The Colonels-in-Chief of the Seaforth Highlanders

A curse. Does it play a part in our lives? Did being made Colonel-in-Chief of a particular regiment ruin the lives of four Royals? It's probably a complete load of tosh I've just made up but the fact is all royal Colonels-in-Chief of the Seaforth Highlanders seemed to be cursed after their appointment.

The first Colonel-in-Chief of the Seaforth Highlanders was appointed in 1882. He was Prince Leopold, the fourth son of Queen Victoria. He had been given the title of Duke of Albany, an old Scottish title, by his mother. He was given the Colonelcy of the Seaforths Militia in 1881 because the regiment had just been formed from the 78th Highlanders and the 72nd Duke of Albany's Highlanders to become the Seaforth Highlanders (Duke of Albany's, Ross-shire Buffs).

The 72nd Duke of Albany's Highlanders had been named after a previous Duke of Albany who was in fact the Duke of York and Albany but used his Scottish title for his Scottish regiment.

The Duke of York and Albany had been commander-in-chief of the British Army in 1823 when the 72nd Regiment regained its highland status after a gap of fourteen years. His colonelcy was short lived though, a mere four years later he was dead and the regiment was royal colonel-less for another fifty four years.

Back to the 1st Duke of Albany in 1882 again. He was not a strapping fellow and suffered from that curse of Victorian royals, haemophilia. In 1884 just three years into his colonelcy he fell down some stairs and died from internal bleeding.

His son, born just after his death became the 2nd Duke of Albany. He was to be appointed Colonel-in-Chief of the Seaforths in 1905 when he was twenty one. Unfortunately for the 2nd Duke in 1900 he had to take on his grandfather's title of Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha after his uncle died. Although brought up a minor British royal his new role was German Royalty. In 1914 he had to chose sides when war broke out. The loyalty and honour drummed into him since childhood forced him to chose Germany and in 1914 he renounced his Colonelcy.

The next Colonel was the 2nd Duke's cousin, the then Prince of Wales. When he was appointed in 1920 he was the darling of British society. The heir to the throne was a dashing young royal and it was quite a coup for the regiment to have him as their new Colonel. At his accession they would have the King as their colonel. As it turned out the Seaforth curse struck again and with Edward VIII's abdication in 1936 they were without a colonel again.

In 1937 the former Duke of Albany and the Duke of Windsor met up - in Germany. The former was the latter's host whilst visiting Hitler. I wonder if they discussed the Seaforths at all?

In 1961 the Seaforths merged to form half of the Queen's Own Highlanders (Seaforth and Camerons). Their new Colonel-in-Chief was the Duke of Edinburgh. Luckily for him he had already been Colonel of the Camerons for eight years and he's even seen out the Queen's Own and the Highlanders and he's still Royal Colonel of 4th Bn Royal Regiment of Scotland.

(Text by Adam Brown)

Peeblesshire militia 200-year-old uniform purchase bid

From the BBC News website:

A campaign has been launched in the Borders to save a 200-year-old uniform from ending up in a private collection.

Museum supporters have set themselves a £4,850 goal to buy the uniform of an officer serving with the Peeblesshire Local Militia. Such units were set up to protect the population in the event of an invasion from French military leader Napoleon.

The Supporters of the Chambers Institution Peebles (SCIP) have a 6 February deadline on their rescue plan. There are virtually no traces left of the militia group - formed in 1808 but disbanded in 1816. However, the existence of an officer's bright yellow and red coatee and white trousers has emerged.

The private dealer selling the rare outfit has agreed it would be preferable if it could remain in Peeblesshire.

SCIP - a group which tries to provide financial backing for their local museum - has until next month to come up with a rescue plan. They have now launched an appeal with the local community to donate money so that the uniform can be returned to Peeblesshire and be exhibited at Tweeddale Museum in Peebles.

