While lying in a hospital in France, severely wounded, in June of 1915, Percy Guthrie heard the sound of bagpipes. They gave him an idea. He would return home to New Brunswick and create an extraordinarily unique First World War “kilted battalion” — the famous MacLean Kilties.
Even while fighting in the muddy and bloody trenches, Percy Guthrie was also the sitting MLA representing Fredericton. He and another MLA, F. B. Black, had been given a special extended leave of absence from the Legislature to go fight in the war.
In late September of 1916, Lieut. Col. Guthrie finally got permission to begin recruitment for his new unit, the 236th, nicknamed “The New Brunswick Kilties.”
According to Paul E. Belliveau’s book Percy Guthrie and The MacLean Kilties, the recruitment drive involved a coordinated province-wide “novel plan, based on old traditions of Scottish clans, was to be filled with pageantry with the objective of creating an emotional appeal."
"A huge previously prepared bonfire would be lit on the nearest summit, and as the flames light up the heavens, a young girl, dressed in the tartan of Clan MacLean, would recite Fire the Pile on Craid-Gowan Height from W. S. Daniel’s Scottish poem. … a piper in the distance would begin playing The March of the Cameron Men, reminiscent of the gathering of the clans call to duty in the olden days. The meeting would be addressed by a soldier who had been wounded at the front.”
The recruitment campaign started off strong, only to falter. After one month, they had only recruited 240 out of the 1,000 men needed. Many N.B. men had simply already enlisted.
Guthrie received an unusual special exemption to recruit across Canada, changing the unit’s name to “The MacLean Kilties.”
While his recruiters fanned out across the nation, Guthrie had to find the Kilties a place to stay as they trained.
He cut a highly unusual deal with the Lieutenant Governor and the City of Fredericton. The Kilties would use a certain decrepit and abandoned old building, which had fallen into disrepair, as their base: Old Government House.
The City would pay for materials and fund the repairs of what is today the Lt. Governor’s home, if the MacLean Kilties would provide the actual labour for renovating the grand old mansion.
This was agreed to with one major condition: when the Kilties left Government House to fight overseas, the building would be used as a hospital for wounded veterans.
The Kilties received notably good treatment. F. L. Lessard wrote, “The rations were good and there were no complaints. The men are not paying anything extra for messing, and yet they are given roast pork, corned beef, roast beef, fish and eggs. They are also given 4 to 5 puddings and pies per week.”
While training in Fredericton, the recruits set up an ad-hoc “Kilite Koncert Kompany” featuring jugglers, tumblers, and acrobats, and put on a show at the Opera House. This was quickly sent out on tour, putting on shows around the province.
When the recruiters returned from across Canada, it was discovered they had only been partially successful. The Kilties' numbers now barely scratched 500 of the 1000 needed.
This led to by far the most unique aspect of this already highly unusual military unit: the famous American recruitment campaign.
On April 4th, 1917, the United States, which had been neutral until this point, finally declared war on the German Empire. The Kilties saw an opportunity and immediately planned a recruitment tour of the United States.
The Kilties’ officers included the Daily Gleaner’s editor, Captain Doug Black, a masterfully skilled marketer. After the war, he would singlehandedly turn New Brunswick into a major destination for American tourists during the Roaring 20s.
Black used his connections to newspaper editors in Boston to drum up weeks of fawning coverage ahead of the Kilties’ arrival.
When they arrived in Boston, over 100,000 lined the streets to see them and their mascot, an eight-month-old bear cub named “Mac.” (Bears weren't allowed to go overseas, and Mac would eventually settle in Boston.)
The Boston Press called the tour “the most successful recruiting campaign yet staged in America.” After only eleven days in Boston, the Kilties had the recruits they needed.
Nonetheless, the tour continued, now working with the US Army to recruit for their allies' military.
The MacLean Kilties' officers had all seen combat. News reports hint at barely concealed anger among the war vets that the Americans had not joined the war earlier.
In New York City, Guthrie proposed a pointed toast to his audience of Americans, calling “Canada the moral leader of the North American continent.”
Less subtly, at the same event, Lieut. Col. J. S. Dennis went on a tirade in which he called the audience “hot air” and “double slackers.” The New York Times reported that this “did not sit particularly well” with the hosts.
The Kilties also serenaded a crowd of 12,000 spectators during a New York Giants baseball game with what the New York Times called “the warbling screech of the bagpipes” while decked out in “gay plaids and bare knees.” According to that paper, during the game, they also had “their first experience with ice cream cones.”
Thousands of American men were inspired to enlist in the US Army.
Their visit even sparked a brief kilt craze among New York fashionistas. The Times remarked that their visit caused the biggest buying spree of foreign military attire since French sailor hats had become an implausible must-have fashion item several years earlier.
Guthrie wrote, “The fame and name of the Kilties spread far and near, and men came from all directions to join their ranks.”
Despite all the hype and the promises they would fight together, as soon as the MacLean Kilties got overseas, they were promptly broken up. The men were sent to other units to replace casualties.
