KILLED BY A CANNON BALL
In 1664 General Richard Nicolls of Ampthill in Bedfordshire
drove the Dutch out of New Amsterdam in the New World, renaming the town New
York after his patron The Duke of York.
He was killed eight years later in a naval battle and the cannon ball
which caused his demise is preserved on his monument in the church at Ampthill.
A BRAVE DRAGOON
Early in the 18th century, young Tom
Brown was a shoemaker in the small market town of Yarm in North Yorkshire. He was a big strong man and he decided to
join the army, serving in the Inniskillen Dragoon Guards. Brown fought against the French at the Battle
of Dettingen in 1743, part of the Austrian War of Succession, at which George 11 was the last British King
to lead his troops in battle. Brown had
already had two horses shot from beneath him and had also lost two fingers in
the fighting, when the dragoon’s standard was captured. Despite his injuries, Brown charged the enemy
and shot the soldier holding the standard recovering the pennant. He then fought his way back to his own lines
as a shot grazed his head, whilst two further shots lodged in his back. He also suffered a deep cut to his forehead and
his nose was almost entirely cut away.
The former Tom Brown Inn at Yarm
A SUCCESSFUL DOUBLE
Roderick MacKenzie was not only a supporter of Bonnie
Prince Charlie at the Battle of Culloden in 1746, but he was also strikingly similar in
appearance to the Prince. So much so
that after the battle was lost, MacKenzie was used as a double to deceive the
British troops into thinking that they had in fact found the Prince who had
made good his escape over the sea to Skye.
MacKenzie was killed in Glen Moriston not far from Loch Ness where a
cairn marks the spot and bears a commemorative plaque.
The cairn is situated alongside the southern side of the A887 just 2 miles east of its junction with the A87.
The cairn is situated alongside the southern side of the A887 just 2 miles east of
its junction with the A87.
TOO MUCH SMALL BEER
A
gravestone in the graveyard at Winchester Cathedral records the unusual death
of a soldier :
‘ In memory of THOMAS THETCHER,
A Grenadier in the
North Regt. Of Hants. Militia,
Who died of a violent
Fever contracted by drinking Small beer when hot
the 12th of May 1764, Aged 26
years.
In grateful
remembrance of whole univerfal good will towards his comrades,
This stone is placed
here at their expence, as a fmall teftimony
of their regard and
concern.
Here fleeps in peace a
Hampfhire Grenadier
Who caught his death
by drinking fmall Beer.
Soldiers be wise from
his untimely fall
And when ye’re hot
drink Strong or none at all.’
This memorial being
decay’d was reftor’d by the Officers and the Garrifon A.D 1781.
An honeft Soldier never is forgot
Whether he die by
Mufket or by Pot.
The stone was replaced in 1802 and again in
1966.
A simple grave stone marks the
last resting place of Private John Divine
V.C in the Roman Catholic section of Penzance Cemetery in Cornwall. Irish born Pte Divine fought all over the
British Empire
and won the Victoria Cross in Delhi on 10th September
1857 during the Indian Mutiny, when he led a charge on a gun emplacement and
lost his right leg. He was invalided out
of the 60th Rifles after receiving his V.C from Queen Victoria
herself.
Divine settled in Penzance where
he was a familiar figure touring the
town selling fish, with his wooden leg propped up on the seat of his donkey
cart , on which he proudly displayed his V.C.
He died in 1888 and was buried in a paupers grave. In 1995, 107 years later, Field Marshall Lord
Brammall, former Chief of the Defence Staff, unveiled a new headstone provided
by Devine’s regimental association in memory of a brave soldier.
The Atholl Highlanders
The Atholl Highlanders is a private infantry regiment in the
employ of The Duke of Atholl based at Blair Atholl Castle. It is the only legal
private army in Europe. It was formed in 1839 by the 6th Duke as a
body guard and escorted Queen Victoria on her tour of Perthshire in 1842,
following which the Queen granted the regiment with colours giving it official
status. Although the regiment has never seen active service, many of its
numbers served in the two World Wars.
The Atholl Highlanders are now purely ceremonial and its 100
men, including pipes and drums, wear the Clan Murray tartan. The regiment’s
officers are usually lairds from the surrounding area whilst the other ranks
are mainly employed on the Atholl Estate. They parade at the Atholl Gathering
at the end of May when they are inspected by the present Duke; and also march
to the Braemar Games in September. The Duke also permits the regiment to parade
on certain other occasions such as Royal visits and overseas tours.
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