HISTORIES OF THE LOWLAND REGIMENTS.
[To THE EDITOR or THE " SPECTATOR."J SIR,—May I solicit the courtesy of your columns with regard to a matter that must be of interest to all who served in the Lowland regiments during the war? The time has now come when the part that each regiment took in the fighting should be recorded in a. permanent and attractive form. The Associa- tion of Lowland Scots proposes to publish regimental histories by competent writers, in so far as this has not already been undertaken by others. In order to do so it is necessary to collect materials in the form of diaries, official or otherwise, letters, &c., kept or written at the time by officers or men who took pert in the actual fighting. A large amount of such material must be in existence now which after a lapse of time may be lost or destroyed, and which would serve to clothe with vitality the bare details of service recorded from day to day by battalion commanders. I appeal to all who are in possession of such material to place it or a copy at the disposal of the Association to be used by the historians selected for the pur- pose. The Hon. Secretary of the Association, Mr. C. Maitland Smith, C.A., 4a York Place, Edinburgh, has kindly undertaken to receive such contributions, and meanwhile to preserve them in its archives. In some cases battalion histories have already been published, but it is obviously desirable that complete his- tories of each regiment during the fateful five years should be issued, and in the case, at all events, of the larger regiments, such histories are not likely to be undertaken by individuals. Of the seventeen battalions of which the Royal Scots (for example) consisted, and all of which took part in the war on one or other of the battle fronts, about one half have gone out of existence without leaving any representative. These defunct battalions have a glorious record which ought to be given to the public as part of the achievements of the regiment as a whole. For the sake of clearness, the regiments with which the Associ- ation of Lowland Scots is primarily concerned are the Scots Greys, Scots Guards, the Yeomanry Regiments, Artillery and Engineer Units recruited in the Lowlands, and the four infantry regiments, the Royal Scots, the Cameronians, the King's Own Scottish Borderers, and the Royal Scots Fusiliers. I ought to add that I am informed that a history of the last regiment is in course of preparation, and if this be so our Association does not propose to undertake any competing history.—I am, Sir, EDW. T. SALVESEN (Chairman of the Association of Lowland Scots). Dean Park House, Edinburgh.
P.S.—All communications on the subject of this letter should be addressed to the Secretary above-named.
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