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The Flowers of the Forest: Scotland and the First World War
On the brink of the First World War, Scotland was regarded throughout the British Isles as 'the workshop of the Empire'. Not only were Clyde-built ships known the world over, Scotland produced half of Britain's total production of railway equipment, and the cotton and jute industries flourished in Paisley and Dundee. In addition, Scots were a hugely important source of manpower for the colonies. Yet after the war, Scotland became an industrial and financial backwater. Emigration increased as morale slumped in the face of economic stagnation and decline. The country had paid a disproportionately high price in casualties, a result of huge numbers of volunteers and the use of Scottish battalions as shock troops in the fighting on the Western Front and Gallipoli - young men whom the novelist Ian Hay called 'the vanished generation'.
In this book, Trevor Royle provides the first full account of how the war changed Scotland irrevocably by exploring a wide range of themes - the overwhelming response to the call for volunteers; the performance of Scottish military formations in 1915 and 1916; the militarization of the Scottish homeland; the resistance to war in Glasgow and the west of Scotland; and the boom in the heavy industries and the strengthening of women's role in society following on from wartime employment.
In this book, Trevor Royle provides the first full account of how the war changed Scotland irrevocably by exploring a wide range of themes - the overwhelming response to the call for volunteers; the performance of Scottish military formations in 1915 and 1916; the militarization of the Scottish homeland; the resistance to war in Glasgow and the west of Scotland; and the boom in the heavy industries and the strengthening of women's role in society following on from wartime employment.
400 pages, Paperback
First published February 1, 2007
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About the author
Trevor Royle
68 books34 followersTrevor Royle is a broadcaster and author specialising in the history of war and empire. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh and was a member of the Scottish Government’s Advisory Panel for Commemorating the First World War.
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
November 7, 2020
A book that was recently given to me as a birthday present, and a very readable account of Scotland’s contribution to WW1. For those unfamiliar with Scotland, “The Flowers of the Forest” is a traditional Scottish lament, most often played at a soldier’s funeral.
In terms of the military aspects, one problem the author faced was how to distinguish Scotland’s part in the war. Scottish soldiers and sailors fought as integral parts of the British Army and the Royal Navy, and their experiences in battle were no different from those of their comrades from elsewhere. The British Army’s system of geographically based regiments did mean that there were predominantly Scottish units, and indeed the Scottish Regiments, with their kilts and bagpipes, formed a distinctive part of the Army. Nevertheless, it wasn’t uncommon for Englishmen to serve in Scottish regiments, and of course plenty of Scots served in the Army in roles other than infantry battalions.
Unsurprisingly, the author concentrates on the role of the identifiably Scottish units in the major battles of the war, such as Loos, the Somme, Passchendaele etc. One chapter also features units who fought in the campaigns at Gallipoli, at Salonika, and in Mesopotamia and Palestine. The descriptions of the various campaigns seem a little strange, since the author concentrates solely on those aspects that involved the Scottish units. I felt that these chapters lacked a bit of depth.
For the war at sea, the book focuses on the fact that the surface ships of the RN were mainly based at either Rosyth in the Firth of Forth or at Scapa Flow in Orkney, and describes the impact of the Navy on these locations (and vice versa). The role of the Scottish fishing fleet is also covered.
A substantial part of the book covers the “home front” in Scotland. At the time the city of Glasgow was a centre of heavy industry, especially shipbuilding, and therefore played a significant role in the war economy. Dundee was also the UK centre for the manufacture of jute, which was much in demand during the war, not least for the millions of sandbags needed for the trenches. A huge munitions complex was also constructed at Gretna, right on the Scotland-England border. In the UK, Gretna is best known as a place for runaway lovers, because at one time the marriage laws of Scotland were more relaxed than those of England. An odd juxtaposition!
One of the best chapters was on “Red Clydeside”, a name coined because Glasgow was the location for considerable labour unrest during the war, to the extent that during 1918-19 the British government feared it might become the source of a Bolshevist uprising. Royle provides a thoughtful assessment of this period, noting that many of the incidents of unrest had different causes. With the exception of the hard-line radical John Maclean, most of the leaders of the “Red Clydesiders” were not so much revolutionaries as men who wanted working class people to have access to better education, housing, wages, working conditions etc, and who were willing to work within the system to achieve those aims.
A solid enough assessment of Scotland’s role in the Great War.
In terms of the military aspects, one problem the author faced was how to distinguish Scotland’s part in the war. Scottish soldiers and sailors fought as integral parts of the British Army and the Royal Navy, and their experiences in battle were no different from those of their comrades from elsewhere. The British Army’s system of geographically based regiments did mean that there were predominantly Scottish units, and indeed the Scottish Regiments, with their kilts and bagpipes, formed a distinctive part of the Army. Nevertheless, it wasn’t uncommon for Englishmen to serve in Scottish regiments, and of course plenty of Scots served in the Army in roles other than infantry battalions.
