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Authors and Contributors this page: T.F. Mills
Page created 15 July 2000. Corrected and updated 14.07.2006
 
crest
The Royal Scots
(The Royal Regiment)
Regimental Crest
United Kingdom 
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  Museums, Monuments, Memorials
  Bibliography

How to find information about individuals who served in this corps
 
1625.03.28 John Hepburn's Regiment
1627 entered Danish service
1630 entered Swedish service, formed with Mackay's Highlanders (raised 1626), Stargate's Corps, and Lumsden's Musketeers, the Green or Scots Brigade
1633 remnants of Green Brigade merged into Hepburn's Regt
1633.01.26 Royal Regiment of Foot
placed on Scottish establishment for King Charles I's Scottish coronation
1635 Régiment de Hebron [Hepburn]
entered French service
1637 Régiment de Douglas
1655.10.21 Régiment de Dumbarton
1662 transferred to English service; ranked as 1st regiment of foot
1662 returned to French service
1667 returned to English service for Dutch war
1667 returned to French service
1678 returned to English Establishment
1684.05.01 His Majesty's Royal Regiment of Foot
also known until 1751 by the names of colonels
1747 ranked as 1st Foot
1751.07.01 1st (Royal) Regiment of Foot
1812.02.11 1st Regiment of Foot (Royal Scots)
1821.08.29 1st, or The Royal Regiment of Foot
1871.12.15 1st, or The Royal Scots Regiment
1881.07.01 The Royal Scots (Lothian Regiment)
reorganised as the county regiment of Edinburgh (Midlothian), Haddingtonshire (East Lothian), Linlithgow (West Lothian), and Berwickshire, encompassing also its Militia and infantry volunteers [see below]
1887.05.01 Berwickshire transferred to King's Own Scottish Borderers district
1921.01.01 The Royal Scots (The Royal Regiment)
2006.03.28 united with The Royal Highland Fusiliers, The King's Own Scottish Borderers, The Black Watch, The Highlanders (Seaforth, Gordons and Camerons), and The Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders, to form The Royal Regiment of Scotland
  crown
The Royal Scots (Army site)
  crown
The Royal Scots (Regimental site)
  pip History of the Regiment (Regimental site)
pip The Royal Scots (Lothian Regiment), by M.M. Haldane (The Lowland Scots Regiments, 1918)
  pip Regimental History (Lord Orkney's Regiment)
  pip The Royal Scots (Scottish Military Historical Society)
  pip The Royal Scots, by Diana M. Henderson (Scots at War)
  pip The Royal Scots (Edinburgh Tattoo)
  pip The Royal Scots, by Glenvil Roberts.
  pip The Royal Scots, by Chris Baker (The British Army in the Great War).
  pip The Royal Scots, by Brad Chappell (The Regimental Warpath 1914-1918)
The Royal Scots 1914-18, by Paul Reed
  pip The Royal Scots, by Dave Depickere (World War II Analyzed)
     
  RHQ and Depot:
    RHQ: The Castle, Edinburgh
  ? Depot Battalion [1856-1871]
  62nd Brigade Depot at Glencorse [1873-1881]
  1st Regimental District at Glencorse [1881-1905]
 
  B Group at Edinburgh [1946-1948]
  Lowland Brigade at Melton Bridge [1948-1968]
  Scottish Division at Edinburgh [1968-2006]
     
  Regulars:
    1st Battalion [1625-2006]
   
    2nd Battalion [1686-1949]
    3rd Battalion [1804-1817]
    4th Battalion [1804-1816]
     
Militia and Special Reserve:
    3rd Battalion (The Edinburgh, or Queen's Regt of Light Infantry) [1881-1953]
   
  • Lineage (Scottish Military Historical Society)
     
