HIGHLAND CHIEF

Rotorua Morning Post, Volume 2, Issue 283, 25 July 1932, Page 8

HIGHLAND CHIEF

WORLD-WIDE GREETING ON ATTAINING AGE OF 97 YEARS. SAW SIEGE OF SEBASTOPOL. Greeting from Macleans the world over have reached that wonderful old soldier, Sir Fitzroy Donald Maclean, the 26th Chipftain of the Clan, who celebrated his 97th birthday. He lives at Duart Castle, in the Island of Mull, the historic strongh'old of his ancestors, which was built in the 12th century. Before Sir Fitzroy was born, the castle had passed out of the hands of the Macleans, but in 1911 he was able to fulfil a vow of his boyhood and buy and restore the ancestral home of his family. Following the rebellion of 1745, in which the Macleans espoused the cause of Prince Charles, the castle was lost to the clan, and only the bare walls remained. When a boy Sir Fitzroy visited the ruin with his father, and vowed that one day he would restore the broken link of the glories of his name and race. Sir Fitzroy still enjoys good health on his island home and takes the keenest interest in the affairs of the day. His life has been one of adventure. When still in his teens he joined the 13th Light Dragoons, now the 13th Hussars, and he received a commission from the Duke of Wellington. He fought in Bulgaria and throughout the Crimean War. Severely wounded at the siege of Sebastopol, he was then given ten hours to live by the doctors. Sir Fitzroy mlssed the charge of the Light Brigade because he was ill at the time. At one time he lived at Hyde Park Terrace, but he gave up his house there a few years ago.- He loves the solitude of his island home, and on his native heath wears the hon-

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