ON Sunday a gathering took place in Clydesdale which gave the lie to an old army song; when it comes to the Cameronians, not only do Old Soldiers Never Die, they don't even Fade Way either!
There was a large turnout of veterans, family and friends at Douglas that day to mark the very special 40th anniversary of the disbandment of the Cameronian (Scottish Rifles) Regiment after almost 300 years of service in battlefields throughout the world.
In line with their regiment's Covenanting traditions, the heart of Sunday's celebrations was a Conventicle, the now annually-held religious church parade held on the very spot in a field on Douglas Dale where, in 1689, the young Earl of Angus first raised the unit.
Originally formed as an emergency, temporary measure to quell an early Jacobite rebellion, this 'temporary' duty to the Crown carried on until 1968! Wherever there was a war to fight or a troublespot to police anywhere in the British Empire, the Cameronians were sent to do the job.
On Sunday, the now dwindling, but still immensly proud, group of veteran Cams joined families and friends for what was probably the last major anniversary Conventicle, although the annual ceremony at Douglas will still carry on under the auspices of the Cameronian Family and Friends group. By the time the next major milestone of the 50th disbandment anniversary comes along, the very youngest ex-Cam will be in his seventies.
Still, Sunday's proceedings at Douglas, which included an 'ordinary' church service as well as a Conventicle, showed that there was plenty of life left yet in those who proudly fought wearing the famous star cap badge of the regiment.
It proved that the Cameronians, despite a foolish government decision forty years ago, are still not quite ready yet to March Into History....