Chapter V: Introduction (2)

Similarly, the 16th Canadian Scottish pipers maintained the fine reputation they had earned on the Ypres salient. When the battalion moved up to the attack on the Regina trench on 8th October, there was keen competition among the pipers as to who should be allowed to play them over. "Four pipers, Richardson, Park, M'Kellar and Paul marched ahead of the battalion with the Commanding Officer for a distance of half a mile under intense machine-gun fire and escaped scatheless. They could be heard clearly as they played 'We'll take the good old way,' and, as they passed, wounded men lying in shell holes raised themselves on their elbows and cheered them. When they got near the German line the battalion encountered uncut wire which, being unusually heavy, took some time to cut. While this was going on Piper Richardson played up and down outside the wire for twenty minutes in the face of almost certain death.... Shortly afterwards a company sergeant major was wounded, and Richardson volunteered to take him out. After he had gone he remembered he had left his pipes behind. He left the sergeant major in safety in a shell hole and returned. He was never heard of again."

This brave man was awarded a posthumous V.C., the second piper to obtain this coveted distinction. Piper Paul was subsequently given the Military Medal.

At the capture of the Vimy Ridge on 9th April, 1917, by the Canadians, the pipers of some of their battalions took a prominent part. On this occasion the 16th Canadian Scottish repeated what they had done in previous engagements, their companies being led by pipers. The pipers concerned were Pipe Major Groat and Pipers M'Gillivray, M'Nab, M'Allister, M'Kellar and Paul, and they advanced a distance of over a mile under heavy fire without any casualties. The Pipe Major was awarded the Military Medal.

Similarly the 25th Canadians had their pipers out in this action, and Piper Walter Telfer, who went on playing after being severely wounded, was given the Military Medal; Piper Brand got the same decoration.

Later on, in the fighting round Arras, a battalion of the Camerons was played to the attack:

"When the order came our men went over with right good will. It was a thrilling moment, especially when the pipes struck up the Camerons' march. I believe it was that music, at that particular moment, which made it possible for us to go through the ordeal that followed."

Once again "The March of the Cameron Men" was the undoing of an enemy which had to stand up against the Camerons; and in one part of the line, when the attack was most furiously resisted, the company piper changed his tune to the old "Piobaireachd Dhomnuil Duibh"--

"Fast they came, fast they come,
See how they gather!
Wide waves the eagle's plume
Blended with heather."

An account of the few minutes before "zero" by a piper of this battalion appeared in the _Scottish Field_ ("Pipes of the Misty Moorland," John M'Gibbon), and affords a good example of the steadying effect of the pipes in a period of great strain on morale:

"I looked down at the company and I could see they were shaken.... I slung my rifle over my back and took up the pipes; that cheered them. I played through two or three tunes and then birled up 'Tullochgorum.' They fairly hooched it and stamped time with their feet. It was close on 'zero' ... when I changed to 'The March of The Cameron Men.' Our guns burst out with drum fire behind us ... and the men jumped the parapet like deer and raced over the broken ground at the double. I kept up 'The Cameron Men.' ... I reached the parapet of the first enemy trench, when I 'stopped one' with my leg, and down I went in a heap."

The pipes were again to the front in the fighting for Hill 70 on the Lens-Loos line in August, 1917. It was surely appropriate enough that, in the advance over the very country in which so many Scottish regiments had fought, with only temporary success, two years before, the pipes should again be at the head of the units which recaptured those blood-soaked positions.

An officer, describing the advance of the 13th Royal Highlanders of Canada, says:

"Our advance was resumed and we swarmed over the top at three different points. Away to the left, which was the objective of our advance, the strains of the pipes could be heard, and across the hills, where so many Scottish lads had fallen two years ago, there burst a loud triumphant cheer as the Canadian Highlanders pressed on to complete their work."

And so it happened that the gallant lads of the 15th Division were avenged.

Opportunities for pipers continued during the later fighting in 1917-18. Records of individual companies and platoons show that on several occasions the pipes encouraged the men to further effort. In one case near Albert, a company of the Black Watch was temporarily cut off from its supports after getting into a German trench and suffered heavily; the men were crushed by superior numbers, and the prospect was black until the piper, who was present as a stretcher bearer, started playing. This had a great effect on the company, which held on to the position until reinforcements arrived.

In the fighting about Albert in August, 1918, several instances occurred of pipers playing their companies to the attack.

On the whole, however, at this stage in the war, it was being found increasingly difficult to renew the depleted ranks of the pipe bands, and most regiments were simply driven to keeping their pipers out of action as far as possible, except on special occasions. But there were still enough left of them to lead their units ever further eastward as the tide of war rolled back.

Incidents frequently occurred showing that their experience of four years' fighting had not damped the ardour of pipers in action.

On one occasion a 16th Canadian piper went into action playing on top of a tank, and was killed. At Amiens, the pipers of the 16th and 48th Highlanders of Canada played the battalions to the attack in August, 1918.

As the German defeat became increasingly apparent and the British forces drove the enemy before them, pipers again got an opportunity of leading their companies to the attack. During the fighting about Albert-Arras in August, 1918, Scottish troops were heavily engaged. Lieut. Edouard Ross, of the French interpreter staff, describes an attack by a battalion of the Black Watch in which a detachment with a piper got into the German trenches; they were all wounded, and their position was dangerous, but the piper started playing, and the sound rapidly brought reinforcements, who captured the position.

GALLIPOLI

In Gallipoli, as on the Western front, pipers added lustre to their reputation; and incidents which occurred to some of them showed that they were stout fighting men even after their pipes were put out of action.

