THE FIERY CROSS.

Press, Volume LI, Issue 15173, 11 January 1915, Page 10

THE FIERY CROSS.

SCOTLAND'S MAGNIFICENT

RESPONSE

When the call to arms was sounded on the outbreak of war the - responso from Scotland was magnificent, and today it is the Scotsman's boast that in ! proportion to its size and population his country has contributed to the armed forces of the -Crown a greater number than any other section of tho United Kingdom. From John o' Groats to the Cock of Scotland, from tho outermost Hebrides on the west to tho North Sea on tho east thero came a 6teady flow of young mcn —Highlanders, Islanders, and Lowlander*-. —into tho various depots. It is in the Highlands and islands that the most striking results of this widespread patriotism aro annarent. Not since the old days of the clan battles, when every clansman considered himself in honour bound to | follow his chief to the field, have the Highland- been so denuded of their malo youth. In the shepherd's shuling and tho fisherman's hut the call has been heard and answered; the cotter lias been drawn from bis bard struggle with an intractable soil, the farm ser- ! vant has left the plough to servo a "gun. and gillies, beaters, and gamekeepers have exctianged the fowlingpiece and the sporting gun for a service rifle. There is not a town or village in the North of Scotland which has not contributed its quota of men, and many a Highland clachan is proud of tho fact that it has sent forward every ablei bodied man. From a small Aberdeenj shire village, within a few days of the first appeal every eligible young man with one oxception had joined the Colours. Within a. week ho joined. Everyone who met him saluted him with the query, "Hallo, John, are 3 - e no awa' yet?" He could not stand the implied reproach in this constant query. The Nary also is being largely recruited from the north coast, and much of the strength of Mr Churchill's Naval Brigade has been drawn from the ranks of the sturdy, fishermen on the Moray Firth. In the "islands the same story is told. In many of tho smaller islands of the Hebrides scarcely a single young man can now be found. All have gone, and only the women a nek i children, assisted by old tmen, are left to carry on the work of the croft or holding as-beat they can. Nor do they complain. Thoy are proud of their men. Lochiel, whose newly-recruited Camerons are largely composed oi" these men, has commended the care of their dependents to tho county au.Tiorit.es, charging them to see that these women and children do not suffer unduly while their menfolk aro fighting. But although the Highlands and islands have done their duty so conspicuously, itmust not be assumed that the Lowlands or the cities havo not done equally well. The ohlv difference is that while the Highlands are practically drained, the cities and the Lowlands still have large reserves to fall back upon. The .spirit that animates all classes in the south of Scotland is indicated by the fact that at least two clergymen—one in Edinburgh and the other in Berwickshire— have "joined as combatants. The Glasgow Corporation Tramway employees, after contributinsz fully 700 of their number to the territorials and reservists, raised an entire Glasgow Train- j ways Battalion. ■