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-----.-.-----BURRY PORT AND…

" -l ull i" i LLANGENNECH.I…

PONTABDAWK

[No title]

FOUNDER OF GORSEINON'S PROSPERITY.

THE BUDGET. MM—

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LLANDILO CRUELTY CASE.|

-----'-------THE HIGHLAND…

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THE HIGHLAND KILT. PROPOSED ABOLITION. Great regret has been caused among the Highland regiments serving in South Africa. by the new dress regulations, in which it is apparently intended to supersede the kilt in the fighting kit. This reform is depre- cated from all sides. The Highlanders assert that the kilt, both in this and other cam- paigns, has been the healthiest kit for active service, owing to the great thickness of cloth protecting the abdomen. Medical authorities state the the Highlanders have enjoyed grea- ter immunity from stomachic troubles than the other troops, which is, indeed proved by statistics. Whether the decision of the War Office to abolish the kilt as part of the active service bit of the Highland regiment is based on sound reasons or not (says the "Daily Tele- graph"), there is no doubt whatever that it will provoke intense resentment among the famous corps affected. Some inkling of this may be obtained from Reuter's Pretoria telegram and the military authorities may expect very strong opposition to the decree. It was generally understood that after the experience gained of the visibility of the kilt to the enemy, and its prominence as a target owing to the general darkness of its lines, the kilt would be modified as regards colour for the purposes of warfare, and this was done in South Africa by the provision of khaki covers. There may be some insuper- able objection to a continuance of this course. or to the serving out of a regulation kilt of khaki-coloured cloth: but it must be recol- lected that the London Scottish Volunteers wear a uniform which would require very little change, and that cMefly in the direc- tion of colour, to fit it for active service. The kilt itself is a garb of immense anti- quity. Ancient monuments show us that the troops of the Assyrian monarchs wore a sort of kilt, and so did the Roman legionaries. In Eastern Europe, among the Albanians, Mon- tenegrins, and other Balkan races, the kilt is the universal fashion. In Scotland its use goes back to prehistoric times, and the Greek mountaineers also affect it. Originally the kilt was simply part of the tartan or plaid. which the wearer threw over his shoulders, and which, when the weather was cold, he twisted around his waist and thighs. It was only comparatively recently—a mere matter of a few hundred years or so—that the kilt be- came a separate and detachable garment. Those who are accustomed to it are unani- mous in declaring that for allowing comfort and freedom in the use of the limbs, and for guarding the wearer against the inclement elements, there is no article of personal wear so good as the kilt. Although the bilt itself is an extremely ancient garb, the Highland regiments them- selves cannot claim any very remote anti- quity, for they have been in existence for considerably less than two centuries. The definite association of the Highlanders with the Regular Army oniv began in 1725. In that year ten years after the Jacobite out-, break known as the "Fifteen" (1715)-General Wade was sent to Scotland With orders to send all clansmen who did not surrender their arms to serve the King in a red coat beyond sea, and in the same year four com- panies of Highlanders were raised. These were commanded respectivelv by Captains Lord Lovat, Sir Duncan Campbell, John Campbell, and George Grant, and as they wore their national dress of black, blue, and green tartan, which presented a sombre ap- pearance, they were called the "Black Watch." The four companies were soon in- creased to six of 110 men each, and in Novemn ber. 1739, orders were issued for the raising of four additional units, and for the forma- tion of a Highland regiment 780 strong. This was commanded by Colonel the Earl of Craw- ford, and, says the Hon. L. W. Fortescue's "History of the Army," to which we are indebted for naiy of the foregoing and fol- lowing facts: "Finally^ a few weeks later a s rgeant and private were brought down to London, the first kilted soldiers ever Keen in the capital, and were duly exhibited to the King, presumably with satisfaction to his sartorial mind." The regiment in ques- tions was originally called the 43rd of the line, and is now the 42nd (Royal Highlanders), famous the world' over under the sobriquet bestowed on the companies of 1725 viz., the Black Watch. The title of Royal Highlandera was conferred on it in 1861 Its 2nd Battalion is the old 73rd Foot. The oth r Highland kilted regiments, with the dates of their formation, are as follows: Seaforths (Ross^hire Buffs) (72nd and 78th Regiments), 1777. Gordon (75th and 92nd Regiments), 1787. Queen's Own Camerons (79th Regiment), 1793. Princess Louise's Argyll and Sutherlands (91st and 93rd Regim nts), 1794. The Camerons had originally only one line battalion (the 79th Reglment) and a Militia battalion, but-the latter, raised in 1804 and reduced in 1815, never saw any foreign 1tT- vice. A couple of y arB ago a. second liae battalion was added. The Highland Light Infantry, the two bat- talions of which were formerly known as the 71st and 74th Highland Regiments of Fo#t, | and were raised in 1777 and 1787 originally, is not a kilted regiment its and ttfn wearing the tartan trews or trousers. Ori- ginally, however, the 2nd Battalion had tlie full national uniform, but it proceeded im- mediately to India, and the kilt was diecardtd. there.

- MAZAWATTEE COCOA. ¡

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DEATH OF DR. DE WITT TALMAGE.

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- LORD WOLSELEY AS A COLONIAL…

,NEED BE NO APPREHENSION.

[No title]

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- TALKS ABOUT A TRIP. -

,-RHODES TOMB.

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)——— :THE STATUS OF THE BRITISH…

IUNION LINER ON THE ROCKS.…

THE ROYAL JUBILEE METAL EXCHANGE…

THE LATE DR. RICHARD HUGHES.

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