CHILDHOOD--EARLY TENDENCIES--THE 'HOUSEHOLD TROOP'--EDUCATION--NAVAL
TRAINING--THE 'BRITANNIA'--THE 'ST. GEORGE'--PRINCE ALFRED.
General Wauchope's boyhood was spent mostly at Niddrie, with
occasional short visits in summer to the other property of the family
at Yetholm, among the pastoral Cheviot hills.
A high-spirited, frolicsome boy, delighting in the open air and every
kind of outdoor sport, 'Andy,' as he was familiarly called, found
scope for his energies in the beautifully wooded park surrounding the
house. Bird-nesting, rabbit-catching, and fishing in the burn which
meanders through the estate, found him an ardent enthusiast, but
often brought him into trouble with his father and mother. His
bird-nesting feats, prosecuted with all the zest of a professional
poacher, often resulted in the dislocation of his clothes, and shoes
and stockings too often betrayed the fact that friendly visits to the
burn were more frequent and prolonged than ought to be. Many a time
Andy was thus in a sore plight. Drenched and torn, he would go to
the kindly gardener's wife, to get the rents in his jacket sewed, his
stockings changed, and his shoes dried, before venturing into the
family presence. In his adventures over the property, the burn was
never a barrier to his {26} progress. It was the same with hedges,
ditches, or stone walls. If he wanted to reach a certain point, he
made a straight road to it over every obstacle.
[Sidenote: Youthful tendencies]
But the limits of the park did not always satisfy his roving desires.
He soon made himself acquainted with the surroundings of his home.
Craigmillar Castle was a favourite resort on the one side; the beach
at Portobello gave him a taste for the sea and aquatic exercise;
while the neighbouring little village of Niddrie was not long in
making his acquaintance. Here he was known to every one, for Andy
made himself at home in every cottage; and if the boys stood in some
awe of him, and mothers blamed him for sending their sons home with
their clothes torn, or their noses bleeding, still, for all that, he
was always welcomed among them, sometimes with a 'jeelie' (jelly)
piece or a new-baked scone!
Many a frolic he and the boys of the village were engaged in, if all
tales were told, and sometimes Andy got credit for more than he
deserved. Boys will be boys, but his boyhood early showed the spirit
of the man, for to have a number of country boys together, and put
them through military drill, was the height of his delight. He was a
born leader, and he doubtless imbibed his love of soldiering from the
frequent opportunities he had of seeing military manoeuvres in the
Queen's Park, or more likely on Portobello sands, where at that time
there was a great deal of drilling, both of the regulars and of the
yeomanry cavalry. That the military instinct revealed itself early
may be gathered from the following:--One day the village dominie,
worthy old Mr. Savage, looking out of the school door across the
road, saw the youthful form of Andy--then about seven or eight years
old--on the top of the high boundary wall of his father's park, which
at that place is {27} nearly nine feet high. 'What are you doing up
there?' shouted the dominie; 'get down at once, you young rascal, or
you'll get killed!' But Andy only waved his hand as he shouted back,
'It's all right, Mr. Savage: I'm only viewing the enemy,' and off he
scampered along the top of the wall!
Andy's 'household troop' was not a large one, but it sufficed. With
Tom and Jim, the gardener's sons, and their sisters, Jess and Bella,
assisted by a few male and female recruits from among the children of
the other workers, with his sister Fanny and his cousins Elizabeth
and Nina Elliot, now Lady Northesk and Mrs. J. Dacre Butler
respectively--one of whom carried the banner, and another the
drum--the youthful general managed to make a fair show. He drilled
them well, and was naturally very proud of them. One day there
happened to be company at the house. Andy, anxious to display his
forces, marched them up to the front door, and there, seated on his
little black pony 'Donald,' he put them through their facings, to the
great entertainment of the visitors. He was not content with this,
however. He must needs take the place by storm, and so, putting
himself at the head of his troop, he gave the word of command,
'Forward, march!' and actually marched them into the hall, and
through the dining-room to the terrace at the back of the house,
bravely leading them on his pony!