The nature of the terrain generally precluded the more spectacular duty of playing their units to the attack, and the heavy casualties in the force and the constant demand for men resulted in their being frequently employed in the ranks; nevertheless, several cases did occur of company pipers acting as such.

On 12th July, 1916, when the 6th H.L.I. captured three lines of Turkish trenches, Pipers W. Mackenzie and M'Niven played at the head of their companies; M'Niven was killed, and Mackenzie, putting down his pipes, took part in the fighting with a Turkish shovel and did great execution.

On the same day the pipers of the 7th H.L.I. led their battalion into action, and only one of them was wounded. Of these men one, Piper Kenneth MacLennan, was subsequently awarded the Distinguished Conduct Medal "for playing his pipes during the attack and advancing with the line after his pipes had been shattered by shrapnel, and heartening the wounded under fire." Another, Piper Cameron, played his company over three lines of trenches, with a revolver hanging on his wrist, and earned a mention in despatches; and Piper Macfarlane played through two bayonet charges until two of his drones were blown off by shell fragments.

Writing of the fighting on 12th July, a wounded officer writes:

"The sound of the pipes undoubtedly stirred them on, a piper belonging to each of the two battalions, 5th Argylls and 7th H.L.I., having mounted the parapets of their own trenches, and there in full danger played their comrades on to victory."

In the attack on Achi Baba there was no opportunity for pipers as such, though Pipe Major Andrew Buchan played the 4th Royal Scots "over the top," and, as an officer writes: "fearless of all danger went along the line and did much to hearten the men." Buchan was killed.

Of the pipers of the 5th Royal Scots none survived the early days of the fighting on the Peninsula. An officer of the regiment wrote that they "gloriously upheld the traditions established long ago." In the Achi Baba fighting four were killed and four wounded.

Casualties in action and by disease took heavy toll of the pipers of all these battalions, and after a few months on the Peninsula the pipe bands temporarily ceased to exist.

Even before the withdrawal of the force from Gallipoli it was found that so many casualties had occurred among the pipers of the battalions engaged that the bands were well on the way to extinction. Consequently, under the able management of Colonel Maclean of Pennycross a divisional band numbering twelve pipers and six drummers--all that remained--was organised out of the wreck of the pipe bands of the 52nd Division. That band, though never sent into action, individually or collectively played frequently under shell fire; and "Hey Johnnie Cope" could be heard quite distinctly every morning in the firing line up to within a few days of the evacuation.

THE COMRADES WE LEFT IN GALLIPOLI.

Set by Mrs. A. C. MACDIARMID
From the Pipe Tune Composed by
Col. H. A. C. MACLEAN C.M.G. of Pennycoss.]

The divisional band served on the Desert front in Egypt, and then accompanied the Division right into Palestine, playing the leading battalion, the 4th K.O.S.B.'s, over the frontier to "Blue Bonnets over the Border."

Later on, more pipers and more Scottish units appeared; and so we find the 2nd London Scottish being played into Jerusalem, and "Dumbarton's Drums" sounding at the head of the Royal Scots as they took over the guard on the Holy Sepulchre--as is the right of "Pontius Pilate's Bodyguard."

SALONIKA

Opportunities for the employment of pipers as such were comparatively rare in the course of the Salonika operations, for obvious reasons. At Karadzakot Zir, however, the 1st Royal Scots pipers played their companies to the attack on the village, and the C.O. reported that, in his opinion,

"It was largely due to the presence of the pipers with the leading wave that the enemy evacuated their trenches and retired in disorder."

MESOPOTAMIA

Playing the pipes in the Golden East is a far greater effort than it is at home, and every piper who has soldiered there knows how the heat and the dryness of the atmosphere affect his bag and reeds. But the cult of _piob mhor_ thrives east of Suez, and at least as much enthusiasm is shown by regiments stationed in India as in a home station.

And when Scottish troops were called upon to take their part in the Mesopotamia operations, we find the pipes as prominent a feature in the fighting as they were on the Western front. At Sheikh Saad on 7th January, 1916, the 1st Seaforths--the "Reismeid Caber Feidh"--were played to the attack across absolutely open ground by their Pipe Major Neil M'Kechnie and other pipers. An officer who was present describes the incident as follows:

"As we advanced over the dead flat open desert the Turks suddenly opened a very heavy fire from well concealed trenches at a range of from 600 to 800 yards. The battalion immediately advanced by rushes towards the enemy's position in spite of very heavy initial losses. Foremost among the men was our acting Pipe Major, M'Kechnie, who immediately struck up the regimental charge or 'onset,' 'Cabar Feidh.'

"His fine example as well as his music had a remarkable effect on the men at such a critical moment. He was shortly afterwards wounded, and had to drop behind as the lines went on."

In the same action the 2nd Black Watch were played in by their pipers just as they had been on many previous occasions in France. In the act of playing Corpl. Piper MacNee was mortally wounded. This brave man had been wounded before at Mauquissart and awarded the Distinguished Conduct Medal. The Pipe Major, John Keith, was awarded the D.C.M. for "gallant and distinguished service throughout the operations."

THE LAST STAGE

For four years and a half the pipes of war played their part in the greatest war in history; in the front, under conditions in which they could never have been expected to exist at all, they have led men to victory, have rallied them when victory eluded their grasp, and have marched them back undismayed by the tortures of battle; behind the lines they have headed the long columns of Scottish troops on their way up to the furnace in which the fate of nations was cast.

