the army were, viz. the 43rd, 5ist, 52nd, 68th, yist and 85th regiments. In June, 1816, the goth returned to England and in 1817 received the privilege of adding " Mandora," " Martinique " and " Guadaloupe " to the honours of the regiment. The 2nd battalion was disbanded in the same year.

In October, 1820, the regiment left for Malta, and in the following year for the Ionian Islands, where it remained until 1830. On returning home it proceeded to Edinburgh, where it remained a year under the command of Lord G. W. Russell, and then marched to Glasgow, which it left in 1832 for Ireland. On 4th January, 1836, the goth sailed from Cork for Ceylon, where it remained until February, 1846, when it returned home. Three companies of the regiment were on board the transport Maria Somes when she encountered a terrific storm in the Indian Ocean which lasted three days. The starboard cabin was stove in, the skylight of the saloon burst open ; only the mizen and fore-lower masts were standing ; there were fourteen feet of water in the hold and the rudder was carried away. The sufferings of the men, women and children were terrible, several deaths ensuing from exhaustion. When the storm abated the chief difficulty was the want of a rudder. When a new one was improvised, the difficulty arose how to fix it in its place. An examination of the sternpost led to the discovery of the pintails and gudgeons of the old one some depth below

ANDREW ROSS 285

water. There seemed no means of getting them, and their recovery was about to be abandoned when Private Gunnion of the goth volunteered to dive. After many attempts, attended with great danger from the sharks, he succeeded in regaining the much coveted articles. The rudder was placed in position, the foreyard rigged as a jury mast, and in about a fort- night's time the vessel made the Mauritius, where the greatest hospitality was shown by the governor, Sir William Gomm,1 and the ship ultimately reached the Cape in safety. The voyage of the headquarters had been favourable, and on their arrival at the Cape they were ordered to take part in the operations against the Kafirs, General Sir Peregrine Maitland commanding-in-chief . They were directed to sail round to Algoa Bay, and on landing to push on to the front. Graham's Town was reached on 28th April. The three companies on board the Maria Somes arrived at Graham's Town about midsummer, and, with part of the 7th, gist and Cape Mounted Rifles, took the field with Sir Peregrine Maitland, and encamped at the mouth of the Fish River. On 6th July 150 men of the gist and part of the goth made their first march from Fish River mouth along the shore to the mouth of the Reka, where they encamped. On the I5th they arrived at Buffalo River. On the ijth they proceeded to the Dike flats via King William's Town, en route to the Amatolas, to intercept the Gaikas. On the 2ist they encamped four miles from King William's Town, and on the igth of August were at Fort Beresford. In August the detached companies of the regiment were called in and moved by the Fish River on Block Drift, where a force of the 27th, 46th, part of the gist and a battery of artillery was encamped, of which Lieut. -Colonel Slade of the goth on his arrival took the command. While in this permanent camp two companies of the goth under Captain Bringhurst crossed the Kei to harass the enemy. On their return the river was in flood and they had to bivouac on its banks for three days before they were able to rejoin headquarters. About I3th September the division moved towards the mouth of the Fish River, which it reached on the igth. In October the goth under Lieut. -Colonel Slade, the 45th under Lieut. -Colonel Erskine, a troop of the 7th Dragoon Guards and some artillery, moved inland on Block Drift. By the end of November the principal Gaika chiefs had given in, and on 6th January, 1847, the goth received orders to embark for home.

1 Appointed field-marshal in 1868 ; died in 1875.

286 THE 90TH PERTHSHIRE LIGHT INFANTRY

The regiment concentrated and marched for the coast. On arrival at Port Elizabeth it was found that the Thunderbolt, on which they were to embark, had not arrived. She did not appear until 3rd February, and the men were eagerly watching her rounding Cape Receif when she struck a sunken rock and leaked so badly that she had to be driven ashore. In spite of pumps working night and day the water in her did not decrease, and the engineer suspected that the sea-pipe must be open. As the vessel was full of greasy opaque water, it seemed impossible for anyone to reach the engine-room to close it. Once more Private Gunnion came to the rescue. After receiving precise instructions as to the situation of the pipe he descended, and naturally lost his way in the filthy liquid, but with in- domitable pluck he went down again and again, until finally he succeeded. The pipe was open, he closed it, and the water in the ship was reduced. The injuries she had sustained, however, were of so serious a nature that she had to be broken up. In a few days the President came into the bay. The goth embarked and proceeded to Cape Town in daily expectation of leaving for home; but affairs on the frontier again looking serious, they were sent by wings on the Rosamond to the mouth of Buffalo River. In January, 1848, they returned to Cape Town and embarked for Spithead on 1 8th April.

In 1851 the regiment went to Ireland, and in 1854 was on the roster for India when orders came by telegram to embark for the Crimea, and it landed at Balaclava on 5th December, 1854, and was attached to the 2nd brigade of the Light division. The day after its arrival it was sent into the trenches and occupied the advanced rifle pits. From that date onwards the goth was employed in trench duty, and lost many men killed and wounded in action, and many more from disease and exposure, insufficient clothing and shelter. Even the common necessaries of life were denied them. It was no uncommon sight to see from four to six men removed from the tents in the morning for burial. On soth December Lieut. Garnet J. Wolseley l was posted to the right attack as assistant engineer, a position he retained throughout the siege.

At midnight on 22nd March, 1855, the Russians made a sortie with 8000 men against our advanced trenches and the French works in front of the Mamelon. Captain Delavoye in his records of the goth writes :

1 Afterwards field-marshal ; created Baron Wolseley of Cairo in 1882, Viscount in 1885: died in 1913.

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" In this attack on the rifle pits, the mortar battery was carried by an enormous force of the enemy who held it for about 15 minutes. At the time the heavy fire between the French and the Russians was going on, a portion of the goth Regiment was employed on fatigue duty, on the right of the new advanced works on our right attack. They were in the act of returning to their posts in the Gordon battery just at the moment the heavy firing on the right had ceased, when a scattered irregular fusilade commenced in the dark on the left of their position, close to the mortar battery. Captain Vaughton who commanded the party of the goth, ordered his men to advance along the covered way to the works. They moved up in double time and found the Russians in complete possession of the mortar battery. The goth at once opened as heavy a fire of musketry as they could upon the enemy who returned it, when an alarm was given that our men were firing on the French ; but the mistake was speedily discovered by the enemy's fire being poured in with more deadly effect, and the small party of the goth suffered considerably. Then with a loud ' hurrah ' the gallant little band sprang with the bayonet upon the enemy, who at once precipitately retired over the parapet followed by our rifle balls which were poured in upon them incessantly till every round in the men's pouches was ex- pended. In order to keep up the fire the men groped about among the dead Russians and exhausted all the cartridges they could find among the enemy's pouches. The names of the officers and men of the goth whose conduct was distinguished in this affair were Sergeants Clarke, Brittle and Nash, Corporal Carruthers (severely wounded) and Privates Fare, Walsh, Nicholson (wounded) and Nash. Captain Vaughton received a severe contusion in this affair."

On 7th June the Allies made a combined attack on the outworks of Sebastopol, preceded by a heavy artillery fire. The French advanced against the Mamelon, and a column composed of detachments from the Light and 2nd divisions moved against the battery in the Quarries. Both movements succeeded, the Light and 2nd divisions being supported at night by the 62nd. Lieut. -Colonel Robert Campbell of the goth was in command of the storming party at the commencement of the action, and after the Quarries were taken he assumed command of the whole force, and remained in the battery, although twice wounded, until relieved at 7 A.M. on the morning of the 8th.1 Captain Garnet Wolseley, whose duty it was as assistant engineer to accompany the assaulting column, was wounded in the thigh during the night, and was found on the ground next morning outside the Quarries, where he had fallen. On 6th September, while a party of the regiment under Captain Wade was out working in front of the Redan, Private Alexander of the goth helped to carry into the trenches Captain Buckley of the Coldstream, who had been dangerously wounded when in command of the covering party. Private

1 He was made C. B. in recognition of his gallant conduct on this occasion.

288 THE DOTH PERTHSHIRE LIGHT INFANTRY

Alexander was recommended for the V.C., to which he was subsequently gazetted.

The general assault upon Sebastopol was ordered for the morning of Saturday the 8th of September, the French to assault the Malakoff and the British the Redan. On that morning there were no sick in the goth— that is, not one of the men would attend at the hospital for fear he might be ordered to remain in camp. One young ensign on the sick list for some days with dysentery went to the surgeon and reported himself quite well ; and thus on the day of the taking of Sebastopol the goth Perthshire Volun- teers sent in a blank sick report. Shortly after mid-day our men rushed out of the fifth parallel and made for the salient of the Redan. As they crossed the open ground the guns from the barrack battery and some on the right of the Redan swept away a considerable number. The sur- vivors pressed on, and passing through the abattis and across the ditch entered the woik, the Russians at once opening a heavy fire from the traverses and breastworks to which they had retreated. The fire cruelly diminished our force, and the men, jammed into the angle of the salient and mixed up together, began to return the fire without advancing. At this period Colonel Windham, senior officer inside the Redan, seeing that without reinforcements no forward movement could be made, sent three officers at intervals to demand the aid required. Finding, however, that no fresh troops came forward he determined to go himself to Sir W. Codrington. Captain Crealock of the goth happened to be near, busily engaged in getting his men into order before leading them against the breastworks, and Colonel Windham explained to him his reasons for leaving, saying : "I must go to the General for supports ; now mind, let it be known in case I am killed, why I went away." The Russians were now in great force and rushed with the bayonet on our men, who met them firmly ; the odds, however, were so great, and they had suffered so terribly by the cross fire, that they were driven over the parapet and into the ditch at the moment Colonel Windham was returning to their assistance with the Royals.1 A furious struggle ensued, but the Russians, outnumbering their opponents and being continually reinforced, stood their ground, and by 1.48 P.M. the struggle for the Redan was over.

'On 2nd October following Colonel Windham was promoted major-general "for his distinguished conduct " and was given command of the 4th division.

ANDREW ROSS 289

In this, as it proved to be, the final struggle in the Crimea, the goih had three officers killed, Captain H. Preston, Lieut. A. D. Swift and Ensign H. F. Wilmer. Lieut. Swift had penetrated further than any of those who got into the place, and his body was discovered far in advance near the re-entering angle ; Captain H. M. Vaughan was wounded very soon after entering the Redan. When he fell a Russian soldier was on the point of bayoneting him when he made the Masonic sign, which, being understood by his assailant, saved him for the time. After the British attack was repulsed the Russian officers gave orders that he should be carefully taken to the rear, and while in their presence he was well treated ; but his after sufferings were great. When three days after the struggle our exploring parties pushed into the Redan, which was then in ruins, he was found on the staircase of a great hospital with some other British wounded, delirious through pain and neglect. He died on the nth. In addition the goth had six officers severely and six slightly wounded, one sergeant and three privates killed, four sergeants and 33 privates missing, and 13 sergeants and 119 privates wounded. The commander of the forces in the Crimea placed on record his regrets that ' ' from the formidable nature of the defences " the attack on the Redan " did not meet with that immediate success which it so well merited."

The officers of the goth mentioned in despatches as having distinguished themselves in the attack on the 8th were Captain Grove commanding the battalion, Captains Smith, Vaughan, Tinling, Close, Crealock, Wade, Magenis and Preston ; Lieuts. Graham and Somerville, Sergeant-Maj or Cummin, and Sergeants Saunderson, Monaghan and Smallie. In April, 1856, peace was proclaimed, and the soldiers of the allied and Russian armies fraternised, visiting each other's camps and meeting at the races and other entertain- ments set on foot. In June the goth left the Crimea, mustering 27 officers and 757 non-commissioned officers and men, and landed at Portsmouth in the end of July, having lost in an absence of eighteen months 6 officers and 274 non-commissioned officers and men.

The regiment remained at Aldershot until February, 1857, when orders were received to embark for India at once. By a second order the date was deferred to June. At the end of March came a third order to embark for China, which was done early in April, with the headquarters under Colonel R. P. Campbell, C.B., seven companies embarking in the Himalaya

29o THE 90TH PERTHSHIRE LIGHT INFANTRY

and three under Major Barnston in the Transit. In the Straits of Sunda the Himalaya was intercepted with orders for the goth to proceed to Calcutta to aid in the suppression of the mutiny in India. Arriving at the city about 2ist July the goth reached Berhampore on ist August, where they were employed in disarming some native troops. On 5th August Major- General Sir James Outram was appointed to the command of the Dinapore and Cawnpore divisions of the army. In the meantime Brigadier-General Havelock, with a handful of men, had been attempting the relief of the garrison of Lucknow. Though victorious in every engagement, he was unable to make headway for want of troops, and by i6th August had returned to Cawnpore to await reinforcements. On the I5th Outram, with the goth and the other troops under his command, joined Havelock at Cawnpore, and on the i6th issued the following remarkable divisional order :

" The important duty of relieving the garrison of Lucknow, had been first entrusted to Brigadier General Havelock, C.B., and Major General Outram feels that it is due to that distinguished officer, and to the strenuous and noble exer- tions which he has already made to effect that object, that to him should accrue the honour of the achievement.

" Major General Outram is confident that this great end, for which Brigadier General Havelock and his brave troops have so long and so gloriously fought, will now, under the blessing of Providence be accomplished.

'• The Major General therefore in gratitude for and admiration of the brilliant deeds of arms achieved by Brigadier General Havelock and his gallant troops, will cheerfully waive his rank in favour of that officer on this occasion, and will accompany the force to Lucknow in his civil capacity as Chief Commissioner of Oude, tendering his military services to Brigadier General Havelock as a volunteer. On the relief of Lucknow the Major General will resume his position at the head of the forces."

