lent of the officers of the
Black Watch, when the command was fighting against Washington's rebellious
patriots. Having to scale the heights which were later to become famous as
the habitat of the hardy goats of Harlem, Major Murray was at a great
disadvantage because of his weight and girth. "Soldiers, would you leave
me behind?" he appealed, pathetically, when he needed assistance. And then
his husky Highlanders would boost him upward toward the fray. It was,
consequently, in a somewhat breathless and confused condition that the
valiant major attained the spot upon the heights where the conflict raged.
Rushing forward to close with some antagonist in the Colonials, Major
Murray discovered that his only weapon, his dirk, had got twisted behind
him in the strenuous struggles of the ascent and that, because of his
excessive fatness, he couldn't reach it. The records of the regiment, at
the home station, Perth, state that the major, on this occasion, tore a
sword from the grasp of one of three Colonials who attacked him and put
all three to flight. With no thought to cast aspersion upon the major's
valour, I have always been inclined to the belief that the writer of the
regimental reports may have compensated in a certain generosity of
statement for his earlier description of the major's comic predicament.

Study of the history of the Black Watch, gathered, largely, in a
fragmentary way, has always had a fascination for me. I have felt in the
greatest degree the pride of membership in the organization--and the world
knows that the men of the Black Watch have always made much of the name. I
feel that tradition had well prepared the regiment for its sacrificial and
almost superhuman efforts between Mons and the Marne. For hard fighting
and long fighting--in every quarter of the globe and with opponents of
almost every race--civilized and uncivilized--no organized fighting force
has ever had a record to equal that of the Black Watch.

The regiment got its name in 1729, when six companies of Highlanders which
had constituted a sort of military police along the highland border, were
joined together into a more or less homogeneous command. Four of these
companies had been in existence for a few years. Two were of organization
of that year. They were called the Independent Companies of Highlanders
but it was their purpose to co-operate to preserve order among the
turbulent spirits of the border and to enforce the disarming act.