Bounties to recruits had risen by the competition of officers raising men, and this practice is checked by War Office Circular, February 21st, 1795:

MY LORD, ---The high bounties offered to the new levies being judged extremely prejudicial to the recruiting for the navy, and His Majesty having in consequence thereof signified his commands that the bounty given to recruits enlisted for general service shall not exceed fifteen guineas, and that the bounty to recruits for the Fencibles shall not exceed ten guineas, etc.

I have the honour to be,

My Lord,

Your Lordship's most obedient Servant,
(Signed)

To Lieut.-Colonel the Marquis of Huntly,

100th Regiment of Foot.

M. LEWIS.

He

April 3rd.-Lord Huntly hopes the companies will vie in trying which shall be in the best order, and it is recommended to the men to punish one another when any berth in the barrack-room is found dirtier than it ought to be. repeats the order that no man is to appear in his new jacket or belted plaid but on duty. He expects the officers at parade to be clean and dressed like officers; he will not punish the whole for the slovenliness of one, and anyone who comes improperly dressed may expect to be ordered to wear upon all occasions the uniform directed for regimental duties. No officer is to be seen with strings in his shoes, except with the belted plaid.*

April 12th.-Officers to be particular that the men are well dressed, caps or bonnets well put on and jackets hooked through the shirt at the top across the breast, that uniformity may be established as much and as soon as possible.

May 4th.-Sergeant Ferguson of the Light Company, on account of his not having made up his books agreeably to order, is removed to the 6th Company, and Sergeant Stewart appointed in his room; and as Lord Huntly considers it an

* The meaning of this is not clear, but in Duncan Ban's well-known Gaelic song of that time in praise of the Highland dress, he mentions thongs as the proper fastening of the brogues, and alludes to shoe buckles as an innovation.

honour belonging to a flank company, he will remove a N.-C. officer who at any time behaves improperly.

May 8th. The men to have their shirt frills well ironed and hair well powdered for the review.

The Highland dress appears not to have been considered a correct costume for dancing, as the Orders of May 9th desire "the officers to appear in belted plaids at the Commander-inChief's dinner on Monday, but Lord Huntly begs them to appear at the ball on Monday evening in white breeches."

*

June 4th. At the request of the captains of companies, the men were allowed a bottle of black strap† each and fresh provisions, it being the King's birthday.

R.O., June 9th.-Lord Huntly appoints John MacPherson of the Grenadier Company and Alex. Clark of the Light Company to do duty as volunteers.

At this time the regiment was held in readiness to proceed to the Island of Corsica.

The regiment, consisting of ten companies, embarked on the 11th June, and in Garrison Orders of the 10th the Commander-in-Chief expresses "his approbation of their good. conduct and regularity of discipline since he has had the honour of commanding them." They landed at Bastia on the 11th July. §

Corsica, the birthplace of Napoleon Bonaparte, || had separated from France, and in 1794 tendered the sovereignty of the island to King George III., and united itself to Great Britain. A body of Corsican troops was added to our army, their officers ranking junior to those of the regular British army. The island was governed by a Viceroy (Sir Gilbert Elliot), who, on the 27th July, inspected the regiment in belted

The dinner-hour was in the afternoon.

A sort of port, stronger, no doubt, than their daily ration of wine. Volunteers in this sense appear to have been men of superior education, who enlisted and served in the ranks as private soldiers, but without pay and at their own expense, in the hope of getting commissions. They were included in the rank and file. The two men in question seem, from their attestations, to have been till this time ordinary privates, and were enlisted at Laggan and Kingussie, but volunteers generally enlisted as such.

§ One transport had "very nigh been taken by the French fleet, who passed us in the night."-Letter from Volr. C. Cameron, 100th Regiment, Napoleon was born at Ajaccio, in Corsica, August 15th, 1769.

plaids. Judging from the Regimental Orders, that form of the Highland dress was seldom, if ever, again worn by the rank and file, though it is mentioned later for the officers. Afterwards the "feile-bheag," or little kilt, was used, that is, the lower half of the belted plaid, permanently pleated and stitched; but so essential to the full Highland dress was the "breacan or upper half considered, that the remembrance of it was kept up by the ornamental plaid still worn by all ranks in full dress; though it is not made, as it formerly was, and as it might still be, to form a light cloak for the shoulders when required.

Highland soldiers seem to have borne a character for honesty in Corsica, according to Carr's "Caledonian Sketches," published in 1807, where it is stated that "While Corsica was in our possession, the Governor's butler, on great fêtes and public occasions, used to request that some of the men without breeches might have charge of the plate during the entertainments." Grapes, however, seem to have been a great temptation to the young soldiers, and they were cautioned against trespassing in the vineyards, under pain of courtmartial.

