The Story of the Highland Regiments

Thus only should it come, if come it must; Not with a riot of flags or a mob-born cry, But with a noble faith, a conscience high And pure and proud as heaven, wherein we trust,...

Pipes of the misty moorlands, Voice of the glens and hills; The droning of the torrents, The treble of the rills! Not the braes of broom and heather, Nor the mountains black wit...

Kabul town’s by Kabul river— Blow the bugle, draw the sword— There I lef’ my mate for ever, Wet an’ drippin’ by the ford. Ford, ford, ford o’ Kabul river, Ford o’ Kabul river in...

Vain is the dream! However Hope may rave, He perished with the folk he could not save. And though none surely told us he is dead, And though perchance another in his stead, Anot...

I have been forty years in the Service, I have been engaged in actions seven-and-twenty times, but in the whole of my career I have never seen any regiment behave so well as the...

“She stands alone: ally nor friend has she,” Saith Europe of our England—her who bore Drake, Blake, and Nelson—Warrior-Queen who wore Light’s conquering glaive that strikes the...

The 1st Battalion of the famous Cameron Highlanders was founded in 1793 by Alan Cameron of Erracht, Inverness-shire, and owed its formation to the danger of invasion from France...

Pibroch of Donuil Dhu, Pibroch of Donuil, Wake thy wild voice anew, summon Clan Conuil. Come away, come away, hark to the summons! Come in your war array, gentles and commons!

During the years that the Highland regiments were on home service many eventful things took place. By the Peace of Amiens, England had surrendered almost all her conquests to Na...

In vain did cuirassiers in clouds surround them, When, cannon thundering as the ocean raves, They left our squares unmoved as they had found them, Firm as a rock amidst the ocea...

In the earlier chapters we have dealt with the actions in which the Black Watch, Fraser’s, and Montgomery’s Highlanders were engaged. It is now time that mention was made of the...

To you who know the face of war, You, that for England wander far, You that have seen the Ghazis fly From English lads not sworn to die, You that have lain, where, deadly chill,...

When the summer harvest was gathered in, And the sheaf of the gleaner grew white and thin, And the ploughshare was in its furrow left, Where the stubble land had been lately cle...

I’ve heard them lilting at the ewe-milking, Lasses a’ lilting before dawn o’ day; But now they are moaning on ilka green loaning, The flowers o’ the forest are a’ wede away.

There was a sound of revelry by night, And Belgium’s capital had gather’d then Her Beauty and her Chivalry, and bright The lamps shone o’er fair women and brave men; A thousand...

Farewell to Lochaber, farewell to my Jean, Where heart-some wi’ her I ha’e mony a day been; For Lochaber no more, Lochaber no more, We’ll maybe return to Lochaber no more. Those...

Hail, gallant regiment! Freiceadan Dubh, Whenever Albion needs thine aid ‘Aye ready!’ for whatever foe Shall dare to meet the black brigade! Witness disastrous Fontenoy; When al...

There fell a war in a woody place, Lay far across the sea, A war of the march in the mirk midnight And the shot from behind the tree, The shaven head and the painted face, The s...

After the Mutiny we say farewell, as it were, to the Old Guard of the Crimea and India, and hear a great deal about the younger men, Wolseley, Roberts, and White, all of whom ha...

Up beyond the Inyati, where the frontier ranges rise, Dark and lonely looms the mountain evil-starred; Staring southward for the column, keeping vigil ’gainst surprise, Standing...

Come gather, come gather, ye lads o’ the heather, An’ down thro’ the glen in the pipers’ wake; Baith gentles and commons, gie heed tae the summons, An’ haste tae the muster make...

Gae bring my guid auld harp ance mair, gae bring it free and fast, For I maun sing anither sang, ere a’ my glee be past. And trow ye, as I sing, my lads, the burden o’t shall be...

What marks the frontier line? Thou man of India say! Is it the Himalayas sheer, The rocks and valleys of Cashmere, Or Indus as she seeks the south From Attoch to the five-fold m...

The Highland Regiments have always enjoyed a world-wide popularity quite apart from the quality of their achievements. This popularity is due to the appeal of imagination and ro...

The sun rises bright in France And fair sets he, But he has lost the blithe blink he had In my ain countrie. Oh, gladness comes to many, But sorrow comes to me, As I look o’er t...

Quebec, the grey old city on the hill, Lies with a golden glory on her head, Dreaming throughout this hour so fair, so still, Of other days and all her mighty dead. The white do...

Where ha’e ye been a’ the day, Bonnie laddie, Highland laddie? Saw ye him that’s far away, Bonnie laddie, Highland laddie? On his head a bonnet blue, Bonnie laddie, Highland lad...

“Leave me, comrades—here I drop; No, Sir, take them on; All are wanted—none shall stop; Duty must be done: Those whose guard you take will find me, As they pass below.” So the s...

character of their advance, one cannot say, but after a momentary wavering the enemy gave way to panic. And then upon the other flank of the Brigade the Russians threatened a si...