  Territorials and Volunteers:
  pip Lineage, 1859-1908 (Scottish Military Historical Society)
    [1st VB] 1st Edinburgh (City) Rifle Volunteer Corps (The Queen's City of Edinburgh Rifle Volunteer Brigade) [1881-1888]
    [1st VB] 1st Battalion, The Queen's Rifle Volunteer Brigade [1888-1908]
    [2nd VB] 2nd Edinburgh (City) Rifle Volunteer Corps [1881-1888]
    [2nd VB] 2nd Battalion, The Queen's Rifle Volunteer Brigade [1888-1908]
    [3rd VB] 1st Midlothian (Leith) Rifle Volunteer Corps [1881-1888]
    [3rd VB] 3rd Battalion, The Queen's Rifle Volunteer Brigade [1888-1908]
    [4th VB] 2nd Midlothian (Midlothian and Peebles-shire) Rifle Volunteer Corps [1881-1888]
    4th Volunteer Battalion [1888-1908]
    [5th VB] 1st Berwickshire Rifle Volunteer Corps [1881-1887]
    5th Volunteer Battalion [1888-1908]
    [6th VB] 1st Haddington Rifle Volunteer Corps [1881-1888]
    6th Volunteer Battalion [1888-1908]
    [7th VB] 1st Linlithgowshire Rifle Volunteer Corps [1881-1888]
    7th Volunteer Battalion [1888-1908]
    8th Volunteer Battalion [1888-1908]
    9th Volunteer Battalion (Highlanders) [1900-1908]
    4th Battalion (Queen's Edinburgh) [1908-1921]
    4th/5th Battalion (Queen's Edinburgh) [1921-1940]
    5th Battalion (Queen's Edinburgh) [1908-1921]
    6th Battalion [1908-1920]
    7th Battalion [1908-1921]
    7th/9th (Highlanders) Battalion [1921-1961]
    8th Battalion [1908-1920, 1947-1961]
    8th/9th Battalion [1961-1967, 1969-1971]
    9th (Highlanders) Battalion [1908-1921]
    10th (Cyclist) Battalion [1908-1920]
    The Royal Scots and Cameronians Territorials [1967-1969]
    52nd Lowland Volunteers [1967-1999]
    52nd Lowland Regiment [1999-2006]
     
Hostilities-Only Units (First and Second World War, including T.A. duplicates):
    2/4th Battalion (Queen's Edinburgh Rifles) [1914-1918]
    4th (Reserve) Battalion (Queen's Edinburgh Rifles) [1915-1919]
    2/5th Battalion (Queen's Edinburgh Rifles) [1914-1915]
    5th (Reserve) Battalion (Queen's Edinburgh Rifles) [1915-1916]
    2/6th Battalion [1915-1915]
    6th (Reserve) Battalion [1915-1916]
    2/7th Battalion [1914-1918]
    7th (Reserve) Battalion [1915-1916]
    2/8th Battalion [1914-1917]
    8th (Reserve) Battalion [1914-1916]
    8th (Lothians and Peebleshire) Battalion [1939-1946]
    2/9th (Highlanders) Battalion [1914-19188]
    9th (Reserve) (Highlanders) Battalion [1915-1917]
    2/10th (Cyclist) Battalion [1914-1917]
    10th (Home Defence) Battalion [1939-1941]
    11th (Service) Battalion [1914-1919]
    11th (Home Defence) Battalion [1939-1940]
    12th (Service) Battalion [1914-1919]
    12th Battalion [1940-1942]
    13th (Service) Battalion [1914-1919]
    14th (Reserve) Battalion [1915-1915]
    15th (1st Edinburgh) (Service) Battalion [1914-1918]
    16th (2nd Edinburgh) (Service) Battalion [1915-1918]
    17th (Rosebery) (Service) Battalion [1915-1919]
    18th (Reserve) Battalion [1915-1916]
    19th (Labour) Battalion [1916-1917]
    30th Battalion [1941-1943]
    50th (Service) Battalion [1940-1940]
    1st Garrison Battalion [1915-1919]
    2nd (Home Service) Garrison Battalion [1916-1917]
    No. 1 Independent Company (Royal Scots) [1943-1945?]
    No. 2 Independent Company (Royal Scots) [1943-1945?]
    No. 3 Independent Company (Royal Scots) [1943-1945?]
     
