The oldest Scottish infantry regiment of the British army is the Lowland regiment, the Royal Scots, raised in 1633 during the reign of Charles I, followed by the Royal Scots Fusiliers and the King’s Own Scottish Borderers. The Act of Union 1707 incorporated all the then existing Scottish regiments into the British army. It was not until 1881 that the Lowland regiments adopted a form of dress that marked them out from their English, Welsh and Highland counterparts.
The original Highland regiments were raised in the 18th century, the first being the Black Watch drawn from clans known to support the government. Other Highland regiments were raised and disbanded on an ad hoc basis until Victorian times when they played an important role in the Crimean War and the suppression of the Indian Mutiny.
In 2006, the Royal Scots, the King’s Own Scottish Borderers, the Royal Highland Fusiliers, the Highlanders and the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders were amalgamated to form the Royal Regiment of Scotland, a single regiment comprising five regular and two territorial battalions.
602 Squadron Museum
- Address: 518 Sauchiehall Street, Glasgow G2 3LW
- Tel: –
- E-mail: (Contact form online)
- Website: https://602squadronmuseum.org.uk
Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders Regimental Museum
- Address: The Castle, Stirling FK8 1EH
- Tel: 01786 448041
- E-mail: (Contact form online)
- Website: www.argylls.co.uk
Coldstream Museum
- Address: 12 Market Street, Coldstream TD12 4BD
- Tel: 01890 882630
- E-mail: enquiries@liveborders.org.uk
- Website: www.liveborders.org.uk/culture/museums/our-museums/coldstream-museum
Museum of the Royal Regiment of Scotland
- Address: Museum Office, Old Provost Marshal’s House, The Castle, Edinburgh EH1 2NG
- Tel: 0131 310 5014
- E-mail: curator@theroyalregimentofscotland.org
- Website: www.theroyalregimentofscotland.org
Royal Highland Fusiliers Museum
- Address: 518 Sauchiehall Street, Glasgow G2 3LW
- Tel: 0141 332 5639
- E-mail: museum@rhf.org.uk
- Website: www.rhf.org.uk
The Black Watch Regimental Museum
- Address: Balhousie Castle, Hay Street, Perth PH1 5HR
- Tel: 01738 638152
- E-mail: enquiries@theblackwatch.co.uk
- Website: https://theblackwatch.co.uk
The Cameronian (Scottish Rifles) Museum
- Address: 129 Muir St, Hamilton ML3 6BJ
- Tel: 01698 452382
- E-mail: museumresearch@southlanarkshireleisure.co.uk
- Website: www.sllccameronians.co.uk
The Gordon Highlanders Museum
- Address: St Luke’s, Viewfield Road, Aberdeen AB15 7XH
- Tel: 01224 311200
- E-mail: museum@gordonhighlanders.com
- Website: www.gordonhighlanders.com
The Highlanders’ Museum (Queen’s Own Scottish Highlanders)
- Address: Fort George, Ardesier, Inverness-shire IV2 7TD
- Tel: 0131 310 8701
- E-mail: (Research Request form online)
- Website: www.thehighlandersmuseum.com
[Edinburgh Castle: Photo by Gunnar Ridderström on Unsplash]