SECOND LIEUTENANT ALEXANDER JAMES DAVIDSON
SEAFORTH HIGHLANDERS
8TH APRIL 1917 AGE 30
BURIED: HIGHLAND CEMETERY, ROCLINCOURT, FRANCE
On 8 April 1917 Alexander Davidson wrote a letter to his sister, Jean M Davidson:
In twenty-four hours we go out to face the enemy, and [I] feel constrained to write you a few words, not farewell ones I hope and pray, but you can understand that there are thoughts and feelings to which I would give expression ... If it be God's will that we do not meet again on earth, you must not mourn for me as having left you for ever. Whatever happens I am all right. Should I fall in the fight in my country's great cause, then I would like that the great feeling in your heart was one of pride that your brother was privileged to lay down his life - a willing sacrifice - for his country's good:
Nothing is here for tears,
Nothing to wail or knock the breast,
No weakness, no contempt,
Dispraise or blame,nothing but well and fair
And what may quiet us in a death so noble.
We are going into the fight, confident in the righteousness of our cause. God give me strength to lead my men fearlessly; that is my prayer. I know it must be yours.
Davidson was killed the next day. His sister chose his inscription since both his parents were dead. Addressing him by his pet name, 'Algy', she quotes from the poem that her brother himself quoted from in his last letter: 'Samson Agonistes' by John Milton (1608-1674).
The letter was quoted by the Revd Ranald Macdonald in an appreciation he gave during the service in the United Free Church in Dingwall on the Sunday following Davidson's death. All this information comes from the Ross-shire Journal quoted on the Ross and Cromarty Heritage website.