But, everywhere, they expressed the ideal of the race and led men to follow causes, even causes which appeared lost ones, through to the end.

When silence fell on the 11th November, 1918, along the blasted line where rival civilisations had so long struggled for mastery, the _rôle_ of the pipes changed, and it was no longer the "onset" that the piper was impelled to play. The consummation of long effort had been attained--and what instrument more entitled to bear witness to the fact than the one which had sounded over the blood-stained slag-heaps of Loos, the shell-swept heights of Vimy?

As the British First Army entered Valenciennes, the pipers of a historic Scottish division played through the "place" opposite the Hotel de Ville, and must have awakened in the old gabled houses memories of the centuries old alliance between the Lilies of France and the Thistle.

Further east, along the roads that led to Cologne, the pipes played unceasingly, as befitted the occasion, impressing on the population that this was indeed the coming of "Scotland the Brave."

And so, over the great Rhine bridge, the pipes of the 9th and Canadian Divisions led the way, and Germany learnt at last that when _piob mhor_ sounds "Gabhaidh sin an rathad mor"[5] it generally attains its objective.

PIPERS IN THE RANKS

The piper is, first and last, a fighting man; and when a regiment is mobilised it at once loses most of its pipers. Whatever the strength of the band may have been in peace time, only the "sergeant piper"--a hideous official term for the pipe major--and five "full" pipers are normally retained as such. The remainder, while acting as pipers when opportunity offers--and designated accordingly--serve in the ranks.

During this war, and notably during the early years of it, it was often found necessary to make use of full and acting pipers in some purely military capacity, _i.e._ either in the ranks, or as Lewis gunners, bombers, orderlies, runners or stretcher bearers. This fact accounts for many of the honours awarded to pipers, and, at the same time, for the heavy casualties among them.

It is quite impossible to do justice to individuals or units in regard to the part they played in performing such duties; for those who obtained official recognition, in some form or other, hundreds have merely had the satisfaction of playing the game, in accordance with the rules laid down by all ranks of the British army. The few examples given in this place are typical of the whole.

At Festubert in June, 1915, the pipers of the 6th Seaforths worked continuously day and night, and brought 170 casualties from the front line to the dressing station; at Loos the 9th Black Watch lost nearly all their pipers when similarly engaged, and at the two actions of Loos and Neuve Chapelle the 6th Gordons had two killed and ten wounded.

Again, the 2nd Royal Scots pipers lost heavily on the Somme, and were on one occasion highly commended for bringing water up to some newly captured trenches under heavy fire.

The comments of General Sir William Birdwood in a despatch to the Australian Government, though intended to apply to Australian stretcher bearers, are very applicable to pipers acting in this capacity, whether individually or collectively:

"Where all have done so well it is very hard to differentiate, but as a class the stretcher bearers have been beyond praise. Never for a second have they flinched from going forward time after time, absolutely regardless of the fire brought against them; and I so deeply regret that they should have suffered in consequence."

Another and most hazardous class of duty, which was largely performed by pipers in some battalions, was that of "runners" or despatch carriers; this often involved crossing heavily shelled country, and has resulted in many casualties. Notable cases have occurred of men carrying despatches through intense barrages, and some have received rewards; the majority of such cases, however, have necessarily been unnoticed.

Some men appear to have specialised in this duty, _e.g._ Pipe Major Matheson, 1st Seaforths, who got the D.C.M. "for gallant conduct on many occasions in conveying messages under heavy fire," and Lance-Corpl. Piper Dyce, 13th Royal Highlanders of Canada, who on one occasion carried a most urgent despatch through artillery barrage when badly wounded.

In other cases pipers, individually and collectively, have done admirable service in bringing up ammunition.

Many instances of acts of heroism by individual men are detailed below.

PIPERS ON THE MARCH

Playing the pipes in action, though essentially the most important, is, for obvious reasons, only one of the duties of the soldier piper. Every unit of an army is not always in close touch with the enemy, and every battalion puts in a good many miles of marching in a year in conditions which are rarely ideal and very often acutely miserable. It is here that the pipes have rendered such conspicuous service as the marching instrument _par excellence_; and the cult of the bagpipe has spread to units and nationalities which, before the war, would never have thought it possible that the company piper would become one of their most cherished institutions.

That Irish regiments should again adopt the national instrument that had played their ancestors on to the battlefields of France in 1286 is so natural as to need no comment; but when we find English and Australian units, battalions of the United States army, and ships of His Majesty's Navy, to say nothing of field ambulances and transport units, adopting the bagpipe, no further evidence is required to substantiate its claim to be a highly important feature of modern military organisation.

It is indeed to a recognition, in the very early days of the war, of the great value of the pipes in "exciting alacrity and cheerfulness in the soldier" that is due the fact that so many units have deliberately tried to keep their pipers out of harm's way, and have only allowed them, under protest, to accompany their companies into action, and then only in limited numbers. Commanding officers have appreciated that, as a stimulus to tired men, to men marching weary miles to take up a position, to men returning worn out from a spell of duty, the music of the pipes has proved invaluable.

Instances of this stimulating effect are too numerous to mention, but a few, taken from contemporary accounts of the war, may be regarded as typical.

