Scottish Guide History
1908 continued...
The proudest moment in the lives of the Girl Scouts was when they were allowed to "parade" with the Boy Scout troop, and marched with them to a wood, about three miles outside Glasgow, led by a bugle band. In the wood they lit their own fire and made tea in billycans and joined with the boys in scouting games.
In 1910, the Cuckoo patrol of Girl Scouts changed most reluctantly to the Thistle Patrol of Girl Guides. They felt that Guiding could never be quite as much fun as Scouting. This patrol was never registered, as in the Autumn of 1910 Allison Cargill went away to school and the patrol lapsed. The first Glasgow Guide Company was registered in December 1911.
There was in Edinburgh another patrol of Girl Scouts, the Shelties, attached to the 33rd Edinburgh Boy Scout troop. This patrol was afterwards registered in July 1910 as the 1st Midlothian Guide Company, and has since changed its name to the 1st Edinburgh.
The first Girl Guide Company to be registered in Scotland was the 1st Peebles, founded by Lady Erskine, whose daughter, Veronica, was a keen Guide. The first meeting took place on 26th February 1910; there were three patrols. Miss Erskine gives the following account of the company:
The Guides assembled outside Venlaw front door, soon after lunch; the captains were given sealed orders for the day: each Patrol went off on a different activity, both inside and outside the house, i.e. to make beds, have a sick-nurse talk, to light fires (indoors and out), to have some sense-training competition, such as smelling; to track, to harness the ponies; to learn to use the telephone between the house and stables etc.
Each Guide brought her own food, and each one possessed a billycan; each patrol made its own tea, which was sometimes eaten all together or separately - often as part of some Scouting game. The company had drill or dancing to finish up with; as the evenings drew longer, so did the time to dismissal and in the summer time they often did not break up till eight o'clock. Quite early a drum and two bugles we brought and the company marched away down the hill and through the town to the strain of the fine band.
Later on fourteen girls used to meet at noon at the Hydropathic for swimming lessons; they had lunch and walked about two miles to the hall, doing an observation test on the way. The swimming lessons bore good fruit, for that summer one of Guides was able to save a boy's life while bathing at Aberdour.
On 8th October 1910, Sir Edward Tennant opened a hall, presented by Lady Erskine, equipped in every detail, with cooking stove, sink, piano, platform etc. The Guides were very proud of this hall and the floor was kept spotlessly clean, the walls were mainly decorated with Union Jacks, made by each Guide for Second Class badges. Twelve Guides won their First Class badges on January 14th 1911.
In July of this year the King and Queen came to Holyrood Palace and Lady Erskine, thinking this was a great opportunity to inspire the Guides with loyalty, put a notice in the Scotsman, undertaking to look after any Guides who came to Edinburgh. Four hundred Guides accepted invitations. They lined one side of the route and were afterwards entertained to tea.
This must have been the first general rally of the Scottish Girl Guides.