     
Tangier 1680, Namur 1695, Blenheim, Ramillies, Oudenarde, Malplaquet, Louisburg, Havannah, Egmont-op-Zee, [Egypt]1, St Lucia 1803, Corunna, Busaco, Salamanca, Vittoria, San Sebastian, Nive, Peninsula, Niagara, Waterloo, Nagpore, Maheidpoor, Ava, Alma, Inkerman, Sevastopol, Taku Forts, Pekin 1860, South Africa 1899-1902

The Great War (33 battalions):  Mons, Le Cateau, Retreat from Mons, Marne 1914 '18, Aisne 1914, La Bassée 1914, Neuve Chapelle, Ypres 1915 '17 '18, Gravenstafel, St Julien, Frezenberg, Bellewaarde, Aubers, Festubert 1915, Loos, Somme 1916 '18, Albert 1916 '18, Bazentin, Pozičres, Flers-Courcelette, Le Transloy, Ancre Heights, Ancre 1916 '18, Arras 1917 '18, Scarpe 1917 '18, Arleux, Pilckem, Langemarck 1917, Menin Road, Polygon Wood, Poelcappelle, Passchendaele, Cambrai 1917, St Quentin, Rosičres, Lys, Estaires, Messines 1918, Hazebrouck, Bailleul, Kemmel, Béthune, Soissonnais-Ourcq, Tardenois, Amiens, Bapaume 1918, Drocourt-Quéant, Hindenburg Line, Canal du Nord, St Quentin Canal, Beaurevoir, Courtrai, Selle, Sambre, France and Flanders 1914-18, Struma, Macedonia 1915-18, Helles, Landing at Helles, Krithia, Suvla, Scimitar Hill, Gallipoli 1915-16, Rumani, Egypt 1915-16, Gaza, El Mughar, Nebi Samwil, Jaffa, Palestine 1917-18, Archangel 1918-19

The Second World WarDyle, Defence of Escaut, St Omer-La-Bassée, Odon, Cheux, Defence of Rauray, Caen, Esquay, Mont Pincon, Aart, Nederrijn, Best, Scheldt, Flushing, Meijel, Venlo Pocket, Roer, Rhineland, Reichswald, Cleve, Goch, Rhine, Uelzen, Bremen, Artlenberg, North-West Europe 1940, '44-45, Gothic Line, Marradi, Monte Gamberaldi, Italy 1944-45, South East Asia 1941, Donbaik, Kohima, Relief of Kohima, Aradura, Shwebo, Mandalay, Burma 1943-45

Wadi Al Batin, Gulf 1991

4th, 5th, 7th Battalions:  South Africa 1900-02
6th, 9th, 10th Battalions:  South Africa 1901-02
8th Battalion:  South Africa 1901

1. the Sphinx badge superscribed "Egypt".

flag Colours and Honours (Regimental site)
flag Colours and Honours (About Scotland)
   
   
   
Badges: construction sign
Uniform: ?-1953: scarlet; facings: blue
1953-2006:
blue doublet; facings: blue
headdress: construction sign
tartan
: No. 8 Hunting Stewart (trews), Royal Stewart (pipers' kilts and plaids, bagpipe covers, cords and ribbons)
   
   
badge and tie
by A. Melville-Brown
   
   
   
1918.08.31 Hon. Gen. HRH Princess Mary, The Princess Royal, CI, GCVO, GBE, RRC, TD
1983.06.30 HRH Princess Anne, The Princess Royal, KG, KT, GCVO