Unsurprisingly, the author concentrates on the role of the identifiably Scottish units in the major battles of the war, such as Loos, the Somme, Passchendaele etc. One chapter also features units who fought in the campaigns at Gallipoli, at Salonika, and in Mesopotamia and Palestine. The descriptions of the various campaigns seem a little strange, since the author concentrates solely on those aspects that involved the Scottish units. I felt that these chapters lacked a bit of depth.
For the war at sea, the book focuses on the fact that the surface ships of the RN were mainly based at either Rosyth in the Firth of Forth or at Scapa Flow in Orkney, and describes the impact of the Navy on these locations (and vice versa). The role of the Scottish fishing fleet is also covered.
A substantial part of the book covers the “home front” in Scotland. At the time the city of Glasgow was a centre of heavy industry, especially shipbuilding, and therefore played a significant role in the war economy. Dundee was also the UK centre for the manufacture of jute, which was much in demand during the war, not least for the millions of sandbags needed for the trenches. A huge munitions complex was also constructed at Gretna, right on the Scotland-England border. In the UK, Gretna is best known as a place for runaway lovers, because at one time the marriage laws of Scotland were more relaxed than those of England. An odd juxtaposition!
One of the best chapters was on “Red Clydeside”, a name coined because Glasgow was the location for considerable labour unrest during the war, to the extent that during 1918-19 the British government feared it might become the source of a Bolshevist uprising. Royle provides a thoughtful assessment of this period, noting that many of the incidents of unrest had different causes. With the exception of the hard-line radical John Maclean, most of the leaders of the “Red Clydesiders” were not so much revolutionaries as men who wanted working class people to have access to better education, housing, wages, working conditions etc, and who were willing to work within the system to achieve those aims.
A solid enough assessment of Scotland’s role in the Great War.
August 11, 2021
The Flowers of the Forest by the prolific author Trevor Royle is an all-encompassing history of Scotland during the Great War. The book covers a number of aspects, touching upon the nation’s military contributions and industry as well as labor issues, women’s contributions, and some cultural and social changes wrought by the war. At just over 330 pages (there are about 60 pages of notes, bibliography, and index), the author does not have a lot of space to discuss all of these topics in a great amount of detail. The result then is that The Flowers of the Forest is very much a survey. I came in knowing a good deal about the military affairs, but nothing about Scotland’s home front during the war. I imagine that all readers will have a similar experience; they are bound to learn at least something that they did not know beforehand.
Much of the first half of the book is concerned with the Scottish soldier’s contribution to the Great War. They served in all theaters where the British Empire saw service, though Royle focuses mostly on the Western Front, naturally. He traces the various Scottish regiments and divisions over the course of the war, which I suspect will be quite repetitive for those who are less inclined to military history. For myself, I enjoyed this aspect of the book very much. In particular, the chapters on the first two years of the war provided the most new information to me. As an aside, I was intrigued to see that two of the sources he used were books I have just read: The History of the 51st (Highland) Division, 1914-1918 and The Fifty-First in France.
A book of this nature, which focuses on a certain faction—whether it’s a regiment, division, or even a country—tends to exaggerate the contributions of that faction. In this case, I think the subject is already loaded, given the temptation to rely on cultural myths and nostalgia to exclaim that the Scots—the Highlanders in particular—were the British Empire’s best and bravest soldiers. Royle steers clear of this, thankfully, and presents an objective picture which still acknowledges the vital role that Scots fulfilled in France, Belgium, Gallipoli, and beyond. On a related note, Hew Strachan, in a journal entry titled “The Scottish Soldier and Scotland, 1914-1918” contests the total number of Scottish war deaths that Royle proposes (c. 100,000) as too high. But that is another topic altogether.
Beyond the military campaigns, there is a lot of interesting information that was entirely new to me. For instance, I learned about Dr. Else Inglis, an extraordinary woman who founded and funded the Scottish Women’s Hospitals, which operated most notably in Serbia, France, Salonika, and even Russia. In Serbia, Inglis was captured by the Austro-Hungarians, while others joined the remnants of the Serbian armies in their winter retreat through Albania to the Adriatic. I have seen this retreat described as one of the most hellish episodes of the entire war. The fortitude and sacrifices of these volunteer women needs no elaboration on my part.
In the second half of the book, much space is dedicated to the Scottish economy and particularly the labor issues that cropped up during and immediately after the war, which are grouped under the term “Red Clydeside”. Among the many important historical characters which Royle introduced to me in this book was John Maclean. Maclean was a staunch socialist, whose loyalty to his beliefs ended sending him to prison about half a dozen times; the treatment he received there almost certainly led to his early death.
