Remembering the Fallen of The Royal Company of Merchants

This month, our Master, Treasurer and wider Membership took part in Armistice Day ceremonies across Edinburgh. As the wreaths were laid and the Last Post sounded, it felt fitting to look back at the small but meaningful part the Company played during the World Wars.

Historian Rosalind Marshall records two young members who never returned from WW1: Captain Douglas Alexander Lindsay, a Leith grain merchant, and Captain Reginald Ernest Mackie of the Mackie’s Shortbread family. Both served with The Royal Scots and were killed at Gallipoli in 1915. Today, they lie in the Redoubt Cemetery at Helles, a quiet corner of Turkey carrying a piece of the Company’s story.

The war years saw the Company offer practical support where it could: fundraising, providing essentials and helping families through difficult times. Many of former pupils of the Merchant Schools are also now remembered on school memorials, which students proudly shared during official visits this year.

Thank you to our schools and to the wider community for taking part in the 2025 Remembrance and keeping these stories present.

Lest we forget.