1633.01.26 Col. Sir John Hepburn
1636 Col. George Hepburn
1637.12 Col. Lord James Douglas
1645 Col. Archibald (Douglas), Earl of Angus
1655.10.21 Lt-Gen. Lord George (Douglas), 1st Earl of Dumbarton, KT
1688.12.31 Gen. Frederick Herman (Schomberg), Duke of Schomberg, KG [MGO 1689-90; killed at the Boyne]
1691.03.05 Col. Sir Robert Douglas, Bt (of Glenbervie) [killed at Steenkirk]
1692.08.01 F.M. George (Hamilton), 1st Earl of Orkney, KT [also 7th Foot; Gov. Virginia 1714-37]
1737.06.27 Gen. The Hon. James St. Clair (Baron Sinclair -- did not assume title) [also 22nd Foot]
1762.12.17 Lt-Gen. Sir Henry Erskine, Bt [also 25th Foot, 67th Foot]
1765.09.11 F.M. John (Campbell), 5th Duke of Argyll (Marquess of Lorne) [also 14th Dgns, 3rd Gds, 54th Foot; C-in-C Scotland 1762-65, 1767]
1782.05.09 Gen. Lord Adam Gordon [also 26th Foot, 66th Foot]
1801.08.21 F.M. HRH Edward Augustus, Duke of Kent, KG, GCB
1820.01.29 Gen. George (Gordon), 5th Duke of Gordon, GCB (Marquess of Huntly) [also 3rd Gds, 42nd Hldrs, 92nd Foot]
1834.12.12 Gen. Thomas (Graham), 1st Baron Lynedoch, GCB, GCMG [also 14th Foot, 58th Foot, 90th Foot]
1843.12.29 Gen. Sir George Murray, GCB, GCH [also 42nd Hldrs, 7th Bn 60th Foot, 72nd Foot; MGO 1834-35 & 1841-46]
1846.08.07 Gen. Sir James Kempt, GCB, GCH [also 2nd Foot, 40th Foot, 8th Bn 60th Foot, 81st Foot, 3rd West India Regt; MGO 1830-34; Gov. Gen. Canada 1828-30]
1854.12.12 F.M. Sir Edward Blakeney, GCB, GCH [also 1st Foot, 7th Foot; Col.-in-Chief, Rifle Bde; C-in-C Ireland; Gov. R Hospital 1856-68]
1868.08.03 Gen. Sir George Bell, KCB [also 32nd Foot, 104th Foot]
1877.07.11 Gen. Henry Phipps Raymond [also 67th Foot]
1897.12.10 Maj-Gen. Sir Edward Andrew Stuart, Bt
1903.08.20 Lt-Gen. George Hay Moncrieff, VD [also Hon. Col. 4th Regt]
1918.10.16 Lt-Gen. Sir Edward Altham Altham, KCB, KCIE, CMG
1935.03.26 Maj-Gen. Granville George Loch, CB, CMG, CBE, DSO
1940.07.22 Col. John Hugh Mackenzie, CMG, DSO
1946.07.02 Brig. Norman Richard Crockatt, CBE, DSO, MC
1956.01.01 Maj-Gen. Sir Rohan Delacombe, KCMG, KCVO, KBE, CB, DSO
1964.10.01 Maj-Gen. William Tait Campbell, CBE
1975.01.01 Lt-Gen. Sir David Tod Young, KBE, CB, DFC
1980.08.31 Lt-Gen. Sir Robert Francis Richardson, KCB, CVO, CBE
1990.08.31 Brig. Charles David Maclver Ritchie, CBE, ADC
1995.10.20 Maj-Gen. Mark Jeremy Strudwick, CBE, ADC
2005.07.25 Brig. Robert Logan Scott-Bowden, MBE, ADC
 
vc Victoria Crosses [1st Regiment], by Mike Chapman (VC Reference).
vc Victoria Crosses [Royal Scots], by Mike Chapman (VC Reference).
vc VCs in the Royal Scots Regimental Museum, by Iain Stewart.
   