SCIP spokeswoman Amanda Clydesdale said the item was in "incredibly good condition" and would probably have been ordered and paid for by the officer himself. It is thought the whole uniform was made by Edinburgh outfitter G Aubin.

"Our local museum does not hold any materials from Peeblesshire Local Militia, so this would be a really significant addition to the local collection," said Ms Clydesdale.

The Peeblesshire Local Militia was a separate organisation from the Peeblesshire Militia, and was created in 1808 by Act of Parliament under George III, at the height of the invasion threat from Napoleon. The local militia was designed to protect the population but could also be used to contain riots or civil unrest. Recruiting was done by ballot with names drawn randomly from a list of all Peeblesshire men aged between 18 and 30. Men who came forward voluntarily were given two guineas and were expected to carry out up to 28 days training every year.

Hefty fine

People could only be excused from duty if they were married and had two or more children, or if they could pay someone else to take their place. If they did not turn up, there was a hefty fine of £10 to £50 to pay.

Rosemary Hannay, curator at Tweeddale Museum, said they were very keen to acquire the uniform for the local collection. She said: "This is a rare opportunity to acquire an item of great local interest and importance and it would be wonderful if the local community could assist in raising the funds needed to secure its future in Tweeddale Museum.

"Scottish Borders Council Museum and Gallery Service will be applying for 50% of the cost from the National Fund for Acquisitions and if we are successful it would be a great boost for the fund."

Who's Who in Scottish Military History - James Paris Lee

I am pretty confident that although you’ll have never heard of the Scot I’m posting about today you’ll certainly know his surname. That’s because this is the man who put the Lee into Lee Enfield.

James Paris Lee was born in Hawick in 1831 but it was in Canada and later the USA that he became famous for his rifles.

His family moved to Galt in Ontario when he was 5 and when he was 12 he built his first rifle.

In 1858 he had moved to Wisconsin just in time to design a rifle for the US Army during the American Civil War. This was a breech loading version of the Army’s standard Springfield rifle but unfortunately for Lee it was rejected for use during the war.

Undaunted he went on to perfect the spring-loaded magazine which is now the standard magazine design for all modern military small arms.

In 1879 he designed a rifle using the bolt and magazine layout which would become the standard which all rifle designs throughout the world would follow for the next seventy years.

In 1889 the British adopted Lee’s design for their .303 rifles and the Lee Metford and later the Lee Enfield were used in several variations up until 1957 as a front line rifle, and up until the 1990’s as the L42 sniper rifle. It was the rifle used by the British Empire and Commonwealth troops in both world wars and Korea.

When James Lee died in January 1904 the Short Magazine Lee Enfield (SMLE) was just entering British Army service. I’m sure he would never have imagined that his rifle would still be going strong 106 years later. You sometimes see it on news items being used by Indian Police, Nepalese Army or Afghan Militia. It's also still used by the Canadian Rangers. In fact the SMLE design is the longest serving military bolt-action rifle still in official service anywhere in the world and the total production of all Lee Enfields is estimated at over 16 million rifles.

Here's a clip from a US Documentary which shows Lee's most famous creation.

On this day in Scottish military history #11: 1960 - The farewell parade of the Seaforth Highlanders

The Seaforth Highlanders (Duke of Albany’s, Ross-shire Buffs) held their final parade fifty years ago today. General Sir James Cassels, the Colonel of the regiment, took the salute in Munster, Germany. On the same day the Queen’s Own Cameron Highlanders paraded at Redford Barracks in Edinburgh for the last time. Both regiments would merge in early 1961 to become the Queen’s Own Highlanders (Seaforth and Camerons). The Queen’s Own would disappear only 33 years later when they merged with the Gordons to become The Highlanders in 1994. Only 12 years later in 2006 they became 4th Battalion, Royal Regiment of Scotland. At every stage the regimental tradition has been that little bit diluted.