The force so placed under Havelock's command was composed of two brigades of infantry, the ist under Brigadier-General J. G. S. Neill, con- sisting of the 5th and 84th Foot with a detachment of the 64th attached, and the ist Madras Fusiliers (now ist Battalion the Royal Dublin Fusiliers), the 2nd under Brigadier Hamilton consisting of the 78th, the goth and the Ferozepore Regiments. In addition there were Captain Maude's, Captain Olpherts' and Brevet-Major Eyre's batteries of artillery under Major Cooper, a body of volunteer cavalry and the I2th Irregular Cavalry under Captain Barrow, and an Engineer section under Captain Crommelin.

For two days the troops were employed in throwing bridges across the

ANDREW ROSS 291

Ganges at Cawnpore, and early on igth September the army crossed the river and entered Oude. There was incessant fighting all the way to the beleaguered garrison at Lucknow. On the 23rd the enemy were found strongly posted at the Alum Bagh, a large enclosed garden about two miles from Lucknow. The mutineers had six guns, which were well served for a short time, the first shell mortally wounding Major Perrin and Lieuts. Graham and Preston of the goth. After these guns had been silenced by Olphcrts' battery, the 78th and goth moved forward in line. The enemy made but a short stand, and was driven back, and the Alum Bagh was occupied. There the troops halted on the 24th. On that day, while the baggage of the column under a guard of the goth was making its way to the front, it was approached by some native cavalry who called out in English " It's all right, we are friends." Lieut. Nunn of the goth com- manding the baggage guard, being aware that some of the native cavalry were still loyal, allowed them to draw nearer ; they suddenly charged and, after cutting down some of the escort, galloped off. Among those killed were Lieut. Nunn and Private Alexander, who had been gazetted to the V.C. but had not yet received it.

On the 25th the outlying picquets were called in to garrison the Alum Bagh, in which all the sick and wounded were placed. The rest of Havelock's force proceeded to the desperate task of relieving the Residency. The brigades moved off separately ; the ist suffered severely under a heavy musketry fire from some houses and gardens lining the road from which the enemy had to be driven. When the column was reunited at the Char Bagh on the canal, the bridge, which was swept by a battery of four guns, was stormed and taken by the ist Madras Fusiliers. Crossing the bridge the goth was ordered by General Havelock to capture two guns posted at the end of a narrow lane on the right of the column. Two companies under Captains Wade and Magenis left the road and entered the defile, which was commanded by the guns and musketry of the enemy who filled the houses on either side. Led by Colonel Campbell (whose life was saved by his prayer-book, in which a bullet lodged), and accompanied by Colonel Purnell and Lieut, and Adjutant Rennie, the goth dashed forward, and after a desperate struggle secured the guns, up to which Ensigns Gordon and Chater carried the colours. As soon as the guns were captured Captain Olpherts (afterwards Lieut. -General Olpherts, V.C., C.B.), who had accom-

292 THE 90TH PERTHSHIRE LIGHT INFANTRY

panied the advance, removed them, after scratching on them with his sword the number of the 90 th Regiment. After this the goth was separated into two parties, exclusive of the rearguard under Captain Clerk Rattray and Lieut. H. H. Goodrick, which repulsed numerous attacks made on it by cavalry and infantry. The main body of the force pushed its way along a road lying between the canal and the city until it debouched upon the Dilkoosha Road, thence it followed the road to the Secundra Bagh, and turning along it entered a walled passage in front of the Mootee Munzil Palace. From the canal bridge their progress was comparatively un- molested until they approached this position, when they became exposed to a fire of grape from four guns posted at the gate of the Kaiser Bagh, and of musketry from the Khoosheyd Munzil or 32nd mess-house, which was strongly occupied by the enemy. Word came to them here that the 78th were hard pressed ; the column halted for a short time and then moved on in the direction of the Chuther Munzil and Furhut Buksh Palaces, leav- ing the 90th with two of the heavy guns at the Mootee Munzil to assist the 78th, which had come up with the main body by the road leading to the Kaiser Bagh. The two generals having determined to force their way to the Residency through the streets, moved on, and after a desperate struggle, succeeded in reaching the Bailey guard gate of the Residency.

The party of the goth under Colonel Campbell, numbering about 100 men, did not reach the entrenchment that night. With them were the doolies conveying the wounded and the heavy guns. As soon as the enemy knew of their position, he occupied the surrounding buildings and kept up a heavy fire upon them the whole of the 26th. While in this position, Colour- Sergeant Brittle of Captain Phipp's company of the goth sheltered himself behind a pillar of the gateway and, though exposed to a heavy fire, stood picking off the enemy's gunners, until he was killed by a grape- shot which struck him in the chest. Reinforcements were sent out under Colonel Napier guided by Lieut. Moorsom of the 52nd, and at three o'clock in the morning of the 27th the detachment reached the Residency with but little loss.

It soon became apparent that the " relief " of Lucknow was rather in name than in substance. The mutineers again swarmed round the city, and the relieving force, united to the force it had relieved, was too weak to fight its way back to Cawnpore and guard at the same time the sick

ANDREW ROSS 293

and wounded and women and children. As there were sufficient provisions to maintain the entire force until final help came, the generals decided to remain. An enlarged area round the Residency making the position secure was occupied. Another party was stationed at the Alum Bagh, about four miles from the Residency, and all communication between the two posts was cut off by the enemy.

Returning now to the three companies under charge of Major Barnston. The Transit, leaving Simon's Bay a few days after the Himalaya, encountered a cyclone and was wrecked off the Dutch island of Banca. On reaching Calcutta the detachment was refitted, having lost everything in the wreck. They reached Futtehpore on 3rd October, and on the i8th had their first engagement with the enemy at a village called Sheo Rappore. On the 2ist Major Barnston, with a force of 500 men, including the three com- panies of his own regiment, 296 strong, started with a convoy of provisions for the Alum Bagh, which they safely reached, and there they remained until the arrival of Sir Colin Campbell on the i2th November, when it formed part of his 4th brigade under Sir Adrian Hope, which was composed of the 53rd, 93rd and Major Barnston's composite battalion.

On the I3th Sir Colin semaphored the garrison in the Residency his intention of moving next day on the Dilkoosha. The besieged force pre- pared to meet him halfway, and on the i6th the Hirun Khana, the engine- house and the king's stables, which lay on Sir Charles route, were attacked, the assault on the engine-house being entrusted to a detachment of the goth, which soon drove out the enemy. In his despatch to Sir James Outram of that date Havelock observes : "I must commend all the officers in charge of detachments, but most prominently Lieut.-Colonel Purnell, goth Light Infantry, whose conduct throughout the affair evinced the most distinguished gallantry, united to imperturbable coolness and the soundest judgment." The detachment of the jSth under Captain Lockhart was equally successful in its attack on the king's stables, which were then handed over to the charge of the detachment of the goth under Colonel Purnell.

About nine o'clock on the morning of the I4th Sir Colin's column moved forward and the Martiniere was occupied by a detachment of the goth. Here the troops were held up for a day waiting a supply of ammunition. The advance was resumed on the i6th. The 93rd forced the Secundra Bagh, whence Sir Colin led Major Barnston's command against the Shah

294 THE 90TH PERTHSHIRE LIGHT INFANTRY

Nujeef, where Major Barnston was severely wounded. On the iyth Captain Peel brought up his guns and opened a fire on the mess-house, which was stormed and carried by Captain Garnet Wolseley, the force being the detachment of his regiment now led by Captain Guise and a company of Sikhs. The Motee Mahul Palace remained the only obstacle between the besieged and the relieving force. Captain Wolseley and his party attacked, driving the defenders from room to room, and then passed on to the Residency, meeting on their way the headquarters of the goth, which they had last seen at the Cape.

Sir Colin Campbell now determined to withdraw from the city which had been won after so much hard fighting, and retire on Cawnpore. On the igth the women and children and sick and wounded, numbering in all 2000, left the Residency, escorted by 600 men under Captain Tinling of the goth. The garrison was withdrawn on the night of the 22nd, the picquets of the 90th remaining at their posts until General Hope's brigade had left the Motee Mahul, when they retired, forming the rearguard of the column. The commander-in-chief retired on Lucknow, leaving a force at Alum Bagh under General Outram of 1047 Indian and 3375 European troops, in which the goth still mustered 591 men. This force was repeatedly but unsuccessfully attacked by the enemy, and by 28th February, 1858, the advance of the commander-in-chief brought him once more to the vicinity of the Alum Bagh. On the 4th of March the goth, having been drawn from the garrison there, again found themselves under the command of General Adrian Hope, brigaded with the 42nd, g3rd and 4th Punjab Rifles, and once more moved forward to the conquest of the rebel city. The old song is literally accurate :

" In Havelock's fights and marches, the Ninetieth were there, In all the gallant Ninetieth did, your Robert did his share ; Twice he went into Lucknow, untouched by steel or ball, And you may bless your God, old dame, Who brought him safe through all."

When the struggle was at an end Sir James Outram wrote to Colonel Purnell as follows :

" Lucknow 29 March 1858. My dear Colonel,

In my various dispatches I have endeavoured to express my sense of the obligations which under I lie to yourself and the glorious goth, but I was in hopes of doing so in still stronger terms in my farewell order to the first division.

ANDREW ROSS 295

. . . Wherever I may be, I shall ever retain the dear, brave old goth in affec- tionate and admiring remembrance, and think with pleasure of the happy, and not uneventful, days I have spent with them on the march, in battle and in quarters — and thinking of them there must be ever present to my mind their noble commander. God bless you my dear Purnell ; that you and yours, and in yours I include every officer and man in the regiment, may be ever prosperous and happy in all your undertakings, is the sincere and earnest prayer of your and their affectionate friend,

J. OUTRAM.

Colonel Purnell,

Commanding goth Regiment."

The capture of Lucknow broke the backbone of the mutiny, but there was still some work to be done. The goth formed part of the garrison of the city under Sir Hope Grant. They quitted Lucknow on 23rd April, and on i?th May inflicted a severe defeat on the enemy at Sirsee. They continued to be employed on harassing duty, clearing the country of bands of depredators. On Christmas day they arrived at Jehangirabad, where they remained until 23rd February, 1860. Between the arrival of the regiment in India in July, 1857, and February, 1859, the number who died of wounds or sickness, or who had been killed in action, amounted to 14 officers and 312 non-commissioned officers and men. The regiment left India on 3oth September, 1869, and arrived in Leith Roads on 7th November. On the gth it disembarked at Granton and marched to Edinburgh Castle, where it remained until 6th June, 1871, when the headquarters of the regiment, consisting of four companies, moved to Gallowgate Barracks, Glasgow ; three companies under command of a field officer were detailed to Stirling Castle, two companies to Ayr and one to Dundee. On 27th June, 1872, the Crimean colours of the regiment were deposited by the officers in the East Parish Church, Perth, to the memory of their comrades in the goth who fell in the Crimea. In July the regiment left for England.

In accordance with General Order 32 of 1873 the goth was linked with the 73rd (Perthshire) regiment. On the 5th of April permission was granted to the regiment to wear the arms of the city of Perth on its appointments. In September of this year an expedition was undertaken against the king of Ashanti. The command was given to Colonel Sir Garnet Wolseley, late goth. On his staff were Colonel Wood, V.C., and Lieut. Eyre, both of the goth. On arrival at Cape Coast Lieut. -Colonel Wood raised a regi-

296 THE 90TH PERTHSHIRE LIGHT INFANTRY

ment of Friendlies. The deciding battle of the campaign was fought at Amoaful on 3ist January, 1874.

In January, 1878, the regiment embarked for Natal, the death of Sandili, the principal leader, having brought the war to a close. In consequence of the attitude of Cetewayo, king of the Zulus, his territory was invaded in January, 1879. The troops under command of Lord Chelmsford were in four columns. The fourth, under Colonel Evelyn Wood, V.C.,1 was at Utrecht, and comprised the I3th and goth, 4 guns of the nth battery, 7th brigade R.A., the Frontier Light Horse and some thousand native allies. Colonel Wood crossed the Blood River and entered Zululand on 6th January. On the i8th he made an excursion against the enemy encamped on the Zlobani mountain. Soon after, the news of the disaster at Isandhlwana reached him, and he retired on Umvolosi River to cover Utrecht. Towards the end of March, on receiving reinforcements from Great Britain, Lord Chelms- ford pressed forward to relieve Colonel Pearson's column blockaded at Fort Ekowe. To create a diversion in favour of his own movements Lord Chelms- ford requested Colonel Wood to attack the enemy who still held in force the upper parts of the Zlobani mountain. The Inhlobana mountain was successfully attacked, and its summit cleared on 28th March by Lieut. - Colonel Redvers Buller, C.B. On the following day an attack was made on Colonel Wood's camp at Kambula by the Ulundi army, estimated at 2000, which was beaten off with loss. The goth distinguished itself for coolness and soldierlike conduct on that day. In district orders it was noted that Colour-Sergeant M'Allen of the goth was wounded and, having had his wound dressed, returned to his company and performed his duty until he was killed. The impis engaged in the battle were so severely handled that they were withdrawn to Ulundi. Near that place on the 4th July another and the last battle of the campaign was fought. On the capture of King Cetewayo a few weeks subsequently the other Zulu chiefs submitted, and the war came to an end. On loth November the regiment landed in India.

In 1881 the goth Perthshire Volunteers were deprived of the title which they had carried to such distinction during eighty-seven years, and the regiment became the 2nd Battalion the Cameronians, Scottish Rifles.

