ambition of the poorest of the peasantry to accept no public relief; this feeling was common to all, and the greatest sacrifices were made by sons and daughters to prevent parents from _coming on the board_—_i.e._, from accepting assistance from the offertories made at the different churches for the benefit of the indigent. This feeling accompanied the Highland soldier to distant lands, and led him to submit to many privations in order to save money for the support of his parents, who were thus enabled to retain their self-esteem and to enjoy the respect of the community in which they lived. On examining the papers of the late Sir Ewen Cameron of Fassiefern, the father of Colonel Cameron of the 92nd Highlanders, it was found that large sums of money had been remitted from different parts of the world by soldiers for the support of their parents. Writing from Alexandria, 24th August, 1801, to his father, Colonel Cameron thus alludes to this trait in the character of his men:—“I wrote you before leaving Newport, inclosing a bill on Charles Erskine for money belonging to _Ewen dubh Taillear_ (black Hugh the Tailor), and from Marmorice Bay, a letter with money for _Ewen dubh Coul_ (black Hugh of Coul); also money for the two Macphies.” Writing on the 14th December, 1809, after his return from the disastrous expedition to Walcheren, Colonel Cameron says—“The Bo-man’s (cattle-herd’s) son has begged of me to forward you (inclosed) one half of ten-pound note to assist his father’s family. The other half he will forward to his brother by next post. He is a very _siccer_ (steady) lad.” It is a pleasing duty to commemorate the filial affection of those gallant old soldiers who have now gone the way of all flesh, and to testify from our own experience that in the ranks of our Highland regiments there are still men possessed of the same frugal habits and the same dutiful attachment to their parents as the Bo-man’s son. If the number has diminished of late years, it is because the feeling of honest pride which led the children to provide for their parents has been weakened through the operation of that Poor Law which has effected so many important changes in the social condition of the lowly. [Illustration] [Illustration] CHAPTER IX. OUR HIGHLAND REGIMENTS—_continued_.