Do you hear it, all of you, and remember. Listen!
"Markers outwards turn. Quick march."
"Up, number four. Look sharp. That'll do."
"Markers, steadi-i-i-i-i----."
"Right turn."
"Fall in." And then the final great roar of--
"Stop all that yammering." And how quickly it stopped, too.
Do you remember it, and who said it? Of course you do, just as clearly
as I myself do. You remember those early mornings, too. The sleepy
chatter stilled in an instant to silence. And all those other days,
too, when custom had made it imperative on all parades, it was part of
us and our ceremonial.
[Illustration: Lieut. and Q.-M. (formerly Regimental Sergeant
Major) JAMES KELLY.
_To face page 84._]
[Illustration: Mrs. DAVID S. MORTON,
Convener of the Comforts Committee.
_To face page 85._]
The repeating of it to ourselves conjures up the history of those
never-to-be-forgotten days and carries back our spirits to commune
with all those gone before us.
I say it to myself often now just to bring before me those wonderful
memories. I have heard it on the sea front at Troon; on the Hills of
Dundonald; at Prees Heath, in the lovely woodlands and parks of
England; on the moors of Yorkshire; at Sheffield. It has sounded over
the vast spaces of Salisbury Plain, and in France and Flanders, where
all it stands for was so wonderfully justified and upheld, calling up
that wonderful spirit and special discipline. That was the dear old
Seventeenth.