1 Field-marshal and G.C.B., 1891.

VII SCOTTISH REGIMENTS DISBANDED

BY ANDREW ROSS, Ross Herald

THE preceding pages give in outline the history of the regiments which have survived the vicissitudes of politics and centuries, by whose valour the military fame of Scotland has been largely established. But before a just estimate of the prowess of the Lowlander can be formed, it is necessary to recall the services, solid and brilliant, of those gallant corps who in former days did service to the State. That they appear no longer on the lists of the British army is an additional reason why their memory ought not to be overlooked or forgotten by a grateful nation. Disbanded ! The first ideas suggested by the words are those of defeat, of a cause held worth fighting for, and ending after all in failure and overthrow. Yet almost invariably in our military annals disbandment followed success, not failure. Whether the war be internecine or international it is the natural result of victory. Sometimes armies disappear, more frequently only the unit or regiment. Our history affords many examples of corps main- tained only long enough to tide over the national emergency which called them into being, and then disappearing, to the relief of the national exchequer. The record will also show disbandments prompted by less worthy motives.

SECTION I FROM THE RESTORATION IN 1660 TO THE REVOLUTION IN 1689

i. CAVALRY

The Life Guards mustered on the Links of Leith 2nd April, 1661, under The Scottish James Earl of Newburgh as captain, with a lieutenant, under-lieutenant, cornet, quartermaster, four brigadiers, surgeon, clerk, three trumpets

298 SCOTTISH REGIMENTS DISBANDED

and a kettledrum and 120 private gentlemen. They were recruited chiefly from officers who had served in the royalist armies during the civil wars. The troop was established in the first place " for the honour of his Majesties service and the grandeur of the hie court of Parliament," the security of public order and the enforcing of obedience to authority being secondary considerations in the deep peace which prevailed in Scotland after the Restoration. Its duties were confined chiefly to occasions of State display, varied by occasional sorties to distant provinces to enforce the collection of the public revenue. Later it was called to act in the maintenance of authority in those scenes of unrest in the south-western shires of the kingdom, which followed upon the attempt to compel the people to attend the churches of the clergy placed by the bishops. It took part in the battle of Rullion Green 28th November, 1666, where the Covenanters were over- thrown. " The slaughter was not very great," says Wodrow the historian. " It was almost dark night before the defeat, and the horsemen who pursued were most part gentlemen and pitied their own innocent and gallant country- men." John Marquess of Atholl became captain in 1671, James Marquess of Montrose in 1678, and George Lord Livingstone in 1684. Like the other regular troops the Life Guards consented at the Revolution to serve under the government of William and Mary, shedding its officers in the process, the command being given on 3ist December, 1688, to James Earl of Drumlanrig, afterwards first Duke of Queensberry.

While William was prosecuting the Irish campaign of 1690, the troop did duty in London in attendance on the Queen. She died in 1694, but the troop remained in London until the peace of 1697, when it returned to Scotland. Archibald, first Duke of Argyll, became captain in 1696, followed by his son, Duke John, in 1703. On the accession of Queen Anne The Horse in 1702 a troop of Horse Grenadier Guards was raised in Edinburgh under ers' the command of William Lord Forbes, coming on the establishment from ist June. After the union of 1707 both troops were withdrawn from Scotland, the Life Guards becoming the fourth troop of Life Guards, and the other the second troop of Horse Grenadier Guards on the new British establishment. About this time the private gentlemen purchased their appointments, the usual price being one hundred guineas, and they owned their own horses. In 1715 John Earl of Dundonald became captain of the fourth troop of Life Guards, in 1719 George Lord Forrester, in 1727

ANDREW ROSS 299

Richard Viscount Shannon, in 1740 Francis Earl of Effingham, and in 1743 John Earl of Crawford. In that year a brigade of Life Guards under the command of the Earl of Crawford, made up of the third and fourth troops of Life Guards, the second troop of Horse Grenadier Guards and the Royal regiment of Horse Guards, accompanied the British army to Flanders, and behaved with distinction at Dettingen i6th June, 1743. Two days after the battle a gentleman serving in the fourth troop wrote home to his friends an account of the engagement.

" Our brigade was in the centre of the front, the hottest place of all, and accordingly we suffered more than any one squadron in the field. We were exposed to the fire of the enemy's cannon about five hours, and must inevitably have been all cut off if the ground had not favoured us. The French imagining their cannon did great execution, were near three hours in the field before the first charge was given, which indeed was a glorious one. Our colonel is wounded, our brigade-major's leg is shot off, and my captain is terribly wounded by a fire- ball. Several of our men are killed and a great many more wounded ; we have also lost a good number of horses. My Lord Crawford led us on and behaved like a true son of Mars ; for, when we were charged both in front and in flank, he rode from right to left, crying ' Never fear, my boys, this is fine diversion."'

At Fontenoy, 30th April, 1745, after repeated charges in the field, the brigade of Life Guards covered the withdrawal of the army so steadily that Lord Crawford pulled off his hat to his men and thanked them, saying " they had acquired as much honour in covering so great a retreat as if they had gained the battle." The acknowledgment of these services was the disbandment of the Scots troop in 1746.! The Horse Grenadier Guards remained on the establishment until 1788, when both troops were disbanded on the reorganisation of the Household Cavalry. So ended the distinctively Scottish connection with the British Household Cavalry. Is there any reason why at the present day the Household Cavalry should not be organised according to nationality as the Foot Guards are ?

as any ingratitude or indifference shown

1 I am unable to take the view that there by the Government towards regiments which seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. It was no practice which, while it imposed liability to mi of military age, made no provision for keeping th Cromwell, indeed, established a standing-

disbanded after active service in the more than a survival of the constitutional iry service on all subjects of the Crown a on the establishment after the close of ay of 80,000 men ; but on the Restor

tion Charles II. was not allowed a permanent force exceeding a household brigade of 5000 horse and foot Under William and Mary it was decreed under the Declaration of Rights that " the raising and keeping of a standing army in time of peace, without consent of Parlia- ment, is contrary to law." It was therefore inevitable that troops raised for active service should be disbanded on the conclusion of peace ; nor did the disbandment of a corps excite, under these conditions, the same sense of injury and resentment as would be roused by the suppression of a regiment or regiments in the existing British army.- — ED.

300

SCOTTISH REGIMENTS DISBANDED

The Scottish Two troops of Horse Guards were raised for attendance on the Lord High Commissioner. The first, the Earl of Middleton's troop, entered on pay on ist May, 1661 ; disbanded at Stirling 8th October, 1663. The second, the Earl of Rothes's troop, raised in November, 1664, disbanded ist March, 1676. Both were filled by old royalist officers.

When war with France, Holland and Denmark broke out in 1666 six troops of horse were raised. They served in the Rullion Green campaign in that year. Other six troops were raised in 1667, and the whole placed

Drummond's under the command of Lieut .-General William Drummond of Cromlix, then major-general commanding the forces in Scotland. All were disbanded in September, 1667.

Douglas's, Three troops of horse raised in 1674 by the Marquess of Douglas, the

ROSS'S Troops. Earl of Errol and Lord Ross were disbanded in 1676.

The King's Three independent troops of horse were raised in 1678, the senior captain

ofWHorseeg'ment being John Grahame of Claverhouse. In 1683 a fourth troop was added and the four were formed into "The Regiment of Horse," under Claverhouse as colonel. In 1684 a fifth troop, and in 1685, the year in which Claverhouse and Marlborough met at Holyrood, a sixth troop were added. On 2ist December, 1685, it received the title of " The King's Own Regiment of Horse." Of the six captains four were earls, Home, Airlie, Balcarres, Drumlanrig, the fifth was Lord William Douglas, Drumlanrig's immediate younger brother. Over these commanders the laird of Claverhouse did not exercise control, and most of his operations against the Covenanters were undertaken with the aid of his own troop and one or two companies of the Royal Dragoons. The regiment crossed the Borders in November, 1688, to join the army of King James in England. On the I2th of that month its commander was created Viscount Dundee. After the flight of the king, the viscount's troop returned with him to Scotland. The others remained and found a new colonel in the Earl of Selkirk. In January, 1689, it was decided to send the regiment to Ireland ; but soon after a large number of the men repudiated their new colonel, and took shipping to Scotland with their horses. The payments on account of the regiment on the English establish- ment appear down to 3Oth April, 1689.

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ii. INFANTRY

On igth July, 1666, General Thomas Dalyell of Binns, then lieut. -general Daiyeirs commanding the forces in Scotland, raised a regiment of foot of 1000 men eg in ten companies. It was present at Rullion Green 28th November, 1666. In the following year it formed part of the army stationed on the Lothian and Fife coasts to guard against a Dutch landing. Disbanded September, 1667.

In March, 1672, a regiment of 1200 men was raised in Scotland by Sir Lockharfs William Lockhart, a third son of Lockhart of Lee, for service on board Regiment- the English fleet. It was heavily recruited from Scotland the following year. Disbanded 1674.

In 1674 a regiment was raised by Sir George Monro, cadet of Obsdale, Monro's then major-general of the forces in Scotland. Disbanded January, 1676.

In 1678 Lord James Douglas raised a regiment of 1000 men in ten Douglas's companies, which went to England in the same year. It returned to Scot- egimetl land and was disbanded in January, 1679.

The last infantry raised in Scotland before the Revolution was Colonel John Wauchope's regiment of 1300 men in thirteen companies. The colonel wauchope's was a cadet of Niddrie, and the regiment is said to have been embodied eg at Musselburgh. On 5th October, 1688, it began its march from Preston in Haddingtonshire by Peebles, Moffat and Lockerbie to Carlisle, which it reached on loth October, and London on nth November. It formed part of King James's army which moved westward to oppose the Prince of Orange. Although from the first on English pay, it was partly armed from the magazine in Edinburgh Castle. On I2th December, 1689, it is noted as under the command of Sir David Colyear, and received 200 recruits from Scotland. In April, 1689, it sailed from the Downs, and on 2gth June joined the army in Holland, where it was actively employed until August, 1690, when it was recalled to serve in Ireland. In 1694 it embarked again for Holland, where it remained until the conclusion of the war. It returned to Scotland in January, 1698. Its colonel was created Earl of Portmore on ist June, 1699. The regiment remained on Scots pay until I2th March, 1701, when it was ordered to embark for Holland— 600 men in twelve companies. On 4th June, 1703, John Lord Dalrymple became colonel.

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succeeded on 7th January, 1706, by Colonel William Borthwick of Johnstone- burn, who was killed at Ramillies 23rd July, 1706, the command then passed to Colonel John Hepburn, who was killed at Malplaquet nth September, 1709, and was succeeded by Colonel James Douglas of Morton, who was still in command when the regiment was disbanded at the Hague on 6th June, 1717.

SECTION II FROM THE REVOLUTION IN 1689 TO THE UNION OF 1707

i. CAVALRY

The Revolution brought about a military upheaval. On I4th March, 1689, the Estates of Scotland in convention at Edinburgh decided to offer the crown to William of Orange and his wife the Princess Mary, daughter of King James VII. In his campaign against Dundee, Major-General Hugh Mackay had the assistance of four regiments of English cavalry and two of English infantry ; but this was counterbalanced by the absence on English service of the troop of Life Guards, the Scots Greys, the two battalions of the Foot Guards, the two battalions of the Royal Scots, and the Royal Scots Fusiliers. It became necessary to raise a new army to overcome the opposition of the adherents of King James. Of the cavalry regiments The Cardross raised the first in date was Cardross's Dragoons. Henry, second Lord Cardross, had been imprisoned in Edinburgh Castle on account of his Covenanting proclivities for the four years 1675-79. On his release he went abroad and accompanied William of Orange to England in 1688. On 3rd April following he was commissioned by the Convention of Estates to raise a regiment of dragoons in six troops of fifty men in each. He was ordered to join Major-General Hugh Mackay in the campaign against Viscount Dundee, but Killiecrankie was fought 27th July, 1689, before he was able to do so. He was then directed to support the Cameronian regiment at Dunkeld, under the command of Lieut.-Colonel William Cleland, and arrived there the night before the attack by the main body of the Highland army under General Cannon. The same night he received orders to retrace his steps, and unwillingly obeyed, leaving Cleland and his men to what seemed certain destruction. The fight put up by the Cameronians at Dunkeld, and its influence on the fate of the campaign in Scotland is referred to else-

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where. In November, 1689, Cardross's six troops were stationed at Fetter- cairn, Stonehyve, Old Meldrum, Banff, Nairn and Inverness. In December, 1690, when the opposition to the Revolution in Scotland had collapsed, Sir Thomas Livingston, then commander-in-chief in Scotland, was directed "to cause the redgiment of dragoons under the command of the Lord Cardross be marched troop be troop from the north where they now ly, to the toune of Stirling, and there to disband them upon each troop's arryval, and to cause every troop at disbanding delyver in to the keeper of his Majesties magazin at Stirling, the armes upon his receipt to be by him layed up in his Majesties stores." A proceeding so wary was necessary, as at the date of the order the Treasury owed the regiment nine months' pay. There is nothing on record to show that the men ever received any of their arrears. The colonel's guidon of the Cardross Dragoons is pre- served in the museum of the Society of Antiquaries in Edinburgh.

In May, 1689, ten troops of horse, each of fifty men, and two troops of Cunningham'; dragoons each of one hundred-and-fifty men besides officers, appear on the Scots establishment. The men were Whigs chiefly from the south and west, and the officers were nobles and country gentlemen devoted to the new cause. The earliest muster roll preserved is Lord Yester's, dated at Musselburgh, 24th May, 1689. The troops were stationed at Stirling, Kilsyth, Dundee, Elgin, Aberdeen and other centres where King James's interest was powerful, and were engaged in frequent skirmishes with the High- landers. Annandale's and Belhaven's troops were at Killiecrankie. The twelve remained separate units until December, 1690. At that time the condition of King William's army in Scotland was scandalous. No pretence of pay was made, and it was only with difficulty and at irregular intervals that subsistence money was forthcoming. The ten troops of horse were offered the alternative of disbanding or being turned into dragoons. Some- thing like mutiny arose, but in the end two regiments of dragoons, each in six troops of fifty men, appear on the establishment from ist January, 1691. The command of one regiment, embracing the troops of Lord Rollo, Lord Ross, the laird of Blair, the Master of Forbes, the Earl of Annandale and Lord Belhaven, was given to Colonel Richard Cunningham, who at that date had a foot regiment that had recently been formed.