The following incident in the retirement from Mons has frequently occurred elsewhere. "I shall never forget how one General saw a batch of Gordons and K.O.S.B. stragglers trudging listlessly along the road. He halted them. Some more came up, until there was about a company in all, with one piper. He made them form fours, put the piper at the head of them, 'Now lads, follow the piper and remember Scotland,' and they all started off as pleased as Punch, with the tired piper playing like a hero."[6]

The Rev. Dr. Maclean, C.M.G., describes a case of the effect of the pipes on tired men:

"It was a sweltering hot day, and the road was deep with dust. The long snaky khaki column came marching steadily down the hill, silent under the weight of their accoutrements with the grinding heat of an April sun.... As the Scots came by he gave the sign to the piper. He stepped forward and struck up one of the great battle marches of our race. The scene that followed baffled description. A roar of cheering burst from the ranks."

Another instance,[7] by one who was himself in the ranks, may be regarded as typical. The regiment concerned was the Glasgow Highlanders, but the description is applicable to every Scottish regiment in the Army List:

"Kilometre after kilometre we marched, through the hottest hours of the middle day, and our feet and backs ached under the weight of all we carried, our faces were dabbled and streaked with dust and perspiration, and in our mouths was only dust to chew....

"Walking had become a purely mechanical exercise, our limbs controlled, as it seemed, by some power outwith us; our brains were numb and dazed with fatigue and the maddening persisting pain that was our every step. Blindly, dumbly, helplessly we staggered on ... in infinite weariness we dragged ourselves to the beginning of the street, and then--

"Then the pipes suddenly set the heavens and the earth dancing to the strains of 'Highland Laddie,' the regimental march of the Glasgows. And at the skirl of the pipes, and before the eyes of those critical spectators, every man braced himself, his step assumed as much of jauntiness as he could put into it, and he had a laugh and a jesting answer ready on his lips for every outsider who spoke to him.... It was something more potent than wine that put the boldness into their step, it was the sense of the tradition and honour of their regiment: the feeling that on no account must they present other than a brave front to the world, that the one unpardonable offence would be to let the battalion down."

Examples could be multiplied indefinitely, but the best tribute to the value of the pipes as a marching instrument and in keeping the men cheery is, after all, the fact that regiment after regiment felt constrained to keep them out of action entirely--whether as pipers pure and simple or in other military capacities.

Statements to this effect have been received from nearly all the regiments whose views have been asked, commanding officers being almost unanimous in their opinion that, only where it is imperatively necessary, should a pipe band be exposed to the chances of annihilation inseparable from modern shell fire.

And in just the same manner as the pipes have helped battalions along the "via dolorosa" into action so they have, time and again, played them back to rest and comparative security. In some cases they had shared in the action itself, in others they waited until their services were required. Many commanding officers and observers have referred to this as one of the most important of their duties. In describing the return of a battalion, or what remained of it, from Longueval, Philip Gibbs writes:

"There was a thick summer haze about, and on the ridges the black vapours of shell bursts.... It was out of this that the Highlanders came marching. They brought the music with them and the pipes of war playing a Scottish love song, 'I lo'e na a laddie but ane.' Their kilts were caked with mud, they were very tired, but they held their heads up, and the pipers who had been with them played bravely ... and the Scottish love song rang out across the fields."

An officer of an Argyll battalion, writing of the days of trench fighting, says: "They have done much to hearten us on long marches. They came out of Bethune after Loos and played what was left of us back to billets." Another, in the Royal Scots, referring to the return of the battalion from Kemmel, says: "I shall never forget the effect on the men; as they struck up they fairly shouted themselves hoarse with delight."

"Wonderful pipes! The men get tired and would fall out, but the pipes make a unity of them. Invisible tendons and muscles seem to connect the legs of all files, and all move as one, mechanically, rhythmically, certainly. The strong are reduced to the step, the weak are braced up to it. All bear the strain and share the strain. So we go on, and the miracle is in the power of the music."[8]

A final quotation--one of a very great number received--reflects the opinion of all ranks:

"I have often seen a company just out of the trenches straggling along the road too weary to think of keeping in formation, let alone in step. On the first sound of the pipes these same men would double up to their place and march along with the best of them."

The ubiquity of the pipes on the Western front has been remarked by all observers. "The music of the pipes is now as much a part of the great orchestra of this war as the incessant rumbling of distant guns, as the swirl of traffic along the transport lines, as the singing of birds above No Man's Land.... And where there are pipes there are Scotsmen--Scots everywhere from the sea to St. Quentin, in old French market towns, and in Flemish villages ... and in camps behind the fighting line not beyond the reach of long range shells, and up in the trenches where death is very near to them.... As long as history lasts the spirit of France will salute the memory of these kilted boys and of all the Lowland Scots who have gone into the furnace fires of this war to the music of the pipes, and have fallen in heaps upon her fields. A thousand years hence, when the wind blows softly across the ground where they fought, old Scottish tunes will sound faintly in the ears of men who remember the past, and all this country will be haunted with the ghosts of Scotland's gallant sons."[9]

Nor has it been on the Western front alone that the value of the pipes has made itself appreciated. In every other theatre of war as well has "the tune with the tartan of the clan in it" been heard at the head of columns toiling through the dust and heat, or through pitiless rain. In Egypt and Gallipoli and the Holy Land, in Mesopotamia and the Balkans, the pipes have been the prelude to great happenings. "Bundle and Go" in the early dawn of an Eastern day, "Soldier lie down" at night--these have been the preliminaries which led up naturally to "Cabar Feidh" in a hail of machine gun fire, or "Horo mo nighean donn bhoidheach" in the streets of captured Bagdad.

