Although not specifically mentioned by name, the subject of Tiger Tim in Flanders is quite obviously the Commanding Officer of the 9th Seaforths, Lieutenant-Colonel Timothy Fetherstonhaugh. The poem describes an evening in the Officer\u2019s Mess where the Lt-Colonel holds court and berates his junior officers for their perceived shortcomings. Like many of Zem Zem\u2019s poems, it is undated, but one of the officers mentioned, Captain Haggard, joined the battalion in March 1916 and another, Captain Turcan, was wounded in October 1916 so most likely written between those dates. The battalion HQ was at Oosthove Farm, on the French-Belgian border, between January and May 1916 some 10 miles behind the front line and would have provided a reasonably comfortable billet in which the type of Officers Mess night suggested by the poem might have been held.<\/p>\n
If we assume that the poem was written around April 1916 then Zem Zem would have been with the battalion around four months and it is clear that he had already taken a dislike to the CO. From the line \u201cThe doctor sits at my side and grins, but I\u2019ve got my eye on some of his sins\u201d he probably sensed that feelings were mutual.<\/p>\n
The relationship between Medical Officer and CO was important to the health and welfare of the men, particularly in a Pioneer battalion when occupational health issues such as sanitation, poor nutrition and disease were more likely to reduce the battalion strength than death and injury from enemy fire. So why did these two men clearly not warm to each other? To answer that, we have to look at Lt. Colonel Fetherstonhaugh\u2019s background and career prior to 1916 and the clash with Zem Zem over \u201cWho\u2019s that cutting my Stilton Cheese? Hang it mind what you\u2019re doing please\u201d!<\/p>[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_image src=”https:\/\/www.thehighlandersmuseum.com\/newversion\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/Oosthove-Farm-today-all-the-buildings-are-post-1918-1.jpg” alt=”Oosthove Farm today, all the buildings are post 1918″ title_text=”Oosthove Farm today, all the buildings are post 1918″ show_in_lightbox=”on” align=”center” _builder_version=”4.10.6″ _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″ module_id=”poem” _builder_version=”4.10.6″ _module_preset=”default” background_color=”#e5e5e5″ custom_padding=”27px|||||” locked=”off” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_row _builder_version=”4.9.7″ _module_preset=”default” custom_padding=”||3px|||” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ _builder_version=”4.9.7″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_text quote_border_color=”#b89632″ _builder_version=”4.10.6″ _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” custom_margin=”||30px|||” global_colors_info=”{}”]
Zem Zem<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
A Nocturne(1)<\/p>\n
Tiger Tim to Flanders went
A leader of men from Heaven sent,
He sat at his table and cried with scorn
\u201cWhom shall I flay alive this morn\u201d?
He stalked around his camp with an air sublime
With his Major(2) dogging his heels the time,
His voluminous breeks at every turn
Flapped round his massive Cumbrian stern.
He went to the kitchen, and said to the cooks
\u201cI know more than the cooking books,
\u201cI know how to cook everything that\u2019s eaten
\u201cA damned sight better than Mrs Beaton\u201d(3)
He\u2019s got the digestion of a horse
Or he never could manage Tabasco sauce(4).
He sat at his table and cried with glee
\u201cWhere\u2019s the man who dare disagree with me?\u201d
\u201cYouths who wear their hair too long
\u201cAre Baanschutes, the term\u2019s not a bit too strong(5),
\u201cI\u2019ll teach them this, and I\u2019ll teach them that
\u201cBut pipsqueaks they are and that\u2019s quite flat,
\u201cIf they\u2019re not damned careful what they\u2019re about
\u201cTo the Pioneer Depot I\u2019ll kick them out.
\u201cBut Addison Smith \u2013 that bally ass(6)
\u201cAnd Stanley Jones are full of gas(7).
\u201cThey send me nothing but blithering fools,
\u201cPipsqueaks, Baanschutes, stupid mules.