Cunningham's Dragoons served in Ireland in 1691, and distinguished themselves at the battle of Aughrim. When peace was restored to that

304 SCOTTISH REGIMENTS DISBANDED

kingdom the regiment returned to Scotland, and on 3ist March, 1694, was ordered to Flanders. It joined the army on 4th June in that year — four squadrons, each of one hundred men. It behaved with courage through- out the remainder of King William's dismal campaigns, and on ist June, 1696, its commander was made a brigadier of cavalry in recognition of the prowess of his corps. On ist October following he resigned the colonelcy to William Lord Jedburgh. The regiment remained in Flanders until the peace of Ryswick, when it was landed in England and ordered in January, 1698, to Scotland. It remained on the Scottish establishment, being known

Lothian's from 1703 onwards as Lothian's Dragoons. On 28th April, 1707, Patrick ' Lord Polwarth became colonel, followed on loth October, 1709, by William Ker, brother to John, first Duke of Roxburgh, who held the command for thirty-two years. In 1711 the regiment proceeded from Scotland to the Netherlands and formed part of the army which marched under the Duke of Ormonde to the borders of France. Hostilities were closed by the treaty of Utrecht. In 1713 it embarked for Ireland. The Tory ministry in power at the end of Queen Anne's reign, with an eye to the succession of James VIII. as sovereign of these realms, resolved to break as many as possible of the old fighting Whig regiments, and Ker's was one of those marked down. It was actually disbanded in the spring of 1714, many of the men enlisting in the Royal Dragoons, now the ist Dragoons, which regiment returning dismounted to its native shores also annexed the horses of Ker's. A still greater number of the men enlisted in the Scots Greys. One of the first steps taken by George I. on his arrival in England a few months afterwards was to order the re-establishment of Ker's in six troops with its original precedence in the army. The Scots Greys furnished three troops, men, arms and horses, the Royal Dragoons furnished two, the sixth was recruited. The regiment still remains on the British establishment. It is now the 7th (Queen's Own) Hussars.

Ker's Colonel Ker with his regiment was present at the battle of Sheriffmuir

fought between the Duke of Argyll and the Earl of Mar, I3th November, 1715. The right wing of each army overthrew its opponents. Colonel Ker, stationed on the duke's left, charged at the head of his regiment, and after two horses had been killed under him, was compelled to share in the retreat of that part of the Hanoverian army. Until the middle of the eighteenth century the colonel and lieut.-colonel were men of family

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in Scotland, and from that kingdom the regiment was recruited ; but after the civil war of 1745-46 the phantom of Jacobitism was too much for the nerves of the English Secretary at War, and commissions were granted to Englishmen as vacancies occurred, until the distinctively Scots connec- tion of the regiment was destroyed.

The command of the other regiment, formed out of the ten troops of Newbattie' horse and two troops of dragoons, was given at first to the Earl of Eglinton, and afterwards to William Lord Newbattle. It remained on home service throughout. From January, 1691, to 5th August, 1692, it was known as Newbattie's Dragoons. From the latter date it was known as Lord Jed- burgh's Dragoons, being the new title of its colonel, until 1st October, 1696, when Lord Jedburgh transferred his commission and title to the regiment of dragoons, late Brigadier Cunningham's. On 3oth March, 1697, the Master of Forbes succeeded to the colonelcy. The regiment was then in quarters north of Inverness. By an order from Loo, dated 6th October in that year, it was disbanded in December following.

On 2gth March, 1694, John Lord Carmichael was ordered to raise

regiment of dragoons in six troops of fifty men each. They were mustered and placed on the establishment in May of that year, " 312 fyrelocks, the like number of patrontashes and 12 halberds," being issued for the use of the regiment. It remained in Scotland to secure the peace of the king- dom, and in November, 1697, its colonel was temporarily commander-in-chief . It was disbanded in January, 1698, on the arrival of the Scots Greys and Jedburgh's Dragoons from Flanders.

Hyndford's Dragoons in six troops of twenty-six men each were raised Hyndford's by commission dated 5th May, 1702, its colonel being John, first Earl of Hyndford, the same individual who as Lord Carmichael raised the preceding regiment. Earl John's son, James Lord Carmichael, succeeded his father as colonel 2nd March, 1706, from which date the corps was known as Carmichael's Dragoons. Becoming second Earl of Hyndford 2Oth Sep- tember, 1710, it again became Hyndford's Dragoons. Disbanded in Ireland in 1713.

n. INFANTRY

In 1689 the Estates of Scotland having declared for William and Mary ten regiments of foot were raised. Two still remain on the British establish-

3o6 SCOTTISH REGIMENTS DISBANDED

ment, the King's Own Scottish Borderers, late 25th, and the Scottish Rifles (Cameronians), late 26th. The other eight, each consisting of 600 men in ten companies, were the Earl of Argyll's, Lord Bargeny's, Lord Blantyre's, the Earl of Glencairn's the Laird of Grant's, Viscount Kenmure's, the Earl of Mar's and Lord Strathnaver's. On nth December, 1689, Bargeny's, Blantyre's and Mar's were disbanded, and a new regiment formed for Colonel Richard Cunningham, who received his commission a week afterwards. Each of the six regiments so left were made up to thirteen companies of sixty men in each, including the grenadier company. Three were to remain in Scotland, the others to serve in Ireland ; but the order for Irish service was quickly withdrawn, if indeed it was ever issued.

The Argyll The senior corps was the Argyll regiment, fully mustered on 20th May, 1689. Some wild history has been written about this corps. The regular troops raised in Scotland from the period of the Restoration to the middle of the eighteenth century, excepting the independent companies raised to secure the peace of the Highlands, the first of which were formed by John Earl of Atholl in 1662, and are now represented by the Black Watch, were clad in Lowland military dress and bore the corresponding arms and equipment. From the revolution onwards it was the policy of the Argyll family, the heads of which for upwards of a century were born soldiers, and held in unbroken succession general rank in the British army, to see to it that the fighting strength of their province was not unduly depleted in proportion to the other parts of the kingdom. The Argyll regiment is a case in point. The muster rolls for 23rd January, 1690, are extant, giv- ing the name, calling, and parish of every man in the regiment. While Argyllshire produced the largest number of recruits, Aberdeen, Angus, Ayr, Banff, Bute, Clydesdale, Dumbarton, Fife, Galloway, Inverness and Skye, Ireland, the Lothians, the Mearns, Nithsdale, Perth, Ross, Stirling and Wigtownshire, had representatives in its ranks, which did not include seventy Campbells all told. On i6th April, 1690, it received the three additional companies above referred to. It was chiefly stationed in the west. One of the companies garrisoned Dunstaffnage, and four were for some time in garrison at Inverlochy. A company of this regiment was concerned in the massacre of Glencoe, I3th February, 1692. The responsi- bility for that deed is settled by the discovery in the Scottish commission register of the warrant by King William and his Secretary of State con-

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taining these words : " If M'Kean of Glencoe and that tribe can be well separated from the rest, it will be a proper vindication of the public justice to extirpate that set of thieves." After the deed was done the government had the effrontery to stand by while the Scottish parliament raised the hue and cry against the field officers of the regiment, Lieut. -Colonel Home and Major Duncanson. It was immediately withdrawn from Scotland to England, its last precept for Scots pay being issued in February, 1692.

On 3rd September of that year the Argyll regiment joined King William's army in the Netherlands. Not one of our historians has thought it worth his while to narrate the share taken by the Scots army in the seven years' struggle terminated by the treaty of Ryswick in 1697. In 1691 there were serving in that country seven English battalions of foot, including Huguenot regiments in English pay, and eight Scots, including, of course, the Scots Brigade in Holland, which at that time was wholly recruited from Scot- land. In 1692 there were fourteen English and eleven Scots battalions. In 1693 fourteen English and thirteen Scots. In 1694 twenty-three English and fifteen Scots. In 1695 twenty-five English and fifteen Scots. In 1696 twenty English and fifteen Scots. In 1697 twenty-five English and fifteen Scots. The Argyll regiment was first sent to join the garrison of Dixmude. It formed part of a detachment under the Duke of Wirtemberg in the attack on the French lines at D'Otignies between the Lys and the Scheldt on 8th July, 1693. The Argyllswere in the centre, and the grenadiers of the regiment led the van in the attack. The first lieutenant and fifteen men of the company were killed and the second lieutenant and many others wounded. On 7th April, 1694, Lord Lome succeeded his father, Earl Archi- bald, in the colonelcy. In the assault on Namur, 8th July, 1695, Lieut. - Colonel Home of Lome's regiment was present as a volunteer, his own regiment being then in Dixmude. He was mortally wounded in the attack, and Major Duncanson succeeded to the command, Major Patrick Hume becoming lieut.-colonel. A week after Namur the French invested Dixmude. On the I7th the Dutch officer in command of the garrison called a council of war, and proposed to capitulate. Everyone consented except Major Duncan- son, the youngest member, who refused, urging there was no breach made in the place, that as yet they had suffered no loss, that the enemy were not yet masters of the counterscarp, and that it would not be consistent with their honour to yield so soon. Proving refractory he was placed under

3o8 SCOTTISH REGIMENTS DISBANDED

arrest. According to the capitulation, which was signed on the i8th, " the regiments drew out in battalion and marched clear of their arms which they left with their colours, except my Lord Lome's Regiment, which tore off the colours from the staff rather than suffer them to be a trophy to the enemy. A great many soldiers had broke their arms to pieces." A few weeks afterwards Colonel Duncanson had the consolation of seeing the general officer in command of the English troops cashiered and the Dutch governor executed. In January, 1698, the regiment sailed from Flanders to Scotland, and was disbanded on arrival, each centinel receiving eight days' pay.

Glencairn's Glencairn's regiment, mustered on 4th May, 1689, was sent to garrison Inveraray and keep the surrounding country in peace, and was removed from the establishment in 1691.

Grant's Grant's regiment remained a unit until November, 1690, when nine

companies, along with a few companies from Glencairn's and one or two drafted from other regiments, were transferred to the regiment raised to garrison Inverlochy (the modern Fort William), under the command of Colonel John Hill. Hill's mustered 1200 men and continued in garrison at Inverlochy until 1698, when it was disbanded on the arrival of Mait- land's, now the King's Own Scottish Borderers, to do duty there.

Kenmure's The first exploit of the Kenmure regiment, mustered loth May, 1689, was to seize Sir Robert Grierson of Lag, who in his capacity as commis- sioner of supply for the Militia of Dumfries had been conspicuous by his activity against the Covenanters, and to carry him prisoner to the castle of Edinburgh. It afterwards marched to Stirling and was in the left centre of Mackay's army at Killiecrankie. The regiment was broken, and nearly all the officers were killed or wounded. A month afterwards, at Stirling, it mustered three hundred unarmed men, who were supplied with two hundred muskets and one hundred pikes from the armoury in the castle there. The regiment was ordered to Glasgow to recruit, and to enable them to do so the surviving officers were permitted to draw pay as for a full regiment. It was taken off the establishment as from 1st January, 1691.

Strathnaver's Strathnaver's regiment, partly raised in Sutherland, included four

NO. i. ' companies from the south of Scotland. It drew full pay from loth May, 1689, and was disbanded 28th November, 1690, when it mustered thirteen companies.

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Colonel Richard Cunningham's regiment, formed out of Bargeny's, Cunningham's Blantyre's and Mar's, was embodied in the summer of 1690. When Colonel eg Cunningham was appointed to the dragoons his regiment of foot was given to Colonel John Buchan, cadet of Auchmacoy, on I2th January, 1691. On 4th March, 1693, an additional company was added. It remained in Scot- land until April, 1694, when it returned its arms to the magazine and em- barked for Flanders on the 28th of that month. There it was re-equipped and joined the main army on 6th June, 1694. It was in the camp before Namur in June of the year following, and after the surrender of the town took part in the unsuccessful attack on the castle igth August, 1695, when it had four officers killed and eight wounded, and 65 non-commissioned officers and men killed and 140 wounded. In January, 1698, it left Flanders for Scotland, and was disbanded on arrival, each centinel receiving eirfit days' pay.

On ist February, 1693, two regiments were raised, intended for service Moncrieffs in Ireland ; but their presence in that kingdom was found unnecessary and they remained in Scotland. The first was commanded by Sir James Moncrieff, Bart. On 3ist January, 1694, Sir James was succeeded by Colonel George Hamilton of Redhouse, East Lothian. On 28th April following, the regiment, after giving up its arms, embarked for Flanders and joined the camp there in June, 1694. It was in garrison at Deinse in June, 1695, and on 4th July joined the camp before Namur and served at the siege of the town. It returned to Scotland in 1698, coming on the establishment on 2ist October, up to which time it had drawn Dutch pay. On I2th March, 1701, it embarked for Holland 600 strong, in twelve companies, and having served with distinction throughout the wars of Queen Anne, it was disbanded in Holland in 1714. Colonel Hamilton served as major- general in the Earl of Mar's army in the civil war of 1715. Before the close of the war he was dispatched on a mission to France.