The ice-house stood in the park not very far from the house. It was
a vaulted chamber covered with turf, forming externally a mound which
made a capital fort. Many a time was it the scene of mimic warfare,
its defence or assault giving splendid scope for the youthful
general's military genius,--brilliant attacks being as brilliantly
defeated without any great loss of life!
Sometimes 'Andy's' attacks took a wider range, and {28} nocturnal
escapades of a frolicking nature are said to have been not
infrequent. It is told of him that having gathered a few of the
village boys together, they made a raid one night upon the workshop
of the village joiner, and took away a number of odd cart-wheels
lying about in the yard. These they fastened to the doors of some of
the cottages, where they were found next morning, much to the
surprise of the inmates, who had some difficulty in getting egress
from their houses! Nobody, of course, could tell who was to blame;
but, as our informant remarked, 'They a' kent wha did it: it was just
some o' Maister Andra's mischief.'
One old woman in the village, whose temper was not very good, and who
laboured under the conviction that her hen-house was from time to
time robbed of its roosters, had made herself somewhat obnoxious, and
it was determined to give her a real fright. So one evening, after
all decent folks were supposed to be in bed, Andy and his company
slipped quietly round to the hen-house, and presently there was a
great commotion and cackling among the feathered occupants. The old
lady in her bed heard it all, but was too frightened to come to the
rescue. She was certain, however, that some of her favourite hens
had been taken, and next day she went up to the laird at the big
house to complain, and to ask compensation. Andy was with his father
when the old woman was laying off her story, but betrayed no signs of
his complicity in the transaction, wisely preferring to keep his own
counsel in the matter. Of course the boys had taken none of her
property. They only wanted to play a trick upon her.
Andy was, however, not a boy who would perpetrate any wilful
mischief, or do anything that would cause pain. He hated cruelty,
and once when he was accused of having {29} killed the cat of an old
servant of the family, who lived as a pensioner in the village, he
heard the accusation with the greatest indignation. Going at once to
Mary's house he strongly asserted his innocence, telling her with all
earnestness, 'I'd rather shoot myself, as shoot your cat, Mary.'
Very early in life he evinced a strong desire to share in the sport
of the hunting-field. His father would not, however, hear of it, and
refused to allow him to get a proper rig-out. But Master Andrew was
not to be balked in his ambition, for one morning, getting into a
pair of his father's top-boots, many sizes too large for him, and
securing the biggest horse in the stables, he boldly set off for the
hunt. The appearance of such a mite with boots that would scarcely
keep on his feet, on the back of a big hunter, created great laughter
among the county gentry at the meet.
[Sidenote: Early education]
During these early years of Wauchope's life, so free from restraint,
his education was being carried on at home under a tutor. At the age
of eleven he was sent to a school at Worksop, in Nottinghamshire, but
he did not remain there very long. He had a hankering for active
life, and specially for the sea. It was accordingly resolved to
prepare him for entering the navy as a midshipman, and he was sent to
Foster's School, Stubbington House, Gosport. His experience here was
also a short one, and was marked by an incident characteristic of his
spirit of adventure and faithfulness to obligations; though in this
case we must say the latter virtue was rather misapplied, and it
might well be said 'his faith unfaithful kept him falsely true.' The
boys at Foster's, evidently wanting to vary the monotony of school
life--perhaps none of the brightest--thought it would be a good lark
if one would run away from the school, and they resolved to draw lots
who it {30} should be. The lot fell upon young Andy Wauchope, and,
like the loyal lad he was, he resolutely stuck to the agreement and
ran off from the school, but of course he was promptly brought back
by his people, and no doubt received the just reward of his frolic!
He used to say long afterwards that he had only been at two schools
when he was a boy. 'At one of them he was said to be the best boy in
the school, but at the other he was the very worst!'
