TA Brigade President, Lord Guthrie, once said: When anybody asked me how they could get an idea of what The Boys' Brigade stood for, I used to say: 'Read our motto, and then go and take a good look at Sir William Smith, our Founder and our Brigade Secretary'.

From the day he started the lst Glasgow, William Smith was Captain of his original Company, on parade, at Bible Class, and at Summer Camp. He gave of his best, and he. expected the best. He could warmly commend a Boy, an Officer, a Company for work well done, but he was not given to lavish praise. Duty was duty, and it was its own reward.

Sir William Alexander Smith.

The Founder was very much a man of commonsense. He had little time, for instance, for Boys singing hymns which were ludicrously unreal to them. Lead, kindly Light was a fine hymn, but surely not for the B.B.? How could he associate the Boys as he knew them with ecstatic hailing of angel faces which they had loved long since and lost awhile? 'A Boy who sticks a pin into another Boy gives promise of being a finer man than he who sings demurely, "I want to be an angel".' Nor was Smith happy with zealous Officers who thought of Camp as a special opportunity to work on the Boys' feelings and convert them to a particular brand of religion. Camp was for health and enjoyment. Officers should do their work thoroughly, earnestly and devotedly, and leave the issue in God's hands. He insisted that Officers and Boys should share in all the adventure, weather, sports, hardships and fun of Camp, and that they must be together at meals. 'If a dinner does not turn out a culinary success, Officers should not immediately dine at the nearest hotel.'

Rules are rules, and in the B.B. they are made after careful discussion and often a plebiscite of the whole Movement. So The Brigade must be loyal to them:

We heard the other day of a B.B. Officer wearing an imitation of a military uniform, and of another Officer who so far forgot what was due to his military rank in the Volunteers as to wear his Volunteer Officer's uniform in Camp with his Boys. How can Officers expect Boys to keep Company rules if they themselves fail to keep Brigade rules?

Lieutenant-Colonel Smith of the lst Lanark Rifle Volunteers was as sensitive to the regard of his military fellow-officers as was Captain Smith for the good name of The Boys' Brigade.

As Brigade Secretary, William Smith kept an eye on everything concerning the B.B. up and down the world, and his daily correspondence tray showed it. He had a sharp eye for any slovenliness or a breach of regulations. Every Battalion Report was read, noted, and remembered.Liverpool's Report was a model of lucidity and order, and they were particularly good at Ambulance work. Ayr Battalion was commended for its splendid annual flower show. Summer Camp is the feature in which Manchester excels all other Battalions. There was a most successful Bible Class in Hull to be noted, and West Kent was progressing excellently. lst Newport sent him a photograph of the Company in all the glory of their Camp sun-hats, which the Secretary enjoyed and printed in the Gazette. But he reminded them that sun-hats are sanctioned only for Camp and are on no account to take the place of the regulation uniform cap for parade purposes.

But what was going on in Nottingham? 'Who ever heard of the ranks of Colonel or Major in The Boys' Brigade? Yet these appear on the first page of the Nottingham Battalion Report. Not good enough!' At the same time, remember that it was Nottingham which produced the splendid B.B.hymn, 'Underneath the Banner of The Boys' Brigade'.

Edinburgh had two irregularities to be noted in the way of accoutrements: red edging on NCOs' stripes, and special Band caps.Cardiff had five Vice-Presidents and Carlisle had six, while the Brigade Constitution provided for only one. 'Study the Manual,' wrote William Smith, 'and obey the Rules!'

He went to see for himself, tirelessly, up and down the country. In the year of the semi-jubilee of The Brigade William Smith made extensive visits to Companies in Orkney and Shetland in the far north and a few months later inspected the Jersey Companies in the south. That same session he was also in Bristol, South Wales, Cork, Leeds, Melrose, Newcastle-on-Tyne and London. Everywhere he was received with enthusiasm by the Boys.

He paid a visit to America at the cordial invitation of General H.P. Bope who was Commander-in-Chief of the United Boys' Brigades of America and he saw B.B. work in New York, Boston, Philadelphia, Washington, Baltimore, Pittsburgh, Cleveland, Chicago and St. Louis. He met the President of the United States, Theodore Roosevelt, who thanked him for all he had done for Boys throughout the world. Smith found 'the American Boy a very charming product of civilization, well set up, keen and alert, with a fascinating frankness and brightness which are simply irresistible'. But he could not approve of the extravagant ranks and uniforms - Officers all dressed up with swords, braided tunics, peaked caps and crests. The Boys wore blue drill jackets with seven brass buttons, a black leather belt, white duck trousers, brown leggings and a French chasseur cap with cross guns in front. They were festooned with medals and decorations of every kind. He noted that age limits were not strictly kept at either end. 'Some mere children of 9 years were to be observed, while in several cases the "Boys" in the ranks were of such mature age that they were able to refer to their wives!'