The other regiment raised by the order of ist February, 1693, was Lord strathnaver's Strathnaver's. It remained on the Scots establishment until 28th April, Nog™em'

1694, when it returned its arms to the king's magazine in Edinburgh Castle, embarked for Flanders and joined the army there in June, 1694. In June,

1695, it was in garrison at Deinse. It joined the army before Namur 4th July, 1695, served at the siege of that town and returned to Scotland in April, 1699. It went to Holland 600 rank and file on I2th March, 1701.

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In 1702 John Lord Lome became colonel, succeeding in 1703 as second Duke of Argyll. In February, 1707, John Marquess of Tullibardine became colonel, and on nth July, 1708, at the head of his regiment he began the battle of Oudenarde. At Malplaquet on 3ist August, 1709, his regiment formed part of the division under the Prince of Orange, through whose blunder it was cut to pieces and its colonel slain. He was succeeded by Colonel John Campbell, who died before 28th March, 1710, when Sir James Wood was appointed. Disbanded in Holland in 1717.

Douglas's In 1694 six regiments were raised, each of ten companies and 750 rank nts' and file, armed wholly with " fyrelocks." Two were commanded by Sir William Douglas, whose commission is dated 3ist January, 1694. On 1st April following one of these two was sent to Flanders, the other remained at home, one of the companies for some time garrisoning the Bass. It remained on home service throughout the Flanders wars, and was disbanded at Stirling on Friday, loth December, 1697, on the return of the Foot Guards to Scotland.

Mackay's Colonel Robert Mackay received command of two regiments, each of nts' 750 men, his commission bearing the same date as Sir William Douglas's. The first of these left for Flanders along with Douglas's. It served at the siege of Namur in August, 1695, and was in the unsuccessful attack on the castle on the igth, where it had two officers killed and fifteen wounded, and 73 non-commissioned officers and men killed and 166 wounded. The second regiment was up to its full strength by August, 1694, and remained in Scotland. Colonel Robert Mackay went to Flanders in 1695 to assume command of the Royal Scots Fusiliers, late 2ist, with a large draft from his own regiment. On I3th December, 1695, he was succeeded in command of the home regiment by Colonel George M'Gill. On 3Oth November, 1697, M'Gill's was ordered to be disbanded as soon as the Foot Guards and the Royal Scots Fusiliers should arrive in Scotland. Accordingly, it marched from its quarters in the Canongate of Edinburgh to the Links of Leith and was disbanded there on Thursday, gth December, except the company forming the garrison of Dunnottar, which continued in pay for several months later.

Lindsay's On z8th February, 1694, John Lord Lindsay (afterwards nineteenth Earl of Crawford) received a commission to levy a regiment of 750 men, receiving £1125 Sterling in levy money. It mustered on 20th April, 1694.

ANDREW ROSS 3"

Its services were confined to Scotland and it was disbanded in December, 1697, by an order from Loo dated 6th October previously.

John Lord Murray's commission is also dated 28th February, 1694. Tuiiibar His regiment of thirteen companies, 700 all ranks, was placed on the estab- lishment 4th May. An account of this corps is given by the Marchioness of Tullibardine in her work A Military History of Perthshire, 1660-1902, issued in 1908. The regiment was at first employed in watching the east coast in view of a possible descent from France, the stations being Montrose, Pittenweem, Dysart, the Anstruthers and Kirkcaldy, with a garrison in the Orkneys. On I4th January, 1696, its colonel became Secretary of State for Scotland, and in July of that year was created Earl of Tullibardine, when his regiment became known by the new title. In that year the earl was appointed Lord High Commissioner to Parliament, and while his regi- ment was stationed at Edinburgh it was on guard at Holyrood, one company doing duty in Edinburgh Castle. By order from Loo of 6th October, 1697, it was disbanded in December following.

On I2th March, 1702, the Earl of Mar's regiment was raised, nine com- Mar's panics of 27 men each. Alexander Grant, eldest son of the laird of Grant, e° succeeded to the colonelcy on 4th March, 1706. It remained on the Scots establishment until the union of 1707. In November, 1708, it embarked at Newcastle for Flanders and served in Marlborough's wars, in which its colonel earned the rank of brigadier. In March, 1709, the officers of the regiment petitioned the War Office to be furnished with Scottish recruits. It was disbanded in 1713. In the civil war of 1715 Brigadier Grant raised a regiment of ten companies, to which the care of Edinburgh city was entrusted. It was disbanded in 1718.

In 1702 the Master of Strathnaver raised a regiment of foot of the strathna same strength as Mar's. In 1703 it was stationed in Glasgow and was aug- Nof ™e mented in 1708 to twelve companies. In November of that year it was marched to Newcastle, where it embarked for Flanders and served through- out the war. Colonel John Pocock was appointed to the command on i5th June, 1710. Disbanded 1713.

On 2gth January, 1704, Lieut.-Colonel George Maccartney of the Scots Maccan Guards received a commission to raise a regiment of ten companies on English eg pay. He embarked for Spain in 1707 with his regiment, which, with four Huguenot regiments, formed the centre of the line at the battle of Almanza,

3i2 SCOTTISH REGIMENTS DISBANDED

and by a brilliant charge drove the French off the field up to the walls of Almanza. Owing to the failure of the Portuguese cavalry in support, they were in turn driven back by superior numbers and the lieut.-colonel com- manding killed. With the remainder of the centre it retreated a distance of eight miles and next day was obliged to surrender as prisoners of war. In May, 1708, the regiment was reorganised in England and recruited there to thirteen companies of 608 men, including officers. In September of that year it embarked at Portsmouth for Ostend to join the army in Flanders. Disbanded 1713.

Ker's In 1706 Lord Mark Ker, younger brother of Lord Jedburgh and lieut.-

colonel of Maccartney's regiment, raised a regiment of foot, the commissions all dated 27th March in that year. The men were drafted from the regiments then afoot in Scotland, and it was complete by June. It was engaged in the battle of Almanza 25th April, 1707, where the colonel was wounded, the lieut.-colonel killed, and the corps so disintegrated that it was re-formed in England in May, 1708. It was made up to a total of 620 men, including officers, by recruits partly from England and partly from Scotland, collected by the officers of the Scots Guards and Maitland's regiment, afterwards the 25th. It was stationed at Tynemouth and Berwick- on-Tweed, and in May, 1709, embarked at Holy Island for service in Flanders. Disbanded 1713.

Did these successive waves of warriors pass and leave no remembrance beyond the share they took in establishing the liberties of Christendom ? They left a noble memorial, and it came to pass in this way.

Among the wise reforms introduced by King James VII. and II. into the public service before he lost his wits as a ruler was the establishment of an invalid, or, as we should now call it, a pension fund in the army. The king's warrant of 2Oth March, 1686, runs : " Whereas we judge it reasonable and fitt for our service that a provision be made for the future subsistence and releiffe of such souldiers and some officers, as have served long in our service, and in our standing forces in that our Ancient Kingdome, and others who by reason of many and great wounds that they have received or may hereafter receive in the discharge of their duty in our service, are or may be quite disabled from serving us longer." The warrant proceeds to order the establishment of a fund to be raised by a stoppage of one per cent, on all military pay issuing from the king's Treasury, including the

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pay of the clerks in the Scottish War Office. The control was in the hands of the Lord Treasurer of the kingdom and his depute, the generals command- ing the forces and the colonels and lieut.-colonels of the regiments of the standing army. In practice the fund was administered by the colonels and lieut.-colonels, under whose auspices it flourished. The last meeting of the Commissioners of the Invalids prior to the Revolution took place at Holyrood House on 20th June, 1688. There were present Major- General John Grahame of Claverhouse, colonel of the Royal Regiment of Horse ; Lieut. -Colonel George Murray of the Life Guards, cadet of Eli- bank ; Lieut.-Colonel James Murray of the Foot Guards, cadet of Philip- haugh ; Lieut.-Colonel David Hay of the Life Guards, cadet of Tweeddale ; Lieut.-Colonel George Rattray of the Royal Regiment of Dragoons, cadet of Craighall. A number of applicants were then and there admitted to the fund, which in 1707 amounted to £6190 i8s. 8d. sterling. Payments continued to be made for many years after the Union. Year by year the claims were fewer, and at last the Invalid money came to be regarded as the lawful prey of the Exchequer officials, who drew considerable sums therefrom. This continued until the year 1755. Then there happened along a Scotsman with a head on his shoulders, one George Drummond, who in his day was six times Lord Provost of Edinburgh. He obtained a Privy Seal warrant 27th April, 1755, granting " to the Managers of the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh for the use of the said Royal Infirmary for ever the whole Invalide fund or stock," then amounting to £8000, and the money was applied accordingly. At that date the Royal Infirmary was a struggling institution, its stock amounting to something like £7000 sterling. The golden shower fell, and the Infirmary leaped from penury to affluence. It extended its benefits and filled its wards, which became the training ground in clinic of the greatest medical school in the three kingdoms. The managers of the day, in gratitude to Drummond, whose happy inspiration had smoothed their path, placed his bust in their entrance hall, where it remains to this day ; and so the civilian is remembered and the soldier forgotten. The Board of Managers of the Royal Infirmary would perform a graceful act were they to place in their hall a list of those regiments which, by deductions from their pay between the years 1686 and 1707, built up the fund which is now administered on behalf of the general public.

314 SCOTTISH REGIMENTS DISBANDED

The s«>ts The Scots Brigade in Holland sprang into existence in the sixteenth century, when the Spanish infantry of Spinola and Parma swept the battle- fields of Europe. Few armies could withstand the charge of the pikemen whose war-cry was Santiago Espana ! and in the unequal struggle the States- General of the Low Countries appealed to Scotland for help. The affairs of the kingdom were then controlled by Douglas Earl of Morton, whose attitude to the Catholic powers on the Continent induced him to lend a willing ear to the request, and some years before 1577 a body of Scots soldiers passed over to Holland. In 1577 the States-General asked for further assistance, expressing at the same time their grateful acknowledg- ments of the services already rendered. Between i6th October and 4th December of that year the Privy Council authorised the raising of 2600 men in thirteen companies for the service. The captains undertook to maintain the recruits until their departure for Holland, and on arrival there, not to serve a Catholic against a Protestant power. Accordingly, David Prestoun of that ilk became cautioner for Captain Edward Prestoun, Thomas Seyton of Northrig and Mr. John Prestoun bailie of Edinburgh for Captain John Ramsay, John Wemyss of Pittencrief for Captain David Murray, Michael Balfour of Monquhany for Captain Hary Balfour, Robert Bruce of Clackmannan for Captain Robert Maisterton, Alexander Achesoun of Gosfurde and Archibald Stewart bailie of Edinburgh for Captain Patrick Achesoun, David Lindsay of Edzell for Captain David Spalding, Laurence Lord Oliphant for Captain James Oliphant, Thomas Myreton of Cammo for Captain Andrew Traill, James Hamilton of Samuelston, Thomas Cockburn of Reidhall and Patrick Sydserff younger of that ilk for Captain Thomas Newtoun, and Patrick Lord Lindsay of the Byres for Captain Patrick Ogilvy, that they should each in raising his company of 200 men observe the conditions laid down by the Privy Council. The colours were the St. Andrew's cross and the drums beat the Scots march.

The earliest engagement of importance with the Spanish infantry took place at Gemblours in 1578, when the brigade shared in the defeat of the day, obtaining its revenge in the same year at Reminant near Mechlin, when Don John of Austria was overthrown. The martial qualities of the Scots induced William Prince of Orange to send an agent to Scotland in 1581 to compliment King James on their valour. Permits to recruit for the brigade issued by the kings of Scotland from that time onwards

ANDREW ROSS 315

appear in the records with regularity. It formed part of the garrison of Ostend in the three years' siege of that town, 1601-1604, an(l when the States- General sent orders to the governor to capitulate, it formed part of the rearguard when the town was evacuated. In 1603 a regiment was raised by Sir Walter Scott of Buccleuch, and in 1609 the first-fruits of the struggle uuccieuch's appeared in a twelve years' truce between the King of Spain and the States- No8™6"'' General. The first article of that truce bore that his Catholic Majesty treated " with the saids Lords States General of the United Provinces in quality of and as holding them to be free countries, provinces and states over which he pretended nothing." On the renewal of the war the Spanish army under Spinola gained several victories, and the Scots under Colonel Henderson were shut up in Bergen-op-Zoom. After a struggle of three months Spinola was obliged to raise the siege with the loss of 12,000 men. In 1629 a second Buccleuch regiment was raised. In that year the three Buccieuch' regiments then forming the brigade were commanded respectively by Walter Nof ™e" ' Lord Scott of Buccleuch, Sir David Balfour, colonel of the Buccleuch regiment of 1603, and Sir William Brog. About that time the question of precedence was raised between the Scots and the English regiments then serving in Holland, when it was settled that priority should be decided by the date of embodiment. By the peace of Westphalia, signed at Miinster in 1648, the Thirty Years' war was concluded, article second of the treaty bearing " Holland shall be a free state independent alike of Spain and the Empire." Thus, largely by the efforts of Scots soldiers the Dutch nation found a place upon the map of Europe. The States disbanded the greater part of their forces at the peace, but the Scots regiments were retained intact.