With what would now be considered a very inadequate training, young
Wauchope was on the 10th September 1859 entered as a naval cadet on
board Her Majesty's ship _Britannia_, there to pick up in the rough
school of a sailor's life that knowledge of the world, and
particularly of his naval duties, which books and schooling had
denied him. At the same time, though deprived of the advantages of
Eton or Harrow, or any of the Scottish Universities, he had a much
better gift than education--an immense natural shrewdness, and a
persevering application, which afterwards made him a good French and
German scholar. Among his shipmates on the _Britannia_ he was a
general favourite. He was only thirteen years of age, but appears to
have been a plucky little fellow, full of life and fun, and quite
capable of standing up for himself, or for a friend if need be; and
in the thirteen months of his service in the ship he made several
lifelong friendships. Admiral Lord Charles Beresford, writing to us
of that period, mentions that he and Wauchope joined the navy about
the same time. 'I remember,' he says, 'our chests were close
together in the _Britannia_. We separated when we went to sea, but
we never lost the friendship we formed in the _Britannia_. We met
often in different parts of the world, and I always {31} found him
the same sterling, honest, strong, and chivalrous friend, whose
splendid characteristics had so impressed me as a boy. I have always
regarded his friendship for me with sentiments of pride. He was very
proud of being a Scotsman, and being an Irishman myself, we had many
arguments--as boys will have--as to which nation possessed the most
interesting personalities. We agreed cordially on every other point,
but never once on this. The nation has lost one of its best in poor
Andy Wauchope.' There are doubtless others of his _Britannia_
shipmates surviving who could give similar testimony.
[Sidenote: Enters the Navy]
On the 5th October 1860, Wauchope received his discharge from the
_Britannia_, and was entered as a midshipman on board H.M.S. _St.
George_, and he mentions himself with what pride and satisfaction he
found himself on that autumn day walking down the main street of
Portsmouth in his new uniform to join the _St. George_. 'It was one
of the happiest days of my life,' he says; 'a day in which I felt
myself identified as an officer in Her Majesty's service, more
particularly as on the way down to the harbour I was met and saluted
by one of the marines.'
The _St. George_ was manned by eight hundred men, and in 1860 was
considered a well-equipped vessel, and as compared with the days of
Nelson and Collingwood showed a great advance in naval strength and
efficiency. At Trafalgar the biggest gun in the whole British fleet
was only a fifty-six pounder, but the _St. George_ had in addition to
a number of that calibre several sixty-eight pounders, while her
speed of ten knots an hour was considered highly satisfactory.
Though these equipments would not bear comparison with present-day
standards, the young midshipman was proud of his ship and proud of
the service, and in after years could with no little exultation {32}
honestly say that, 'though armaments had changed, the hearts of oak
remained as of yore; while the old red rag, which had withstood the
battle and the breeze for a thousand years, was still able to claim
the allegiance of its people.'
[Sidenote: H.R.H. Prince Alfred]
Wauchope's commanding officer on board the _St. George_ was Captain
the Hon. Francis Egerton--whose son, Commander Egerton, was killed at
Ladysmith in November 1899--and among his brother officers were
H.R.H. Prince Alfred, afterwards the Duke of Edinburgh, and latterly
known as the Duke of Saxe-Coburg Gotha, and Admiral Sir Robert
Harris, now Commander-in-Chief of the Cape of Good Hope station.
The _St. George_ was commissioned at Portsmouth, and was transferred
to Devonport early in 1861. She was then one of the noblest and most
imposing-looking ships of the service, having the year before been
thoroughly overhauled and converted from a one hundred and twenty gun
ship to one of ninety guns. As a three-decker sailing ship she was
considered one of the finest fighting vessels afloat, and her
conversion to a steamship of the line had been attended with the most
successful results. She was selected by Prince Albert for his son,
the youthful Prince Alfred, who joined her as a midshipman a few
months after Wauchope--on the 16th January 1861--as she lay in
Plymouth Sound, under orders for a cruise to the British North
American Stations and the West India Islands.
The greater part of the year seems to have been spent in and about
Halifax, the capital of Nova Scotia, which became a centre for
cruises in the Gulf of St. Lawrence and the Canadian ports. We have
it on the authority of several of those who were midshipmen with the
Prince, that they were a jovial, happy company, all on the most
friendly {33} terms with one another. The Prince, who was very fond
of 'Andy,' as he was always called, showed him particular friendship,
and the affection which as boys and shipmates they formed then
continued more or less in later years.
