[Editor: These two letters, regarding the deaths of two Australian soldiers in the Boer War (1899-1902), were published in Riverina Times, Hay Standard, and Journal of Water Conservation (Hay, NSW), 3 January 1901.]
The late Trooper Clancy.
We have received the following from the Rev. J. B. Armstrong, for many years the respected incumbent of St. Paul’s at Hay. Mr Armstrong’s remarks and the extract from the Rev. C. V. P. Day’s letter from the Veldt, will be particularly gratifying to the friends of the late Trooper Clancy and to the public generally:— Mr Day writes to the “Church Chronicle,” Brisbane —
“You will have heard by this time of the engagements which we have taken part in, and what success or failure attended them.
Poor Clancy only lived a few minutes, and, after being shot through the lower part of the heart, he expressed a wish that he should be buried with his signet ring on. I had a grave dug close by where he fell, and just one or two of us laid him to rest just as he was, with the exception of one or two articles of value belonging to him, which I have in my possession until I can find some relatives. I read the service over him which was accompanied by the ping-pangs of the rifles all round and the booming of the big guns.
Poor Lieut. Higson was lying close by, too, just having been brought down the kopje with a very nasty bullet wound through the head. He was most plucky and brave with it, and insisted on trying to walk from the firing line. The strangest thing is that he has never lost consciousness; his head was terribly smashed in and he lost a good deal of brain material. We were bound to leave him behind of course, and we have not heard since a word from the doctor how he fares.”
“The Rectory, Stanhope, Queensland,
December 28, 1900.
Dear Mr. Andrew, — I notice mention of the death of Trooper Clancy in the Riverina Times — on the appearance and style of which paper pray accept my congratulations — and it struck me that the Clancy in Mr Day’s letter was possibly the same man. If so his relatives will be deeply interested.
Mr Day’s address, when he returns will be Bishopsbourne, Brisbane. I know him well, and poor Clancy could hardly have had at his side one more sympathetic and helpful.
I presume the denomination of the two men would be different, but at least the poor fellow had one at his side to pray with him and to read a Christian service over him when he was laid to rest.
We both grieved to hear of the death of Aberline. We both remember him well, poor lad; but a grand death in the cause of an Empire that makes for justice.
Yours, &c.,
J. B. ARMSTRONG.
Source:
Riverina Times, Hay Standard, & Journal of Water Conservation (Hay, NSW), 3 January 1901, p. 2
Editor’s notes:
The two dead soldiers referred to, Clancy and Aberline, are Peter James Clancy and Alick M. Aberline.
Editor’s notes:
&c. = an alternative form of “etc.”: an abbreviation of “et cetera” (also spelt “etcetera”), a Latin term (“et” meaning “and”, “cetera” meaning “the rest”) which is translated as “and the rest (of such things)”, used in English to mean “and other similar things”, “other unspecified things of the same class”, “and so forth”
Hay = a town in the western Riverina region of south-western New South Wales; Hay is located north-east of Swan Hill (Victoria) and west of Griffith (NSW) and Leeton (NSW)
See: “Hay, New South Wales”, Wikipedia
kopje = (Boer) a hillock (a small hill), or a piece of rising ground (a mound), as an isolated formation situated on a plain (i.e. situated on a mostly flat area); the term is normally used regarding a small hill, usually rocky in its composition) on a veldt (plain) in Africa
pray = to ask, request; to ask for assistance, benefit, or favour; to ask or implore, especially in a humble or polite manner (e.g. “Do not serve me so, I pray”; “I pray thee remember, I have done thee worthy service”; “show kindness, I pray thee”); in older times “pray” was used to accompany a polite request (similar in function to the phrase “I ask you kindly”), similar to how the word “please” is used in modern times (e.g. “pray, tell me why…”)
service = a funeral service, with the body of the deceased being present (distinct from a memorial service, where the body is not present), conducted prior to the body’s burial or cremation; a ceremony, rite, or ritual, traditionally of a religious nature (although more secular services are being conducted in modern times), regarding a dead person or persons (as a commemoration of the deceased, or as a celebration of the life of the deceased); a funeral service is usually conducted at a graveside, in a church, or at a location which is believed to have some significance regarding the deceased (secular funeral services are commonly held in other places, such as a general-purpose hall, a funeral parlour, or in a park)
Veldt = plains of southern Africa; open country, grassland with few bushes or trees
[Editor: The quotation from the Rev. C. V. P. Day’s letter has been put into a blockquote, so as to distinguish it from the rest of the text.]
[Editor: The original text has been separated into paragraphs.]
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