The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1874-03-28 00:00:00

rinc LANDING OF THE BLACK WATCH.

The following are extracts from the letter of the
Correspondent of The Tunes, deecribmg the reception
of the above gallant regiment at Portsmouth :

The Sarmatian Is la . . . the crowd was, indeed, corn•
paratively but a Small one, and a very select one, as entrance
within the dockyard gatm wag not to be greet v tl to every
one; constgorntly, thlo early welcome was not or On dernOlo
St rag', a Ilatare as the tree in stole for the men later on in
the day.
Among the little gathiping were many ladles, wives wait-
ing for their husbands, sisters ter their brothers, mothers
for their 11011., ant theirs was a ivelcOMe dre,er, warmer.
waler than all the .• thundering cheers of Dm street" out-
sub There were many Akers there, also, v.f eithu• in rvice,
kirulral ter It deny Muedy ainvaig the number, and a little
knot of 411 al teen, apparently the youngest recruits of tip,
r.ganeut, looking sm at and well in their uudrese uniform
of white Jackets, dash tartan trews, and white gaiters. .
The regiment wee to laud at two o'clock, and the arrange-
ments, both as regards the troops dv t stied for the escort stein
the guard of honour, and their illeporpl, were subatantially
Cite same as on Friday last ; the only dßerence being teat
the Ist battalion of the 4th (King a Own) Regiment was
I ruled up inside the dockyard, while the 11 Otis (Royal
Canadians) held the Hard, outside the gates, and fed lie as
escort when the 42hd came through. Ou Friday the parts
these two regiment. Played in the ceremony were just the
reveler..
Punctually to the mom . t the "assembly" sounded, and
tan few minutes the man re in their places on the jetty,
waltashr only for the Gone I to begin their Mar. home.
They wore the aelf.aatne or es they wore on the December
morning they left Kuglaud—the Olengary, scarlet tunic,
tr 'users of dark oreeu tartan, and 0111 W gaiters ; the
°Meer. wore patrol jackets, and sword belts of en-
teamed leather, well coloured how with herd work
and hard fighting. The men were in heavy marching
order—great coat, canteen, and the new valise, which,
carried in the small of the hack, has superseded the old
knapsack. ne a hotly they ',eked well in health. Still,
here and there among the ranks you see a face coloured, ivot
with the holiest tan of sun and wind and work, hot pale and
wan with the unwholesome tinge of fever: avid one or two
of the poor fallow, who rode attain the ambulance looked In
very sorry plight However, they are all home again now,
and a few weeks of Portsmouth air and Portsmouth welcome
will set them no seam, If anything .111.
. - -

- -
Everything aud everybody is ready now, and it!. nes dless
to say thee Lord Teevpletouu ewes not keep us Mug whiting.
The 4,h have hardly formed up and dreme I their rams
opp sae the Semaphore arch, when the Staff rides up and
on under the archway to the jetty Itself, and the mxt mo-
ment the alit burst of cheerirg, above which can, however,
be plainly heard the shrill tome of the pipe., tell. us Goat
the march has Mom. A. the bonnets of the band—for
these were In full dress, all " plotted and phone I in
their ta. tan array "—come nodelo.g up from under the
archway, between the ten rows of smart white-frocked
man trom the lie rot lec the 4,h present arms,
and !Let,, as the reatim,nt parses, lan In as escort
to the rear. Up to the D ,ckyard gate the road woe
comparatively clear. Every available foot of ground was
cecupleo, anti on the jetty itself the crowd was very con-
siderable, but the strong, steady line. of soldiers and nation,
and the exertfous t I the police, who were really übiquitous,
kept the people within the proper bounds assigned to them.
But mice outside the gates, and fairly a, the mercy of the
multitude, things were very different. How the regiment
over toot to the Green alive seems now hut little short
of • miracle ! What the escort could do they did,
but if all the regiments of the British army had been
out In Fortemouth to-day they could not have kept
the people back. They had come from far and ricer
to welcome the Highlanders home, and welcome
them they would and did. There was not, perhaps, so
much cheering as there wu for tha Fusiliers on Friday,
except at certain points, and notably on passing the Gus
Wharf barracks, on the ramputs facing which were
Crown up, as before, the men of the Royal Artil-
lery, who, uncovering as the troops went by, led off the
best arid loudest cheering of the day. lint the fact was the
crowd had no time to cheer. Every man of thme brown
and tod-worn rat kr was more or lesa a personal friend,
to be grasped 11, the hand, melted by name, and
made much of individually aml reparately. We
cheer a Stranger, hut we greet a friend after another
and a closer Wilton. Every now and again • mighty
wave would surge forward from either able with
Irresistible force, and berating in among the little struc-
Kling line of red-coats wou'd for a minute or two, as it
seemed, completely overwhelm them. Then • Sail Officer
would come hack to the rescue, some sort of order would be
restored, and the march would go on again and so, slowly,
at a broken poor, amd amid the music of the hands, the
merry pealing of the joy bells, and the toln.uthm of more
and women, the regiments passed no through the little,
narrow streets to the Governor's Green. Hire the ground
was kept by the same troops and In the same order ail on
Filmy, an here was, indeed, a vronderfni sight. Then it did
not well seem possible that another human befog could
have been got Into the Green Breit or on the ram-
Parts °Weide ; but tc-day the numbers might almost
have been doubled. How they alt got there and Mw
they ever got away again is • na3et,ry we may not attempt
to solve. But what they had come there for was plain
enough as soon as the hod of the little column marched in
up to its st•Uon. They cheered on Friday till one might
well have thought not a voice would hove been left in Porte-
mouth, but at least they had kept sone In reserve for to-day.
And, indeed, there is no dount the men deserved all the
welcome they got and even • better one If better could have
been,. Ike story of to-day on the Green is much the
same as the mory of Friday. The Major welo.med
home Colonel Mleced and his Men, am he had wel-
comtd Coloml lituetyn and his little gray-clad band, and
Colohel hileod said In answer all that a soldier need wish to
say. The General and his Staff then rode down the rooks,
and then reigning op In front of the line called for three
cheers fur the Queen. They a ere glue with a 'MI by all
there—the soldiers within and the crowd without the
bands strike up "God save toe Queen, ' and the day Is
over,

Only • few hundred yards now U. between the soldiers
and their In me In the Clarence Barracks, but eve; y Inch of
this way has to be won through the throng of Manus which
I. even thicker here than wear. At the gates stand • guard
of honour ot their own men In lull dress—plaids, and bonnets,
and all &yowl these eyes the people ol Portsmouth dare
not go ; and so with oLe parting cheer We little band file In,
the gates are closed, and the Black Watch lint home at last.
His Royal Highness the Commander In Chief 'dated Ports-
mouth on ruesday to welcome the Black Watch. He had
them paraded on Governor's-green, and in expressing Ms re-
cognition of the gallantry they had shown in the Ashiudde
campaign he told them trots her Majesty that sloe proposed
to thane them sal the other troops personally at Windsor,