The semi-jubilee of The Boys' Brigade was marked in Glasgow by the presentation of an address of appreciation and a portrait of the Founder subscribed by the citizens. It still hangs in the Art Galleries of the city. About the same time new and spacious Headquarters were opened by the Earl of Aberdeen, the Honorary President, on the fourth floor of the handsome Merchants' House of Glasgow.

In July 1909 the lst Glasgow were, as usual, at their old camping ground at Tighnabruaich in the Kyles of Bute. On Wednesday evening Captain Smith quietly left Camp to travel overnight to London. On Thursday he visited Buckingham Palace to receive the honour of knighthood from His Majesty, King Edward VII. On Friday morning Sir William A. Smith was back in camp to receive a tumultuous welcome from the Boys.

The Albert Hall Demonstration was the highlight of the B.B. year. Sir William Smith was there as usual on Thursday 7th May,1914, with a royal chairman, His Serene Highness, Prince Alexander of Teck, and the great building packed with Boys and parents and friends of The Brigade.

The next day Sir William was at meetings of the B.B.Executive in the London Office. All at once he took ill, and he did not regain consciousness. He died on Sunday lOth May in St. Bartholomew's Hospital, barely sixty years of age.

The whole Movement was stunned by the news. Every Officer and Boy felt that he knew the Founder. It was he who had always said: 'Put the Boy first'. Now there was mourning up and down the land. Four thousand Boys filled St. Paul's Cathedral to its furthest corners on Friday l5th May for the memorial service. In the choir stalls were leaders of all the Boys' organizations who acknowledged Sir William as their Pioneer - The Church Lads' Brigade, The London Diocesan Church Lads' Brigade, The Catholic Boys' Brigade, The Jewish Lads' Brigade, The Boys' Life Brigade, and The Boy Scouts under their chief, Sir Robert Baden-Powell. They were there to pay tribute to the Founder of the Movement which had been First for Boys.

After the service eight Staff Sergeants carried the coffin of Sir William from the chapel of St. Bartholomew's Hospital while the Guard of Honour of the 62nd London and 3rd Enfield stood with arms reversed.The Band of the 103rd London Company began to play Abide With Me as the cortege stepped slowly into the night.

At Euston station the West London Battalion provided a Guard of Honour. Perhaps the most moving moment of all came as the train sped north through the night, when a detachment of the 2nd Rugby Company sounded the Last Post from a bleak and lonely platform as a farewell to the Founder.

Glasgow has always known itself to be the home of The Boys' Brigade and the whole city went into mourning. After the funeral service in College and Kelvingrove Church a Bugler headed the march through the city, followed by two Companies of Glasgow Sergeants and massed Brass and Pipe Bands. The lst Glasgow Company had the place of honour preceding the funeral coach with its four horses and postillions. Behind them came a great company of mourners from The Brigade of Great Britain and Ireland and past and present members of Sir Wlilliam Smith's regiment. Several of the original members of the lst Glasgow were there. The three miles to the place of burial were lined by 7000 Boys of the Glasgow Battalion and behind them thousands of men, women and children who had come to pay tribute to the man the whole city knew. They remembered his soldierly bearing, the set of his head, his alert and steady eye, the firm grip of his hand. He was without doubt a Christian gentleman.

Funeral of Sir William Smith. Glasgow May 1914.

Sir William Smith was buried in the Western Necropolis, and the last act of the day was when the Boys of the lst Glasgow filed past the open grave and each cast into it a white flower. Then they sang the B.B.hymn 'Onward, Christian Soldiers!', and the solitary bugler sounded 'The Last Post.'

Memorial services for Sir William Smith were held in every city of the United Kingdom where the B.B. was known. Those who were present were never to forget that solemn day. But all who knew Sir William Smith were quick to resolve that the B.B. should go from strength to strength.That was the best tribute they could pay to their beloved Founder. That resolve was best summed up in the words of the telegram from the King: 'Sir William Smith's name will ever be remembered as the Founder and friend of The Boys' Brigade.'

From that day to this the story of William A. Smith has been told from one generation of B.B. Boys to another, and Founder's Day has been kept on the last Sunday in October each year to commemorate his birth and life.

'It was left to Sir William,' said Lord Guthrie, 'to spell the word Boy with a capital "B".'