this month\u2019s poem<\/a> and see. It was found amongst a collection written by John James Harrower Ferguson RAMC, Medical Officer in the 9th Seaforth Highlanders during 1915, who wrote under the nom de plume \u201cZem Zem\u201d. Most of his poems are neatly typed and signed, but this one was handwritten and the only name that appears is a G.S.Smail. There was a Lieutenant George Sommerville Smail in the 9th Seaforths at that time and \u201cMaster Smail\u201d is mentioned in Ferguson\u2019s poem Tiger Tim in Flanders.<\/p>\n[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_image src=”https:\/\/www.thehighlandersmuseum.com\/newversion\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/guards_large.jpg” alt=”Queen Elizabeth II with the Coldstream Guards” title_text=”guards_large” show_in_lightbox=”on” align=”center” _builder_version=”4.27.4″ _module_preset=”default” custom_margin=”||15px|||” hover_enabled=”0″ global_colors_info=”{}” sticky_enabled=”0″][\/et_pb_image][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][\/et_pb_section][et_pb_section fb_built=”1″ module_id=”poem” _builder_version=”4.16″ _module_preset=”default” background_color=”#e5e5e5″ custom_padding=”27px|||||” locked=”off” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_row _builder_version=”4.16″ _module_preset=”default” custom_padding=”||3px|||” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ _builder_version=”4.16″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_text quote_border_color=”#b89632″ _builder_version=”4.16″ _module_preset=”default” text_line_height=”2em” link_text_color=”#b89632″ header_3_font=”|||on|||||” header_3_font_size=”27px” header_3_letter_spacing=”2px” header_3_line_height=”1.2em” text_orientation=”center” global_colors_info=”{}”]<\/p>\n
Nulli secundus (Second to none)<\/h3>\n
Attributed to John James Harrower Ferguson, Medical Officer, 9th Seaforths, 1915\u00a0<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
From Coldstream, far north on the Tweed, one day
Two colonels came marching up London way
Where, finding the Commonwealth losing tone
They set Charles the Second upon the Throne
Then, asked about honours and due rewards
They applied for the post of His Majesty\u2019s Guards<\/p>\n
This put His poor Majesty into a jam
And he said \u201cI can\u2019t tell you how sorry I am
\u201cBut I\u2019m greatly afraid that this thing cannot be
\u201c\u2019Cos I bought my Guards Regiment over with me
\u201cAnd I think that the best I can possibly do
\u201cIs to call them the First Guards, and you Number Two\u201d<\/p>\n
This answer occasioned some justified ire
And the Colonels replied, with forgivable fire,
\u201cIn our humble submission we cannot agree
\u201cas our motto is NULLI SECUNDUS, you see
\u201cAnd if as the First Guards we cannot be reckoned
\u201cWe\u2019ll be Third, Fourth or Fifth, but we\u2019ll never be Second\u201d<\/p>\n
So they left a wide gap where the second should be
Taking place \u2013 par passive \u2013 as Number Three
But to safeguard all claims they might otherwise lose
They decided to wear all their buttons in twos
And they said to the Scots Guards \u201cJust stand where you please
\u201cProvided you wear your buttons in threes\u201d<\/p>\n
When the Irish Guards came after Africa\u2019s wars
They naturally wore all their buttons in fours
And last on the scene, the Welsh Guards arrived
And he wears, well you\u2019ve guessed it, his buttons in fives
And all the time Coldstream said \u201cMy dear old chap
\u201cDon\u2019t mind about us \u2013 please step into the gap\u201d.<\/p>\n
So you\u2019ll note when you see this most famous Brigade
All drawn up in line, on a full dress parade
That the Grenadiers stand in position to right
Then come Scots, Irish, Welsh and last Coldstream polite
And the buttons go one, three, four, five and two
Which is rather untidy, I think, don\u2019t you?<\/p>\n
[\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][\/et_pb_section][et_pb_section fb_built=”1″ _builder_version=”4.16″ _module_preset=”default” background_enable_color=”off” custom_padding=”40px||3px|||” locked=”off” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_row _builder_version=”4.16″ _module_preset=”default” custom_padding=”16px||40px|||” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ _builder_version=”4.16″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.16″ _module_preset=”default” text_line_height=”2em” header_3_font_size=”27px” header_3_letter_spacing=”2px” header_3_line_height=”1.2em” header_6_font_size=”12px” header_6_line_height=”1.7em” custom_margin=”||40px|||” global_colors_info=”{}”]<\/p>\n
George Sommerville Smail was born in Broughty Ferry, near Dundee, on 27th June 1894 and went to the High School of Dundee where he won class prizes for maths, French and geography. He went on to join the Officer Training Corp Going at St Andrew\u2019s University, where his final year Engineering studies were interrupted by the outbreak of the war. The London Gazette records him being made a Temporary 2nd Lieutenant on 1st October 1914 and he joined the 9th Seaforth when they were formed at Fort George one week later.<\/p>\n
The battalion joined the 9th (Scottish) Division at Aldershot in December 1914 and in early 1915 became the Pioneers of the 9th Division. The 9th Seaforth were the first Pioneer unit formed and the first to land in France, in May 1915. Many of its officers were qualified engineers, or like Lieutenant Smail had engineering training, and the soldiers were mainly bricklayers, miners or labourers. They were trained in both infantry skills and simple engineering work. These pioneer battalions were responsible for building roads, communication trenches, strong points and trench mortar emplacements.<\/p>\n