   
 
Motto: Nemo me impune lacessit
Nicknames: construction sign
Anniversaries: construction sign
Freedoms: Haddington (1947), Peebles (1954), Linlithgow (1960), Musselburgh (1971), Penicuik (1975)
Marches: construction sign
Musicians: construction sign
Mascot: construction sign
Miscellaneous Tradition Links:
Canada flag The Canadian Scottish Regiment (Princess Mary's) 1926-present
Canada flag The Royal Newfoundland Regiment 1957-present
Affiliated Gurkha Regiment:
UK flag

10th Princess Mary's Own Gurkha Rifles

1950-1994
UK flag The Royal Gurkha Rifles 1994-present
Bond of Friendship:
Royal Navy Ensign HMS Edinburgh 1985-present
 
 
swords The Royal Scots Club
swords The Royal Scots (The Royal Regiment) Association, Southern Section
swords Royal Scots Association Pipe Band, formed 2000 at Edinburgh (kilted as 9th Bn)
swords Lord Orkney's Regiment (War of Spanish Succession, UK), by Marika Cotton
swords 1st Royal Regiment (French & Indian War; Missouri), by Ed Dulaney.
swords Royal Scots 1st Regiment of Foot (Upper Thames Military Re-enactment Society; War of 1812; Ontario), by Dave Westhouse.
swords The Royal Scots (War of 1812; Ontario) by Jon Sek.
   
   
monument Royal Scots Regimental Museum, Edinburgh (Army site)
monument Royal Scots Regimental Museum, Edinburgh (Simonides listing)
monument Royal Scots Regimental Museum, Edinburgh (SMHS listing)
   
   
  Note: see also Militia and Volunteer pages for this regiment
   
Regimental Journal:
book The thistle.
Full Histories:
book Wetherall, Joseph (comp.) An historical account of His Majesty's First, or, The Royal Regiment of Foot ... London : W. Clowes, 1832.
book Cannon, Richard. Historical record of the First, or Royal Regiment of Foot: containing an account of the origin of the regiment in the reign of King James VI of Scotland, and of its subsequent services to 1838. London : Longmans, Orme & Co., 1838. (Historical records of the British army)
book Cannon, Richard. Historical record of the First, or Royal Regiment of Foot: containing an account of the origin of the regiment in the reign of King James VI of Scotland, and of its subsequent services to 1846. London : Parker, Furnivall, & Parker, 1847. (Historical records of the British army)
book Mackay, John. An old Scots brigade, being the history of Mackay's regiment : now incorporated with the Royal Scots ; with an appendix containing copies of many original documents connected with the history of the regiment. Edinburgh ; : W. Blackwood and sons, 1885.
book The Royal Scots, formerly The first, or the Royal Regiment of Foot ... [s.l. : s.n.], 1886.
book Simson, H. J. Three hundred years : The Royal Scots (The Royal Regiment). Edinburgh : Printed by J. Skinner, 1935.
book Brander, A. Michael. The Royal Scots (The Royal Regiment). London : Leo Cooper, 1976. (Famous regiments) ISBN: 0850521831
book Leask, J. C., (comp.) ; McCance, H. M. (comp.) The regimental records of the Royal Scots : (the First or the Royal Regiment of Foot). Dublin : Alexander Thom and Co., Ltd., 1915.
book Weaver, Lawrence, Sir. The story of The Royal Scots (The Lothian Regiment) formerly the First or the Royal Regiment of Foot. London : Country life ; New York : C. Scribner's sons,1915. ("Country life" series of military histories)
book Muir, Augustus. The First of Foot : the history of The Royal Scots (The Royal Regiment). Edinburgh : Royal Scots History Committee, 1961.
book Paterson, Robert H. Pontius Pilate's bodyguard : a history of the First or the Royal Regiment of Foot, The Royal Scots (The Royal Regiment). Edinburgh : Royal Scots History Committee 2000, 2001. [2 v.: v. 1. 1633-1918 -- v. 2. 1919-2000.] ISBN: 0954090608; 0954090616 (v. 1); 0954090624 (v. 2) {book notice by regiment}
book Maxwell, Herbert, Sir. The Lowland Scots regiments : their origin, character and services previous to the great war of 1914. Glasgow : J. Maclehose and Sons, 1918. [Contents: Introduction, by the editor.--The 2nd Dragoons, Royal Scots Greys, by Sir J. B. Paul.--The Scots Guards, by Captain C.B. Balfour.--The Royal Scots (Lothian Regiment) by Major M.M. Haldane.--The Royal Scots Fusiliers, by Lieut.-Col. R. Toogood.--The King's Own Scottish Borderers, by Brigadier-General M.G. Wilkinson. Note on the origin of the K.O.S.B., by A. Ross.--The Cameronians (Scottish Rifles). The 90th Perthshire Light Infantry, by A. Ross.--Scottish regiments disbanded, by A. Ross.--Regimental music (p. [331]-339)]
book Paul, William Pratt. The Lowland regiments: lions rampant. Aberdeen : Impulse Publications Ltd, 1972. ISBN: 090131126X
 

