Royal Scots of Canada Highlanders - Electric Scotland

Service in the Seventies in Aid of the Civil Power
Historical Ceremonial Parades
If there is any particular class of service which is
especially distasteful to a citizen soldiery it is that in aid
of the civil power, and the reason this class of service is
so unpopular it is easy for any one to understand. If it
is distasteful, it is nevertheless, a duty, and the Fifth
Royals have never shirked it. They have had an exceptional
lot of such service too, and the first of it came
very soon after the reorg'anization of the regiment as the
5th Royal Fusileers. As a matter of fact the movement
for the reorganization was to some extent assisted by
the anxiety produced by the outbreak of ill-feeling and
lawlessness, which developed from the regrettable incident
known as the Guibord Affair, (i)
The discussion over the points involved in this dispute
was kept up for some time, ugly words were used
on both sidtes,
and narrow sectarianism reigned supreme
not only in Montreal, but throughout the whole vicinit}^
Orangeism expanded rapidly on one side and new
branches of the Irish Catholic Union, and similar organizations
sprang into existence on tne other. Threats
were made and challenges thrown down. The local
Orangemen, spurred on by the taunts of the opposite
party, and carried away by the enthusiasm engendered
by the recent accession to their numerical strength,
and
by the defeat of the Church party in the Guibord matter,
took steps towards holding a triumphant procession
in Montreal on the succeeding Twelfth of July. This it
was feared would precipitate a serious breach of the
peace, and the Orangemen were asked to desist. For
some time the Orangemen persisted, but calmer counsels
prevailed, and the procession was cancelled, this sensible
decision being followed by charges of cowardice against
the members of the order. The very natural consequence
was that the question of holding a procession the
following Twelfth of July (1877) was soon broached, and
(1) Joseph Guibord was a printer and a member of the Institut Canadien,
which was put under the ban of the Roman Catholic Church (burial in consecrated
ground being forbidden the members) for keeping preset ibed books
in its library. GuitK)rd, who died Nov. 20th, 1S69, owned a lot in the Roman
Catholic Cemetery, and his widow took proceedings in the courts to secure his
interment therein She dying, the case was prosecuted by the Institut Canadien.
Novemljer 28th' 1874, a decree of the Judicial Committee of the Imperial
Privy Council, the highest court in the realm, was issued, ordering the interment
to take place ; and an attempt was made to carry this into effect September
2, 1875, the hearse being stoned and turned back by a mob gathered at
the Roman Catholic Cemetery gates. The interment finally took place, under
protection of the whole Montreal militia brigade, November 16, 1875.
decided upon. As the date approached, the excitement
became intense. As threats to raid the armories of the
city corps had b«en made, the militia authorities instructed
Lieut.-Colonel P^letcher, D.A.G., to place guards
on the armories, which were then temporarily situated
in the ruins of the old drill shed on the site of the psesent
structure on Craig street, and in the old Quebec
Gate Barracks, which were situated on Commissioners
street, on the site at present occupied by the C.P.R.,
east end freight offices,
Berri street.
So evident was it that in the prevailing temper of
the community, a public procession of the Orangemen
would produce disturbance, that a couple of days before
the Twelfth, Mr. John Kerry, President of the St.
George's Society, Mr. Ewan McLennan, President of the
St. Andrew's Society, and Mr. W.- J. McMaster, President
of the Irish Protestant Benevolent Society, waited
on the local officers of the Orange order to dissuade
them from holding their procession. They succeeded
after some trouble, the Orangemen agreeing to abandon
their procession in the interests of public peace, contenting
themselves with going singly to Knox Church to
hear a special sermon delivered in commemoration of the
day.
Although the procession
was abandoned, trouble was
feared owing to public feeling being wrought to such a
high tension, and the
ihree representatives of the national
societies, called upon the mayor and the civic authorities
generally to take steps for the preservation of the
peace.
But nothing of any practical character was done,
and a noisy mob, including many of the worst characters
in the city, gathered on Victoria Sc^uare. Several
citizens were molested, and about half pasi one, a young
Orangeman, named Thomas Lett Racket, who while returning
quietly to his office from the service in Knox
Church had gone to the assistance of another man molested
by some of the mob, was shot dead, and several
revolver bullets fired into his body. Instantly the excitement
throughout ihe city reached fever heat, and very
grave consequences were feared.
Lieut.-Colonel Fletcher, D.A.G., of the 5th Military
District, at once issued orders to the officers commanding
the Troop of Cavalry, Montreal Engineers, Garrison
Artillery, ist Prince of Wales Rifles, 3rd Victoria Rifles,