[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_image src=”https:\/\/www.thehighlandersmuseum.com\/newversion\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/Nuli-Secundus-1.jpg” alt=”Nuli Secundus – handwritten in blue Biro” title_text=”Nuli Secundus – handwritten in blue Biro” show_in_lightbox=”on” align=”center” _builder_version=”4.16″ _module_preset=”default” box_shadow_style=”preset1″ global_colors_info=”{}”][\/et_pb_image][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][\/et_pb_section][et_pb_section fb_built=”1″ _builder_version=”4.16″ _module_preset=”default” custom_padding=”10px||2px|||” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_row _builder_version=”4.16″ _module_preset=”default” custom_padding=”4px|||||” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ _builder_version=”4.16″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.16″ _module_preset=”default” text_line_height=”2em” link_text_color=”#b89632″ header_3_font=”|||on|||||” header_3_font_size=”27px” header_3_letter_spacing=”2px” header_3_line_height=”1.2em” global_colors_info=”{}”]<\/p>\n
George Smail was made up to Lieutenant in September 1915 and promoted to Captain by June 1917. Earlier that year he had been awarded the Military Cross. By the end of the war he had been promoted to Major and 2nd in command of the Battalion, and was included in the list of officers deserving special mention in Sir Douglas Haig\u2019s final despatch of 16th March 1919. By then he had returned to St Andrews to finish his Degree and was awarded a BSc (Engineering) in July 1919. We don\u2019t know much about him after that, but the Dundee Courier announced his engagement to a Kathryn Coleman, daughter of Mr and Mrs Richard Wharton of Harrisburgh, Pennsylvania with the wedding taking place in Harrisburgh on 3rd October 1928.<\/p>\n
Although the poem is undated, Captain Ferguson left the 9th Seaforths in October 1916, so it must have been written before then, possibly inspired by the formation of the Welsh Guards in February 1915. Curiously, the museum\u2019s copy is handwritten in biro pen, which didn\u2019t come into widespread use until after WWII, so perhaps Major Smail transcribed it from a dog eared original later in his life. The poem is very much in the style of Zem Zem\u2019s other work, and we have attributed \u201cNulli Secundus\u201d to him accordingly. However, the mystery of the poem\u2019s exact provenance is part of its charm and as you watch the Guards parade for the Queen in honour of her 70th Jubilee, we hope you think so to.<\/p>\n
By Craig Durham, <\/strong><\/em>The Highlanders Museum (Queen\u2019s Own Highlanders Collection) Volunteer<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n <\/p>\n
[\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][\/et_pb_section][et_pb_section fb_built=”1″ _builder_version=”4.16″ background_color=”#1C3377″ custom_margin=”||||false|false” custom_padding=”40px|0px|40px|0px|true|false” top_divider_style=”arrow2″ top_divider_color=”#FFFFFF” top_divider_height=”32px” bottom_divider_height=”32px” saved_tabs=”all” locked=”off” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_row _builder_version=”4.16″ custom_padding=”25px||0px||false|false” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ _builder_version=”4.16″ custom_padding=”|||” global_colors_info=”{}” custom_padding__hover=”|||”][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.16″ text_font=”||||||||” text_text_color=”#FFFFFF” header_font=”Barlow Semi Condensed|600|||||||” header_text_align=”center” header_text_color=”#ffffff” header_font_size=”55px” header_line_height=”1.3em” header_2_font=”Barlow Semi Condensed||||||||” header_2_text_color=”#FFFFFF” header_2_font_size=”35px” header_2_line_height=”1.2em” header_3_font=”Barlow Semi Condensed||||||||” header_3_text_align=”center” header_3_text_color=”#ffffff” header_3_font_size=”25px” header_3_letter_spacing=”1.2px” header_3_line_height=”1.7em” text_orientation=”center” custom_margin=”||2px|||” global_colors_info=”{}”]<\/p>\n
ENJOYED READING THIS BLOG POST? DISCOVER EVEN MORE AMAZING STORIES…<\/h3>\n<\/h3>\n
[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_button button_url=”https:\/\/www.thehighlandersmuseum.com\/?page_id=26169″ button_text=”READ MORE” button_alignment=”center” _builder_version=”4.16″ _module_preset=”default” custom_button=”on” button_text_size=”20px” button_text_color=”#FFFFFF” button_bg_color=”#b89632″ button_border_color=”#b89632″ button_letter_spacing=”2px” button_icon=”5||divi||400″ global_colors_info=”{}”][\/et_pb_button][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][\/et_pb_section]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
To celebrate the Platinum Jubilee, this month’s poem is all about the Queen’s Guards and their historic eccentricities. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":32718,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"on","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"2880","footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-31121","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-blog"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thehighlandersmuseum.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31121","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thehighlandersmuseum.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thehighlandersmuseum.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thehighlandersmuseum.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thehighlandersmuseum.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=31121"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.thehighlandersmuseum.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31121\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":32721,"href":"https:\/\/www.thehighlandersmuseum.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31121\/revisions\/32721"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thehighlandersmuseum.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/32718"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thehighlandersmuseum.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=31121"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thehighlandersmuseum.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=31121"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thehighlandersmuseum.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=31121"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}