On a happier note on the other side of the world the Seaforth name and uniform still survives in Vancouver, Canada. In fact this Saturday sees the Seaforths of Canada celebrate the 100th anniversary of their raising as the 72nd Militia Regiment on the Canadian establishment.

The 72nd Militia was formed in November 1910 from the Scottish community in Vancouver and in 1912 took the uniform and name of the British 1st Bn Seaforth Highlanders which prior to 1881 had been the 72nd Highlanders.

The Seaforths of Canada provided a large contingent to the 16th Canadian Scottish battalion when it was raised in 1914, including the Scots-born Piper Richardson V.C.
Later the 72nd Bn CEF was composed of Canadian Seaforths and a large number of them were Scots born too.

In the Second World War the Seaforths of Canada served in Sicily, Italy and North-West Europe.

Recently they have proudly worn their stag’s head badges in Afghanistan whilst serving with Canadian Forces on ISAF duties.

In two days time the regiment will receive new colours and have invited former members and fellow Vancouverites to help celebrate their birthday with a party.

Whilst the regiment they took their name and uniform from has long gone at least they are still going strong across the Atlantic. I’ll end with an old Mackenzie motto which was used by the original Seaforths:

Cabar fèidh gu bràth – The stag’s horns for ever.

(Text by Adam Brown)

Fife Militia database now online

In October last year I made a post about the Fife Military Project. I'm happy to say that they now have a website up and running. Please take a look - it's well worth checking out:

The Fife Military Project website.

(Thanks to Chris Paton for the heads-up!)

The Fife Military History Project

Among the many interesting people I met at the Fife Family History Fair on Saturday was one gentleman who has undertaken a very ambitious but fascinating project. I got hold of a copy of one of his "flyers", and I'm sure he won't mind me reprinting the text here for anyone who might be interested:

Did your Ancestors guard prisoners of war with the Fife Militia, ride in the Fifeshire Yeomanry or join thousands of others in the Volunteers guarding the Fife coast against the French in the Napoleonic Wars?

Did they join the Volunteer movement in the Victorian era and join the Fife Rifle Volunteers, Fife Artillery Volunteers or Fife Light Horse?

Did they join up in the Great War and serve in the 7th (Fife) Royal Highlanders, Fife Royal Garrison Artillery or Fife and Forfar Yeomanry?

The Fife Military Project is an attempt to gather as much information as possible about Fifeshire's Militia, Volunteer and Territorial past and publish a website that will enable their descendants to learn more about them.

To illustrate the kind of information that I am acquiring from archives here is an extract of one of my ancestor's pension documents transcribed from the National Archives in Kew.

"His Majesty's Second Battalion. Royal Regiment Of Artillery. Whereof the Marquis of Anglesey is Colonel.

These are to certify That Sgt Andrew Gordon born in the Parish of Balmerino in or near the town of Balmerino in the County of Fife was enlisted for the aforesaid regiment at Yarmouth in the County of Norfolk on the Twenty third Day of April 1805 at the age of nineteen for unlimited service from the Fifeshire Militia. That he has served for the space ofTwenty two years and two hundred forty four Days, after the age of Eighteen"

"To prevent any improper use being made of this discharge, by its falling into other hands, the following is a Description of the said Andrew Gordon. He is about forty two Years of Age, is 6 Feet, Inches in height, Black Hair, Blue Eyes, Dark Complexion; and by Trade or Occupation a Shoemaker"

My name is Richard Dickens and I've spent the last 7 years researching into Fife's military heritage and I'm hoping you may be able to help with this project.

Please contact me at fifemilitia@googlemail.com if you have any information, items, pictures or documents on relatives who served in the Fife regiments.

I will be ready to bring the Fife Military Project online in the next year starting with a complete database of every soldier who served in the Fife Militia from 1798-1855.

I wish Richard every success with his project, and I look forward to seeing the results of his research. I'll be contacting Richard myself to see what assistance the Scottish Military Research Group can provide.