A long and dreary reveil!
“Like the voice of abysmal waves
Resounds its unearthly tone,
Till the dead old soldiers, long in their graves,
Awaken through every zone.”
When we regard the battle-fields of earth, and think of the mighty dead who slumber there, apart from feelings of sentimental or real respect for the sacred dust, imagination animates the scene, as Memory, conjuring up from the graves of the past, bids us confront the soldiers who lived, and fought, and have long since died to “gild a martial story.” Yet it is our business, in the present undertaking, to gather from the mouldering records of a bygone age, the truth, and rescue from the shades of oblivion that “martial story” which belongs to the soldiers of Scotland.
MUSKETEERS OR FUSILIERS AND CAVALRY, ABOUT 1650.
The Old Scots Brigade claims an antiquity of nearly 300 years, and only yields in prominence to that of the Royal Scots, which in previous chapters we have discussed. The love of adventure, the hope of gain, and the troubles at home having variously conspired to expatriate many Scotsmen, these readily found employment in the armies of the Continent, wherein, conspicuous for fidelity and bravery, their services were highly appreciated, frequently honoured as a distinctive, select corps, or as a body of royal guards. In the States of Holland, about the year 1568, our countrymen were included in numerous independent companies of soldiers, which, in 1572, united into several regiments, constituted one brigade—the Old Scots Brigade—the strength of which varied from four to five thousand men.
“The first mention we find of their distinguished behaviour was at the battle of Reminant, near Mechlin, in the year 1578; the most bloody part of the action, says Meteren, a Dutch historian, was sustained by the Scotch, who fought without armour, and in their shirts, because of the great heat of the weather. After an obstinate engagement, the Spaniards, commanded by Don Juan of Austria, were defeated.”