Engaged in the Frontier Wars, 1877-1879
“Between fifty and sixty men of the 21st Regiment left Ayr Barracks yesterday forenoon under command of Captain Falls. They will proceed to the Curragh Camp, where they will join the main body of the 21st under orders for the Cape. The men were escorted to the railway station by the band of the Ayrshire and Wigtown Militia and a crowd of people.”
Dundee Courier, 18/2/1879
“The 4th battalion of Royal Scots Fusiliers (late Royal Ayrshire and Wigtown Militia Regiment) were reviewed yesterday on Ayr racecourse by General M’Donald, Commander of the Forces in North Britain. The weather has not been good during the training time, but the health of the men was excellent, and their conduct has been good. To-day the regiment will be disbanded......”
Edinburgh Evening News, 6/8/1881
“The Third Battalion Royal Scots Fusiliers (late Ayr and Wigtown Militia) were yesterday for the third time since their incorporation as a regiment presented with a new set of colours, the ceremony, which was attended with the finest weather, taking place on the racecourse, Ayr, in presence of a large concourse of spectators. Part of the day’s proceedings, and probably the most impressive part, included the trooping of the old colours. The Third Battalion was originally an Ayrshire regiment, and was, on its being first organised in 1802, on a nucleus comprising the non-commissioned officers of the then Ayr and Renfrew Militia, styled the Ayrshire Militia. In 1860 the regiment was amalgamated with the Wigtownshire quota of the Galloway Militia, and the combined regiments became known as the Prince Regent’s Royal Ayr and Wigtown Militia, which designation it was known by till 1881, when it was designated Fourth Battalion Royal Scots Fusiliers. At the recent reorganisation of the regiments, the designation was again changed to that it is known by at present – Third Battalion Royal Scots Fusiliers. The regiment has always had a very close connection with Ayr, and though it has never been in active service, it from time to time, in the earlier stages of its existence, furnished large contingents of officers and men to the regiments of the line. The first commander of the regiment was Col. Archibald Lord Montgomerie and Lieut.-Col the Earl of Galloway, the present commander, has held the command since 1873. The first colours were presented to the regiment by Lady Montgomerie on 15th June, 1803. These colours continued to be used till 1868, when, on 4th August of that year, they were superseded by a new set presented to the regiment by the Marchioness of Ailsa, wife of the late Marquis of Ailsa. The old colours appear to have been preserved for some time in Dumbarton Castle, but they were in 1883 handed over to the officers of the regiment, and have been in their keeping since......”
Glasgow Herald, 31/7/1889
With thanks to Berenice Baynham for this informarion.
