He there shall dress a sweeter sod,
Than Fancy’s feet have ever trod.
By fairy hands their knell is rung,
By forms unseen their dirge is sung;
There Honour comes, a pilgrim gray,
To bless the turf that wraps their clay,
And Freedom shall awhile repair
To dwell, a weeping hermit, there!”
1824–1862—COLONIAL EMPIRE—SOLDIER’S LETTER—CHINA.
However deeply interested we may personally feel in Lanarkshire, and however proud we may be of the many gallant soldiers who have gone forth from us to fight the battles of our one country, still to the Ninety-ninth the relationship indicated above exists scarcely but in name. Nay, even as a Scottish regiment its present composition would belie its seeming nativity. As in the case of many other regiments, so with it, these titles have been mostly attached for purposes of recruiting, and seldom bestowed to record the origin of the corps. Nevertheless, it is looked for as a consequence that the designation thus conferred should serve to stimulate the youth of Lanarkshire, bid them rally round the Ninety-ninth, and thus constituting it their own, immortalise its number by distinguished service in its ranks.