Blair Collection > Celtic monthly > Volume 7, 1899

THE CELTIC MONTHLY.
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MAJOR MACKENZIE KENNEDY,
Norfolk Rcgrimcnt.
M VM I.U HA' Kl,\/:il', M.;SSl.Ji\.
fOAN myself lay no claim to being Scotch,
for my father was of French origin, his
ancestors having come over from Nor-
mandy at the revocation of the Edict of Nantes,
but for my husband's and the children's sake 1
take a great interest in clans and Highland
customs, and in the staunchness, bravery, ^nd
independence that seem to appertain especially to
all that is Scotch.
The Marquis of Ailsa is the head of their
family, but their more immediate I'elations have
been scattered abroad in all parts of the world.
Many have been in the army, and some have
died young. It was gratif3ing when I took our
eldest boy and girl on their first visit to the
north of Scotland, to .see as we walked out of one
of the large railway stations a more than life-
sized statue of the well known and much beloved
Dr. Kennedy, and to be able to tell them he was
their great-great grandfather.
There were also tablets inscribed to the
memory of their grandfather and their great-
grandfather, the one a clergyman and the other
a major in the 1st Royals, in the Inverness
Cathedral.
But the story they love most to hear is of their
brave young great-uncle, l.irother to the above,
who carried the colours at the battle of Waterloo,
when only fifteen years of age. How, when
wounded in the arm, he was sent back to have
it dressed, and in.stead ot remaining with the
invalids, he had it hastily bandaged, and rushed
back again into the thickest of the tight, bearing
the precious colours bravely aloft in triumph
with the uninjured arm. Soon afterwards he
was mortally wounded, but even in death he
held the token of victory that had been entrusted
to his keeping so tiiraly that it could not
easily be taken from his grasp. How, seeing
this, a comrade lifted both his lifeleiss body and
the colours, the sign of Britain's honour, from
the ground and carried them silently ofl' the
field, and the enemy, touched by the spectacle of
such extreme youth and so much bravery,
ordered the " cease fire " to be sounded for them
to pass ! Some artist, i am told, made it the
subject of a beautiful oil painting, although I
have never seen more than a crumpled and dis-
coloured print, a small copy very likely of the
painting, but I hojje we shall come across the
original some day. We Kennedys shall never
forget the young boy's heroism.
.My grandfather was also at Waterloo, an
ensign in the 40th Regiment, and maybe they
knew each other and were friends. Th(i life of
one was made complete in a very few short
years, the other lived to fight and be wounded
in many other battles for his country, his king
and his queen, and then to enjoy a peaceful old
age-
He was indeed a credit and an ornament to
his noble line of ancestry, and we must hope
that the younger members of his clan, though
living, happily, in more peaceful times, will each
in their several ways try to follow his example,
ever upholding a high standard of right, ever
ready to fight against tyranny and oppression, be
bi'Eve to endure pain and discomfort if it is for
the good of others, true to duty and honour even
unto death, and transmitting, we will trust, the
feeling that " noblesse oblige " in its deepest
sense to their children's children for many
generations.
i„ji,, Sara Mackenzie Kennedy.
The Clan Donnachaidh Society.— The annual
gathering was held at Dunkeld last month, and was
well attended. Struan, chief of the clan, occupied
the chair. Mrs Robertson Matheson reported that
SG new members had juuied, and the balance at
the credit of the society was £204.