\u201cIf I had my way with the people in Tain
\u201cI\u2019d kick their\u2026pass the Perrier again(8)
\u201cWho\u2019s that cutting my Stilton Cheese?
\u201cHang it mind what you\u2019re doing please.
\u201cAnd those who\u2019d like a slice of ham
\u201cMust mind what they\u2019re at for I don\u2019t care a damn.
\u201cI will have these things properly done.
\u201cAnd if they\u2019re not you\u2019ll see some fun.
\u201cIf I take a dislike to a man you bet
\u201cOut of here he has got to get.
\u201cI once had a ham that lasted a year
\u201cBut this one won\u2019t last so long I fear\u201d.
\u201cFor the men in this mess are bally fools
\u201cAnd won\u2019t keep any of my wise rules\u201d.
\u201cDonaldson, why do you eat so slow(9)
\u201cTwill be ten o\u2019clock in a minute you know,
\u201cYou can\u2019t both eat and act as my chorus,
\u201cYou\u2019ll have to start half an hour before us.
\u201cThese bridegrooms are getting a terrible curse,
\u201cIn my opinion there\u2019s nothing worse.
Just look sat Griffith, he used to feel(10)
\u201cA decent interest in a meal,
\u201cBut now about his affairs he goes
\u201cWith a face like, – well one hardly knows.
\u201cAnd Master Petty\u2019s as bad as I fear(11)
Neither will get any leave for a year
\u201cFor one has married a wife called \u2018teeth\u2019
\u201cA story terribly hard of belief,
\u201cAnd Mrs Asthma the other one\u2019s wed,
\u201cI suppose they think I\u2019m off my head.
\u201cI\u2019m sick of them both, but I hate to preach,
\u201cMy mission in life is merely to teach.
\u201cNow Master Wylie take this to heart(12).
\u201cThe next time you on leave depart
\u201cIf you come back married, I\u2019ll make your life
\u201cA heavier burden than ever your wife.
\u201cThere\u2019s Master Turcan who lives in bed
\u201cHe never gets up at all it\u2019s said(13)
\u201cAnd Master Smail is almost as bad(14)
\u201cA terrible thing for a growing lad.
\u201cWith deep distrust for the pair I\u2019m fraught
\u201cAnd I shan\u2019t be easy till both are taught.
\u201cI never heard of a lie so big
\u201cAs Haggard\u2019s story about the pig,
\u201cCome, come Master Haggard, that\u2019s enough
\u201cI\u2019ll hear no more of this bally stuff.(15)
\u201cThe doctor sits at my side and grins,
\u201cBut I\u2019ve got my eye on some of his sins
\u201cI\u2019ve only to say to him \u2018Have some cheese\u2019
\u201cAnd you\u2019ll see him as humble as ever you please(16).
\u201cNow I\u2019ll have a go at the heathen Chinese,
\u201cAnd then I\u2019ll write in my book you see
\u201cFor on \u2018Standing Orders\u2019 I\u2019m writing a book
\u201cIn which if they\u2019ll only trouble to look
\u201cA lot of ignorant officers new
\u201cMay learn from my wisdom what to do
\u201cIn all sorts of underseen\u2026hullo!
\u201cNow where did my officers vanish and go?
\u201cThe mess room is empty, except for me
\u201cBut I don\u2019t care a toss you see
\u201cI\u2019ll have some more whiskey and damn the Hun
\u201cAnd wish that my life in the Army were done.
\u201cFor I\u2019d like with these talkative chaps to dispense
\u201cAnd have an intelligent audience.
\u201cHullo, this Perrier bottle\u2019s dry
\u201cBut I know it is vain on Rouse to cry,
\u201cHe\u2019s gone to bed the sleepy lout(17)
\u201cAnd now the infernal lamps going out.
I\u2019m afraid it\u2019s too late to butter some eggs(18)
\u201cAnd the kitchen\u2019s so dark I should bark my legs.
