REGIMENTAL NICKNAMES.

Oamaru Mail, Volume XL, Issue 12541, 12 May 1915, Page 1

REGIMENTAL NICKNAMES.

SOME HISTORIC COM AN D 3

Some of the most famous of the British regiments now fighting on the Continent are far bitter known throughout Great Britain, and Ho the wof-ldai large, by" their nicknames than by their official, titles. Their oificia'l titles in many instances, : indeed, would -convey i nothing to-'the average person. Many people in many countries, for instance; have heard -of "the Black Watch ; comparatively few have ol the Forty-second'"Highlanders; yet the names are of the same regiment.' This famed body, the oldest, of all Highland regiments, gets Its nickname from its tiiftaui. VVlien the regiment was first- formed-it was used chiefly to suppress- .sedition iii." Scotland, to "enforce the : 'J)i.-:anniiig Act, and to dispcrse unauthorised assemblies. A special tartan froui which all bright colors were eliminated was designed for regimental use, and. this fact, together with the police nature of the duties" of early days, led to the -'name .Black Watch" On many fields, in many parts cf the world, have the soldiers of the Black ' Watch upheld the glory of this.great regiment. '

rhe- Scots Greys, as famous in theaunalsof* cavalry as is the Black Watch in iniantrv records, began their career .as the Royal North British Dragoons. In 1742 the regiment was landed in the Low Countries. On their disembarkation, the Stadcholder, seeing that they were without mounts, ordered his own guards to turn over their grey charges to the Scotsmen. , And the Scots with grey mounts,' thewhave since been, although they held the official name of the- Royal North British Dragoons down to the time of the Crimean war. Ihe Coldstream Guards. ' who -also have won laurels on scores of battlefields, -get their name from Coldstream, in Berwickshire. In 1660 General Monk marched to London to aid in securing a free Parliament and the restoration of the Stuarts, bringing with him his own regiment of in';aiury from Coldstream.

The regimental legend has it that when the troops "met Charles at Blackheath the "Monk regiment kept some of the. disaffected soldiers of other units, from mutiny, and the King, on learning whence the regiment had come, addressed them as "My Coldstream Guards." The name stuck. "The Thin Red Line of England" has long lived in song and story, the name being applied generally to British, field forces. Jt is declared "by experts, how-ever, that- the name prciperlv belongs to the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders, in commemoration of their remarkable repulse of the flower of the Russian cavalry at Balaclava. Volley aftcr volley cf rifle fire was poured by the slender line of scarlet coats into the masses of charging Russian horsemen, until finally the attack was abandoned, despite the comparatively slight numerical strength of the British.

The "Fighting Fifteenth'' are the Fifteenth King's Hussars. They won their title in 1794 in Flanders against the French- revolutionary troops. They were serving with the Austnans, and in operations near Landrecies they were ordered to rescue the Emperor of Austria, who had been cut off from the main army. The squadrons of: the Fifteenth, with a few Austrian Hussars—the whole body not numbering morethan 300 men found themselves through a mistake facing an entire French army corps. They attacked part of the corps so fiercely that the French thought themselves opposed by a great force. The Hussars rode through the outposts, charged the artillery, killed I'-'OO men, and took three guiis. The Emperor was rescued. Helater decorated the officers of the regiment.

The "Die-Hards" are the 'Fifty - s-eventh Foot, the Duke of Cambridge's Own. Middlesex Regiment. At- Albucra in 1881 the regiment found itself pr'esed by a great force. "Die hard, my. men, die hard!"- was the. cry of 'Colonel Inglis to his troops. Backs to a wall, the soldiers did die. ha I'd'* There were 1.40 survivors out of 070 who began the fight, the dead including If.glis. At Inkennan, where the regiment was al-' most wiped out, Captain Stanley, raised the cry, "Die-Hards., remember Albtiera!" And the ■regiment 'again made good its name. A goat is responsible for the nickname of the "Royal Welsh- Fusiliers" — the "Nanny Goats." A goat is the regimental mascot, and is led'at the head of the column. On St. David's : Day. in the officers' mess, the goat, escorted by drums and.fifes, is ,marched around the table.