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Page 3
The insurgents are fighting bravely, and the Powers, though doing their
best to prevent trouble, are in much the same position that they were a
week ago.
The real excitement of the week has been the landing from the British
warships of a troop of Highlanders. These soldiers, by their extraordinary
dress, caused a panic among the Turks, who, not knowing whether they were
friends or foes, mortals or bogies, proceeded to attack them.
The Turkish officers with great difficulty succeeded in quieting their men
and persuading them that the Highlanders were men and friends, but the
fame and the terror of them spread all over the island.
The insurgents heard that a new race of men had been landed by the allies,
and in their ignorance and superstition they fancied that some new and
terrible kind of creature had been sent against them.
There was a small panic among the Cretans for a few days, and it was not
until they had sent scouts to discover what kind of beings these were, and
the report had come back that these terrible Highlanders were but men
after all, that they had the courage to continue the fighting.
This is not the first time that the appearance of these men has struck
terror into the heart of an enemy, and in truth they are a very imposing
body of men, all of them over six feet in height. They walk with the
light, springing step that is peculiar to all Highlanders, and they hardly
seem to touch the ground as they march over it. They march to the music of
the bagpipes, which adds not a little to the awe which, they inspire. The
bagpipe is of all instruments the most uncanny and weird. When you see a
Highland regiment marching to the music of bagpipes, it seems to be the
only true music to which soldiers should march. Its wails and shrieks
sound like the groans of the dying, and the drone of the bass notes has a
fierce sound as it throbs and marks the tramp of the soldiers' feet, that
speaks of battle and conquests, and the advance of a victorious army.
These are not the only things which help to make foreigners believe the
Highlanders some uncommon kind of creature. In addition, the costume they
wear is so strange, that it is easy to understand how terrible they must
appear to foreign eyes.
They are dressed in the old Scotch fashion, with short stockings, bare
knees, and kilts (a short skirt which comes nearly to the knee). Over
their shoulders hangs the "plaidie," which is a long shawl. They wear a
tight coat, and in front of them hangs the sporran, a pocket made of white
fur. The crowning glory of the Highland regiment is the bonnet. This is a
hideous structure of brown beaver; it is over a foot in height, and from
the side hang three mournful black plumes. This curious dress makes the
men look about eight feet high, and as they are all strong,
broad-shouldered fellows, they seem like giants.
At the battle of the Alma, in the Crimean war, the Forty-Second
Highlanders turned the fate of the fight by their appearance.
They were ordered to attack a position held by the Russians, and when they
sprang forward to the charge, their kilts and plaids floating around them,
their bare knees glistening, and their huge bonnets and waving plumes
making them look so tall, the Russians were terror-stricken. Seeing their
white sporrans wave as they ran, the Russians mistook them for small
horses, and could not believe that these terrible-looking creatures were
but men running.
Crying out to each other that the Angels of Death on their snow-white
horses were riding them down, the Russians dropped their arms, and fled in
the greatest confusion.
Stories without number are told of the way Highlanders, left on the field
of battle, have frightened the enemy into letting them escape, and a piper
seems to need no protection but his pipes. In the Indian mutiny, one blast
of them was enough to scatter a score of natives.
[Illustration: Her Majesty's Scottish Highlanders.]
It is not to be wondered at that both Cretans and Turks were a little
alarmed at the sight of these brawny, petticoated soldiers.
The main part of the interest in Greek and Turkish affairs is centring
itself along the Greek frontier.
The Powers sent word to Greece, that unless the troops are recalled from
the frontier, they will blockade all her ports.
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