Lord Huntly keeps his eye on all ranks. "Officers will be pleased to put their swords in their belts, and not walk about with them in their hands."

Ensign MacDonald, who seems to have been slack in his orderly duty, "is to be officer of the day till further orders."

Any woman refusing to wash for the men is to be turned out of barracks, and her rations stopped; 6d. a week to be paid for each man's washing.

Some of the young Highlanders seem to have thought being on sentry over French prisoners was much the same sort of duty as herding cattle from the corn at home, and Lord Huntly cautions them against such unsoldierlike conduct as sitting at their posts.

Officers when not on duty or parade may wear any kind of black hat they please with a feather in it. No soldier to

I met a pensioner, in 1857, who had worn the "breacan an fheile," or belted plaid, in the 42nd. He said it looked well on a tall man, but rather like a bundle of clothes on a little man.

appear in the streets without side arms. Volunteers in future

to attend all parades.

Fault is found with want of cleanliness in hospital and barrack-rooms, and officers are desired to be very particular, on account of the men's health.

Grape-stealing and other slight irregularities having ceased, Lord Huntly, in Regimental Orders of August 23rd, returns his warmest thanks to the officers for their great attention to their companies, and is certain that, as long as they exert themselves, he must have great satisfaction and credit from the regiment. Lord Huntly is happy to see that for some days past the men have returned to their former good behaviour, and hopes they will continue behaving in the same manner, as they will then be a credit to their country, and may depend on having every indulgence and kindness shown them that is in his power.

The regiment was now in a state to perform all duties, and detachments were sent to various places. Major Erskine is Commandant of St Fiorenza, where prisoners, both French and Turks, were confined.

A War Office circular, October 2nd, 1795, permits N.-C. officers and soldiers to send letters home for 1d.,* signed outside by the commanding officer.

September 9th.-In consequence of the good conduct and regular behaviour of John Cameron of the 1st Company, ever since he joined the 100th Regiment, he is again appointed sergeant, and Lord Huntly hopes that in future sergeants will be more careful of the language they make use of to one another, and that they will not trouble their officers with every trifling dispute they may have together.

At this time bonnets to complete the regiment arrived, and Lord Huntly orders officers commanding companies immediately to provide feathers, that they may be made up. “Lord Huntly will make a present of one feather to each man."

R.O., Bastia, December 18th, 1795. As Lord Huntly expects to leave this in a day or two, he begs leave to return to the officers his warmest acknowledgments for their uniform -for a single

* The charge for civilians' letters from the Mediterranean was— sheet, 2s. Id.; and for 1 oz., 8s. 4d.--" One Hundred Years by Post," J. W. Hyde.

C

support and attention to the regiment; and also to express to the N.-C. officers and soldiers his most grateful thanks for their regular and good conduct since he had the honour of commanding them, and to assure the officers and soldiers that their interest will always be his study, and that no exertions on his part will be wanting to prevent the Gordon Highlanders from being drafted.*

That he kept his word is proved by the fact that no instance can be found of men from the Gordon Highlanders being drafted, though several regiments in garrison with them at Gibraltar shortly after, including the 42nd Royal Highlanders and 90th Regiment, were so treated. †

R.O., Bastia, December 22nd, 1795.-Major Erskine takes the earliest opportunity of communicating to the officers his anxious wish that the discipline of the 100th Regiment should be carried on as pleasantly as possible during the short time he is to have the honour of commanding it, and he begs to assure them that nothing in his power shall be wanting that can contribute to their comfort and happiness. He takes the same opportunity of informing the N.-C. officers and soldiers that he will be happy to show them every indulgence consistent with propriety, to make up in some degree for the loss they will sustain by the absence of Lord Huntly, to whom they should ever consider themselves indebted for his exertions in their behalf.

Mention is now made of the "musick "§ practising regularly and whereas hitherto each company had its own tailor and shoemaker, each charging his own price, there was now a tailors' shop and shoemakers' shop, the former presided over by a master tailor, while the shoemakers were looked after by

* At this period the Government were in the habit of drafting men from one regiment to another, and to this the Highlanders strongly objected. It was, therefore, a great advantage to a corps to have at their head a man of sufficient influence at headquarters to prevent this. It appears that there had been a risk of the Gordon Highlanders being drafted, as, in a letter dated November 28th, 1795, Captain J. Gordon writes:-"It is exceedingly lucky that we have escaped being drafted; the Marquis would have been in a perfect fury."

+ Garrison Orders, 19th May 1797.

The ship on which Lord Huntly was going home was taken by a French privateer; but he was released on paying a ransom. § Band.