Royal Scots of Canada Highlanders - Electric Scotland

76 5th ROYAL SCOTS OF CANADA
edly reLcived the praise and plaudits of our people. A
finer body of troops never paraded our streets, and
their bearing while in our city was well worthy the
great nation they represented."
In forwarding Mayor Randall's letter
of Militia,
Mr. Keating wrote:—
"It has been my privilege
to the Minister
as a military man to view
Briti.sh troops march in and out of stations in all parts
of otir colonies, and also to be with them in camp and
barracks. But never before had it been my privilege to
witness troops in a foreign country, with discipline relaxed,
behave in such an exemplary manner as did the
5th Battalion Royal Scots of Canada. United States
officers freely expressed to me their opinion that the
carriage, drill and conduct of the men was inspiring,
and excelled any Volunteer Militia which they had ever
before inspected. Added to the favorable impression
which the Scots made, their visit has also secured the
desired friendship which I felt would result therefrom,
and which I made a point of when recommending their
visit
to Portland."
The officers and men of the Scots have not forgotten
the generous hospitality extended to them in the city by
the sea. January i6th, 1899 an interesting little ceremony
took place in the Portland City Hall, when a
large picture of the officers of the regiment was presented
to the city. The presentation speech was made by
the British Vice-Consul, Mr. Keating, and re.sponded to
by Mayor Randall. The picture now adorns a wall of
the council chamber.
in
The regiment has had the
several Royal pageants.
honor of being represented
In June 1887, the Briti.sh Empire celebrated the
jubilee of the accession of Queen Victoria to the throne
with great enthusiasm, and in June 1897, Her Majesty's
Diamond .Tubilee was celebrated with even more pronoimced
manifestations of love for the person of the
venerable sovereign and of loyalty to the Crown. Both
celebrations were loyally ob.served in Montreal, and
military reviews, in which the Royal Scots participated,
were important features of both local programmes.
Upon the occa.sion of the Diamond Jubilee in 1897, the
Dominion Government despatched a selected military
force to London under the command of Colonel, the Hon.
M. Aylmer, Adjutant General, to participate in the
Royal pageant in the Empire's capital. The 5th Royal
Scots had the honor of being called upon to contribute
four-non-commissioned officers andl men to the
contingent,
the following being detailed and proceeding to London:
Col.-Sergt. T.
A. Gardiner (now Sergeant Major), No. i
Coy.; Col.-Sgt. J. Munn, No. 6 Coy; Sergeant A. Pope,
No. ^ Coy; Corpl. E. Williams, No. 3 Coy.
A feature of the national celebration of the visit
of the Duke and Duchess of Cornwall and York
to Canada in September, 1901, was a series of big
military reviews held in the capitals of the various
provinces.
All of the Montreal militia corps participated
in a review held on the Plains of Abraham, Quebec,
September 17, 1901. The division which took part in
the review was mobilized at Quebec, on Sunday 15th,
participated in a church parade on Sunday, and lined the
streets upon the occasion of the landing of the Royal
party Monday i6th. The 5th Royal Scots formed part
of the first or scarlet infantry brigade, composed as follows:—
1st Prince of Wales Fusiliers, Lieut. -Colonel J. P.
Cooke, 31 officers 537 men; 5th Royal Scots of Canada,
Lieut. -Colonel G. W. Cameron, 23 officers, 299 men; 53rd
"Sherbtrooke" Regiment and 2 companies of the 84th,
Lieut.-Colonel H. R. Fra.ser, 31 officers, 336 men; 85th
Regiment, Lieut.-Colonel des Troismaisons, 31 officers,
336 men; total 1,580. The Scots upon this occasion were
honored in the person of a former commanding officer,
Lieut.-Colonel E. B. Ibbotson, who was selected to command
the brigade.
The Dominion Government despatched a strong
representative contingent of the active militia to London
to represent Canada in the military display arranged to
take place in connection with the Coronation ceremonies
set for
June 1902, but so tragically postponed on account
of the sudden illness of His Majesty, King Edward VII.
To this contingent the Royal Scots had the honor of
contributing four non-commissioned officers:—Col.-Sgt.
G. Foley, No. 4 Coy; Col.-Sgt. D. A. Bethune, No. 2
Coy; Sergt. A. Sword, No. I Coy; Sergt. J. Yelland,
No. 6 Company.
Every arrangement was completed for holding a big
military review in Montreal on Coronation Day, Jime
26th, 1902, and besides the Montreal corps, the following
were to participate:—The Naval Brigade of Portland,
U. S.; Cobourg Garrison Artillery, Governor General's
Foot Guards, Ottawa; loth Royal Grenadiers, Toronto;
13th Regiment, Hamilton; 84th Regiment, St. Hyacinthe
8th Royal Rifles and 9th Voltigeurs, Quebec; 14th
Princess of Wales' Own Rifles, Kingston; 43rd Duke of
Cornwall's Own Rifles, Ottawa. On account of the
postponement of the coronation, the review was cancelled.
The last trip taken by the 5th Royal Scots was in
1903, when the regiment under the command of I^ieut.-
Colonel Carson, spent May 24th and 25th in the famous
old Limestone Cit}^ of the Lakes as the guests of the city
of Kingston, where the most lavish hospitality was
showered upon them
; the officers being quartered in the
Frontenac Hotel and the men in
the City Hall.
The mayor, Dr. J. H. Bell, the members of the city
council and the citizens generally doing everything in
their power to make the trip a pleasant and successful
one. The regiment made a magnificent appearance on
the occa.sion of this trip, the parade state showing a total
strength of 8 companies and 384 of all ranks.
On Sunday, 24th May, the regiment took part in
open air church, parade, attended by all the Kingston
troops, the preacher being the Rev. G. L. Starr, Chaplain
of the 14th Regiment, and on Monday, 25th May,
an