The Royal Scots
raised 1633
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The Bands of The Royal Scots
Raised by Royal Warrant in 1633, The Royal Scots is the oldest surviving regiment in the British Army. Under the command of Sir John Hepburn, the Regiment moved to France to fight in the service of Louis XIII during the Thirty Years War, thus continuing a tradition of Scottish involvement in French military affairs that dated back to the early 15th century.
Contemporary reports from the 1630s mention a pipe band of some 36 musicians - just one of whom survived the war unwounded - and refer too to 'The Scottish March', believed to be the march now known as 'Dumbarton's Drums'.
Having officially become part of the Scottish establishment in 1661, the Regiment returned to Britain in 1678. By the following year it was reported to consist of 21 companies, each of which had two drummers; there was also a Drum Major and a Pipe Major, this latter suggesting the presence of pipers, perhaps drummers doubling up.
The first reference we have to a military band comes with General Dilke's inspection of the 1st Battalion in 1763, when it was noted, 'This regiment hath fifers and a band of music.' The following decade an inspection report mentions '8 music', though this was evidently a fast-growing ensemble, for by 1800 there is a complaint that the Band is 'too large'.
This was to become a common theme in the early years of the 19th century. There was a concerted attempt to hold down the size of regimental bands in the infantry - the struggle to limit the cavalry bands had effectively been lost by now - and the strength of the musical establishment was in a constant state of flux. In 1815 the 1st Battalion could produce 22 musicians on parade; by 1822 this was down to one sergeant and 14 privates. The 2nd Battalion Band, similarly restricted to 15 members in the early 1820s, was by 1826 expanding again to include a sergeant, eight corporals and ten privates. And disapproval was also registered of the 4th Battalion in 1813, though the usefulness of having additional soldiers was also recognized:
Musicians: Playing very correct marching time; rather exceed the limited numbers but all are fit and trained for the ranks. Only clothed as musicians. Perhaps the only battalion that did not incur the displeasure of inspectors was the 3rd, whose reports in 1813 and 1815 state simply 'There is no band of music.'
Despite these struggles with authority, and despite the cost of maintaining musicians (accounts show that the 2nd Battalion spent œ400 simply on clothing its bandsmen in 1802/3), the role of the band in the social life of the battalion was highly valued. The atmosphere of the golden age of empire, and the band's contribution to it, is captured in an 1844 account by Colonel Bell of the 2nd Battalion:
I had my men on St George's Island and I believe everyone had a fishing rod. We caught lots of sea-fish and speared lobsters by torchlight; serenaded the Fleet in Karlow with our band and choir by moonlight, and had some nice picnic parties by daylight. Sketches from the 1860s show the 1st Battalion wearing white tunics with blue facings, wings of blue cloth, laced white and piped red, white waist-belt and band pouch with a brass St Andrew's cross. White pill-box hats with blue bands and lancer piping to the crown, a blue figure and a white button in the centre and a white St Andrew's cross in front were worn, though a photograph taken in Malta in 1878 shows this headwear replaced by a Glengarry, adorned with a badge similar to that worn today.
The 2nd Battalion Band in 1882 were wearing the usual uniform with a red embroidered bandsman's badge on the right arm, a white music pouch on the right-hand side of the waist-belt and a large shoulder plaid and silver brooch. The plaid and brooch, however, were abandoned soon after.
The first bandmasters to be mentioned are Mr Paolo Castaldini of the 1st Battalion and Mr Moynaugh of the 2nd; it is not known whether they were enlisted men or civilians, though the latter is more likely. What is certain is that Mr Castaldini was anything but popular with his own men. In 1847 a number of bandsmen were court martialled for an assault upon him; it appears that he was tied up in a sack and severely beaten.
Mr Moynaugh was succeeded by one of his own bandsmen, Samuel Griffiths, who had been on a student's course at Kneller Hall prior to his appointment. Mr Griffith's abilities were such that, after 16 years with The Royal Scots, he moved on to the Royal Military College (Sandhurst) and thence to Kneller Hall, where he served as Director of Music in the rank of 2nd Lieutenant.
Renowned as a composer - particularly memorable are an overture Hermolin and a motet 'God be Merciful unto Us' - Samuel Griffiths was also an important theorist. His work The Military Band is believed to be the first treatise on military band arranging, and his Hints on the Management of Army Bands was also influential.
During the Great War, whilst the bandmasters and boys remained at the depot to form the basis of new bands, most of the men went on active service. This was, of course, common to most of the musicians in the army, and amongst those fighting was Alexander MacDonald, who was awarded a Distinguished Conduct Medal in the ranks of the East Lancashire Regiment. Immediately following the war he took over the 2nd Battalion Band, re-building it and establishing it again as a popular attraction, especially in the seaside resorts of southern England. The 1st Battalion, meanwhile, appointed Sam Rhodes as Bandmaster in 1926. One of the great military musicians of the century, Mr Rhodes was eventually to become Director of Music of the Scots Guards and Senior Director in the Army.  Dance Band of 2nd Royal Scots, Egypt 1928 In 1933 the Regiment celebrated its tercentenary, and in recognition of its continued service, King George V gave the pipers the privilege of wearing the Royal Stewart tartan. With the outbreak of the Second World War, bandsmen again joined the troops to fight, with tragic consequences for both battalions. The 1st was part of the British Expeditionary Force, but was not destined to escape from Dunkirk. Following a series of rear-guard actions that took a heavy toll, the survivors were overrun at la Bassée Canal by the SS Totenkopf Division. Amongst those taken prisoner were the band sergeant and Lance-Corporal Jimmy Howe of the Band. Jimmy recalls:
By February 1941 musical instruments had been obtained from various sources, some from the Red Cross, others bartered from the German guards and from other prisoners - Jimmy, for example, acquired a piano accordion from a Polish prisoner of war in exchange for his watch. With such improvised instrumentation, the Stalag VIII Band was born. LCpl Howe's major contribution was composing and arranging; one of his songs, 'When I Come Home Sweetheart' appeared in the Stalag newspaper and, some 40 years later, was to form the trio tune in his march 'Stalag'. By this time, having held appointments with the Argyll & Sutherland Highlanders and the Scots Guards, Jimmy Howe had emerged as one of the most successful military musicians in the country. Even worse was in store for the 2nd Battalion. Stationed in Hong Kong when the Japanese attacked, they put up a desperate but doomed defence of the colony that ended with surrender on Christmas Day 1941. There were just four officers and 98 other ranks left of the Battalion, one of the casualties being the Bandmaster, Mr Jordan, killed in action on 10 December. Those who remained were taken prisoner, the majority dying when the Japanese ship they were on was sunk. The bands were re-formed, but for the 2nd Battalion it was a short-lived revival; in 1948 the Battalion went the way of the 3rd and 4th in the previous century and was disbanded. During the 1950s further action was seen by the bandsmen, then stationed in Cyprus. Tasks such as searching for EOKA arms were a regular part of life. Though this was perhaps the most tense posting, it was far from the only overseas service by the Band; it also played throughout Europe and as far afield as Japan, Canada, East Africa and Israel. In 1983 the Regiment celebrated its 350th anniversary with a parade at Holyrood Park and an inspection by the Queen. The last photograph of the Band, taken in 1994, shows it to be just 15 strong. On 15 March of that year, under the Options for Change programme, it was amalgamated with the bands of The Royal Highland Fusiliers and The King's Own Scottish Borderers to form The Lowland Band. The new Director of Music was Captain Graham Jones, and the Bandmaster was WO1 Tony Clarke.
The History of British Military Bands, Volume Two: Guards & Infantry
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