Robbie McBeath
A hero in two countries
November 20th, 1917 - World War 1 was raging in Europe. Entrenched in bitter warfare at the Battle of Cambria in France, a regiment of Seaforth Highlanders was pinned down by intense machine gun fire. Lance-Corporal Robert McBeath, from the small Sutherland village of Kinlochbervie, Scotland volunteered to attack the guns alone, armed only with a Lewis gun and revolver. Joined by a tank, McBeath attacked five machine gun nests in succession, capturing three officers and thirty enemy soldiers. For this heroic action Robert McBeath was awarded the Victoria Cross. McBeath returned home to a hero's welcome. He married Barbara MacKay and soon after, emigrated to Vancouver, Canada, where he joined the Vancouver Police Department.
October 9th, 1922 Constable Robert McBeath was fatally shot while engaging in an arrest. McBeath's funeral was one of the largest ever in Vancouver history. All stores and banks were closed and thousands of attended to pay their respect. The procession took twenty minutes to pass and was led by Vancouver Police Inspector George Hood on horseback. He was followed by the Vancouver Police Pipe Band, the widow Barbara, the mayor and council members, 300 Masons, 80 Vancouver Police, 100 Vancouver Fire Fighters, 12 Royal Canadian Mounted Police, 50 Seaforth Highlanders, a contingent of Irish Fusiliers, Several hundred WW1 veterans, 40 members of BC Electric Railway, 12 of the Canadian Pacific Police, several hundred members of the Foresters, St Andrews, and Caledonia Societies.
A Songwriter's Journey
“It was Paula Mcleod, an administrator at Kinlochbervie High School who first introduced me to the story while I was on tour with Tiller's Folly back in 2009. She walked me past the remains of the tiny cottage where McBeath was raised, and told me the story of his early life. It was she, and the Village of Kinlochbervie who commissioned me to write the song.
*image courtesy of Margaret Meek
I returned to Kinlochbervie the following year to perform the song at the unveiling of a commemorative cairn which their students had erected.
A year later, I was invited to the commemoration of the "sister" cairn that had been constructed at the Vancouver Police Department's Tactical Training Centre.
Three stones from the ruin of McBeath’s home in Kinlochbervie were brought over, and were placed on top of the new cairn to complete the structure.