in october 1909 drummond was the organiser of the first militant procession in edinburgh as a response to a critical comment from the wspu leadership in their newsletter "votes for women" which said 'beautiful, haughty, dignified, stern edinburgh, with your cautious steadfast people, you have not yet woken up to take part in our militant methods.' the theme of the march was 'have done and can do and will do' and featured women carrying banners and playing bagpipes dressed either in their working clothes or as female historical scottish figures. tens of thousands turned out on to the streets of edinburgh to watch the parade and the event was considered by the edinburgh evening dispatch to have been a success.