James Lusk: Letters & Memories

by James Lusk

It was no surprise to us at the Young Men's Institute to learn in these latter days that the men of his Regiment paid homage to his virtues and character, as our juniors had done; neither was it any surprise to us to learn that he resigned his position on the Staff to go with his own men. That was just his way.....

'There were other characteristics of his which left their imprint on some of us who were associated with him in the Y.M.C.A. Young Men's Institute. One of these was his enthusiasm. His enthusiasm was one of the earnest enduring kind that had been nourished down in these depths where visions and passions dwell, and out of which truth and beauty come because of the ever-growing and ever-deepening knowledge of life. We believe it was out of the wells that he had dug deep in his own heart, that there sprang that eager desire to help these lads with their football clubs, their gymnastics, their orchestras, their book-club, their holiday-fund and their Bible and Mission Study Circles, for he was quick to realize that all these things helped to the making of manly men.

'Another truth his association with us constantly reminded us of was the fact that it is as a rule the best disciplined, the best tutored and the best educated minds that achieve the finest results. He was a clear and incisive thinker, and when his problems had passed through that acute mind of his, they were quickly assorted out into their elemental and component parts.....

'Many words will not enable us to put on record our deep abiding respect and our great admiration of the quiet, modest, lovable disposition of Captain James Lusk, of the very great abilities he possessed, and of the strong, brave, bold, fearless soul that dominated and shone through it all, and made him eager to serve alike his Go, his King and his Country. It will always be one of our safely-guarded and treasured memories that we had the honour of associating with him, for he was one of the very finest types of an Officer and a gentleman that ever we have known.'

Captain Lusk took a Commission in the 6th Battalion The Cameronians (Scottish Rifles), T.F., in November, 1908, and was gazetted Lieutenant, July 31st, 1910. The Cameronians are the successors of the fighting Covenanters, and the 6th Battalion are men of the district in which Captain Lusk's home had been, the districts of Drumclog and Bothwell Bridge,—names which arouse grim memories of valour in every Scotsman. From the first he took a keen interest in the efficiency of the Regiment, and gave of his best to its service. One never thought of James as a soldier in those old days, though no doubt some aspects of the work always appealed to him. But the strength of his character as an Officer, then and later, was not in any love of fighting, but in a strenuous self-forgetfulness and a keen desire to do well the thing that was wanted.

He was in Camp with the Battalion at Ayr at the end of July, 1914, when the thunder-clouds of the impending storm of the European War began to gather black and lowering. From the date of mobilization, the narrative of Captain Lusk's life may be followed in his own letters, which form the groundwork of the present volume.

To James Lusk, as to many another, the great call for service and sacrifice seemed to be just what he had been waiting for. It gave him his opportunity for the exercise of a devotion and a heroism which those who knew him best had hardly dreamed that he possessed.

One nearly related to James has succeeded with remarkable felicity in putting into words what we had been vaguely feeling. We quote at length from his letter to Mrs. Lusk after her son's death:—

'It was a great privilege and a sad pleasure to read those precious letters about James, which you kindly sent. I wish to let you know what impression they made on me, for they have set me a-thinking about him and his life, now that it is ended here, so greatly to our grief.

'I confess that these letters were a revelation to me. I thought that I knew James pretty well, but these letters from entire strangers up till a short time ago to him and to us, all revealed more to me about him than I was prepared for. James, as we all could see, was reticent on the higher things of heart and life, as many Scotch people, myself included, are; and his little hesitation in utterance doubtless made him more so than he naturally was. I once, as I thought, had a glimpse of his inner nature. It was when I met him first at Dunavon after his father had passed away. He and I happened to be coming together round the house at night from the back. He, with his usual consideration and helpfulness, took the old man's arm to guide me along the paths. We naturally fell into an intimate talk, the darkness perhaps helping us both. I spoke to him about his father's eminent goodness, and of the precious example left by his life to all of us. He responded with hearty appreciation, which seemed at the time to give me a peep into him, which was pleasing, if not unexpected. Probably other friends of James had similar experiences at times. But these letter-writers appear to have seen quite clearly what others saw but dimly. They made acquaintance with him at the great period of his life, and in circumstances fitted to brush aside all formality and conventionality. It was the War that did it. The War, with its reality and sternness, has evidently been both developing and revealing the badness of some persons and nations, and the goodness of others; and it seems to have developed as well as revealed the strength and the beauty of James' character. It seems to me as if we saw the tender buds peeping at times timidly out of the ground, while these strangers saw the flowers in full bloom and sweetness. The charm of what they saw won the respect, the admiration and the love of both his inferiors and superiors. And how glad they evidently were to tell, in sincerity, not in flattery, what they had seen, to you, to whom what they wrote was sure to be more than it could be to any other person in the world! They wanted to tell his mother what an impression her son's gallantly and high-toned character had made upon them who saw him at his best. They have helped us to know James better than perhaps any of us, even you, knew him before; and that new knowledge is well fitted to raise him high in our loving memory. Had it not been for the War, his good qualities would have been shown by degrees in other ways. Had he lived long, as we all hoped that he would, his life would have been doubtless a prosperous, honourable business life, a life of strict integrity and much usefulness, in which he would have been an influence for good among his workmen and others. But God ordered things otherwise. A great crisis in the country's history, the greatest indeed in the world's history, occurred, and the call came for defenders of Right against Might, of high ideals and liberties, and James was ready and obeyed the call of duty, not counting even his life dear to him, and that supreme sacrifice in the great cause was required of him.'