"Many a soldier sadly misses his pipe, which of course may not be lit on a night march; but to me a greater loss is the silence of those other pipes, for the sound of the bagpipes will stir up a thousand memories in a Highland regiment, and nothing helps a column of weary foot soldiers so well as pipe music, backed by the beat of a drum."[10]

When the British army advanced into German territory the pipers had an opportunity to play with an abandon that had never been felt before.

"Next day, with the skies still streaming, we made the longest continuous march, some 36 kilometres, and by that effort got well into Germany. The roads improved as we got farther on, but the tramp through the forest of Zitter was long, marshy, and melancholy. Our company was first after the pipers, and had the full benefit of the music all the way. And we wandered inward; inward, with our seeking and haunting Gaelic melodies, into the depths of the hanging, silent wood. It was strange how aloof nature seemed to these melodies. In Scotland, or even in France, all the hills and the woods would have helped the music. But in this German land all were cold toward us, and those endless pine trees seemed to be holding hands with fingers spread before the eyes to show their shame and humiliation. There was a curious sense that the road on which we trod was not our road, and that earth and her fruits on either hand were hostile.

"And how tired the men became, with half of them through the soles of their boots and with racking damp in their shoulders and backs from their rain-sodden packs. But we listened still whilst voluminous waves of melody wandered homeless over German wastes and returned to us,

I heard the pibroch sounding, sounding,
O'er the wide meadows and lands from afar.

or to the stirring strains of the 'March of the Battle of Harlaw,' or to the crooning, hoping, sobbing of 'Lord Lovat's Lament,' and so went on from hour to hour through the emptiness of Southern Germany. When we thought we had just about reached our camping ground for the night, we came to a guide post which showed it still to be seven kilometres on. But that was at the top of a long hill, and the road ran gently down through woods the whole way. The colonel sent a message to play 'Men of Portree.' The rain had stopped, and an evening sky unveiled a more cheerful light. So, with an easy inconsequent air, we cast off care and tripped away down to the substantial and prosperous bit of Rhineland called Hellenthal, well on our way to Cologne."[11]

The interminable marches are over and their goal has been attained; and the instrument which has a tune for every human emotion can now play "The Desperate Battle" in German towns with a safety which has been long unknown. To many a man, however, as he fingers his chanter, the feeling will come, as he thinks of the good men and true who never reached the 11th November, 1918, that the tune that is most appropriate is "Lochaber no more."

PIPE TUNES

Pipe tunes--as every piper knows--have local associations, associations with particular incidents, particular emotions; and in military piping this is never overlooked. In war everything has changed--everything but the elemental courage and passions of the men who are engaged in it; and, as _piob mhor_ is essentially the instrument on which those elemental passions can be best expressed, it is not uninteresting to observe how individual pipers have resorted to particular tunes, to suit particular occasions. In many, perhaps in most, cases there were traditional or regimental reasons for playing one tune rather than another, and such tunes were often in the highest degree appropriate; but in other cases the individuality of the performer determined the choice.

Of a selection based on tradition the best authenticated instance is that of the Gordon piper who played Cogadh na Sith, "War or peace," during the Somme fighting. The tune itself, a piobaireachd composed by the great M'Crimmon some 400 years ago, was played by the Gordons at Waterloo and by a Cameron piper, Kenneth M'Kay, at Quatre Bras.

"[12]About the middle of June a draft of about a hundred and twenty men arrived in camp for the Gordons--the finest draft the commanding officer declared he had ever seen. On the 18th, they were ordered to the front. I found they had a piper with them, and immediately laid hold on him to play the men down to the station. I brought him up to my tent and provided him with a set of pipes which I had reserved for my own particular work.... I found something more interesting than that. His great-grandfather had been a piper in the regiment in the days of the Napoleonic war, and at the Battle of Waterloo he stood within the square and played the ancient Highland challenge-march 'Cogadh na Sith,' as the French cuirassiers hurled themselves upon the immovable ranks in vain.

"'John,' I said, 'this is the anniversary of Waterloo, and you will lead the men out to that very tune which your great-grandfather played on that great day.' I told the colonel, and his eyes gleamed as he said to me, 'Ah! padre, we'll do better than that. You will tell the men about it, and I will call them to attention, and your piper will play his tune in memory of the men of Waterloo.'

"And so it was done, and a thrilling incident it was as the men stood rigid and silent in full marching order, and the piper strode proudly along the ranks, sounding the wild, defiant challenge that stirred the regiment a hundred years before."

Regimental tunes appeal enormously to the men who hear and know them; it was probably as much the sound of "Blue Bonnets over the Border" as the sight of Piper Laidlaw piping along the parapet that made the men, shaken with shell fire and gas, go straight forward; and red hackles have followed "Highland Laddie" in circumstances when another tune might have failed to exert the same extraordinary influence. But, having played his regulation onset, the piper has an opportunity of suiting his own taste and selecting a tune appropriate musically and emotionally, as well as in name, to the occasion.

On many occasions when the choice of a tune has not been restricted by regimental custom or tradition, individual performers have made selections which indicated the remarkable mentality of the British soldier.

At Loos, where Pipers Simpson and M'Donald of the 2nd Black Watch played their company over the top and through the attack, the tune they commenced with was "Happy we've been a' thegither,"--only later changing into the ceremonial onset "Highland Laddie." To men in a trench who have suffered untold nerve strain waiting for Zero and who happen--as do most men in Highland regiments--to know one tune from another, no more appropriate combination of "onsets" could have been selected.

At Beaumont Hamel, when the 17th H.L.I. took the German trenches and had an opportunity of bombing out the occupants, Pipe Major Gilbert played another popular and very suitable tune, "The muckin' o' Geordie's Byre," and greatly encouraged the men in their task. This same tune has done duty on many similar occasions.

