by       W.B. CHALMERS.
East London
12th July, 1894

THE LATE MR. JOHN URIE

Away back in the Forties and Fifties this was a country famed only or its Kaffir Wars and England had to send out large numbers of her troops to fight for her honour and supremacy; and right bravely did her soldiers do so. The old soldiers' graves, of officers, non-commissioned officers, and men, in the cemeteries of Graham's Town, Fort Beaufort, Fort Hare, etc., etc., eloquently speak in honour of these brave men who found this last resting place in our once despised, but now prosperous South Africa.

Among the many Regiments which were sent out was the renowned Ninety-First, and John Urie came out as a private in that regiment.

One does not see such soldiers now-a-days. They were strong, sturdy, well built, and fully developed men. They were men who enlisted for twenty-one years, with the option of rejoining after the expiration for that time. They were hardy, and were able to endure and go through any amount of fatigue. The enormous packs they had to carry, the long marches they had to make over a roadless and rugged country in order to meet the enemy, - their heavy muskets and ammunition, - their leather collars, and heavy shakos, were all sufficient to kill a soldier of the present day without any fighting at all. When one thinks of those fine, strong men, and looks at the soldier of the present day, one cannot help coming to the conclusion that the British army has been ruined by the Short Service System. And that was the opinion of the good old 91st man, John Urie.

In those days Kaffirs were a brave race, - true warriors. They came out boldly in the open, and they made daring and desperate attacks on our towns and forts in broad daylight. The brave British soldier had hard and heavy work cut out for him.

He was in no way armed so efficiently as his brother in arms is now-a-days. There were no breech-loaders and far-shooting rifles. He was armed with a heavy smooth-bore muzzle-loading musket carrying a round smooth bullet which could not do much damage over a hundred yards, but he had the deadly bayonet on which he mainly depended. And the order "Fix bayonets and charge at them," was a welcome and heart-stirring note to the British soldier. It became, therefore, a matter of hand to hand fight, man to man, the brave Kaffir with his assegai, and the gallant British soldier with his bayonet. It required such good, strong men as the soldier of those days to meet the stalwart Kaffir in a hand to hand encounter. The soldier's hope was in his "baginet," as the old soldier Urie loved to call the bayonet, instead of his musket and its contents; and so bravely did the Kaffirs fight that the British soldier always considered them ""a foe worthy of his steel."" .

In all the severe and heavy fighting which took place, John Urie was always in the thick of it. When the Kaffir army came out to do battle with our troops near Fort Hare (near Alice) the 91st Regiment, which always fell in for the lion's share of the fighting, was severely cut up, - the Kaffirs rushing up to them, seizing them by their belts and assegaing them if they themselves were not bayoneted. Urie belonged to Captain Gordon's Company (the Captain was father of the late Rev. John Gordon of King William's Town.) Among the many of the gallant 91st who then fell was the brave Captain Gordon, who was leading his men at a bayonet charge. As soon as he fell, Urie and a few of his comrades stood at bay with fixed bayonets round their gallant Captains' body, and with their bayonets they not only bravely protected the body from falling into the hands of the enemy, but carried it, fighting their way with their bayonets, from the battle field to the Fort, - John Urie being one of the Carriers.

At the fights at Boma Pass, and at Fort Cox, at the terrible attack near Burnshill when the enemy took possession and finally burnt a train of some eighty wagons, at the famous battle of the Gwanga when the Dragoons and the old Cape Mounted Rifles by their brilliant charge with swords so completely finished the success of the Infantry, and at many other places, the brave 91st was always hotly engaged, and John Urie had many narrow escapes. He was close to Colonel Fordyce, the Colonel of the 91st in the Waterkloof, when that good and brave Officer was wounded mortally; and Urie was again one of the men who carried their much loved Colonel Fordyce to a large tree which still stands at Fort Fordyce, and where that brave soldier breathed his last surrounded by his sorrowing men.

At the conclusion of the wars John Urie and many of his comrades in the 91st, as well as many men of other regiments, took their discharge and settled in this country. They were all good men and did well, and made excellent settlers. But they are all dying out; and there must now be only a very few of them still surviving.

Urie was appointed Gaoler at Cradock on the 1st December, 1860, and he has held that position ever since. He has seen very many changes of Magistrates and Clerks in his day at that place. He served under many master of different ways, different manners, and different temperaments; but he got on well with every one of them. And I am sure there is not a magistrate or a clerk who has served at Cradock but who at once learned to appreciate Urie;s value as a public servant, to admire his splendid character, and to hold him, his good wife and their children in the highest esteem and respect; and they will all deeply grieve to learn the sad news of his death.

