By E. CHARLES VIVIAN AUTHOR OF "PASSION FRUIT," "DIVIDED WAYS," ETC. HODDER AND STOUGHTON LONDON     NEW YORK     TORONTO MCMXIV Printed in Great Britain by Hazell, Watson & Viney, Ld., London and Aylesbury....

If one should ask any man, of any regiment of the British Army, what was the quality of the regiment to which he belonged, the answer would be to the effect that his was the best regiment in the service, without any exception. If any other answer should be returned to such a query, it might be assumed that there was something wrong with that particular man; he ought not to be a soldier, for every soldier worthy of the name firmly believes that his regiment is the best. The Scottish regiments are

One of the titles bestowed on the Royal Scots, that of "Pontius Pilate's Bodyguard," marks the claim of the regiment to antiquity. Under Marlborough, in the French war in America, at Corunna, through the Peninsular war with Wellington, at Quatre Bras and Waterloo, in India, the Crimea, and in China, have the battalions of the Royal Scots upheld the honour of the British Army; and it stands to their credit that in the South African campaign, in which they were engaged practically from start to fi

The titles of regiments are apt to be confusing to the lay mind, and it is difficult at first to distinguish between the Royal Scots and the Royal Scots Fusiliers, on paper. In old time the Fusiliers were the "twenty-first" regiment of infantry; they were raised in Scotland in 1678 for service under Charles II, and served under William III in Holland and Flanders, as well as under the great Duke of Marlborough and under George II when the latter commanded his troops in person at the battle of De

If legend may be believed, the Scottish Borderers came into existence with a strength of a thousand men in four hours of the 19th of March, 1689, a recruiting record which stands unbeaten in subsequent history. The regiment was raised by the followers of King William III, and within four months of the time of its formation was facing "Bonnie Dundee" at the pass of Killiecrankie. General Mackay, the officer commanding the King's troops, testified that only two regiments of his force bore themselv

Though the Royal Scots can claim to be the oldest regiment of the British Army, the Black Watch can claim—and do claim—to be the oldest corps of Highlanders. The regiment, known in old time as the "Forty-second," was originally formed out of the independent companies raised in 1729 to keep the peace in the hills of the Scottish Highlands, and the first parade as a regiment took place near Aberfeldy in 1740, when the regiment was numbered "43." This was subsequently changed to "42." Five years la

Formerly known as the 75th and 92nd line battalions, the Gordon Highlanders form a comparatively young regiment. The first battalion was formed at Stirling in 1788 under Colonel Robert Abercromby, and was sent to India for fourteen years of active service in Mysore and Southern India. The "Royal Tiger," worn on the badges of the regiment, commemorates the part they played at the taking of Seringapatam in 1799. The great Scottish house of Gordon raised the second battalion of the regiment near th

The 1st battalion of the Seaforth Highlanders originally bore the number subsequently allotted to the 2nd battalion, for in 1778 the 1st battalion was raised as the 78th infantry of the line by the Earl of Seaforth, and with that as its official number it went to Jersey to defend the island against a French attack, and subsequently to India. The voyage to India occupied ten months, and cost the life of the Earl of Seaforth and 200 men of the regiment; the remainder landed safely, and underwent t

Mr. Alan Cameron, a gentleman of Scotland in the eighteenth century, fought a duel over which he was obliged to leave the British Isles, whereupon he found employment in an irregular cavalry corps which assisted the British in the American War of Independence. When the war ended he returned to England, judging that the storm had blown over, and at the time of the French Revolution he offered to raise a corps of Highlanders for the British Army. The offer was accepted, and Cameron raised 700 of h

The threat against Britain by the French Republic in 1794 led to the raising of the 1st battalion of the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders, the battalion having been formed in that year by the then Duke of Argyll, under the title of the 91st Regiment of Foot. The present 2nd battalion was raised by the Earl of Sutherland six years later, and numbered the "93rd Foot." These two battalions were united under their present title in 1881. Active service was first seen by the 2nd battalion at the Cape

The Highland Light Infantry—a title shortened in the Army to a colloquial "H.L.I.," were originally known as "Macleod's Highlanders," and were raised as the 73rd Foot in 1777, being embodied at Elgin in April of 1778. Lord Macleod, after whom the regiment was named, was its first commanding officer, and under his command the original members of the 73rd went to Madras in 1780, their voyage lasting no less than twelve months. The valour of the regiment in those early days of its history may be ju