The Scottish War Memorials Project

David McNay

Located in Kelvingrove Park, Glasgow, this is the memorial to the men of the Highland Light infantry who fell in the South African War 1899-1902.

there is some damage to the statue. The figure used to be holding a rifle, but only a small fragment of this now remains. There is also a small amount of grafitti on the name plaque, and some of the lettering on the front of the memorial is missing.

Despite that, this is a very attractive memorial in a nice parkland setting.

alexmaclennan

This is what I recorded for the UKNIWM for the H.L.I. South African War Memorial, Kelvingrove Park, Glasgow

Main Dedication Inscription

TO THE MEMORY
OF
THE OFFICERS
NON-COMISSIONED OFFICERS AND MEN
OF THE
HIGHLAND LIGHT INFANTRY
WHO FELL
IN THE SOUTH AFRICAN WAR
1899 1900 – 01 - 02
ERECTED BY COMRADES AND FRIENDS

Roll of honour on brass plaque. Names are arranged by Battalion, then rank, then alphabetically by surname. Initial and surname guven. One decoration is mentioned.

1ST BATTALION
CAPT. F.A. LAMBTON CAPT. J.W.A. COWAN D.S.O.
2ND LIEUT. C.P.M. CRAGIE-HALKETT 2ND LIEUT. L.H. GIBSON
COL. SERGT. W. KEEGAN SERGT. J. THOMSON LANCE SERGT. J. KING
CORPORALS J.DUFF A. LANG A.MORGAN G.E.WHITE

PRIVATES (5 columns)
A. ALLAN
T. BARRY
W. BIRRELL
R. BOWIE
T. BROWN
W. BROWNLIE
W. BURD
G. CADDENS
F. CADNEY
W. CALL
D. CAMERON
W. CAMERON
J. CLARK
H. COLEMAN
J. DAWSON

J. DEMPSEY
J. DICK
J. DOCHERTY
J. DUNN 5300
J. DUNN 5932
F.R. ELLABY
A. FERGUSON
E. HEMS
G. HUNTER
G. INGRAM
W. JOHNSTON
J. JOHNSTONE
T. JORDAN
C. KENNEDY
W. KENNED

J. KINLAY
T. KINNEY
G. KNOX
A. LANG
D. LINDSAY
G. LOUGHTON
J. McATEER
J. McDERMAID
H. McDEVITT
J. McDOWALL
D. McFARLANE
D. McGREGOR
W. McLEAN
T. McKENNA
R.C. McKENZIE

H. McKIBBIN
P. McNAIR
M. MALONEY
D. MAULE
A. MAYN
J. MELLON
A. MILLER
J. MILLOY
F. MORTON
G. MUIR
J. NIVEN
B. OWENS
R. PARK
J. PATERSON
J.T. PATTERSON

H. SIMPSON
W. SIMPSON
J. SMITH
R. SNEDDON
T. SPROUL
J. SWEENEY
W.D. TAYLOR
F. TRAVIS
J. VALENTINE
W. WARDROP
J. WATSON
H.W. WHITE
J. WINNING
J. WORKMAN

MOUNTED INFANTRY COMPANIES

LANCE CORPORALS J.T. ALEXANDER W.HENDERSON
PRIVATES (5 columns)

E.H.R. ALFORD
T. CLARK
J. DALY
J. EVANS

J.B. FIGGEST
N. FRASER
J. GALBRAITH

G. GIBSON
H. HOLDER
C. IMRIE

G. LENTON
K. MACLEOD
J. McNEIL

S.A.J. MITCHELL
J. WEATHERALL
G. WILSON

3RD BATTALION
PRIVATES (5 columns)

P. FLANNIGAN
A. FRASER
T. KYLE
A. LYON
J. McCONVILLE
J. McDONALD
A. MACKIE
H. MARTAIN
J. MOFFAT
J. QUINN
J. SHAY
J. TIBBS
G. THOMPSON
W. WOOD

4TH BATTALION
PRIVATES (one name per column)

F. CAIRNS
E. KELLY
J. KIRK
T. McFADYEN
J. STEWART

VOLUNTEER SERVICE COMPANIES

PRIVATE J. JAMIESON 1ST V.B. H.L.I.
PRIVATE R.A. McGILLIVRAY 2ND V.B. H.L.I.
PRIVATE A. DOBIE 3RD V.B. H.L.I.
PRIVATE A. GRAY 9TH LANARK R.V.
SERGEANT W. BLACK 2ND V.B. H.L.I.
SERGEANT J. COOPER 3RD V.B. H.L.I.
LCE. CORPL. J. WALKER 9TH LANARK R.V.
PRIVATE D.M. ROSE 5TH V.B. H.L.I.

The monument depicts a soldier or army scout of the HLI straddling a rocky eminence and is memorable both for his jaunty pose and for the attention given to the costume detail. The soldier is gazing intently. He used to hold a rifle in his left hand but only a little of it remains due to vandalism.

This freestone memorial by sculptor William Birnie Rhind (1853-1933) is the earliest war memorial in Kelvingrove Park and was erected to commemorate men of the Highland Light Infantry who fell in the South African ‘Boer’ War (1899-1902).

The soldier is larger than lifesize but is still less than 2m high as he is sitting. Overall height of the memorial is about 6m.

The lowest stage comprises loose boulders which graduate into a rock-faced ashlar ‘outcrop’ bearing commemorative inscriptions on the east and west sides, before rising again into more naturalistic rockwork. The west side contains the dedication and the east side the brass plaque with names of the fallen.

The association with the Highland Light Infantry is meaningful as volunteer regiments drilled regularly in Kelvingrove Park into the early 20th century. A further monument connecting Birnie Rhind’s work with Kelvingrove Park is the seated male figure of Science on the Art Gallery and Museum’s South front, West end.

Category 'B' Listed

alex
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alex maclennan

john burnett · Joined: 29 Jan 2007 Posts: 483 Location: Fife

Thanks to David Burnett for these additional photos.