On succeeding to the command of the regiment Colonel Sprot issued an order, dated “Dover, 29th January 1870,” in which he said—
“With two exceptions I have seen the troops of all the states of Europe. Full half my service was spent with our armies in India. I have become intimate with the greater portion of our regiments, and I have seen no body of soldiers of whom I have formed a higher opinion than of the Argyllshire Highlanders.... I have now under my care a regiment in the highest state of discipline and efficiency.... Let us then join together in one continued effort to attain this end, that the 91st Argyllshire Highlanders may ever be second to none.”
The remainder of the distinctive history of the 91st may be very briefly told. The regiment left Dover on the 18th of June 1870 and proceeded to Aldershot, marching the greater part of the way, and reaching the camp on the morning of the 25th. Notwithstanding the excessive heat of the weather, and that the men marched fully accoutred, the column came in each day to its halting-place with the greatest regularity, a compact body of men without a single straggler.
As soon as it was announced that a marriage was to take place between the Princess Louise and the Marquis of Lorne, Lt.-Col. Sprot wrote to the Duke of Argyll, offering to send a detachment of the regiment to form a guard of honour at the wedding. The Duke replied very graciously, and only a few days before the wedding was to take place, Colonel Sprot learned that Her Majesty had been graciously pleased to order that a detachment of the 91st should attend at Windsor on the day of the marriage, March 21st, 1871.
Inscription.—From the Soldiers of the 91st Argyllshire Highlanders, presented by the kind permission of Her Majesty to Her Royal Highness The Princess Louise, on her Marriage, 21st March 1871.
On Saturday morning, the 17th of March, a body of 100 picked men, with band, pipers, and full complement of officers, after having been inspected by Colonel Sprot, marched off to the tune of “Haste to the Wedding,” amidst the encouraging cheers of their less fortunate comrades. The guard was commanded by Captain Gregg, and marched by Bagshot and Ascot Heath, reaching Windsor at 4 P.M. When the detachment arrived at Windsor it found that everything had been prepared for it by the Grenadier Guards; the officers of the latter corps invited the officers of the 91st to be their guests, and the soldiers had not only drawn rations and fitted beds, but had even cooked dinner for the Highlanders.
On Monday the 20th, Lt.-Col. Sprot rode over from Aldershot to Windsor, and on arriving at the Castle received Her Majesty’s command to meet her at 3 o’clock P.M., in the private apartments, where she would be prepared to receive the wedding present for her daughter, which the officers and men of the 91st intended to give. The gift of the officers consisted of a Brooch, the fac-simile of that worn by them to fasten their plaids, but in pure gold, and with a very handsome cairngorm pebble, set transparently, together with a copy in miniature of the regimental dirk, in Scotch pebble, suited for a shawl pin. On the back of the brooch were engraved the names of all the officers then serving. The gift from the soldiers, to which they unanimously subscribed, was a Silver Biscuit-Box, in the shape of one of their own drums, with the honours of the regiment engraved on the side, and an appropriate inscription on the head. It was mounted on a stand of Scotch bog oak, with silver corners and feet.
Colonel Sprot, in his audience with the Queen, was accompanied by Captain Gregg, Lt. Grant, Sergeant-Major Fasinidge, and Pipe-Major M’Dougal. Her Majesty was accompanied by the Princess Louise, Prince Arthur, Prince Christian, and others. Lt.-Col. Sprot, in a few appropriate and well-chosen words, presented the officers’ present, which the Princess graciously accepted, and desired Colonel Sprot to convey to the officers “her sincere thanks for their very pretty present.” Colonel Sprot then intimated to Her Majesty the wish of the non-commissioned officers and men to offer the present above mentioned, at which Her Majesty expressed much gratification.