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The ENSIGN EWART pub is named after Charles Ewart, who, single-handedly captured the standard of the famous French Invincibles at the Battle of Waterloo.
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Ensign Ewart's grave is marked by a granite block on the esplanade of Edinburgh Castle. The standard he so bravely won can be seen in the castle itself. .
On the 18th of June 1815, Charles Ewart was a Sergeant in the Royal North British Dragoons when he captured the standard of the French 45th Regiment, from which the badge of the Royal Scots Greys (now the Royal Scots Dragoon Guards) was derived (See note below)
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He was born at Biddles Farm in Kilmarnock, Scotland, in 1769 and enlisted in the 2nd Royal North British Dragoons (The Scots Greys) in 1789. At the time of the Battle of Waterloo, therefore, he was 45 years old and a veteran of many battles. A giant of a man, various sources place him at anything between 6 foot. 4 inches and 7 feet tall, he was an expert swordsman. In the picture above, we see him at the age of 75, in the uniform of an Ensign of the 5th Royal Veteran Battalion, into which he was commissioned after Waterloo, by the Prince Regent. On his breast is the Waterloo medal. This medal set the precedence in the British Army for issuing campaign medals to officers and other ranks alike.
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On the day of the battle The Scots Greys, alongside the Gordon Highlanders, faced the French 45th Regiment (The Invincibles).
It was late in the day when they got the order to charge, and with the soldiers of the Gordon Highlanders hanging on to their stirrups and with a cry of "Scotland Forever!", the Greys swept down on the enemy.
Ewart made straight for the French standard bearer, fighting his way through. Three Frenchmen threw themselves in the way.
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In his own words :-
"One made a thrust at my groin, I parried him off and cut him down through the head. A lancer came at me - I threw the lance off by my right side and cut him through the chin and upwards through the teeth. Next, a foot soldier fired at me and then charged me with his bayonet, which I also had the good luck to parry, and then I cut him down through the head".
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Thus he made his way to the Eagle which he grasped firmly and carried off, and earned himself a name forever as "the greatest and most illustrious Grey in history".
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The moment when Ewart captures the standard, as shown by the large painting by Ernest Hood, which takes pride of place in the pub. The painting was specially commissioned for the re-opening of the pub in 1964
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Ewart eventually left the Army in 1821. He and his wife Maggie (Margaret Geddes, of Stockport) moved to Salford. He kept busy teaching swordsmanship. Ewart moved to a cottage in Bent Lane, Davyhulme, where he spent the last 16 years of his life, on his £100 a year Army pension.
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When he died in 1846 he was buried in a church in Salford. Eventually the church closed, became a factory and the burial ground was paved over. It was not until 1938, that workmen clearing the site found his grave. Ewart's body was exhumed and re-buried beneath a granite memorial, on the esplanade of Edinburgh Castle.
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However that was not the end of his travels. In 1967, repairs became necessary at the castle, and so with full military honours Ewart's body was once again exhumed and taken to a temporary resting place at Preston Hall, Midlothian. Today, however, he is back at the castle.
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NOTE: The Greys were raised in 1681 as the Royal Regiment of Scotch Dragoons and designated as the 2nd (Royal North British) Dragoons in 1751. Because of their grey horses the regiment became known as the Greys Dragoons. The name Royal Scots Greys was adopted in 1877, and then eventually they merged with another regiment to become the Royal Scots Dragoon Guards. (Back to Top)
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