The Prince came back to England in the month of August to spend a
short holiday with his parents at Balmoral, but rejoined his ship,
which was lying at Halifax, in October. His return was welcomed by
his mates and by the citizens of that town; and the Governor, the
Earl of Mulgrave, entertained His Royal Highness and the officers of
the _St. George_ at a state dinner on the eve of their departure for
a cruise to Bermuda. Among the sunny islands of the South the ship
and her crew were everywhere received with the utmost enthusiasm, the
black and white population alike vying with each other in their
demonstrations of loyalty; but the sudden death of the Prince Consort
at the end of December compelled the return home for a time of Prince
Alfred, who left his ship at Halifax on receipt of the sad news, with
every expression of sympathy from his brother officers. In the
spring of 1862 Wauchope's ship paid another visit to the West India
Islands, taking up her station for some weeks with other six ships of
the line at Bermuda, where the young 'middies' were entertained to a
continued round of amusements and excursions.
A seafaring life, if often one of risks and toil, has its seasons of
enforced idleness. Midshipmen's amusements and practical jokes are
proverbial, and the quarter-deck of the _St. George_ was not always
free of them. Many pranks were played upon one another in idle hours
by these sprightly young officers, leading sometimes to reprimands by
their superiors; and young Andy Wauchope did not {34} always escape
the suspicion that he was an active leader in such ploys. It has
even been hinted that he had on one occasion the pluck--or, shall we
say, audacity?--to have a stand-up fight with the Queen's son. We do
not vouch for the story; but of this we are certain, that, if he had
a just cause of quarrel, he was not the boy to let even the prestige
of royalty stand between him and the punishment due to the aggressor,
whoever he might be.
Some years afterwards, in the winter of 1863-64, when Prince Alfred
resided at Holyrood Palace, and was a student of Edinburgh
University, he paid a friendly visit to his old shipmate at Niddrie,
spending the day in pigeon-shooting. He and a number of his friends
arrived in the forenoon on horseback, and the identity of the party
not having been made known to the keeper of the Niddrie toll, through
which they had to pass to reach the house, he peremptorily insisted
upon payment. But being told that it was the Queen's son going to
see the laird, his loyalty so much got the better of him that he
would not take a copper.
After luncheon the party adjourned to the park to have some shooting.
Mr. Wauchope, 'Andy's' father, was with them, and was persuaded to
try a shot, but unfortunately the piece went off in his hand before
he could take aim, and one of the footmen in attendance was hit in
the arm by the charge. Mr. Wauchope was so distressed over the
accident that he vowed he would never again take a gun in his hand.
[Illustration: ANDREW WAUCHOPE, Midshipman, Age 14.]
But it was not in the navy that young Wauchope was destined to
distinguish himself. It has been said that the severity and even
harshness of the naval discipline gave him a distaste of the service,
and drove him from it. Possibly some remarks he made on one occasion
as to his {35} having been unjustly punished for some petty offence
may have given some colour to this supposition. We rather incline to
accept the explanation of a brother officer, who asked him afterwards
why he left the navy. His reply was, 'for no reason except that his
father wished him, and that his father desired that he should have a
naval training before he entered the army.'
[Sidenote: The St. George]
The experience gained at sea was certainly not lost, for his father's
wisdom furnished him with a dual equipment which in after years was
not infrequently of value. The injustice of the punishment he
received when in the _St. George_, whatever it may have been,
certainly impressed itself upon him to this extent, that later in
life he made it a rule never to punish a soldier until thoroughly
satisfied of his guilt, and he always was inclined to give a man the
benefit of a doubt.
The _St. George_ returned home in the beginning of July 1862 from her
long cruise in American waters, and with her return young Wauchope
closed his naval career. The official Admiralty record simply states
that 'on the 3rd of July 1862 Midshipman Wauchope was discharged from
the service at his own request, in order that he might qualify for
the army.' His whole naval experience, therefore, covered a period
of scarcely three years, but it gave him a knowledge of men and
things, and a knowledge of the world, better, perhaps, than any study
of books could afford.
{36}