In 1688, on the eve of the Revolution, King James VII. recalled the brigade from Holland. Many of the officers, of whom Henry Morton of Milnwood was a type, and of the rank and file had been recruited from those whom the ecclesiastical disturbances of the time had driven from Scotland. They had no desire to take service under James, and only sixty out of two hundred and ninety officers answered the call. The others, with their men, formed a valuable portion of the force with which the Prince of Orange invaded England in that year. Three regiments of the brigade, after being deprived of their best men to strengthen the Dutch battalions, returned to England, marched to Scotland to recruit,

316 SCOTTISH REGIMENTS DISBANDED

and under the command of Major-General Hugh Mackay were present at Killiecrankie. In 1692 the brigade, then consisting of six regiments, was in Flanders, where in that year James Earl of Dalkeith, a youth of eighteen and heir of Buccleuch, was serving as a volunteer. It sustained heavy losses at Steinkirk, 1692, and at Landen, 1693, but was recruited from Scot- land and actively employed throughout the war, which was brought to an end by the peace of Ryswick in 1697. In the war of the Spanish succes- sion it took part in the battles of Ramillies, Oudenarde and Malplaquet. In the war with France and Spain, 1739-48, the brigade was again in the field. A few days after the battle of Laffeldt (2nd July, 1747) the French invested Bergen-op-Zoom, and after a siege of two months gained admis- sion to the town by an act of oversight or treachery. The governor beat a hurried retreat with the troops, excepting the Scots brigade and a Dutch battalion. The three Scots regiments then maintained a desperate contest with the enemy for several hours ; until the officers, convinced that their efforts against an army would end only in destruction, fell back through the Steeneberg gate under a fire from the works com- manding the bridge, and reached the camp of the Allies, not only with their own colours, but those of all the German and Dutch regiments which had fled with the governor. " Gentlemen," said General Lowendall to Lieut. Allan MacLean, cadet of Torloisk, and a brother officer who were taken prisoners, " had all conducted themselves as you and your brave corps have done, I should not now be master of Bergen-op-Zoom."

At the commencement of the Seven Years' war in 1756 the brigade, to its disappointment, was not recalled ; but in 1776 the British ambassador at the Hague signified King George's desire that it should return. A con- fused series of negotiations ensued until 1782. On December 8th of that year the Prince of Orange addressed a letter to the colonels directing them to assume blue instead of red uniforms, the officers to provide themselves with orange sashes and new gorgets and spontoons, and the sergeants with new halberds, the arms of Great Britain being engraved on those they carried, " and, lastly, to provide new colours according to the model, painted with the arms of the province on whose establishment the regiment is paid ; as on the 1st January next the said regiment must begin to be commanded in the Dutch and no more in the English language ; from which day likewise henceforth the said Regiment is to beat the Dutch and not the Scots march."

ANDREW ROSS 317

The Scots officers declined to accept those conditions. They left the Dutch service in a body and came to this country and represented their case to government. Their remonstrance was disregarded until the wars of the French Revolution rendered their offers of service acceptable to the ministry, when the 94th Foot, or Scots brigade, was raised by their efforts and placed on the establishment in 1794. The honours won by the regiment from that date were " Seringapatam," " Ciudad Rodrigo," " Badajoz," " Sala- manca," " Vittoria," " Nivelle," " Orthes," " Toulouse," " Peninsula." It was disbanded in 1818 and re-embodied at Glasgow in 1823 under its former officers. The battalion served in Ceylon 1838-42, India 1858-68, South African War 1879. When the system of linked battalions was intro- duced into the British army its nationality was altered by a stroke of the pen from Scots to Irish, and it is now the 2nd Battalion of the Connaught Rangers.

FROM THE UNION IN 1707 TO THE PRESENT DAY The military power of Scotland had always been a source of uneasiness to the southern kingdom, and a principal object of the English statesmen who urged on the proposals for union between the two nations was to obtain control of it. The crisis became acute when the Act of Security passed the Scots parliament in 1704, providing that, on the demise of the Crown, Scotland would proceed to nominate a sovereign who should not be the successor to the crown of England, unless both countries were to possess equal rights in the benefits of trade and navigation and intercourse with the colonies ; providing further for the calling out and arming the fencible men of the kingdom, between sixteen and sixty and drilling once a month.1 With such a force, and by recalling her trained battalions abroad, Scotland in the event of differences arising might hope to be in a position to meet on something like equal terms with the Southron.2 The position compelled the leaders in both countries to consider the alternative of war or union. They chose the latter.

Neither in the articles of union which preceded it nor in the treaty of union itself is there a word bearing on the military forces of Scotland.3

1 Acts of Parliament, Record Edition, vol. xi. p. 136. jth August, 1704.

2 The Scots Magazine 1 756, p. 426.

3 The Articles of Union will be found in Acts of Par/, xi. Appendix, p. 201. The Treaty of Union is in the same volume. Text p. 406.

318 SCOTTISH REGIMENTS DISBANDED

The policy decided on after that event took place, and followed with deter- mination for three-quarters of a century, was to obliterate national dis- tinctions. The first step was to transfer all contracts for the supply of clothing, arms and accoutrements for the troops from Scottish to English tradesmen.1 That feat accomplished, the system of recruiting the regiments claimed attention.

The first step taken was to assimilate the law of Scotland relating to recruiting to that of England. The ist of May, 1707, saw the completion of the union between the kingdoms. On 23rd February, 1708, the British parliament passed " An Act for the better recruiting of her Majesty's land forces and the Marines for the service of the year 1708 " in terms similar to the acts passed by the English parliament in previous years, except that for " kingdom of England, dominion of Wales and town of Berwick-upon- Tweed " were substituted the words " Great Britain." z It empowered any three justices of the peace of counties and riding liberties and the mayors of towns within the realm to impress " such able bodied men as do not follow or exercise any lawful calling or employment, or have not some other lawful or sufficient support and maintenance, to serve her Majesty as soldiers." By the following year it dawned on London that Great Britain included Scotland and the Recruiting Act of 27th February, I7O9,3 empowered any three commissioners of supply in counties or magistrates in burghs to put the Act in execution. Warrants for the search and seizure of persons supposed to come under the description of the Act might be issued by the commissioners, indeed for that matter the Act gave the village constable, and later on the recruiting officers themselves, power to detain at their own hand such persons on suspicion. However secured, they were forth-

1 W.O. 4. 6. fol. 109. January, 1708. Clothing for the army in the hands of English con-

Ibid. fol. no, 24th January, 1708. Letter H. St. John, Secretary at War, to the colonels of the ist, aist and a6th and Argyll regiments, that their clothing will be ready by March, and asking for an account of the number of recruits.

Ibid. fol. 124, zoth February, 1708. The additions to Stair's Dragoons (Scots Greys) to be armed and accoutred by the Board of Ordnance.

W.O. 4. 7. fol. 315, nth September, 1708. Robert Walpole, Secretary at War to the general officers of H.M. Forces in North Britain, or, for want of a due number, to the colonels of the regiments there (directed under cover to the Earl of Leven, commander-in-chief) desiring them to send sealed patterns of their clothing and accoutrements to London.

1 6 Ann. cap, 45. 23rd February, 1708. Printed at length in Statutes of the Realm, viii. 752.

1 7 Ann. cap. 2, 27th February, 1709. Statutes of the Realm, ix. 40.

ANDREW ROSS 319

with taken before a meeting of commissioners, whose duty it was to ascertain whether they were such as were intended by the Act " to be intertained as soldiers in her Majesty's service." If so, they were forthwith delivered to the recruiting officer in attendance, who read to them in presence of the commissioners the fourteenth and twenty-third articles of war against mutiny and desertion, the penalty for infringement in either case being death. From the moment of hearing the articles of war read " every per- son so raised shall be deemed a listed soldier to all intents and purposes, and shall be subject to the discipline of war." 1 By the Act of 1710 seamen impressed for land service were to be discharged,2 and by the Act of 1711 Sheriff's concurrents were included in the class of men who might be im- pressed.3 Under these recruiting Acts volunteers received a bounty, and were liable only to serve for three years. For the impressed man there was no such limitation. His service was for life, and anywhere, at home or abroad, and in the selection of the corps in which he was to serve — English, Irish or Scottish — horse, foot or dragoons — he had no voice.

The method of recruiting was settled by a board of general officers.1 All the regiments in Scotland at the date of the union, namely, the two troops of Life Guards, Polwart's and Carmichael's Dragoons, the two battalions of the Foot Guards, the Edinburgh regiment (then styled Mait- land's), Grant's and Strathnaver's regiments,5 were directed to recruit in Scotland in 1708 in consequence of the losses sustained by the British army in Spain in 1707. 6 For the Scots battalions on active service in Flanders, the two battalions of the Royals, the aist, the 26th, Argyll's regiment, and for the regiments of Maccartney and Lord Mark Kerr, which had been broken at Almanza, another plan was adopted. To each of the

1 6 Ann. cap. 45. sec. 2. Statutes of the Realm, viii. 752. The section prescribing the procedure before the commissioners is repeated in the subsequent statutes.

On 27th February, 1708, Adam Cardonnel, Secretary at War, writes to the Queen's printers asking for 200 copies of the Act for distribution among the recruiting officers. W.O. 4. 7. fol. 4. Also W.O. 4. 8. fol. 4, 2nd October, 1708, where a similar request is made.

2 9 Ann. cap. 4. sec. 4. Statutes of the Realm, ix. 363.

3 10 Ann. cap. 12. sec. 35. Statutes of the Realm, ix. 560.

4 Journals of the House of Commons, vol. 16. p. 44, nth December, 1708. W.O. 4. 7. fol. 53, 30th March, 1708, R. Walpole, Secretary at War, to the Earl of Orkney.

5 Scottish Treasury Sederunts, 4th December, 1705-20^ April, 1708, in H.M. General Register House, Edinburgh.

6 W.O. 4. 6. fol. 1 8, 27th September, 1707, Henry St. John to Sir David Nairne, secretary to the commander-in-chief in Scotland.

320 SCOTTISH REGIMENTS DISBANDED

first four were assigned the counties of Essex, Suffolk, Norfolk and Cam- bridge as recruiting grounds;1 to Maccartney's, Northumberland,2 and to Lord Mark Kerr's, Westmorland and Durham.2 In addition, each of the Scots regiments received from English counties a proportion of the men impressed for service under the recruiting Acts. In this way The Royals were supplied from Hampshire, Middlesex, Hertford and Oxford- shire ; 3 the 21 st from Middlesex, Hertford, Yorkshire and Norfolk ; 4 the 26th would have no impressed men ; the Argylls were supplied from Middle- sex, Somerset and London ; 4 Maccartney's from Middlesex and North- umberland 4 with the sweepings of York gaol ; 5 Lord Mark Kerr's, Oxford, Yorkshire, Worcestershire, Westmorland and Durham,4 and when these sources failed his lordship was permitted to draw on Scotland.8 Any superfluity of recruits yielded by a district were " turned over," as the phrase went, to regiments incomplete,7 the policy evidently being to eradi- cate not only national but county and local tradition.

The plan of allotting counties to regiments proved unsatisfactory. It was very soon abandoned, and recruiting officers were left at liberty to raise men for the service in those counties where they had interest.8 Some recruits to the Scots regiments doubtless trickled through from the abundance of pressed men in Scotland. But it is to be observed that from the Union of 1707 to the end of the reign of George II. in 1760, the four Lowland line regiments were hardly ever permitted to visit their native country. Only one of the two battalions of The Royals during that time was at home, and that only for two years from January, 1746. The others had a similar experience, Scotland being garrisoned by English corps

1 Journals of the House of Commons, vol. 16, p. 44, nth December, 1708. Account of what counties were allotted to the respective regiments in Great Britain for raising recruits pursuant to the last Act of Parliament, as settled by the General Officers on the ist of March, 1708.

"Scottish Treasury Sederunts, 4th December, 1705-20*11 April, 1708, in H.M. General Register House, Edinburgh.

3 Ibid. vol. 16, p. 43, nth December, 1708.

« Ibid.

5 W.O. 4. 7. fol. 263, 7th August, 1708. R. Walpole to Lieut. White of Brigadier Mac- cartney's regiment.

• W.O. 4. 8. fol. 1 08, nth February, 1709, R. Walpole to the Earl of Leven. Ibid. fol. in, R. Walpole to Lord Mark Kerr.

' W.O. 4. 7. fol. 15, loth March, 1708, R. Walpole to Major-General Mordaunt.

8 W.O. 4. 7. fol. 181, 22nd June, 1708, James Taylor [apparently at this time a chief clerk in the war office] to Captain Myddelton of Colonel Stanwix's regiment, and to Captain Murray of Lord Monjoy's regiment.

ANDREW ROSS 321

who recruited there. In 1709 the officers of The Royals asked for per- mission to recruit in Scotland : x within a week of the request being received 100 recruits were sent to the regiment from Hertfordshire.2

Down to the end of Queen Anne's reign no regiments of horse or foot were raised in Scotland. To replace the two Scots regiments broken at Almanza, the senior lieutenant and ensign of each regiment serving in the Low Countries were called on as a nucleus for reorganization. In this way the two battalions of the ist, and the 2ist and 26th Regiments were called on.3 Before 1712 one regiment of horse, eight regiments of dragoons and seven regiments of foot were raised in England and Ireland. All were swept away in the general disbandment of 1713 at the peace of Utrecht. The same year saw the disbandment of six Scots regiments, namely, Hyndford's and Ker's Dragoons (the latter being immediately re-embodied, and are now the 7th Hussars), Grant's, Strathnaver's, Maccartney's and Ker's battalions of infantry.

In the reign of George I., 1714-27, material additions were made to the British army. In 1715 twelve regiments of dragoons and five regiments of foot were raised in England and Ireland, and one regiment of foot in Scotland, six of the dragoon regiments and the six foot being disbanded in 1718. At the end of that reign the standing army of Great Britain consisted of four troops of Horse Guards, two troops of Horse Grenadier Guards, the Royal Regiment of Horse Guards of nine troops, seven regiments of heavy cavalry, fourteen regiments of dragoons, the three regiments of Foot Guards, forty-one regiments of foot, the 4ist being Invalids, twenty- five Independent Companies mustering 1300 men, distributed in the forts in England, and six Independent Companies in the Highlands. The troops of Scottish origin in this list who had survived the successive disbandments of 1698 and 1713 were the fourth troop of Horse Guards, the second troop of Horse Grenadier Guards, the 2nd and 7th Dragoons, the Scots Guards, the ist, 2ist, 25th and 26th Regiments, and the six Independent Com- panies, three of 114 and three of 71 men — 555 in all. In addition, there were permanent garrisons of 100 men each in Edinburgh and Stirling Castles, 50 in Dumbarton and 15 in Blackness.4 The garrisons of Inverlochy and

1W.O. 4. 8. iol. 170, I gth March, 1709. * Ibid. fol. ist April, 1709.

