It was a good-humoured, enthusiastic crowd, and at a convenient part of the road the horses were unyoked from his carriage and their places supplied by hundreds of willing miners, who dragged the carriage up to the gate of Niddrie Marischal, where it was given over to the tenantry.
The procession was a long one, and was headed by the school children, preceded by the local pipe band. Then came the Niddrie brass band, playing 'See the Conquering Hero comes,' and after them appeared the members of the 'A. G. Wauchope' Lodge of Shepherds, bearing aloft their banner with his portrait on it. The incidents of the march were many. Some were amusing, some were pathetic, but all told of the loyalty and enthusiasm of the people among whom the General had his home. Bunting was displayed on all hands. Women and children cheered vociferously. At the square of the village the first halt was made, and an address of welcome in name of the villagers was presented by Mr. Robert Wilson, one of their number, in which expression was made of their pride in the distinguished place the General had held in the Soudan war, of their joy at his safe return from a battlefield where the mention of his services by the Sirdar in his despatches for the special consideration of the Queen had caused them the utmost gratification.
Lord Kitchener, the Sirdar
General Wauchope, who was apparently unprepared for such a manifestation of public feeling, made the following reply:—'I can assure you that the splendid reception you have accorded me is one which I shall never forget. I know very well that much of it is owing to the fact that we have been neighbours now for many a long year, and there is nothing that gave me greater pride and satisfaction than being told two or three years ago that the people of New Craighall looked upon me as being one of themselves. In addition to that, there is another feeling that has prompted you in this reception, and it is that in me you recognised one—a humble one, perhaps, but still one—of those who tried to serve his country under, perhaps, difficult circumstances; and something is also due to the fact that we have been completely successful in planting our standards on the ruined palaces of Khartoum. At Yetholm I said, and I am going to say it again, that fact alone would be a great gain to civilisation and to the world. If the Dervish power had been continued for any length of time, hundreds and, perhaps, hundreds of thousands of people who in the future will have a chance of living in comfort and peace, would never have been able to live at all. It was a power based on murder, rapine, and cruelty, and it was our bounden duty to put an end to that power, because Great Britain was responsible for the condition of things that existed in that part of the world. Scotland was well represented at the battle of Khartoum by two of our Highland regiments. (Here a voice shouted out, "Scotland Yet!") Yes, Scotland yet, and Scotland for ever, will be the cry; and I can speak for those two battalions that they in no way went behind from what other regiments had done in other fields of our great empire; and you may be sure of this, that our Scottish regiments will always be able to show that high and distinguished valour and discipline for which they have so long been noted.... It would almost seem by the splendid reception you have given me here, and which I have had in another part of Scotland, that you thought I had played a very great part in the campaign. I feel bound, as an honest man, to disabuse you of such a misapprehension. The campaign was carried out by a very great man, the Sirdar, Lord Kitchener, who is a man of great ability, and who in the future undoubtedly will shine as one of our great soldiers. The campaign was a marvel of organisation. It was marvellous how that railway was made across the desert. Great credit was due to the Sirdar, but I should like also to bring before you another name—that of the general of our division—General Gatacre, whose constant care and great power of leading men aided the successful issue of events. There is still another man I should like to mention. He is a Scotsman, General Macdonald, who led one of the Egyptian brigades. He got his chance, and he was able to take it, and certainly by his tactics, by his coolness, by his perception at the proper moment, he had a great deal to do with the success of the day; and it was a great satisfaction to myself to be able with the brigade under my command to go and support him on a somewhat critical occasion.'
He concluded his address by a humorous reference which pleased an audience of miners: to the effect that in the near future he hoped the line to Khartoum would be supplied with coal from the Niddrie pits! As the cavalcade proceeded, presentations of bouquets of flowers, wreaths of laurel, and other kindly greetings marked the General's way. At the entrance-hall of Niddrie Marischal, Mr. Thomas Skirving of Niddrie Mains, on behalf of himself and the tenantry, presented an address of welcome. This was feelingly replied to by the General in a few well-chosen words, concluding as follows:—'No Roman emperor coming from a victorious campaign could have been half so well received as I to-day have been, and as long as I live I can never forget it. If there is one thing that makes a man nerve himself to accomplish a difficult task, it is the thought that he is thought well of by the people in the midst of whom he lives. I cannot tell you all I feel—I should be more than human if I could.'
It may here be mentioned that General Wauchope brought home with him one of the Khalifa's banners which had been given to him by General Macdonald as a memento of his timely assistance at the battle of Omdurman. It is of white damur cotton, with a line of Arabic in blue across its face inscribed, 'Mohammed Ahmed el Mahdi Kalifat er Rasul.' On a gold band on the staff is the inscription, 'September 1898. They were brave foemen, these Dervishes.' This and other trophies now find a resting-place in Niddrie Marischal.
A time of busy activity in metropolitan and county affairs followed General Wauchope's return home, and his high place as a public man was now universally recognised. His services were largely in request specially in connection with public and social functions of various kinds,—opening of bazaars of ladies' work, inspecting boys' brigades, presiding at lectures and concerts, school board work, county council work, and his duties as an elder of the Church of Scotland—these all engrossed much of his attention and a large share of his time during the winter and spring following his return from the Soudan.
At Windsor Castle
Honours also were heaped upon him on all sides, but without in any way marring his simplicity of character, or causing him to be any the less the plain, free and easy approachable man he ever was, even to the meanest hodman. To high and low alike he was ever courteous and considerate, and he most willingly lectured, or presided at lectures, concerts, or meetings of friendly societies, wherever he thought he could be useful. For his distinguished services in the Soudan campaign Wauchope was now promoted from Brigadier to the rank of Major-General, and towards the end of November 1898 he received the Queen's commands to attend at Windsor Castle, and had the privilege on that occasion of dining with Her Majesty along with his brother officer Sir William Gatacre—not the first time he had been similarly honoured.
Of course every other engagement must give way to a summons of this kind; and Major-General Wauchope's presence at a meeting in Dalkeith on the evening of the same day had to be dispensed with, though much to the disappointment of those who had come to hear him speak.