Crossroads and Characters

61. AN EARLY VERSION.

In the days before the Boy Scout movement became widely established, the first uniformed organization for British boys was founded in Glasgow in 1883 by a Scot, William Smith. The Boys Brigade, or Boys Life Brigade as it was called in England, quickly became popular for boys 12 to 17 years of age. In 1917 a junior version called in some places The Boy Reserve was set up for boys too young for the Brigade. This photograph of The Boy Reserve taken in Dunning just after the First World War shows what these organizations were about, a combination of military and moral discipline. The leaders are a sergeant from the Black Watch and the minister of St. Serf's, Edwin Davidson. The two also led the local Boys Brigade. After 1926 the national organizations merged, and all the junior branches became known as Lifeboys.