regiments, and are alone borne by the junior battalion, viz., the Haytor Volunteer Battalion. The Devonshire Territorial Regiment now consists of two line battalions for foreign service, two militia battalions, five volunteer battalions, of which the 1st and 2nd are rifles, total nine. The reformation and development of the volunteer force in the middle and latter half of the nineteenth century, with its embodiment into the territorial line regiments, has tended to increase the local _esprit de corps_ throughout the kingdom, and especially in Devon, where the movement had its birth. A short sketch of the formation and growth of the volunteers in Devon will, therefore, not only be of local interest, but will be an illustration of the steps taken in times of danger for the defence of our shores in the times of our grandfathers, and continued through the years of peace under our late imperial Sovereign, Queen Victoria. Plymouth and its immediate neighbourhood is the cradle in which the spirit of volunteer defence has been nurtured; frequently before the sixteenth century have French and Spaniards made or attempted landings there for pillage or destruction, but in each case they suffered severely from the resolute resistance of the townspeople. In the Civil War the inhabitants formed themselves into trained bands and resisted the Royalist siege. In 1745, when Prince Charlie, the young Pretender, landed in Scotland and gained the battle of Prestonpans, Plymouth again raised a body of volunteers; and in 1759, when France determined on a descent on England and had 18,000 men ready to embark on board the French fleet, Plymouth again raised two companies of volunteers to strengthen the militia, one of which undertook to clothe and feed itself. The destruction of the French fleet by Admiral Hawke, at the mouth of Quiberon Bay, and the decisive battle of Minden, where the 20th, or East Devon Regiment, learned its celebrated “Minden Yell,” removed for a time the fear of French invasion. When, therefore, in 1779, the combined fleets of France and Spain held for a time the possession of the English Channel, and the gallant Elliot was holding the rock of Gibraltar against famine and bombardment, and most of our army was fighting in America, the Spanish and French fleets suddenly appeared off Plymouth, causing great alarm for the safety of the dockyard and the numerous French prisoners in the port, the inhabitants were again ready to enroll themselves. Mr. William Bastard, of Kitley, the great grandfather of the present Mr. B. J. B. Bastard, the first Lieutenant-Colonel of the Haytor Volunteer battalion, offered to raise a force of 500 men as a corps of Fencibles, and in two days had 1,500 young men to select from, who wished for the honour of serving under him. On 23rd August, 1779, he escorted 1,300 war prisoners to Exeter for safety, and on the 25th delivered them to the commanding officer there, and at once returned with his regiment to Plymouth.