1898 – The move to South Queensferry

Submarine Mining 1898

Camp at [South] Queensferry

Owing to Inchkeith being occupied by workmen fitting up the new batteries for the big guns to be mounted at Inchkeith, the Submarine Miners camped at Butlaw near Port Edgar and we practised laying mines on the north side opposite Inverkeithing. Although not so romantic the camp was more convenient and we had a good time altogether this year and personally for the first time I felt some confidence in the utility of submarine mining as a branch of our defences. I felt that we could now trust ourselves to get a minefield laid out ready for the enemy within a reasonable time. At Inchkeith the War Dept. have not yet provided a decent harbour and much needless time is lost and worry is caused by this, which is entirely saved by the good harbour at Port Edgar.

Photographs from the 1898 Camp at South Queensferry.

Train on Forth Bridge

Camp
Camp South Queensferry 1898

Sword Exercise
Camp South Queensferry 1898

H.M.C. [H. M. Cadell]
Camp South Queensferry 1898

Capt Beare, Salvesen, Cadell
Camp South Queensferry 1898

The Camp
Camp South Queensferry 1898

Capt Cadell full dress
Camp South Queensferry 1898

Capt Salvesen
Camp South Queensferry 1898

Capts Organ RE & Cadell R.E.V.
Camp South Queensferry 1898

Capts Organ RE & Cadell R.E.V.
Camp South Queensferry 1898

HAIL TO THE THIEF
1
Hail to the thief o’er the sea who advances
To steal a march on us if ever he can;
If his home in big Russia or Turkey or France is,
Spain, Portugal, Germany, Greece, or Japan,
Fair breezes attend him,
Across the streak send him,
Astride the white horses that leap o’er the brine
To every such jumper
We’ll empty our bumper,
And bump his old rump on a submarine mine.

2
Hail Caledonia! thou land of strong liquors,
The dew of the mountains that kiss the grey sky;
Land full of cogies and barrels and bickers,
With spirits inside them that potently lie;
But we’ve a fierce licker
Bunged up in a bicker,
To broach our wild admiral all who’s design,
Get a lick for their trouble
That crumples them double –
A bump on the rump with a submarine mine.

3
There are mines that are sound, and far more that are rotten,
Supposed to be brimming with silver and gold;
But the mines that can sound and are crammed with gun-cotton
Are solid investments for Britain to hold.
Let a thief come to burgle,
They’ll soon make him gurgle,
And spread him in splinters far over the brine;
Dispose of him variously,
Very precariously,
Bump his old rump on a submarine mine.

4
Hail to the thief as he soars in the atmosphere!
Vast his velocity! Oh, what a lark!
Thought he was safe, when he got such a smack severe,
Safe as a sailor in old Noah’s ark.
The bits, let him pick them up,
Fishes will gaily sup,
Garvies and herring will handsomely dine
On all that remains still hot
Of the bold thief who got
A bump on the rump with a submarine mine.

5
Like pines in forest close clustered together,
With roots in the shingle and stems in the brine,
That sway like this saplings and bend to the weather,
With garlands of tangle around them to twine;
Flowers of the ocean bed,
Painted both green and red,
Signals of safety or danger malign.
Ye foes full of enmity
think with solemnity
Of a bump on the rump with a submarine mine.

6
Row, sappers, row, for the pride of old Scotland!
‘Gainst robbers and pirates put forth all your strength;
Whate’er they may do, there’s one thing – they must not land,
Or steal a march on us a single foot’s length.
Plant the mines thickly then,
Lay them out quickly then;
Join the long cables of copper-cored twine.
Let the foe see our coast, and then
Drink his last toast and then
Bump his old rump on a submarine mine.

H. M. CADELL,
Capt. Forth Div R.E.(V.) Sub. Miners.

cogie – a small bowl
bicker – A vessel for containing liquor for drinking, properly one made of wood