“Fighting Mac"

Southland Times, Issue 10996, 27 July 1907, Page 1 (Supplement)

“Fighting Mac"

THE HIGHLAND ML MODI AL. LODD IT LL IB A DIM NL B TUHU'TL On May 2.1 the lower erected bv national subscription on the Greenhill. Dingwall. Scotland, in memory of Sir Hector -Macdonald, was opened ny the .Marquis of Tuilibardiiie. who was closely associated with the late general in the BoUdatl and South .Urica. Pile Highland Hallway Company ran a, special Grampian: corridor express at a nominal fare from the Scottish cities, all the seals hilag numbered ami reserved for ticket holders. The town was crowded wit it. people, several trains bringing visitors from all over the north. General Macdonald's sou took part in the proceedings. ITovost Drew presided, ami Mr D. H. Macdonald, on hi'na.f of the executive committee. L mini the memorial o'er to the 1--“-:'' -g of Dingwall Town Council, which has agreed to act. us custodian. I’ro'osd Drew having formally accepted the gift.

i,urd Tullii.ardine. win, was received with cite,ring. declared it be memorial open. ile said i -1 feel tint! is unnecessary lor me t<_• n’Capi ( uiale the military achievements of Hector Macdonald or to describe lu> early life in ihis pan of the world. -'ll l tin L is wriuell in let'e'i's of gold m the hearts oi the people of his own hoiiie. i Cheers.) The name Hector Macduliald carries ju.v own memory bade intt nine years, to the time air'll, as a mere lad, I went out to join the Kgyi’Uan army at ’he commencement of the campaign of One of the first things 1 had I- do alter my arrival at Hie fronii was to o v i‘i‘ witli it iiß , ys*iL»v ii'om m,general to Macdonald. Tilings were going wrong, lie was not in the best of tempers, and his reply to uu message was somewhat curt and lo the point, bat accustomed as I was lo what I may term the "brevities of general olli'crs on such occasions. 1 tool. but. little notice. As 1 went awny. however, 1 said in Ha die aeross the "native ollicer who was standing between us, " That s a pretty welcome from one Highlander to another." Macdonald, who did iioit know who 1 was from Adam, almost collapsed, and, seizing me -by the hand, wrung it again and again, much to the astonishment of the other officer present. (Cheers.) r rom that day onwards we were fast friends. 1 remember him as a modest straightforward Highlander, a man who did his own work, and did not interfere with that of others. Possessed of an extraordinary sense of duty, he perhaps was a. little hypercritical of an> failure in others, which, among those who did. not know him well, gained tor him a reputation for being somewhat harsh. While very independent, he was extremely sensitive of the good opinion of those whose judgment he respected. and was almost child-like in his aiTontion and devotion to his irieiuls. His code of honour was a. stein one ; to him honour was a thing to guard, and guard jealously, and ic>T a man who failed in his duty as its guardian there could be. in his opinion. but one fate —a fale ho would be more relentless in exacting against himself than against others. I know there are those who criticise him. and 1 know, on the other hand, ihai there are those whose better judgment is sometimes carried awav bv their excess of loyalty to Ids memory. I-el me remind the latter that Hector Macdonald, above nil, was a simple man. He wished to be forgotten. Wc cannot do thal. but we "can honour without unnecessary pomp and extravagant adulation all that was best and brightest in his life, fThiers.) For the rest, let it sleep in decent peace. To the forme ■lass of critics, let me just say this: Some people take too literally the I exi Hun those who touch pitch shall be defiled and forget the various other texts which qualify condemnation. Ami above nil and bcPuv ail our watchword, as Christians. should surely ho “ Charity. ' (Hear, hear.) This monument is "reeled as a tribute to his splendid achieveuienl s as a soldier, and lo I hose qualities by which he rose from the rank <>f a humble private soldier (o (he position of a disCm guishod general in itbo field. May this building, erected in tho cause of such rare independence, perseverance, sense of duty, and personal gallantry, Serve to stimulate those qualities among voiir children and their children's children— < cheers)—-mac it ever serve as a promt reminder of lhe Irue'lil to which one Scotsman rose entirely by Ids own efforts, and may it also tend to quicken a sense of

’ chant v Howards the failure, which, be it great or small, lurks behind all human success. (Cheers.) May the memorv of Hector Macdonald and| hiq gallant deeds live long among you 1 Cheers,) 'fha pipe band of the Ist A .B. Beaton hj Highlanders, a detachment of which acted as guard of honour, played a lament, and subsequent!.' Lord TulHbardine was presdnjfed with a golden key as a memento of the occasion. Hater in the 'day a luuchj eon took ((Lice in the -Masonic Hall. The i o wer lias been erected from designs bv Mr James Saudford-KUy, t)f Glasgow. It takes the form of a square mediaeval keep in the old Scottish style of architecture. The ground door and it he view chamber at. the lop can be used as museum rooms. Above the entrance door is a large inscription panel, containing the crest of the Clan Macdonald. smS nutuiiud by a curved design m bold relief, aad the balcony on the lop is surrounded by a handsome balustrade. The fabric is DHnT high and 2 lit square ail the base, and the hill on which it is built rises o'er 250 ft above sea level.