First World War:

book Ewing, John. The Royal Scots, 1914-1919. Edinburgh : For the Association of Lowland Scots by Oliver and Boyd, 1925. [2 v.]
book Alexander, Jack. McCrae's Battalion : the story of the 16th Royal Scots. Edinburgh : Mainstream, 2003. ISBN: 1840187077
 

Second World War:

McBain, S. W. (Stuart W.). A regiment at war : the Royal Scots (the Royal Regiment) 1939-45 (including the Canadian Scottish Regiment). Edinburgh : Pentland, 1988. ISBN: 0946270481
   
Other Wars:
A Full and true account of the barbarous rebellion and rising of the Lord Dunbarton's regiment at Ipswich in Suffolk with their pretences of declaring for the late King James. London : Printed by W. Downing, 1689. [1 sheet] [also available on microfilm: Ann Arbor, Mich. : University Microfilms International, 1973. (Early English books, 1641-1700 ; 454:17)]
A full and true account of the tryal, conviction, & condemnatio[n] of the Scotch rebels officers in the L. Dunbarton's regiment; at Bury St. Edmunds in Suffolk, (on Wednesday, July 31st, 1689.) For high-treason. Licens'd, according to order, 1689. [London : Printed for J. Pardo in St. James's-street, 1689 [1 sheet] [also available on microfim: Ann Arbor, Mich. : UMI, 1991. (Early English books, 1641-1700 ; 2049:10)]
Douglas, W. Diary of services of the First Battalion Royal Scots during the Boer War, South Africa, 1899-1902. London : Burt & Sons, 1904.
book Milner, Laurie. Royal Scots in the Gulf : 1st Battalion, the Royal Scots (the Royal Regiment) on Operation Granby, 1990-1991. London : L. Cooper, 1994. ISBN: 0850522730
   
Special Topics:
book Henderson, T.F. Freemasonry in The Royal Scots (The Royal Regiment). Aldershot : Gale & Polden, 1934.
   
Short Histories:
book Mackay, John. Mackay's regiment : a narrative of the principal services of the regiment from its formation in 1626 to the battle of Nordlingen in 1634, and of its subsequent incorporation with the corps now known as The Royal Scots or First Regiment of Foot of the British Army. Inverness : Free Press Printing Co., 1879. [reprinted from Gaelic Society of Inverness transactions]
book Prior, G.U. The Royal Scots. [s.l. : s.n., ca. 1890]
book Watt, Lauchlan MacLean. The Royal Scotts ... Edinburgh : W.P. Nimmo, Hay & Mitchell [1916]
book McLennan, D.T.H. A short history of The Royal Scots. Poona : printed by the Scottish Mission Industries Co. Ltd., 1924.
book The Royal Scots (The Royal Regiment), 1633-1933 : tercentenary souvenir. Aldershot : Gale & Polen, 1933.
book The Royal Scots (The Royal Regiment). Edinburgh : Dunedin Press, [ca. 1939]
book Crockatt, Norman Richard. The Royal Scots (The Royal Regiment) : a short history of the First or Royal Regiment of Foot. Aldershot : Gale & Polden, 1952.
book The Royal Scots : history and handbook of the regiment, 1633-1954. [s.l. : s.n.], 1954.
book The Royal Scots, the First and Royal Regiment of Foot: handbook of the regiment. Glasgow : Paramount Press, [1965?]
book The Royal Scots (the Royal Regiment) : Her Majesty's First Regiment of Foot. [Derby] : Pilgrim, 1980. ISBN: 0900594535 (pbk)