3 W.O. 4. 6. fol. 80, 25th December, 1707, Henry St. John to the Earl of Orkney and the other Scots colonels.

4 Manuscript Army List, 1728.

322 SCOTTISH REGIMENTS DISBANDED

Inverness were furnished by the regiments cantoned in Scotland for the time.

In the reign of George II., 1727-60, the British army was the subject of repeated augmentation and reduction, the policy of 1707 being kept steadily in view. In 1737 Oglethorpe's regiment, destined for service in Georgia and South Carolina, was created by the process of "turning over " to it all the effective privates of the Edinburgh regiment, the 25th Foot, then stationed at Gibraltar, the officers and non-commissioned officers being sent to Ireland to raise their regiment afresh.1 On 25th October, 1739, the Independent Companies of the Black Watch, originally formed by John Earl of Atholl in 1662, were formed into a regiment and became 43rd in order of precedence. On the disbandment of Oglethorpe's in 1749 the Black Watch became the 42nd.2 In 1739 ten regiments of marines were formed, and received the precedence of 44th to 53rd inclusive.3 In 1741 seven regiments were raised, the precedence being from 54th to 6oth inclusive.4 In 1748 the ten regiments of marines were reduced, and the regiments 54th to 5gth took precedence as 43rd to 48th inclusive, the 6oth being disbanded in that year.5 A regiment raised as Trelawney's in 1743 ranked in 1751 as the 4gth regiment.5 In 1754 Shirley's American Provincials and Pepperill's Cape Breton regiment were numbered the 5oth and 5ist.5 In the winter of 1755-56 eleven regiments were raised, numbered 52nd to 62nd inclusive. On the disbandment of Shirley's and Pepperill's in 1757 they became the 50th to the 6oth inclusive.6 In 1756 the 3rd, 4th, 8th, nth, i2th, igth, 20th, 23rd, 24th, 3ist, 32r;a,' 33rd, 34th, 36th and 37th regiments of the line raised second battalions. Two years later these battalions were constituted distinct regiments and numbered 6ist to 75th.7 The tale may be completed to the end of the Seven Years' war in 1763. There were then one hundred and nineteen regiments of foot

1 Captain Higgins's Records of the King's Own Borderers or Old Edinburgh Regiment, 1873, P- 34-

» Major-General David Stewart of Garth's Sketches of the Highland Clans and Regiments, 1st ed. vol. i. pp. 229, 274. Cannon's Historical Record of the $ist Foot, 2nd pagination. History of the Marine Corps, p. 50 and note.

* Ibid. p. 51. 'Ibid. p. 52-

6 Ibid. p. 52. Cannon's Historical Record of the 46th, p. 10.

• Historical Record of the 315* Foot, second pagination, p. 53. Cannon's Historical Record of the 53rd, p. I.

7 Historical Record of the 3is< Foot, second pagination, p. 53. Cannon's Historical Record of the (>?th Foot.

ANDREW ROSS 323

in addition to one or two unnumbered corps and the Invalids.1 At the peace of Fontainebleau, loth February, 1763, which ended the Seven Years' war, the 7ist and all regiments beyond that number were disbanded.

It is not possible to ascertain the proportion of Scotsmen in the regiments of Marines formed in 1739. Of the seven regiments raised in 1741, one, the 58th, known later as the 47th Lancashire, and now the ist battalion of the Royal North Lancashire regiment, was raised in Scotland by Colonel Mordaunt.2 The 57th regiment, later known as the 55th Westmorland, and now the 2nd battalion the Border Regiment, was raised at Stirling in January, 1756, by Colonel George Perry.3

From the fifteen old line regiments ordered in that year to raise second battalions, the Scots, it will be observed, are excluded, although The Royals was at that time the only one which had a second battalion, and the 26th happened to be then in Scotland.4 When, two years later, these second battalions were disjoined and appeared in the Army List as separate corps they were all reckoned as English regiments. The hardship in the case was that, while the new battalions were being formed and completed, 1756-58, an unusual number of depleted English regiments were sent to Scotland to recruit. Three of them were the igth, 3ist and 32nd, the last- named corps, which was in Scotland for seven years, being employed in the construction of the High Road from Portpatrick to Carlisle.5 The second battalions of these regiments were raised in Scotland.

The 2nd battalion of the igth became the 66th Foot. Its historian, Colonel Percy Groves, writes : "Of the early history of the 66th but little is known, owing to the loss or destruction of the regimental records at the evacuation of Port-au-Prince in 1797." 6 The compiler of Short Histories of the Territorial Regiments of the British Army, says it was raised in 1730, an impossible date.7 The time and place of raising is fixed by the corre-

1 The numbers in the text are those noted in W.O. 2. 33. Mr. Fortescue, ii. 581, says the numbered corps in 1763 totalled 124.

- Short Histories of the Territorial Regiments of the British Army, edited by R. de M. Rudolf, I.S.O. of the War Office. H.M. Stationery Office.

3 Sergeant Noakes's Historical Account of the 34^ and 55^ Regiments.

1 The 26th returned to Scotland in 1754 and left in May, 1757. Carter's Record of the z6th Foot, p. 83.

s W.O. i. 615.

6 The 66th Berkshire Regiment, Reading, 1887, p. 2.

' Op. cit. No. 47. The error is repeated in the revised version.

324 SCOTTISH REGIMENTS DISBANDED

spondence between Lieut.-General Lord George Beauclerk, commanding- in-chief in Scotland, and Viscount Barrington, Secretary at War, which fixes Scotland as the kingdom where it was raised.1 It is now the 2nd battalion of the Princess Charlotte of Wales's (Royal Berkshire Regiment).

The 2nd battalion of the 3ist Foot, late 7oth, now 2nd battalion of the East Surrey regiment, remained so thoroughly Scottish for a long time after it was raised that it was known as " The Glasgow Greys," its facings being light grey. It was appropriated in 1782 to the county of Surrey under the new territorial scheme of that year. It was recaptured by Glasgow in 1812, and given the title of " The Glasgow Lowland Regiment." It was finally restored to Surrey in 1825, 2 and is now the 2nd battalion of the East Surrey Regiment.

The 2nd battalion of the 32nd became the 7ist. It included a large number of Highlanders, who, having been convicted under the Disarming Acts of the crime of wearing the kilt, were condemned to wear breeks in his Majesty's 7ist.3 The regiment was still in Scotland at the expiry of the five years, during which the men were bound to serve in terms of the statute. When they applied for their discharge it was refused. On the evening of the same day the men piled their arms, clothing and accoutre- ments at their colonel's door and took to the hills. A pretty storm arose, but the colonel being clearly in error as to his powers, no action followed.4

At the time the old battalions of the igth, 3ist and 32nd were being recruited and the new battalions completed, Edinburgh Castle was unable to provide accommodation for the impressed men who came pouring in. Three hundred and thirty were sent to complete Bockland's battalion, the

1 W.O. I. 613. [This volume is made up of original letters and papers and has no pagina- tion.] Letter 2gth January, 1757, from Lord George Beauclerk, commander-in-chief in Scot- land, to Viscount Barrington, Secretary at War, with a return (not preserved in the volume) of the impressed men and volunteers who are coming in, and stating that he was obliged to send oft 130 men last Monday to Morpeth, as there was no room for them in Edinburgh Castle, being the men furnished by the counties for the 2nd battalions of the igth, 3ist and 32nd regiments. The Secretary in reply says that the Duke [Cumberland] is pleased with his success, and should the men continue to come in in such numbers as to over-complete the new battalions in Scotland, the supernumeraries are to be handed over to help Bockland's at York. On I2th April, 1757, Lord George Beauclerk writes to Viscount Barrington that he has turned over the supernumeraries now with the 32nd, to the igth and 3ist regiments.

1 Cannon's Historical Record of the joth Foot. Trimen's Regiments of the British Army, 70th Foot.

1 Recruiting Act of 1756-57, 30 Geo. II. cap. 8. Printed at length in British Acts of Parliament, black letter. By this Act impressed men were entitled to their discharge at the end of five years if they asked it.

« W.O. i. 615. Edinburgh, I4th January, 1762.

ANDREW ROSS 325

nth Foot, a Devonshire regiment then stationed at York.1 In March, 1757, no vacancies for the men from Caithness and Sutherland and the Isles of Orkney and Skye could be found in the line regiments then serv- ing in Scotland. Bockland's being full by that time, these men were sent to Gibraltar and enrolled in Lord Robert Bertie's regiment, the 7th Royal Fusiliers, a city of London regiment.2 At the same time the supernum- eraries of Montgomery's and Fraser's Highlanders were sent to reinforce Colonel Ross's regiment, the 38th Staffordshire, in Antigua.3 Desertion was uncommon in Scotland. On 20th August, 1760, Lieut. -General Beau- clerk, in pleading for the life of a man who had been found guilty of that offence and condemned to death by court-martial, writes : "As there are but few deserters from the troops in these parts, there is the less reason for an execution by way of example in terror em." The case was laid before George II., who insisted on the sentence being carried out.4

Evidence of the extent to which the army was recruited in Scotland in the middle of the eighteenth century is contained in a report from Lieut. - General Edward Pole made in September, 1759, on the provisions laid in by the government contractor at Fort George, who wrote : " That sort of provision (bacon) is the least proper of any for that place. The com- mon people of this country (of which the regiments at present in Scotland are chiefly composed) having an antipathy to hog's flesh, insomuch that many of them will not taste it on any account." 5 On 2oth October, 1759, Lieut.-General Lord George Beauclerk sends to Viscount Barrington, Secre- tary at War, a return of the men raised in North Britain to recruit his Majesty's forces in Germany. The return is not available.6 The Scots Magazine for the month states the numbers at 20,000. 7

1 W.O. I. 613, 29 January, 1757, Lord George Beauclerk to Vis. Barrington.

February, ,, Viscount Barrington to Lord George Beauclerk. 12 ,, ,, Beauclerk to Barrington.

5 March, „ Beauclerk to Barrington. That he has sent another 150

men to Bockland's, and expects to send 50 more.

1 W.O. I. 613, Lord George Beauclerk to Viscount Barrington, and reply, March-April,

1757-

3 W.O.

•W.O.

2oth Augus

5 W.O.

•W.O.

613, 6th May, 1657.

614, Lieut.-General Beauclerk to Viscount Barrington. Dated Edinburgh, 1760.

614. Edinburgh, 25th September, 1759. This volume has no pagination. 614. Edinburgh, 2oth October, 1759.

Scots Magazine, October, 1759, p. 559.

326 SCOTTISH REGIMENTS DISBANDED

It is easy to understand how, under such a system, while the Lowland regiments of the line remain to-day at the number they were in 1707, the English regiments came in process of time to double, treble and quadruple their numbers. How inequitably Scotland was treated throughout is illus- trated by the fate of the Edinburgh regiment, otherwise the I7th Light Dragoons, raised by Lord Aberdour. It commenced to recruit in October, 1755,1 was embodied 3ist January, 1760, was recruited in Scotland, armed, clothed and equipped from London, and horsed from Northumberland.2 It was reviewed by Lord George Beauclerk at Dalkeith on loth March that year, two captains, two lieutenants, two cornets, two quartermasters, four sergeants, four corporals, four drums and one hundred men. The men were reported as exceptionally fit, and the horses low in flesh owing to the long march from England.3 The city of Edinburgh, the burgh of An- struther, the provost and magistrates of Dundee and the free and accepted lodge of St. David's, Dundee, all offered bounties to those Scotsmen who would join the new regiment,4 with the result that it was complete by 3oth January, I76o.5 On the day of the review the regiment was in excess of its establishment, and a number of men were " turned over " without compunction to the cavalry regiments then in Scotland waiting to complete.6 The regiment was trained on the North Inch of Perth.7 In March, 1762, it furnished a draft of fifty men for Germany.8 It was disbanded at Perth on i8th February, I763,9 although two junior regiments, the i8th and igth Light Dragoons, were retained on the establishment.10

To return to the foot regiments of the period. The 85th, Colonel the Hon. John Craufurd's regiment of Royal Volunteers, was chiefly recruited in Scotland, although not one in ten of the officers were Scotsmen.11 In October, 1759, the city of Edinburgh offered a bounty of £2 2s. to volunteers who joined the corps.12 It served in Germany and was dis- banded in I763.13

I Scots Magazine, October, 1759, p. 559. 2 W.O. I. 614, 3ist January, 1760. 3 Ibid. 1 5th March, 1760.

* Caledonian Mercury, 2nd and 7th January, 1760.

« Ibid, soth January, 1760. • W.O. i. 614, i$th March, 1760.

•> Caledonian Mercury. 4th June, 1760. • W.O. 2. 33. fol. 29.

• Caledonian Mercury, 23rd February, 1763. 10Hinde's Light Dragoons, pp. 143-46.

II Army List, 1760. " Caledonian Mercury, 3rd October, 1759. " W.O. 2. 32. fol. 206.

