Books detailing military music are rare, with books on Scottish military
music rarer still. Almost no academic attention has been given to the
history of Scottish regimental Pipes and Drums and the essential role
they have performed for centuries, both in times of war and peace, in
relation to regimental identity, tradition, daily life, morale and
esprit de corps. Strike Up, Strike Sure describes, for the first time,
the unique, ground-breaking, and distinguished history of one such band;
the Pipes and Drums of the London Scottish Regiment. This pipe band,
from a Volunteer, Territorial, Reserve regiment located in the Scottish
Diaspora in London, has had a profound and direct impact on Scottish
military music and pipe band culture and traditions for over 225
years.
Drawing on previously unexplored resources from the archives of the
London Scottish Regimental Museum, in conjunction with other original
research, Duncan de Silva has produced a unique, in-depth historical
account of the London Scottish Regiment Pipes and Drums from their
foundations within the Highland Armed Association and Loyal North
Britons during the Napoleonic Era, through the formation of the London
Scottish Regiment in 1859, in to their wartime exploits during the Boer,
First and Second World Wars and including their peacetime role and
influence throughout the Victorian, Edwardian and modern Elizabethan
periods.
The book describes the earliest recorded reference to pipers and
drummers playing together as a band and the role the initial
incarnations of the London Scottish Pipes and Drums played (through
their association with the Highland Society of London) in keeping
Scottish bagpipe music in general, and military pipe music in
particular, alive and in a position to recover after the Jacobite
Rebellions. Members of the band recorded the first military bagpipe
music in 1898, highlighting the prestigious position of the London
Scottish Regiment during the Victorian era, and this status as one of
the elite volunteer regiments, influenced the decision to send them into
battle at Messines in October 1914 as the first Territorial regiment to
enter combat. A detailed description of the roles, responsibilities, and
repercussions for the Pipes and Drums throughout the First and Second
World Wars is presented, emphasizing the importance of each London
Scottish battalion pipe band and highlighting the significance of
military pipe music for all Scottish regiments in times of war.
An in-depth analysis is also made of the role of the Pipes and Drums in
times of peace, during the interwar period of 1919 to 1939, as well as
the ever-changing position and circumstances for both the London
Scottish Regiment and its Pipe Band, post Second World War and through
to the current day.
The book is illustrated throughout with exceptional color and black and
white images, many of which have never previously been published,
vividly bringing to life the details of the text as well as illustrating
the routine life, times and personality of the enlisted and civilian
pipers and drummers whose story this volume evocatively portrays.