I suppose I shall have to go to bed,
\u201cAnd the rest of my wisdom will be unsaid.<\/p>[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_toggle title=”Read Notes” icon_color=”#b89632″ use_icon_font_size=”on” icon_font_size=”28px” _builder_version=”4.10.6″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”]
1 A Nocturne, from the French meaning a painting of a night scene, in this case dinner in the Officer\u2019s Mess. <\/span><\/p>\n 2 Major Lumsden, his second in command. <\/span><\/p>\n 3 Mrs Beeton\u2019s \u2018Book of Household Management\u2019 was published in 1861 and became the generic reference to an authority on cooking. <\/span><\/p>\n 4 Tabasco sauce and other condiments were a staple of the officer\u2019s mess to enliven the often bland nature of the food served <\/span><\/p>\n 5 A ‘Baanschute’ is the German infantryman\u2019s helmet, most often seen in a WWII context but actually first worn in WWI. It is being used here as a derogatory term for men who had grown their hair too long and curled over the collar, like the shape of the helmet. <\/span><\/p>\n 6 Major C.L. Addison-Smith was the acting Lt.Colonel and CO of the 9th Battalion depot in Tain. He was later Lt Col. of 3rd Seaforths and chairman of the Seaforth Highlanders Association <\/span><\/p>\n 7 Lt. W.H.Stanley-Jones was the Adjutant at Tain, having been promoted from the ranks. He was later appointed Director of Army Accounts and Quartermaster General, Northern District Irish Command in Belfast, and was awarded an OBE. <\/span><\/p>\n 8 Almost certainly Laurent-Perrier champagne, not the gassy mineral water of the same name. The Champagne wine region is only 150 km from Arras and so a good supply of champagne would have been readily available.<\/span><\/p>\n 9 2nd Lt. Robert Frederick Donaldson. Transferred from the 9th Bn. to the general list in March 1917 <\/span><\/p>\n 10 Lt. Geoffrey Comber Griffith had married in July 1915 <\/span><\/p>\n 11 Captain William Petty had married Helen Edith Walford whilst on leave in February 1916. He was 31 years old and at the time this poem was written his wife was pregnant, so the Lt-colonel was being a little harsh! <\/span><\/p>\n 12 2nd Lt. Kinloch Wylie joined the 9th Bn in October 1915 <\/span><\/p>\n 13 Captain J.S.Turcan was wounded in October 1915 but rejoined the 9th Bn. in March 1917 only to be wounded again in May 1917 <\/span><\/p>\n 14 George Somerville Smail was a 22 year old 2nd Lt when this poem was written. He had been promoted to Major by the end of the war. He collated Zem Zem\u2019s poems and his son-in-law donated them to the Highlanders Museum upon his death in 1982.<\/span><\/p>\n 15 Captain David Haggard was wounded and repatriated to England in March 1917. The details surrounding the pig remain a mystery <\/span><\/p>\n 16 Here Zem Zem is hinting at the reasons behind his falling out with the CO. <\/span><\/p>\n 17 Rouse was probably the Officer\u2019s Mess steward <\/span><\/p>\n 18 Buttered eggs was Mrs Beeton\u2019s version of very buttery scrambled eggs served on toast<\/span><\/p>[\/et_pb_toggle][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][\/et_pb_section][et_pb_section fb_built=”1″ _builder_version=”4.10.6″ _module_preset=”default” background_enable_color=”off” custom_padding=”40px||3px|||” locked=”off” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_row _builder_version=”4.9.7″ _module_preset=”default” custom_padding=”16px||40px|||” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ _builder_version=”4.9.7″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_image src=”https:\/\/www.thehighlandersmuseum.com\/newversion\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/Zem-Zem-Tiger-Tim-in-Flanders-1.jpg” alt=”Fetherstonhaugh photo from 1899″ title_text=”Zem Zem Tiger Tim in Flanders (1)” show_in_lightbox=”on” align=”center” _builder_version=”4.10.6″ _module_preset=”default” custom_margin=”||15px|||” global_colors_info=”{}”][\/et_pb_image][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.10.6″ _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=”||49px|||” global_colors_info=”{}” custom_padding=”43px|||||”] Colonel Fetherstonhaugh was born on 1st January 1869 at Kirkoswald, near Penrith in Cumbria. He was christened Timothy in accordance with a long-standing tradition for first born sons of the family. His father had been a Lieutenant in the 13th Hussars and later a High Sherriff of Cumberland and Deputy Lieutenant of the County. His mother was a younger daughter of the 3rd Lord Dorchester. The Fetherstonhaugh\u2019s were descended from a branch of the Northumberland Fetherstonhaugh family that had first come to Kirkoswald in the late 16th century. The family were ardent Royalists during the English Civil War and an ancestor, also called Timothy, had been beheaded at Chester in 1651 having incurred the wrath of Oliver Cromwell.