The Courier & Advertiser (Perth and Perthshire Edition)
Angus man who helped clean up the wild west immortalised in ballad
Thomas Moonlight’s remarkable tale a highlight of Arbroath band Slipway’s debut album
It is the remarkable story of the stone-throwing Angus lad whose 19th Century journey Stateside brought him brim to brim with some of the Wild West’s most famous names.
But now, thanks to the talents of an Arbroath songwriter, the Ballad of Thomas Moonlight has revealed the life of the little-known Lichtie who pardoned Harry Longbaugh, releasing him to pursue a robber’s life as the Sundance Kid.
Retired journalist Ian Lamb has shone attention on Moonlight in the opening track of the newly-released Arbroath Songbook by Slipway, the band in which he plays guitar alongside vocalist Alan Mowatt and accordionist and keyboard player Tony Simpson.
Despite extensive knowledge of many famous Arbroath names, Mr Lamb was astonished to uncover Moonlight’s tale.
Born into a farming family in 1833 and educated at Arbroath Educational Institution, Moonlight was noted for leading stone-throwing gang fights against pupils from the town’s High School.
He left school at the age of 12 and was put to work in his uncle Charles’ draper’s shop on Brothock Bridge, but ran away a year later and worked his passage from Dundee to Philadelphia with dreams of farming in the New World.
In 1856, Moonlight was ordered to Texas with the Western Army to fight hostile Seminole Indians, to be discharged with the rank of captain and enough cash to buy a farm in Kansas.
Mr Lamb said: “At the start of the Civil War in 1861, he re-enlisted and fought on the side of the Union rising to the rank of Colonel.
“Warfare emerged again in Wyoming and with the brevet rank of Brigadier General, he was appointed commander of Fort Laramie.
“He retired from military service at the age of 35 and returned to farming whilst developing an interest in politics.”
It was Moonlight’s appointment as Adjutant General of Kansas that first brought him into contact with famous names of the Wild West including Wyatt Earp and Doc Holiday, as the Scot became involved in helping to clean up the infamous Dodge City.
Mr Lamb added: “In 1887, Moonlight was appointed governor of the then territory of Wyoming and presided over its development towards becoming a state.
“Moonlight’s final call to serve his adopted country came when President Cleveland appointed him US ambassador to Bolivia. He died in 1899 at the age of 66 and is buried in Leavenworth, Kansas.”
Local charities will benefit from the sale of the CD, which is available at the town’s Abbey Music, the Meadowbank Inn and the Signal Tower museum.