See this article on the Scottish Military Historical Society's web site about the Birkenhead Disaster:

http://www.btinternet.com/~james.mckay/ship1852.htm

It's really a shame that the Birkenhead hasn't gotten the publicity that RMS Titanic has gotten.

As far as Colin's question, I would recommend the three articles about Scottish Regiments in North America on the SMHS site:

http://www.btinternet.com/~james.mckay/naindex.htm

Cheers,

T.