<\/p>\n The Timothy Fetherstonhaugh of this poem had made the army his career. He joined the Leicester Militia in February 1887 and two years later, aged 20, was commissioned as a 2nd Lieutenant in the Seaforth Highlanders. We don\u2019t know why he chose the Seaforths over his home county regiment, but he was soon on active service with the 2nd Seaforths on the North West Frontier in India where he took part in the in the second Hazara expedition in March 1891. Promotion to Lieutenant followed in December. The battalion returned to home in 1893 but was sent back to India in 1895 to take part in the relief of Chitral, with Fetherstonhaugh acting as assistant field engineer.<\/p>\n On return to the UK, Fetherstonhaugh was promoted to Captain and took part in Queen Victoria\u2019s Diamond Jubilee parade through London in June 1897. The battalion was stationed in Dover for the next 18 months, giving the newly promoted Captain Fetherstonhaugh plenty of occasions to visit the family\u2019s London home in Green Street, Park Lane and enjoy the social life of a Victorian army officer. In December 1898, just a few days short of his 30th birthday, he married Miss Nancy Carr-Lloyd, daughter of James Carr-Lloyd and Alice Wodehouse, at St Pauls Church, Knightbridge. The Penrith Observer carried a detailed report of the wedding, including a dinner held by his tenants in the Fetherston Arms Hotel in Kirkoswald to celebrate the event. The factor, a Mr T.Birkett, gave a brief speech noting that \u201cCaptain Fetherstonhaugh had endeared himself to all with whom he had come in contact (applause). As they knew, he had adopted the profession of arms, and had already seen considerable service. In whatever he had had to do Captain Fetherstonhaugh had borne himself in such a way that they would feel proud that he was a Cumbrian, and that there was such a man left to protect our country rights (applause).\u201d<\/p>[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_image src=”https:\/\/www.thehighlandersmuseum.com\/newversion\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/Fetherstonhaugh-photo-from-1899-1-727×1024.jpg” alt=”Fetherstonhaugh photo from 1899″ title_text=”Fetherstonhaugh photo from 1899″ show_in_lightbox=”on” align=”center” _builder_version=”4.10.6″ _module_preset=”default” custom_margin=”||15px|||” global_colors_info=”{}”][\/et_pb_image][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][\/et_pb_section][et_pb_section fb_built=”1″ _builder_version=”4.10.6″ _module_preset=”default” custom_padding=”10px||2px|||” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_row _builder_version=”4.10.6″ _module_preset=”default” custom_padding=”4px|||||” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ _builder_version=”4.10.6″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.10.6″ _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=”{}”] The Carr-Lloyds were an old Sussex family descended from Dr Robert Carr, Bishop of Chichester and Sir James Lloyd, Baronet of Lancing. Nancy\u2019s father was a captain in the Royal Sussex Militia and her grandfather had been a Colonel in the Royal Artillery and an Aide de Camp to Queen Victoria. So the new Mrs Fetherstonhaugh would have understood the sacrifices of an army officer\u2019s wife when only a month after the wedding the battalion moved to Fort George for the prospect of garrison duty on home turf. There the battalion furnished the Royal Guard for the Queen at Balmoral, marched through Easter Ross and Nairnshire on a recruiting tour, and received its Seventh Stand of Colours from Queen Victoria at Balmoral on 29th September 1899.