ANDREW ROSS 327

The io8th regiment (Lieut.-Colonel Patrick M'Douall's), of ten companies, was ordered to be raised on ijth October, 1761. Its nucleus was nine men and a drum on loan from the 3ist Foot.1 Recruiting for the corps in the Highlands was forbidden, proceeding nevertheless so rapidly in other parts that on 25th December, 1761, it was placed on the establishment.2 It served in Ireland, but before leaving its native country returned to the 3ist the borrowed drum and nine men.3 In March, 1762, it furnished a draft of 100 men for the East Indies and 150 for Germany, and in March, 1762, further drafts for India and Germany. Disbanded 1763.*

In 1761 the logth regiment, Major John Nairne's corps of seven com- panies, was ordered to be raised. It is stated in A Military History of Perthshire, 1904, p. 67, that the corps was chiefly raised in Hertfordshire and Middlesex. That it was partly at least recruited in Scotland is to be inferred from the fact that recruiting for the corps in the Highlands was forbidden.5 Similar restrictions were placed on the io6th, I07th, noth, mth and H3th regiments,6 but they were at liberty to draw what men they could from the Lowlands.

The case of the H3th regiment, Major James Hamilton's, is a little n3th Foot, puzzling. Shortly after its formation in October, 1761, it received the Highlanders, title of " The Royal Highlanders," but in November following recruiting in the Highlands for the corps was forbidden. It sent repeated drafts to Germany and it served at Belleisle. Disbanded April, 1763. 7

On 26th October, 1761, the usth regiment, Major John Walkingshaw mth Foot, Craufurd's corps of six, afterwards increased to seven companies, was Scotch authorised to be raised, with its headquarters at Paisley.8 Its nucleus Lov was six men and a drum furnished by the 7ist.9 In November it received the title of " The Royal Scotch Lowlanders." It was called upon in the following year to furnish a draft of ijp men to Belleisle and 100 men to Portugal. In 1762 it furnished a draft to the 3ist, then in Scotland.10 It

1 W.O. 2. 33. fol. 148. » Ibid.

3 W.O. 2. 33. fol. 148. * Ibid.

5 W.O. 2. 33. fol. 152. « Ibid. fols. 149, 150, 152, 153, 157.

7 W.O.

1 3th ; bt Scottish

W.O.

»w.o.

33. fol. 157. There are very few Scottish names in the list of officers of the every one of the officers of the H4th Foot or Royal Highland Volunteers bore the Army List of 1763. The regiment was commanded by Major Allan

M'Lean ; t ere were 5 captains, a captain-lieutenant, 12 lieutenants and 5 ensigns

615. • W.O. 2. 33. fol. 156.

. 615, 23rd April. 1762.

328 SCOTTISH REGIMENTS DISBANDED

was reduced to 70 men per company in October, 1762, and disbanded at Paisley in March, I763.1

The next material increase in the numbers of the British army took place in the reign of George III. The occasion was the outbreak of the American war of independence. The invectives of Pitt against the em- ployment of foreign troops in the British service were just. There were the Hanoverian, Brunswick and Anhalt-Zerbst corps, the foot and artillery regiments of Waldeck, and the horse, foot and artillery of Hesse, Hanau, and Anspach.2 The policy of the war minister to hire foreign troops rather than raise the king's own subjects was nowhere so bitterly resented as in Scotland. Yet the English members of parliament flouted the idea of raising even a militia there, except as a feeder to the English regiments of the line.3 The progress of the war compelled them to alter their views ' to some extent. The great cities of the three kingdoms were each invited to raise a corps. Four took advantage of the offer, and two of the four were Edinburgh and Glasgow. On 5th January, 1778, authority was given soth Foot, to raise the 8oth Royal Edinburgh Volunteers of 1000 men,4 which came Edinburgh on the establishment from the I7th of that month.5 The lieut.-colonel commanding was Sir William Erskine of Torrie, and the major Henry Dundas of Fingask. Many regiments at that time refused to admit Irish to their ranks. In 1745 the Coldstream Guards refused to admit Scots.8 The pet aversion of the 8oth were Englishmen, none of whom were permitted to enrol.7 In 1779 the regiment embarked for New York.8 It served in the war with the revolted colonies,9 and was disbanded in 1783 .10 Fo^t83Ro ai The Glas£°w regiment was the Sard or Loyal Glasgow Volunteers. Like Glasgow the 8oth, it declined Englishmen,11 the officers protesting against being compelled to admit English recruits in their ranks.11 It was placed on the new establishment in 1778." It served in America and the Channel Islands and was disbanded J-783.12

1 w.o. 2. 33. foi. 156. » w.o. 2. 34. foi. 193-94.

» Edinburgh Evening Courant, isth June, 1782.

4 Records of the Town Council of Edinburgh, vol. 96, p. 91.

• W.O. 2. 34. foi. 239. • Mackinnon's Coldstream Guards, ii. 341.

7 W.O. 2. 34. foi. 239. « W.O.

» Fortescue, iii. 286. 10 Grant's Old and New Edinburgh, i. 63, note.

" W.O. 2 34. foi. 241 . » W.O. 2. 35. foL 231.

ANDREW ROSS 329

Between the two city regiments comes the Sand, or Duke of Hamilton's J^,82^ regiment, raised in 1778 chiefly in the county of Lanark. It served in North Hamilton's. America from 1779 * and was disbanded in 1784.

Another marked increase in the number of British regiments took place at the time of the French Revolution. It is not possible to give even the briefest reference to them. The light cavalry regiments ran up to at least 32 and the foot to 135, 2 besides a large number of corps known by their commander's names, and of independent troops and companies. Many of them had only a few months of existence. The former policy regarding the Lowland line regiments was modified, in that they were occasionally permitted, especially towards the latter half of the eighteenth century, to visit Scotland and recruit, with the result that they resumed their national character. This was the case with the old Edinburgh regiment, which had been assigned to the county of Sussex in 1782, and was called the Sussex regiment down to 1805, when it obtained the title of the King's Own Borderers.3 The case of the 94th regiment, representing the old Scots brigade, has been already noticed. In 1824 the ggth Lanarkshire was raised and carried its county title up to i874-4 It is now the 2nd battalion of the Wiltshire regiment.

Justice remains to be done to the recruiting capacity of the Lowlands of Scotland. It is too late in the day to suggest the establishment of new units. Each of the four great Lowland regiments ought to be allowed to form additional regular battalions, the King's Own Scottish Borderers being withdrawn in the course of the process, from the half-way house, where they at present halt, to the city of Edinburgh, where the regiment sprang into existence on the i8th of March, i68g.5

1 Fortescue, iii. 288.

2 List of War Office Records in the Public Record Office, Chancery Lane, vol. i. p. 47.

3 Higgins. • Trimen, p. 144.

5 It is to be feared that profound dissatisfaction would be caused throughout the Scottish Borders by such a policy. After the land from Roxburghshire on the east to Galloway on the west has been drained of the flower of its manhood to fill the ranks of the old and new battalions of the K.O.S.B., we should justly resent the severing of a bond which the great war has surely

VIII REGIMENTAL MUSIC

READERS are indebted to Mr. Alexander W. Inglis, who has applied much research to old Scots music, for the recovery of many of the following regimental marches. His initials are subscribed to the notes relating to them. — ED.

2ND DRAGOONS (ROYAL SCOTS GREYS). THE GREY HORSE MARCH.

This march is contained in a MS. music book of the latter part of the eighteenth century now in my possession. It belonged formerly to Charles Kirkpatrick Sharpe of Hoddam. A. W. I.

pug

JriJ/JJrlJJJJB

THE ROYAL SCOTS (LOTHIAN REGIMENT).

(i) The oldest known version of " Dumbarton's Drums." From the Skene MS.. No. 49 (about 1630).

"I SERVE A WORTHIE LADIE."

332 REGIMENTAL MUSIC

(2) DUMBARTON'S DRUMS.

The Quickstep of the Royal Scots.

March time, strongly accentuated.

of my dear John - ny, O, How hap - py am I when my

sol - dier is by, While he kiss - es and bless - es his

U I I

I

Tis

sol - dier a - lone can de - light me,

For his

£

grace - ful looks do in

O; While guard-ed in his arms, ill

=^=±

3=£

fear no war's a- larms,Nei-ther dan - ger nor death shall e'er fright me, O.

My love is a handsome laddie, O, Genteel, but ne'er foppish nor gaudy, O.

Though commissions are dear,

Yet I'll buy him one this year, For he shall serve no longer a cadie, O. A soldier has honour and bravery, O ; Unacquainted with rogues and their knavery, O,

He minds no other thing

But the ladies or the King ; For every other care is but slavery, O.

Then I'll be the captain's lady, O, Farewell all my friends and my daddy, O ;

I'll wait no more at home,

But I'll follow with the drum, And whene'er that beats I'll be ready, O. Dumbarton's drums sound bonny, O, They are sprightly like my dear Johnny, O :

How happy shall I be

When on my soldier's knee, And he kisses and blesses his Annie, O !

(From " The Teatable Miscellany" a collection of Old Scots Songs made by Allan Ramsay in 77?,

REGIMENTAL MUSIC

(3) THE MARCH SET FOR THE PIANO.

333

THE ROYAL SCOTS FUSILIERS.

(i) THE SHERIFF'S MARCH.

An old quickstep of the zist Fusiliers, being the tune known as "The rock and the wee pickle tow." It was called " The Sheriffs March " after Sir Andrew Agnew of Lochnaw, who served twenty-eight years in the regiment (1718-1746), and commanded it for six years.

Lively.

334

REGIMENTAL MUSIC

deed -in was thin, And

poor tith.ye ken,m&deme

dent to spin, 'Twas

w

The mornin's was cauld and the keen frost and snaw

Were blawin', I mind the beginnin' o't, When ye gae'd to wark, be it frost or be it thaw,

My task was na less at the spinnin' o't. But now we've a pantry, baith mickle and fu" O' ilka thing gude for to gang to the mou', A barrel o' ale, wi' some maut for to brew,

To make us forget the beginnin o't.

And when winter comes back wi' the snell hail and rain

Nae mair I sit doun to the spinnin' o't, Nor you gang to toil in the cauld fields again,

As little think o' the beginnin' o't.

REGIMENTAL MUSIC 335

O' sheep wi' hae scores, and o' kye twenty-five, Far less wi' hae seen wad made us fu' blyth, But thrift and industry mak puir folk to thrive, A clear proof o' that is the spinnin' o't.

Although at our marriage our stock was but sma',

And heartless and hard the beginnin' o't, When ye was engaged the owsen to ca',

And first my young skill tried the spinnin' o't ; But noo we can dress in oor plaidies sa sma' Fu' neat and fu' clean gang to kirk or to ha', And look aye sae blythe as the best o' them a',

Sic luck has been at the beginnin' o't.

(2) "THE SCOTS FUSILIERS."

I found this tune in the British Museum [Add. MSS. 29371 f. 63— (271)], where it is simply named the "Scots Fusiliers." It apparently belongs to the eighteenth century, and is suitable either for a slow or a quick march, as it sounds quite well played either fast or slow. A. W. I.

f=F=ff

. *' *

(3) Quickstep of the 2ist Regiment of Foot: date about the latter end of the eighteenth century. I have no knowledge of its history or composer. A. W. I.

m

•» — j

(4) MARCH OF THE ZIST REGIMENT OF FOOT.

This is a slow march in its first movement, and in the second movement (marked allegretto) is a quickstep formed from an old tune named in the eighteenth century This is no my ain house, but is now entitled This is no my ain lassie, in consequence of

336

REGIMENTAL MUSIC

Burns having written a song with that refrain. It was the regimental march of the old Ayrshire Militia, the title of which was altered in 1860 to "The Royal Ayrshire Regiment of Militia Rifles," and in 1866 to "The Prince Regent's Royal Regiment of Ayr and Wigtown Militia." In 1881, however, when the regiment was reorganised as the 4th Battalion Royal Scots Fusiliers, it had to adopt the British Grenadiers, which is assigned as the quickstep of all Fusilier regiments. It is interesting to find This is no my ain lassie as the second movement in an old march of the Scots Fusiliers published by Stewart & Co., Edinburgh, between the years 1788 and 1792.

I find that the opening bars of the second strain of the allegretto movement differ from the usual versions of the air of This is no my ain house. They have been borrowed from a variation of the melody introduced by James Oswald in Book xi. of his Caledonian Pocket Companion, published about 1759.

The third movement is a tune which I do not know, and it does not seem to be of much interest. A. W. I.

REGIMENTAL MUSIC

337

Allegretto.

3=^

Allegretto.

338

REGIMENTAL MUSIC

THE KING'S OWN SCOTTISH BORDERERS.

(i) Lord George H. Lennox held the colonelcy of the 25th (Edinburgh) Regi- ment of Foot from December, 1762, till his death in 1805. A. W. I.

LORD GEORGE LENNOX'S MARCH.

ir r

(2) A quickstep of the 25th Regiment of Foot, belonging to the last quarter of the eighteenth century. I do not know who composed it. A. W. I.

(3) A quickstep of the same period as No. i. Composer unknown. A. W. I.

REGIMENTAL MUSIC

339

(4) A slow march of the 2 5th Regiment of about the same date as Nos. 2 and 3. Composer unknown. A. W. I.

The quickstep of the old Scottish Borderers Militia, now the 3rd Battalion of the K.O.S.B., used to be that spirited air " Blue bonnets over the Border."— ED.

THE CAMERONIANS (SCOTTISH RIFLES).

I have found only one march, slow or quick, belonging to the 26th Regiment of Foot. It dates from the last quarter of the eighteenth century. I do not know whether the Cameronian Regiment ever played as a regimental march the seventeenth- century Cameronian March, sometimes called Rant or Reel. For some time past their regimental march has been that English burlesque of a Scots tune, Within a mile of Edinburgh town, but it is not known why this was adopted. A. W. I.

MARCH OF THE 26™ REGIMENT OF FOOT.

JH.

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