Craig Herbertson and Ed Westerdale - Hearts of Glory

(2004) 13 tracks: McCrae's March * Johnnie Cope * The Old Masters Set * Bonnie Dundee * The Green Fields of Tyrol * Lady Whisky * Crossing to France Set * The Green Eye of the Yellow God * Hearts of Glory * Hopes and Memories * The Gloaming Hour * The Old Football * The Flowers o' The Forest.

This CD was inspired by Jack Alexander's, McCrae's Battalion. July 1st 1916 was Edinburgh's worst day in the history of the British Army. During the first hour of the Battle of the Somme some sixty thousand men were killed or wounded - among them were twelve officers and over six hundred other ranks of 'McCrae's Battalion', the 16th Royal Scots.

It was Edinburgh's blackest moment since Flodden. These lads had enlisted voluntarily under the leadership of the charismatic Lieutenant-Colonel Sir George McCrae, partly in response to suggestions in the press that young sportsmen were not 'doing their bit' for the war effort - they were affectionately known as 'The Sporting Battalion'.

"This is not a night for titles. I stand before you humbly as a fellow Scot, nothing more and nothing less. You know I don't speak easily of crisis. But that is what confronts us. I have received permission from the War Office to raise a new battalion for active service. It is my intention that this unit will be characterised by such a spirit of simple excellence that the rest of Lord Kitchener's army will be judged by our standard. Furthermore, with the agreement of the authorities, I have undertaken to lead the battalion in the field. I would not - I could not - ask you to serve unless I share the danger at your side. In a moment I will walk down to Castle Street and set my name to the list of volunteers. Who will join me?" (Lieutenant-Colonel Sir George McCrae, Usher Hall, Edinburgh, 27th November 1914)