<\/p>\n It is doubtful that Nancy spent much time in married quarters at Fort George as she was soon pregnant and on 7th October 1899 delivered the son and heir, another Timothy, at home in London. Whether his father was present is not reported but he was there at the christening on 2nd November in the same church as his marriage 11 months earlier. It was a short-lived sojourn. On 11th October war had been declared between the British government and the Boer Republic and the 2nd Seaforths were hastily mobilised, sailing from Glasgow on 20th October. Captain Fetherstonhaugh was soon in South Africa and with his battalion at the disastrous (for the British) Battle of Magersfontein on 11th December 1899. Stranded on the rocky approach to Magersfontein kop, the Highland brigade was caught in the open by withering Boer rifle fire and suffered over 900 casualties, amongst them Captain Fetherstonhaugh, who was seriously wounded.<\/p>\n After a lengthy recuperation he returned to Scotland in 1901 as Adjutant to the 1st (Ross-Highland) Volunteers, a reserve Battalion for the Seaforths based in Dingwall and where in 1902 he established the 2nd Seaforths Veterans association. His final appointment was Commandant of the School for Instruction of Auxillary Officers in Edinburgh, before retiring from the army in 1909 after a distinguished 22 year career.\u00a0<\/p>[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_image src=”https:\/\/www.thehighlandersmuseum.com\/newversion\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/The-Fetherston-Arms-Kirkoswald-1.jpg” alt=”The Fetherston Arms Kirkoswald” title_text=”The Fetherston Arms Kirkoswald” show_in_lightbox=”on” align=”center” _builder_version=”4.10.6″ _module_preset=”default” box_shadow_style=”preset1″ global_colors_info=”{}”][\/et_pb_image][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.10.6″ _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=”{}”] By 1914 Fetherstonhaugh was a pillar of the Cumberland establishment, a deputy lord Lieutenant, Captain in the yeomanry and a Commissioner for the Boy Scouts. Retired from the army (although still on the reserve list) and with two young daughters in addition to his son, Major Fetherstonhaugh would have felt very settled in his peaceful country life. The imperial tensions in Europe barely registered in Cumberland, so it would have been a shock when war was declared on 3rd August and a weary acceptance of his recall to the Army active list.<\/p>\n Made up to Temporary Lieutenant Colonel and Officer Commanding 9th Seaforths, he was quickly in campaign mode and on 13th August, just days after rejoining the regiment, in a letter to the Lancashire Evening Post he wrote: \u201cThe Highland women are saying they will get in the harvest, and plough, and sow, for just as many years as it takes the men to beat the Germans. I hope the Cumberland women will do the same.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_image src=”https:\/\/www.thehighlandersmuseum.com\/newversion\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/IVM-Q32622-A-typical-WWI-Officers-Mess-behind-the-lines-not-9th-Seaforths.jpg” alt=”A typical WWI Officers Mess behind the lines (not 9th Seaforths)” title_text=”A typical WWI Officers Mess behind the lines (not 9th Seaforths)” show_in_lightbox=”on” align=”center” _builder_version=”4.10.6″ _module_preset=”default” box_shadow_style=”preset1″ global_colors_info=”{}”][\/et_pb_image][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.10.6″ _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=”{}” custom_padding=”|||1px||”] <\/p>\n By April 1915 he was even more forthright, writing to his estate office in response to a request for money to buy prizes for a whist drive in support of the Church Institute building, of which he was a Trustee:<\/p>\n \u201cSir, From the way in which the men eligible for service so carefully avoid recruiting meetings, and the ridiculously short roll of honour that Kirkoswald can only show, it is evident that a Church Institute is not so much needed there, as an establishment to rid patients of the microbe which affects the fearful unpatriotic spirit in time of war, which prevents them from taking on the risks of personal service.”<\/p>\n