It was to "We'll tak the guid auld way" that the 16th Canadians attacked at Vimy, and many Cameron pipers have played the "Piobaireachd Dhomhnuill Duibh" in similar circumstances.

Another very favourite tune was "The Macgregor's Gathering" which was played with great effect in the capture of many villages during the Somme fighting.

A curious coincidence was the selection by the pipers of the 1st H.L.I. of "I'll gang nae mair tae yon toun" as they marched out of Marseilles on 1st November, 1914, on their way to the front. During the first six months they lost seven pipers killed, eight wounded and two taken prisoner, and the band ceased to exist.

"Baile Inneraora,"--otherwise "The Campbells are Coming"--was the tune to which the first Highland regiment of the Expeditionary Force, the 2nd Argylls, landed in France; from that time onward it has immortalised on every front, if that were necessary, the town of which Burns wrote:

"There's naething here but Highland pride
And Highland scab and hunger.
If Providence has sent me here,
'Twas surely in his anger."

The Argylls long ago took Burns' song and treated it with the contempt it deserves when they adopted "Baile Inneraora" as their "onset." It was played at the taking of Longueval, in the attack at Loos, and at the subsequent rally after that glorious disaster, and in many other actions.

During the fighting on the Somme for the heaps of ruins which had once been a French village, an incident occurred which takes us back to the legend connected with the pibroch "A Cholla, mo run." Long ages ago, when the Campbells heard they were going to be attacked by Coll Kiteach at Dunivaig, they set an ambush and captured the advance guard. All were hanged except the piper, who was given permission to play a lament over his comrades. The piper at once started the warning, which was heard and understood by his comrades,

"Coll of my love avoid the strait, avoid the strait, avoid the strait,
Coll of my love, go by the Mull, gain the landing place."

The poor piper was instantly stabbed by the infuriated Campbells.

It is a far cry from those days, when men could converse to each other in pibroch, to 1916; but another tune--not "A Cholla, mo run"--was played by another piper in a French village when his party was cut off. Two officers, a sergeant, and a piper of an Argyll battalion, got separated from the main body, and found themselves unable to get away when the village was again attacked by our men. The small party at once started bombing the enemy from the rear, but the piper, appreciating the unpleasant possibility of their own presence not being recognised, struck up the regimental onset. This alarmed the Germans, who thought they were being attacked from a fresh quarter, and materially contributed to the success of the operation.

INDIVIDUAL ACHIEVEMENTS.

"Agus bha iad am measg uam fear treuna 'n an luchd-cuideachaidh
's a' chogadh."

To attempt to compile a complete record of the achievements of individual pipers or of the pipe bands of units is an impossible task; it would involve a review of the whole course of the war. A long time must elapse before the histories of battalions are completed, and even then we shall probably never know fully the extent to which their pipers have contributed to the attainment of success.

Throughout the war correspondence has been carried on with individuals who, in spite of their appalling environment, have found time to supply information. They at least have the satisfaction of knowing that to them is largely due the fact that brave acts have been saved from oblivion.

Such a review as follows is but a fragmentary one, based on information obtained from officers, N.C.O.'s and men of the battalions concerned--but almost never from individual pipers. Among these men there appears to have been a conspiracy of silence, and attempts to obtain fuller information as to the reason for the granting of awards or the names of pipers whose identity disappeared under the blue pencil of the Censor have proved in very many instances unavailing.

The omission from these pages of mention of achievements of pipers of many battalions must be regarded as indicating lack of space to record them, or of failure to obtain the desired information.

The original Expeditionary Force landed in France with seven Scottish battalions possessing pipe bands; when the armistice was signed the number of such units exceeded a hundred. Although on mobilisation the number of "full" pipers in a battalion is only six it must be remembered that there are always "acting pipers" serving in the companies who are available--until that source of supply is exhausted--to take the place of casualties; and it is safe to reckon that the 100 battalions have had more than 2500 pipers at various times.

The numbers that served in various units during the campaign varied enormously; in some, which freely utilised their pipers in the front line--in the ranks, as bearers, and as pipers in action--as many as seventy or eighty have been borne on the strength at different times; in others, which kept these men invariably behind the front line, the casualties were negligible and comparatively few were used up.

This difference in method of employment largely explains the variations in the casualty lists and honours of different units; and, in some cases, it has been found impossible to obtain anything like complete information.

8543 Piper JAMES MACKENZIE, 1st Scots Guards.

During the desperate fighting about Ypres in October, 1914, Piper
Mackenzie greatly distinguished himself bringing up ammunition to
the firing line. He was killed while doing so. Awarded a mention
in despatches.

8081 Piper CHARLES SCOTT MAGUIRE, 2nd Scots Guards.

On the 27th October, 1914, near Ypres, an advanced trench was
blown to pieces by shell fire, most of its occupants being killed
or wounded. Hearing calls for help, Piper Maguire went forward
from the support trench to report. He crawled 15 yards on hands
and knees to the wrecked trench and found several men had been
buried by the explosion. Although without any protection from
enemy fire he dug out a man and found he was dead; he continued
his task and got out another, placing him for safety under cover
of the dead body. He then crawled back to his trench. The N.C.O.
in charge had been killed meantime, and no official report of his
conduct was possible. Maguire himself was wounded shortly after,
his back being broken; he died of paralysis some seven months
later.

11002 Piper J. MCMILLAN, 1st Royal Scots.

Was awarded the D.C.M. for conspicuous gallantry as a battalion
scout.

10123 Corpl. E. COLLINS, }
10754 Piper J. CLANCY, }
10639 " J. SMART, } 1st Royal Scots.
10032 " P. MALLIN, }

During the operations on the Salonika front the battalion had
to capture Karadzakot Zir. The men had to advance over open
country to the attack. These pipers played over three successive
charges to the enemy's position, and the commanding officer
considered their gallantry on this occasion was to a large extent
instrumental in bringing about the success of the attack. In
spite of their exposed position they all got through without
being touched.

11065 Piper H. M'LEOD, 2nd Royal Scots.

Was repeatedly mentioned in despatches for gallantry in attending
wounded under fire, and was recommended for the D.C.M.

1235 Piper W. SINCLAIR, 5th Royal Scots.

Shortly after the original landing on the Gallipoli Peninsula,
a critical retirement took place. Piper Sinclair, on his own
initiative, gathered together a handful of stragglers, and,
taking up a favourable position, covered successfully the
withdrawal of the battalion. He was killed.

Pipe Major JOHN BUCHAN, 4th Royal Scots.

Just before the attack on Achi Baba on 28th June, 1915, Pipe
Major Buchan played along the line as the battalion went over; he
was killed.

7271 Pipe Major J. M'DOUGALL, 8th Royal Scots.

Was awarded the Distinguished Conduct Medal "for gallant conduct
under very trying circumstances" as a stretcher bearer at
Festubert in May, 1915.

Corpl. ALEXANDER FORSYTH, 9th Royal Scots.

At Arras in April, 1917, this man, who was a highly skilled
bomber, volunteered to bomb the Germans out of a position in
which they were covered by machine guns. He crawled up and
succeeded in his object, but was killed. He was given the
Distinguished Conduct Medal.

13283 Pipe Major A. COLGAN, 12th Royal Scots.

In the Loos attack the pipe major played the battalion over the
top and was wounded. Subsequently, in the great German offensive
in 1918, when pipers had to serve in the ranks, he got the
Military Medal "for good leadership and courage."

Pipe Major JOHN MOUAT, 13th Royal Scots.

During the final advance in 1918 the pipers were employed as
bearers, and suffered heavy casualties. Pipe Major Mouat received
a mention in despatches.

Pipe Major MURDOCH MACDONALD, 13th Royal Scots.

A heavy shell burst among a company and buried a number of men.
Pipe Major Macdonald went out alone, under very heavy shell fire
and brought in six wounded men unaided.

Pipe Major DAVID ANDERSON, 15th Royal Scots.

In the opening attack on the Somme front on 1st July, 1916,
the battalion was played forward by the pipe major, to the old
regimental tune "Dumbarton's drums." He was hit shortly after
going over the top, but continued playing; he was again wounded
after crossing the third line of trenches and fell to the ground.
He tried to go on playing while sitting on the ground, but his
pipes were shattered by a shell bursting near him. He managed to
get up and was at once attacked by a German, but succeeded in
knocking him out with his fists, and then continued fighting with
a rifle until overcome by his wounds.

Pipe Major Anderson was given the one Croix de Guerre allotted
to his Division for the most conspicuous act of bravery. The
pipes he was playing on this occasion were of historical interest
as they had been taken to the Antarctic by a member of Scott's
expedition, and had been played also in the Arctic expedition of
1907.

Another interesting feature of Anderson's achievement was that
several Germans surrendered to him as he played on the parapet of
one of their trenches.

Pipe Major DAVID CAMPBELL, 1st Royal Scots Fusiliers.

Although he had been wounded in the arm on the previous day Pipe
Major Campbell played his battalion to the attack on the German
position at Hooge on June 16, 1915. He played on right up to
the German wire entanglements when, throwing his pipes aside, he
caught up the bayonet of a comrade who had just been shot by a
German officer and at once attacked the latter. He captured the
officer.

9884 Piper HIGGINSON, 1st K.O.S.B.

The initial engagement of the battalion was the landing on
Gallipoli. During the first few days the pipers were fighting
in the ranks, and the gallant exploit of Piper Higginson is
eloquent indication of the fact that they played the part of the
fighting man right well. All the officers and N.C.O.'s of his
Company having been killed or wounded during the heavy fighting
of 26th April, 1915, Piper Higginson rallied the remainder, and
organised and led a bayonet charge with such dash and bravery
that the Turks were swept back from a line they had captured
earlier in the day. Just as success was attained Piper Higginson
was mortally wounded, and died some hours later. Had he survived
he was to have been recommended for the D.C.M.

1315 Piper MAITLAND, }
8248 Pipe Major W. MACKENZIE, } 1st K.O.S.B.

During most of their stay on the Gallipoli peninsula the pipers
had to bring up ammunition, rations, stores, etc., a job which
was at all times most trying and often extremely hazardous. For
conspicuous bravery in charge of these carrying parties the Pipe
Major and Piper Maitland were awarded the Military Medal.

556 Piper A. ERSKINE, 5th K.O.S.B.

Was mentioned in despatches for gallantry as a stretcher bearer
in Gallipoli.

14851 Pipe Major ROBERT MACKENZIE, 6th K.O.S.B.

At the battle of Loos 25th September, 1915, when the battalion
went forward to the attack in which it was decimated, the first
over the top was the Pipe Major, who started playing at once.
He was wounded and fell after a comparatively short distance,
but managed to crawl back. His leg had to be amputated, and he
died of shock shortly afterwards. Mackenzie was a man of nearly
sixty years of age, and had forty-two years' Army service. He was
awarded a mention in despatches. Before the action he had been
detailed, on account of his age, to be postman, but insisted on
going into action.

15851 Piper DANIEL LAIDLAW, V.C., 7th K.O.S.B.

Just before the attack on Hill 70 and Loos on 25th September,
1915, the battalion, which was under heavy shell fire, was
exposed to a cloud of poison gas. Many of the men succumbed to
this gas, and the remainder were shaken by what they were going
through. The commanding officer, seeing Laidlaw standing waiting
with his pipes for the order to advance, called to him, "Pipe
them together, Laidlaw, for God's sake, pipe them together," and
he immediately climbed out on to the parapet, and marched up
and down, regardless of danger, playing "Blue Bonnets over the
Border." The effect on the men was magical; at the same moment
the order came to advance, and the officer shouted "Come on, the
Borderers, who'll be the first to reach the German trenches?"
The survivors of the company swarmed up and over to the assault
following the piper. The men were falling all round him, but
Laidlaw continued to advance until he got near the German line,
when he was wounded and the officer, who was alongside of him,
was killed. As he lay on the ground he tried to go on playing,
and then managed to get up and hobble after the battalion.

He was awarded the Victoria Cross "for most conspicuous
gallantry," and the French Croix de Guerre.

The sobriquet "Piper of Loos" was commonly applied to Piper
Laidlaw; though, in fairness to two other men, it must be
admitted that he only shared that distinction with them.

Pipe Major DOUGLAS TAYLOR, 7th K.O.S.B.

During the attack on Loos when Piper Laidlaw got the V.C., the
other pipers were chiefly employed in bringing in the casualties.
There were large numbers of men lying about who had been
gassed. Pipe Major Taylor, though himself wounded in the hand,
continued bringing in these men for thirty-six hours, until he
was himself shot down with a bullet in the heart. He recovered
ultimately--one of the surgical miracles of the war.

Pipe Major W. ROBERTSON, 2nd Scottish Rifles.

Was awarded the Military Medal for gallantry in the field.

Pipe Major NEIL MACLEOD, 8th Scottish Rifles.

Greatly distinguished himself in the Dardanelles fighting in
attending on the wounded. He was killed in the attack on 12th
July, 1915.

40631 Corpl. WHITELAW, }
17806 Piper M'GURK, } 9th Scottish Rifles.

In a daylight raid at Arras in February, 1917, these two men
played their companies over, standing on the parapet, and then
followed them up to the German position.

Pipe Major J. M'COLL, 10th Scottish Rifles.

Was awarded the Military Medal for gallantry during the Somme
fighting.

14631 Piper ALEXANDER STEVENSON, 11th Scottish Rifles.

On 20th April, 1917, Piper Stevenson observed a comrade, who
had been out on a night patrol, lying wounded in No Man's Land,
and calling for help. He at once went over the parapet in broad
daylight and brought him in, although the Germans brought a
machine gun to bear on him as soon as he exposed himself. While
assisting the medical officer to dress the wounded man he was
killed. His name was mentioned in despatches for gallantry. He
had previously done excellent work carrying messages in action.

Piper ANDREW WISHART, }
9430 Piper W. STUART, } 1st Black Watch.

After the failure of the first attack on Richebourg, 9th May,
1915--the attacking battalions simply melting away under a sheet
of lead--a second attack on the position was ordered for midday;
the leading battalions on this occasion being the 1st Black Watch
and 1st Camerons. The men went over the top with a tremendous
dash, and each company was led by its pipers. Two at least
actually reached the German trenches and continued playing--9430
W. Stuart, and Andrew Wishart of the Black Watch. They were
under very heavy fire, and both got wounded. Wishart fell into
a shell hole and lay there for four days before he succeeded
in crawling back to our trenches. When he fell there were loud
shouts "The piper's down," and the men made frantic efforts to
get into the enemy's trenches; but the machine gun fire was too
heavy, and they had to withdraw. Piper Stuart was awarded the
D.C.M.

Piper GEORGE GALLOWAY, 7th Black Watch.

On one occasion Piper Galloway rescued five men who had been
buried by a shell explosion. Subsequently, when employed as a
runner, he was called on to deliver an important message under
very heavy fire. This he accomplished in almost impossible
conditions, and was given the Military Medal.

L/Corpl. G. SWAN, 7th Black Watch.

Served in the ranks during the Somme fighting. He was killed in
action, and was awarded the Military Medal.

1919 Piper ALEXANDER PRATT, 2nd Black Watch.

Pipers throughout the war have been employed in a great variety
of ways besides piping. Piper Pratt was reported in Mesopotamian
Force Despatches as "one of the bravest and most intelligent bomb
sergeants in the regiment; on three occasions he has proved his
high capacity for leadership in the attack. He has been twice
wounded. His power of training grenadiers and his influence over
his men are quite exceptional." He was promoted in the field to
Sergeant and awarded a D.C.M.

941 Piper PETER MACNEE, 2nd Black Watch.

Also distinguished himself greatly as a bomber. He won the D.C.M.
at Neuve Chapelle. In France he was twice wounded, but went to
Mesopotamia with the battalion. In the fighting at Sheikh Saad in
January, 1916, he was mortally wounded.

1839 Piper ALEXANDER MACDONALD, }
736 Piper DAVID SIMPSON, }
365 Piper R. JOHNSTONE, } 2nd Black Watch.
699 Piper DAVID ARMIT, }
187 Piper J. GALLOWAY, }