The Sun.
London, England, 1864-11-28 00:00:00

THE VOLUNTEERS,

LONDON SCOTTISH.

On Saturday evening a regimental ceremony of much
interest took plac3 in Westminster-hall. The London Scot-

tish assembled to receive at the hands of Lady Elate prizes
won by the more distinguished marksmen in their ranks,
and to hear from their Lieut,-Col. Lord Elcho, a short ad.
dress on the present state of the corps and the arrangements
for the coming regimental year. There was a large attend-
anca of friends of the officers and members, so that, to afford
the space requisite for drawing up the eight companies of
which the regiment is composed, the male portion of the
bystanders had to be roped up with at narrow bounds at
either side of the hall. For the ladies present seats wore
placed on the steps and terraces at the upper end leading to
St. Stephen's, where they found themselves more comfort-
ably placed, and contributed at the same time advantage-
ously to the general effect. To the larger gatherings of the
London Scottish somewhat of a family character always
attaches, owing in part to the nationality of the assembly,
but attributable still further to the clannish spirit—in the
best sense of that term—which constitutes a bond of union
in all Scotch regiments. It seemed, therefore, quite as a
matter of course that printed statements should bo in hands
of every one, entering into details about the battalion, such
as in other regiments are scarcely ever disinterred from the
orderly-room books, and furnishing just the class of infor-
mation which the public would never dream of asking for,
but which is all in all to private friends. This résumé in-
cluded complete lists of the officers of the corps, with their
total numbers in 1863 and 1864 ; comparative returns of the
strength of the regiment in those two years, tracing the
members through all the grades of life and honorary effi.
cleats, "30s. efficients," fired in classes, marksman, first
class, second class, third class recruits, resignations, and
deaths; records of all the rifle matches shot in 1864, with
the names of the members who fired in them, as well as of
those who represented the regiment at the National Rifle
meeting; the names of members who served on regimental
committees; the names of all the marksmen for 1864, with
the points obtained by eaoh in class shooting; the winners
of all the different regimental prizes, and the scores with
which these were gained; lastly, with a view of completing
the record of the regimental achievements, an entire page
devoted to the names of members who gained prizes at all
corners' meetings in different parts of the kingdom, and even
at greater distances, I'rivate Kerr, of No. 7 company, being
credited with having won the second prize for central shoot-
ing at the Tir National at Brussels. This private his: ory of
the regiment, every line of which was a testimony to the
accuracy and care of the adjutant who prepared It, sliowea
not only that in the total numbers as well as through all

its different ramifications, the London Scottish was main-
taining and increasing its efficiency, but that there must be
something singularly healthy either in volunteering pur-
suits or else in the Caledonian physique, since out of totals
respectively of 696 in 1863 and 632 in 1864 the number of
deaths in the first year was only 6, while in the latter it had
fallen to 3. The parade was fixed for 7 o'clock, and after
an interval of half or three quarters of an hour spent in lis-
tening to the performance of the band, in rehearsing the
manual exercise, or in proving companies—that useful but
perplexing portion of drill which looks- to the uninitiated
like breaking the backbone of all the companies seriatim,
and then knitting it together again by some inexplicable
process—Lord Elcho passed slowly down the ranks, ex-
amining them narrowly as he went. When the last of the
companies had been inspected, he returned to the ter-
race or platform at the upper end where the rewards to be
conferred awaited distribution, and Lady Elcho then came
forward and said—" Before presenting the prizes I wish to
say how very glad I am—every year more glad—to have
the honour of performing this ceremony. With all my
heart, I wish prosperity to the London Scottish, and health
and happiness to every one of you during the regimental
year that we are about to enter on."
The prize winners in the various classes were called for.
ward in order; and, although they came and went as rapidly
as possible, the list to be exhausted was so comprehensive
that half an hour elapsed before Lady Elcho had given away
the last of the distinctions placed in ter hands. Several of
the prizemen appeared again and again, a few for as many
as the fourth and even the fifth time—not "of asking," but
of taking. With regard to the " Railway prizes," Lord
Eloho, to prevent miseonception. stated that these were not
given by railway companies, who ought properly to do so,
but were made up from the premiums upon attendance at
the butts not claimed by members who incurred the trouble
and expense of going down.
At the close of the distribution Lord Echo proceeded with
his address concerning the affairs of the regiment, which he
prefaced by reading the names of all the marksmen who
qualified during the past year, observing of one of them—
Professor Masson, who was the best shot in 1862, but stood
third on the list in 1863 and 1864—that his case established
the close connexion between volunteering and the highest
branches of study—a result not to be wondered at, since rifle
shooting had become one of the exact sciences. (Laughter.)
The fact that fi3 marksmen qualified out of 240 who fired
their classes were satisfactory, for, though the total number
of those who fired was less by nine than in 1863, the
shooting was much better in the present year. In 1864
there were 63 marksmen, as against 50 in 1863-41 first
class men, against 20 in 1862-73 in the second class
against 71 in 1863—and 13 in the third class, against 16 in
1863. There was probably no corps in the kingdom—cer•.
tainly none of the metropolitan colps.--whioh had greater
facilities for shooting than they possessed in their range at
Wimbledon, It was easy of access, the cost of conveyance
small, and everyone who went there acknowledged that it
was delightfully situate. He trusted no alteration in the
position of corps now having ranges at Wimbledon would
be wrought by the bill which Lord Spencer was to intro-
duce, and that the heath and wildness of the common would
never be turned into trimness and fiowerbeds such as those
in the parks in London over which his friend Mr Russell,
sitting near him, exercised supervision in the Office of
Public Works. As far as Lord Spencer had explained his
views to him, he believed there was no intention whatever
of transforming Wimbledon-common into anything resem-
bling Hyde-park, but that the design was merely to enclose
it, so as to keep off gipsies and tramps, whoburnt the heather
and injured the place; and that. Lord Spencer, after making
roads and draining the common, would allow it to maintain
the wild character which it at present bore. Viewed in such
a light, the proposal was not merely beneficial to the volun-
teers, but to all persons frequenting that part of the coun-
try. Referring to the regimental prizes which would be
competed for in the coming year, Lord Elcho said he had
received a letter from Mr W. S. Riddell, a former member
of the London Scottish, announcing that he and other fel-
low countrymen in Hongkong and Shanghai were subscrib-
ing for a cup to be presented to the corps, leaving the con-
ditions to be framed by the council. They had determined
to call this the "China" Cup, to be shot for annually, and
felt that they were much indebted to those gentlemen for
their kindly sympathy, and for proving that out of sight
was not out of mind. Another former member of the corps,
Mr Mane, belonging to the War-office, proceeded to China
and recently, when there was a call for volunteers there,
Col. Gordon was so much struck with his aptitude for drill,
and thorough knowledge of all the minutiae of rifle shooting
that he asked where he had been drilled, and finding it was
in the London Scottish at once promoted him to be captain.
(Laughter and applause.) liming announced the teems