THEIR BADGE AND BATTLE HONOURS, ETC.
Badge.—The Sphinx, superscribed Egypt.
Battle Honours.—Egmont-op-Zee, Martinique, Guadaloupe, Peninsula, Alma, Inkerman, Sevastopol, New Zealand, Afghanistan 1879-80, Egypt 1882, S. Africa 1899-1902, Defence of Ladysmith.
Uniform.—Regular and Reserve Battn., scarlet with white facings.
[1st Battn. raised in 1685, 2nd Battn. in 1801. The 1st Battn. was formerly a Battn. of the 8th Foot, and became the 63rd Regiment in 1758. It served as Mounted Infantry during the war of American Independence, and won great distinction. The 2nd Battn. was formerly the Minorca Regiment, and became part of the line in 1804 as the 97th (Queen's German) Regiment. In 1816 it became the 96th (Queen's Own), and was disbanded in 1818. Raised again in 1824. The 1st Battn. displayed great courage and steadiness during the Siege of Ladysmith (1899).]
THE GORDON HIGHLANDERS
("Scotland for Ever")
"You have saved the day, Highlanders, but you must return to your position. There is more work to be done."—Sir Denis Pack at Waterloo.
Sir Denis Pack's words at Waterloo are as true to-day as they were then. The Gordons have always saved the day, and now they must return to their position. There is more work to be done and the Gordons are there to do it, as before.
The following is an extract from a letter to Sir Walter Scott from Viscount Vanderfosse, first Advocate of the Superior Court of Justice of Brussels, dated January 5th, 1816:
"Since the arrival of the British troops on the Continent, their discipline was remarked by all those who had any communication with them. Among these respectable warriors the Scotch deserve to be particularly commemorated, and this honourable mention is due to their discipline, their patience, their humanity, and their bravery almost without example. Constant and unheard of proofs were given of devotion to their country quite extraordinary and sublime; nor must we forget that these men, so terrible in the field of battle, were mild and tranquil out of it."