I myself was nearly nine years Magistrate of that place, and during my career in the public service I never met, no matter in what position, a more honourable, honest, straightforward, and really good man than John Urie. As an old soldier of a good regiment, he was a splendid disciplinarian. As a Gaoler, strict, firm, and most exacting, but at the same time good and kind to the prisoners under his charge. He was most punctual, zealous, and hard working. His gaol was at all times a perfect model of neatness, cleanliness, and good order. Governors, Judges, Cabinet Ministers, Magistrates from other districts, Lawyers, Members of Parliament, visitors of importance from the Old Country, Clergymen, etc., etc., have visited his Gaol, and all have been loud in their praises of the very excellent manner in which it was kept by the good old soldier. And the neatness and cleanliness of his private quarters were also very much admired. And the old soldier was always to the front with John Urie; for he always showed the highest respect towards all his superiors. I have never once spoke to him, no matter when and where, without his at once standing to "attention". And what I so much liked and admired in him was that with all profound respect for his superiors, he was no snivelling sycophant, but was manly, outspoken, and had a mind and opinion of his own, and never curried favour.

John Urie was in every sense of the word a good Christian and Free Mason, a thorough British soldier at heart, and a man of unblemished character.

As a Christian, he attached himself to the Wesleyan Church after he settled down in the country. In his native land he belonged to the Church of Scotland. Nothing but sickness interfered with his regular attendance at Chapel, - and that was rarely, if ever, for he was always a strong, healthy man. And I am sure that all the Wesleyan Ministers under who he sat at Cradock will bear willing and cheerful testimony to his thorough good and Christian life.

His whole heart and soul as a Christian, as a soldier, and as a man, was in Free Masonry. I was one of the few, many years ago, who started the first Masonic Lodge in Cradock, the Meridian, which has had so successful a career. I was the first Master of that Lodge, and I selected Urie as the first Tyler. As an old resident of Cradock he was held in such high esteem by everyone, that my selection gave the highest satisfaction to all the Brethren; and up to the time I left Cradock he was still Tyler, and I believe continued so up to the very last. No man was ever prouder of any position than Urie was of his position as Tyler of the Meridian; and I am sure that the Cradock Brethren will have given him a funeral well befitting such an old, good, and faithful Officer and Brother, that they will all deeply lament the loss which they and the Lodge have sustained, and they will show their sorrow in some marked form.

As an old Soldier in the Civil Service of this country John Urie ever prided himself that he was a servant of Queen Victoria, and his whole aim in life was to live as a good and loyal soldier, and never to do or say anything that would bring discredit on the flag which he loved so well, and under which he had so many hard and hot fights. It was a real pleasure to see his genial face brighten up, and his eye sparkle, whenever he heard of any good and brave act of the British Soldier. By his death our beloved Sovereign loses a good and brave man, and a true and loyal subject. And if the officers, non-commissioned officers and men of the old gallant Ninety-First, which loved so well, only knew of his death, and of the manner in which in his civil life John Urie kept up the character and honour of his old Regiment, I am sure that they would be foremost in showing their regret at the loss of an old comrade in arms

Urie never forgot the land of his birth, and the relations and friends he left in the old country. He was proud of his country, and gloried in being a thorough-bred Scotchman. For years I have kept him supplied every week with a copy of the Glasgow Herald, and it is only a few days ago that I sent him the last. This very trifling act on my part was appreciated by Urie as a very great kindness. He always read the paper most carefully and with the deepest interest, and he has often told me that it always made him happy, as it brought back to his recollection scenes and people of his earlier days. He was a Glasgow man.

A man of calm, cool, and even temper - of a most amiable disposition, - a loving husband, and a warm hearted and affectionate father, John Urie has shown what a man he was by the very creditable manner in which (with the assistance of his good wife) he has brought up his large family. They are all doing well and are thoroughly respectable, and most highly respected by everyone. Very few men, in far better positions ever, could have brought up a large family in so excellent a manner

The government loses an old, trustworthy, honest, and highly respectable servant; and I sincerely trust that they will show some appreciation of long, faithfully, and zealous services by conferring the appointment which Urie has so honourably held for so many years on one of his good sons

I could write a great deal regarding Urie as a Christian, a Free Mason, and old Soldier, a Public Servant, a husband, and a father; but I am afraid I have already taken up to much of your space. I can only in a word say that in all these capacities he always steered a strictly correct course, and by his conduct in life he won the highest esteem and respect of everyone who came in contact with him. And I feel that I should be failing in my duty towards a really good and truly faithful servant who has just been laid in his grave were I, as an old Cradock Magistrate, not to express over his freshly covered grave the few curtailed remarks which I have ventured, however feebly, to make regarding him. And I wish to convey to his good wife and children my own and my children's warmest sympathy in their sad loss and affliction, and to assure them that we shall never forget our highly respected friend, the good old soldier, JOHN URIE

W.B. CHALMERS.
East London
12th July, 1894

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