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THE BLACK WATCH (ROYAL HIGHLAND REGIMENT) ASSOCIATION
As the January 2020 edition of Canada’s Red Hackle was being printed, we were reading of a virus that was affecting the people of Wuhan Province in the People’s Republic of China. Meanwhile in the UK, Branches of the Association in Scotland were enjoying their social functions.
The Angus Branch held their successful Burns’ Supper on 25 January, the Dundee Branch held their annual Red Hackle Dinner on the 31st of January, and the highly enjoyable Perth Branch Burns’ Supper was held on the 1st of February. On each occasion there was a great sense of comradeship and of shared experiences, and guests and families mingled happily with Association members. There were excellent recitals of Burns well known and less well-known verse and of course a few beers and drams were enjoyed. This luckily all took place before the Coronavirus Lockdown on 23 March.
Sadly, many events that were planned by the Association had to be cancelled. The AGM, the Aberfeldy Muster, the All Ranks Golf and the Regimental Reunion were all early victims of the lockdown, but Pipe Major Ali Duthie
did fit in a 100th birthday celebration for 2nd World War veteran Mr Fred Waters.
In November 2019, the Balhousie Castle Remembrance Service took place, and we had more people attend the service than ever before. Initially started in the wake of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan to specifically give the families of those killed or wounded, a service that was personal to them, it has developed in the intervening years.
This year we had a larger contingent from Fort George attend the service and the Commanding Officer, Lieutenant Colonel Graham Sefton read the lesson.
As I write these notes in mid - May, Balhousie Castle is closed to the public and the Association staff are working from home but are still providing the core service that the Association was created to provide. Veterans and their families continue to receive welfare and benevolence in what is a difficult period.
Kenny Forbes and Pat MacLinden dressed to kill at the Perth Branch Burns’ Supper.
Pipe Major Ali Duthie helped 100-year-old
Mr Fred Waters celebrate his 100th Birthday during lockdown (Courtesy of DC Thomson).
Thirty men of 3 SCOTS, including the Commanding Officer attended the Remembrance Service at Balhousie Castle (Copyright Perthshire Picture Agency – Graeme Hart)
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