n, under General Sir
Garnet Wolseley.

In 1881 it was combined with the 73rd Highland regiment (formerly the 2nd
battalion of the Black Watch) and in the next year was back, fighting in
Egypt. Through the whole of that war in Egypt it was in the fore-front,
fighting with distinction up to the end of the expedition which was
organized for the relief of Gordon at Khartoum.

The regiment suffered its most terrific losses--up to those of the retreat
from Mons--in the South African campaign. The slaughter of the Black
Watch, at Magersfontein, when the Boers ambushed it in close formation,
was the most shocking news that came to England from the Cape.

The story of the 2nd Battalion of the regiment and its deeds is a separate
one, through several decades. It sailed to India in 1780 and was in action
in all of the big and little Indian wars of that early and troublous time.
In 1809 it was made a separate regiment and called the 73rd Highlanders.
As such it served at Waterloo, and it remained a separate unit until 1881,
when it was reunited with the original 1st Battalion.

The Black Watch, as now organized, might almost be called a small army.
There is a depot battalion at Perth, four territorial battalions in
Scotland and six service battalions.

In 1905, I enlisted in the 1st Battalion of the Black Watch--the same
"Royal Highlanders" that had won its designation at Ticonderoga. In 1907,
I was transferred to the 2nd Battalion, which had been known as the 73rd
Highlanders. I joined them at their station at Peshawar, near the mouth of
the famous Kyber Pass, in Afghanistan. In the athletic contests for which
the regiment was famous, I met as a competitor, Ned MacD---- the same Ned
MacD---- whose romantic story I have told in a previous chapter. After a
time we were the regimental champions, and, many a day in India, we
strenuously upheld the honour of the Black Watch in competition with the
men of other regiments.

My athletic days and my fighting days are over. But ever my blood will
quicken with the thought that I have played my part and done my service
and shed my blood in the ranks of the Black Watch, fighting for Right and
for the Freedom of Mankind. The pain of old wounds will ever vanish, the
regrets for departed comrades will ever fade into forgetfulness when I
read, again, the verses which paraphrase the title conferred by the bodies
upon the Black watch--upon us!

There's a toss o' th' sporran,
A swing o'