THE MAKING OF THE MUSTER.
tunities to young men with soldiering in their blood, if with few
sovereigns in their pockets. What happened was this. A likely lad
was brought before the notice of the laird, who easily got a "nomina-
tion " for him in the forces of one or other of the Presidencies. Once
there, the rest depended chiefly on himself. There was no running home
every year or two as at the present time. A man had to remain out
for years at a stretch, the home journey costing too much and lasting
too long to be frequently indulged in. This of course cut off elder sons
who might be called upon at any moment to succeed their fathers in
the intimate duties of landed proprietors : indeed, life in India in the old
days meant prolonged, and sometimes permanent exile, with far-reaching
social consequences — which have not been recorded here.
The fullness of the Indian data has enabled Mrs. Skelton to follow
up some families who have been forgotten by genealogists at home.
The most fortunate example is that of the Gordons in Tillienaught, the
senior line of the present Gordons of Newton. By means of the registers
at the India Office one was able to discover (just in time lor the second
volume of the House of Gordon) that the Tillienaught group had given
ten officers to the Indian army (and one to the nth Foot), while the
landed branch of Newton has produced five officers. One of these
The Tillienaught and Newton Gordons.