Probably the most contentious section of the book is that dealing with Field Marshal Douglas Haig—the Commander in Chief of the British Expeditionary Force for a large duration of the war. History and popular culture have not been kind to Haig, who is probably the most vilified military officer in British history. Royle’s stance is on Haig is quite different. He largely exonerates Haig from the accusations made against him as an incompetent and callous commander and believes that he was responsible for leading the British army to victory. I do not know enough about the man to have a fully formed opinion, and I would have greatly appreciated another five or ten pages discussion on the man.
A few final notes. I thought the conclusion could have been stronger, though I did like how Royle used the centenary activities from 2014-2019 as a theme in the last few pages. The writing was sound and easy to read, though not anything special. There are also a lot of great resources in the notes and bibliography.
In summary, The Flowers of the Forest is a great introductory book to the subject of Scotland and the First World War which I think can appeal to both casual and serious readers of history. The former will find plenty of information on various interesting subjects, while the latter can use this book as a primer from which to dive deeper into subjects of interests.
Much of the first half of the book is concerned with the Scottish soldier’s contribution to the Great War. They served in all theaters where the British Empire saw service, though Royle focuses mostly on the Western Front, naturally. He traces the various Scottish regiments and divisions over the course of the war, which I suspect will be quite repetitive for those who are less inclined to military history. For myself, I enjoyed this aspect of the book very much. In particular, the chapters on the first two years of the war provided the most new information to me. As an aside, I was intrigued to see that two of the sources he used were books I have just read: The History of the 51st (Highland) Division, 1914-1918 and The Fifty-First in France.
A book of this nature, which focuses on a certain faction—whether it’s a regiment, division, or even a country—tends to exaggerate the contributions of that faction. In this case, I think the subject is already loaded, given the temptation to rely on cultural myths and nostalgia to exclaim that the Scots—the Highlanders in particular—were the British Empire’s best and bravest soldiers. Royle steers clear of this, thankfully, and presents an objective picture which still acknowledges the vital role that Scots fulfilled in France, Belgium, Gallipoli, and beyond. On a related note, Hew Strachan, in a journal entry titled “The Scottish Soldier and Scotland, 1914-1918” contests the total number of Scottish war deaths that Royle proposes (c. 100,000) as too high. But that is another topic altogether.
Beyond the military campaigns, there is a lot of interesting information that was entirely new to me. For instance, I learned about Dr. Else Inglis, an extraordinary woman who founded and funded the Scottish Women’s Hospitals, which operated most notably in Serbia, France, Salonika, and even Russia. In Serbia, Inglis was captured by the Austro-Hungarians, while others joined the remnants of the Serbian armies in their winter retreat through Albania to the Adriatic. I have seen this retreat described as one of the most hellish episodes of the entire war. The fortitude and sacrifices of these volunteer women needs no elaboration on my part.
In the second half of the book, much space is dedicated to the Scottish economy and particularly the labor issues that cropped up during and immediately after the war, which are grouped under the term “Red Clydeside”. Among the many important historical characters which Royle introduced to me in this book was John Maclean. Maclean was a staunch socialist, whose loyalty to his beliefs ended sending him to prison about half a dozen times; the treatment he received there almost certainly led to his early death.
Probably the most contentious section of the book is that dealing with Field Marshal Douglas Haig—the Commander in Chief of the British Expeditionary Force for a large duration of the war. History and popular culture have not been kind to Haig, who is probably the most vilified military officer in British history. Royle’s stance is on Haig is quite different. He largely exonerates Haig from the accusations made against him as an incompetent and callous commander and believes that he was responsible for leading the British army to victory. I do not know enough about the man to have a fully formed opinion, and I would have greatly appreciated another five or ten pages discussion on the man.
A few final notes. I thought the conclusion could have been stronger, though I did like how Royle used the centenary activities from 2014-2019 as a theme in the last few pages. The writing was sound and easy to read, though not anything special. There are also a lot of great resources in the notes and bibliography.
In summary, The Flowers of the Forest is a great introductory book to the subject of Scotland and the First World War which I think can appeal to both casual and serious readers of history. The former will find plenty of information on various interesting subjects, while the latter can use this book as a primer from which to dive deeper into subjects of interests.
February 5, 2014
This covers the impact of the Great War on Scotland from the heady days of 1914 through to the conclusion of the war and it's impact afterwards. It ranges from the massive recruitment and expansion of the army, their front line experiences on the front line, the navy in Scotland, the workers at home, the role of women in the workplace, strikes and political machinations. A fascinating read, but such a wide scope also naturally will also limit it's depth to a degree, and that is what let's the book down in my view. It feels like a whistle stop tour. However it is good as a taster and I came out of it feeling more informed of the immense contributions of the lands of my forebears.
I would certainly recommend it
I would certainly recommend it
April 20, 2016
Great narrative and written in a way that anyone can understand. At no point did this feel dry, boring, or in any way unappealing.
June 29, 2025
Reads like a history book for a good portion. The social history is interesting and the accounts of the actual battles were my favorite part. Has its lulls for sure.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews