The regiment was first raised in 1633 as the Royal Regiment of FootRegiments.org list of titles by John Hepburn, under a royal warrant from Charles I, on the Scottish establishment for service in France. However, it was formed from a nucleus of Hepburn's previous regiment, formerly in Swedish service, which has been in existence since 1625. When in France it absorbed the remnants of a number of Scottish mercenary units which had fought in Swedish service, and by 1635 had swelled to some 8,000 men.History of the Regiment It served in France from 1633 to 1661, when it was recalled to England.Paterson, vol I. Chronology
Because the regiment had been formed by Royal Warrant, it was legally part of the Crown's armed forces, even though it had been out of the country for three decades. As such, it was recalled to help secure the coronation of Charles II, and helped provide a model for the other regiments founded after the collapse of the New Model Army.History of the Regiment The Regiment returned to France from 1662-6 and 1667-78, seeing English service again during the Second Anglo-Dutch WarPaterson, vol I. Chronology; soldiers of the regiment responded to the Raid on the Medway, when Pepys recorded that Here in the streets, I did hear the Scotch march beat by the drums before the soldiers, which is very odde.Diary of Samuel Pepys', June 30th 1667
1678 marked the final end of French service, and in 1680 the Regiment was sent to the Tangier Garrison, where it won its first battle honourPaterson, vol I. Chronology. In 1684, the regiment was titled His Majesty's Royal Regiment of FootRegiments.org list of titles, and withdrawn to England.Paterson, vol I. Chronology In 1685 they fought for James II in the Monmouth Rebellion, at the Battle of Sedgemoor; three years later, in 1688, they were the only regiment of the army to remain loyal to James in the Glorious RevolutionPaterson, vol I. Chronology; the regiment mutinied and was disarmed. A second battalion (which also mutinied) was raised in 1686.
In 1751, the regiment was titled the 1st (Royal) Regiment of FootRegiments.org list of titles, ranked as the most senior of the line regiments of infantry. The 2nd Battalion was sent to Nova Scotia in 1757Regiments.org, 2nd Battalion page, and saw service in the Seven Years' War, capturing Louisburg in 1758, Guadeloupe in 1762 and Havana in 1763Paterson, vol I. Chronology, returning home in 1764.Regiments.org, 2nd Battalion page Both then served as garrisons in the Mediterranean, the 1st in Gibraltar from 1768-75Regiments.org, 1st Battalion page, and the 2nd in Minorca from 1771-75.Regiments.org, 2nd Battalion page
The 1st Battalion was sent to the West Indies in 1781, fought in the capture of Sint Eustatius that year, and was itself captured at St. Kitts in January 1782 but exchanged later in the year.Regiments.org, 1st Battalion page
The French Revolutionary Wars & Napoleonic Wars
The 1st Battalion had returned to the West Indies as a garrison in 1790, and served there until 1797Paterson, vol I. Chronology, with a brief period of combat in the Haïtian Revolution.Regiments.org, 1st Battalion page The West Indies were hotbeds of disease, and the battalion lost more than half its strength to disease in this period.History of the Regiment It was reformed from militia volunteers in Ireland in 1798, and used in minor raids on the coast of Spain in 1800.Regiments.org, 1st Battalion page Meanwhile, from 1793 to 1801, the 2nd Battalion was based in the Mediterranean.Paterson, vol I. Chronology It fought at the Siege of Toulon (1793) and the capture of Corsica (1794)Regiments.org, 2nd Battalion page, returning briefly to Northern Europe for the Battle of Egmont op Zee in the 1799 Helder campaign, before fighting in the 1801 Egyptian campaign at the Battle of Aboukir and the Battle of Alexandria.Paterson, vol I. Chronology
Both battalions were subsequently dispatched to the West Indies, the 1st from 1801 to 1812, and the 2nd from 1803 to 1806. The 1st fought at the capture of Saint Lucia, as well as of Demerara and Essequibo in 1803, and the capture of Guadeloupe in 1810. The 2nd then moved to India, where it would remain until 1826, whilst the 1st was sent to Quebec with the outbreak of the War of 1812.Paterson, vol I. Chronology It fought in the battles of Sackett's Harbor and Buffalo & Black Rock, as well as the capture of Fort Niagara (1813), the battles of Longwoods, Chippawa, and Lundy's Lane, along with the Siege of Fort Erie and the battles of Niagara and Cook's Mills (1814).Regiments.org, The American War (War of 1812) page In February 1812, the regiment was retitled as the 1st Regiment of Foot (Royal Scots), the first official appearance of the popular name.Regiments.org list of titles
Two new battalions were raised in late 1804, at Hamilton, the 3rd and 4th Battalions. The 3rd served in the Peninsular War from 1808 to 1809, fighting at the Battle of Corunna in 1809 before being withdrawn by sea and sent to the Walcheren CampaignPaterson, vol I. Chronology with the 1st DivisionBurnham. It returned to Portugal in 1810 with the 5th DivisionRegiments.org, 3rd Battalion page, fighting at the Battle of Buçaco (1810), the Battle of Fuentes de Onoro (1811), the battles of Badajoz, Salamanca and Burgos (1812), the Battle of Vitoria, capture of San Sebastian, Battle of Nivelle, and the Battle of Nive (1813)Regiments.org, Peninsular War 1808-1814 page, before advancing into France in 1814. It was sent to Belgium during the Hundred Days, and fought in Picton's Division (the 5th) at the Battle of Waterloo (1815). After two years in the Army of Occupation, it was disbanded at Canterbury in 1817.Regiments.org, 3rd Battalion page
The 4th was deployed to the Baltic in 1813, being involved with the recapture of Stralsund, and fought in the Netherlands in 1814, where it was captured and exchanged. It was then dispatched to Canada as part of the War of 1812, where it served as a garrison. It was withdrawn to England with the end of the fighting and disbanded at Dover in 1816.Regiments.org, 4th Battalion page
Nineteenth century
The 1st battalion was sent to Ireland after the end of the Napoleonic wars, and stationed there from 1816 until 1825, when it was moved to the West Indies, where it remained until 1835. The 2nd battalion, however, had a more active time; based in India, it was involved in the Third Anglo-Maratha War, where it fought at the Battle of Nagpore (1817) and Battle of Mahidpur (1818), and in the First Anglo-Burmese War of 1824-26. It moved to Scotland in 1830, and to Canada in 1836, where it was involved in the Rebellions of 1837.Paterson, vol I. Chronology A move to the West Indies in 1843 was complicated by half the regiment being shipwrecked and delayed several months, but was successful, and the regiment finally returned to Scotland in 1846.Regiments.org, 2nd Battalion page
Both battalions saw active service in the Crimean War, with the 1st fighting at the battles of Alma and Inkerman (1854), and both fighting in the Siege of Sevastopol (1854-5)Paterson, vol I. Chronology, where the regiment's first VC was won.History of the Regiment. It was awarded to Private Joseph Prosser. After the war, the 1st battalion moved to Ceylon in 1857Regiments.org, 1st Battalion page and thence to India, returning home in 1870, whilst the 2nd battalion moved to Hong Kong, and saw action in the Second Opium War, fighting at the capture of the Taku Forts (1858) and Pekin (1860), and returning home in 1861.Paterson, vol I. Chronology
The regiment was not fundamentally affected by the Cardwell reforms of the 1870s, which gave it a depot at Glencorse from 1873, or by the Childers reforms of 1881 - as it already possessed two battalions, there was no need for it to amalgamate with another regiment.Training depots, 1873-1881. The depot was the 62nd Brigade Depot from 1873 to 1881, and the 1st Regimental District depot thereafter However, as it had become the county regiment of the Edinburgh area, it was retitled The Royal Scots (Lothian Regiment)Regiments.org list of titles. Whilst it lost the regimental number, it still remained the senior line infantry regiment., and it took on a militia battalion and seven battalions of Volunteers from the local area.The Militia battalion was now the 3rd (Militia) Battalion; the Volunteer battalions were the 1st Queens City of Edinburgh Rifle Volunteer Brigade, 2nd Edinburgh Rifle Volunteers, 1st Midlothian (Leith) Rifle Volunteer Corps, 2nd Midlothian (Midlothian and Peebles) Rifle Volunteers, 1st Berwickshire Rifle Volunteers, 1st Haddingtonshire Rifle Volunteers, and the 1st Linlithgow Rifle Volunteers. See Scottish Military History Society lineage pages The regimental district was reorganised in 1887, with Berwickshire being transferred to the recruiting area of the King's Own Scottish BorderersRegiments.org list of titles. along with the country; the remaining volunteers were reorganised in 1888, for a total of eight volunteer battalions.After reorganisation, they consisted of the 1st, 2nd and 3rd Battalions, The Queen's Rifle Volunteer Brigade, and the 4th, 5th, 6th, 7th and 8th Volunteer Battalions. See Scottish Military History Society lineage pages
In 1881, the 1st was in the West Indies; it moved to South Africa in 1884, when it saw action in the Bechuanaland campaign, and remained there until 1891, when it moved back to the UK to serve as the depot battalion and the 2nd moved out to India, where it remained until 1909. With the outbreak of the Second Anglo-Boer War, the 1st was quickly earmarked for service in South Africa, and sailed in late 1899. It remained there until 1903, being joined by the 3rd from 1900 to 1902Paterson, vol I. Chronology - the first time a non-regular unit of the regiment had been activated. The bulk of the time in South Africa was spent patrolling and in mobile columns, with neither battalion engaged in any major battles.History of the Regiment
In 1908, the Volunteers and Militia were reorganised nationally, with the former becoming the Territorial Force and the latter the Special Reserve; the regiment now had one Reserve and seven Territorial battalions.These were the 3rd Battalion (Special Reserve), with the 4th and 5th (Queens Edinburgh Rifles) Battalions, the 6th, 7th and 8th Battalions, the 9th (Highlanders) Battalion and the 10th (Cyclist) Battalion (all Territorial Force). See Scottish Military History Society lineage pages The 1st moved back to India in 1909, relieving the 2nd, which moved back to the UK; they remained stationed there until 1914.Paterson, vol I. Chronology
First World War (1914-1919)
At the outbreak of the First World War, the 1st was in India, and returned to the UK in November; the 2nd was immediately deployed with the British Expeditionary Force, arriving in France on August 14thPaterson, Vol I, p.242 and seeing action on the afternoon of the 23rd.Paterson, Vol I, p.245 The Special Reserve had mobilised at Weymouth, and all seven battalions of the Territorial Force had mobilised and raised an additional second-line battalion by the end of 1914.Paterson, Vol I, p.243. The 6th was the one exception for second-line battalions; it did not raise a second battalion until 1915, whilst the 8th had already raised its third-line battalion in 1914 A further seven battalions of the New Army were formed in 1914, including two Pals battalionsPaterson, Vol I, Appendix 5. These battalions were the 11th, 12th, 13th, 14th (Reserve), 15th (1st City of Edinburgh) & 16th (2nd City of Edinburgh) Battalions. The latter two were the "Edinburgh City Pals" also known respectively as Cranston's Battalion and McCrae's (or McRae's) Battalion. The 14th was later transferred as the 54th Training Reserve Battalion By the end of 1914, the regiment stood at a strength of 24 battalionsPaterson, Vol I, p.243; another six Territorial battalions and three New Army battalions (one of bantams) were formed in 1915Paterson, Vol I, Appendix 5. The Territorial units were the second-line 2/6th, plus the third-line 3/4th, 3/5th, 3/6th, 3/7th and 3/9th, battalions; the New Army units were the 17th, also known as Rosebery's Bantams, the 18th Reserve (later transferred as the 77th Training Reserve Battalion), and the 1st Garrison battalions. In 1916, one service and one reserve battalion were formed by merging depleted Territorial battalionsPaterson, Vol I, Appendix 5. The new units were the 4th (Reserve) and 5th/6th battalions, and in 1917 a labour battalion was formed.Ewing, Appendix III. This was the 19th Battalion, later transferred to the Labour Corps as 1st and 2nd Labour Companies of 10th Labour Group In total, the Royal Scots raised some thirty-five battalions of infantry and over 100,000 men during the course of the First World War, of which fifteen battalions saw active service. 11,000 soldiers serving in the regiment were killed, and over 40,000 wounded.History of the Regiment Among other decorations and honours, the regiment won six Victoria Crosses.Ewing, Appendix IV. These were Privates HH Robson and H McIver of the 2nd Battalion, Lieutenant DS McGregor of the 6th (attatched to the Machine-Gun Corps), Corporal RE Elcock of the 11th, Captain H Reynolds of the 12th, and Private R Dunsire of the 13th. A seventh VC was won by Lance-Corporal W Angus, a member of the Highland Light Infantry, whilst serving with the 8th Royal Scots
The 1st, on returning from India, was placed in the 27th Division, a division made up of regular units which had been recalled from garrison duty, and arrived in France in December 1914. It saw combat in the Action of St. Eloi and throughout the Second Battle of Ypres in 1915, before the division was withdrawn and moved to Salonika in November, where it spent the rest of the war It was sent to Georgia in December 1918 for operations against the Bolsheviks, and returned to Edinburgh in May 1919.Paterson, Vol I, Appendix 5. The 2nd was part of the 3rd Division, one of the first units of the British Expeditionary Force to be sent to France. It first saw action in the Battle of Mons, and thence at almost all of the major actions on the Western Front, before returning to Scotland in 1919.Paterson, Vol I, Appendix 5.
The 1/4th and 1/7th mobilised in Edinburgh in August 1914, and were assigned to the 52nd (Lowland) Division. Whilst the division was mobilising, the 1/7th was involved in the Quintinshill rail crash, which killed 210 officers and men and wounded another 224.The Royal Scots (Lothian Regiment) in 1914-1918 They fought at the Battle of Gallipoli before being moved to Egypt in 1916 and serving in the Sinai and Palestine Campaign. They were sent to France in April 1918 for the Second Battle of the Somme, and remained there until the end of the war. Both battalions were reduced to a cadre in March 1919, and returned home to disband in May.Paterson, Vol I, Appendix 5.
The 1/5th mobilised in Edinburgh in August 1914, and were assigned to the 29th Division. They fought at the Battle of Gallipoli, then to France via Egypt, and saw action on the first day on the Somme. The 1/6th had mobilised at the same time and been dispatched to Egypt in 1915 for the Western Frontier Force; it too was withdrawn to France for the Somme. The two heavily depleted battalions were amalgamated in July 1916, and spent the remainder of war on the Western Front as the 5/6th. After the war, it remained in Belgium until January 1919 when it moved into Germany, and was reduced to a cadre in October 1919 and sent home to be disbanded.Paterson, Vol I, Appendix 5.
The 1/8th mobilised at Haddington in August 1914, and arrived in France in November - the first Scottish territorial unit to arrive in FrancePaterson, Vol I, p.243 - with the 7th Division, though they did not see action until the Battle of Neuve Chapelle. After the Second Battle of Ypres, in August 1915, they were transferred to the 51st (Highland) Division as the divisional pioneers, and disbanded in March 1919 at HaddingtonPaterson, Vol I, Appendix 5. The 1/9th mobilised at Edinburgh in August 1914, and moved to France in February 1915 with the 27th Division; when this moved to Salonika in November they remained in France, transferring to the 5th Division, and then to Third Army reserve. They were assigned to the 51st (Highland) Division in March 1916, with whom they fought for two years, then to the 61st (South Midland) Division and 15th (Scottish) Division in 1918.The Royal Scots (Lothian Regiment) in 1914-1918 After the war, they were reduced to a cadre and disbanded in Belgium in May 1919.
The 11th, 12th and 13th were raised in August 1914 in Edinburgh, with the 11th and 12th allocated to 9th (Scottish) Division and the 13th to 15th (Scottish) Division, and moved to France in mid-1915. They first saw action at the Battle of Loos, where the 11th was almost wiped outSee [the Battle of Loos 1915]; the 11th ran into a wire entanglement and was caught in crossfire. The commanding officer was killed, along with a sizable proportion of the battalion, and spent the remainder of the war on the Western Front. The 11th and 12th moved into to Germany after the armstice; the 12th was reduced to a cadre in April 1919 and disbanded in the UK in June, whilst the 11th was reduced to a cadre and disbanded at Cologne in November. The 13th remained in Belgium, being reduced to a cadre in March 1919 and disbanded in the UK in June.Paterson, Vol I, Appendix 5.
The 15th was raised in September 1914, the 16th in December 1914, and the 17th in February 1915, in Edinburgh. The 15th and 16th were assigned to the 34th Division and the 17th to the 35th Division, moved to France in early 1916, and first saw action at the first day on the Somme; all three spent the remainder of the war on the Western Front. The 15th and 16th were reduced to cadres in May 1918 and disbanded in August; the 17th was based in Belgium after the armstice, and provided internal security in France and Belgium in early 1919, before being reduced to a cadre in April and disbanded shortly afterwards.Paterson, Vol I, Appendix 5.
The 2/10th was originally mobilised as bicycle infantry, but never served in this role. It was the only second-line battalion of the regiment to be sent overseas, moving to Archangel in August 1918, and serving in the North Russia Campaign until June 1919, when it returned to Scotland to disband.Paterson, Vol I, Appendix 5. The remaining battalions all remained in the UK on Home Service, and did not see active duty. However, six saw significant periods of service in Ireland, where they served as garrison units, and were often involved in local security - armed patrols, mobile columns to 'show the flag', and the like.Ewing, Appendix II. The battalions stationed in Ireland were the 3rd, 2/4th, 2/7th, 2/8th, 2/9th & 1/10th. Additionally, the 14th (Reserve) battalion was sent to Germany as an occupation unit, but not until after the armstice had been signed, whilst the 4th (Reserve) battalion spent Febrary 1919 protecting key points in Glasgow against strike riots
Inter-war period (1919-1939)
The armstice did not end the regiment's duties; the 2/10th (Cyclist) Battalion was sent to Archangelsk in 1919-20 as part of the North Russia Campaign, and the 2nd served in Ireland during the Anglo-Irish War.
The 1st Battalion was based in various locations east of Suez in the 1920s, returning to the UK in 1926 and deploying to Palestine in 1937-38 during the Palestine Insurgency. The 2nd left the UK in 1926 for Egypt, then moved to China, India, then Hong Kong.
At the beginning of 1921, the regiment was formally retitled The Royal Scots (The Royal Regiment), and had returned to a peacetime complement of two regular battalions and one reserve battalion. The bulk of the battalions formed for the First World War were disbanded outright, but several were reconstituted in the Territorial Army. By 1921, after some reorganisations, the Territorial strength of the regiment was the 4th/5th Battalion (Queen's Edinburgh) and the 7th/9th Battalion (later 7th/9th (Highlanders) Battalion). Two Territorial battalions were converted into the 57th (Lowland) Medium Brigade and transferred to the Royal Garrison Artillery; the 3rd Battalion became part of the Supplementary Reserve and essentially went into suspended animation. In the preparations for the Second World War in the late 1930s, the 4th/5th (Queen's Edinburgh) Battalion was been converted to an anti-aircraft role in 1938, titled as 52nd Searchlight Regiment, with the cadre of the old 10th (Cyclists) Battalion forming the 14th Light Anti-Aircraft Regiment. Both were transferred into the Royal Artillery, leaving only one Territorial battalion.
Second World War (1939-1945)
At the outbreak of the Second World War, the Royal Scots had two regular battalions; the 1st was based at Aldershot, and the 2nd in Hong Kong.
Territorial Army units of the regiment were the 7th/9th (Highlanders) Battalion, and its newly-formed duplicate the 8th (Lothians and Peebleshire) Battalion, both infantry battalions based in Scotland. The regiment later raised a 10th (Home Defence) Battalion, a 12th Battalion, a 30th Battalion, a 50th (Home Service) Battalion, and three independent companies.
The 2nd Battalion was stationed in Hong Kong when the Japanese attacked it; despite a vigorous defence, they were forced to surrender on Christmas Day, 1941. The 2nd was later recreated in the UK by redesignating the 12th Battalion; it went on to fight in Italian Campaign in 1944 with the 1st Division, and ended the war in Palestine.
Infantry of 8th Royal Scots in Kangaroo APCs, December 1944
The 7th/9th (Highlanders) Battalion was briefly deployed to France in 1940 as part of the BEF, but was withdrawn shortly afterwards. The 52nd (Lowland) Division, to which it belonged, later trained for mountain and airlanding operations, but was never used in this way. In October 1944 it moved to the Netherlands, fighting in the Battle of the Scheldt and through north-west Europe until the German surrender.
The 8th (Lothians and Peebleshire) Battalion remained in the UK as part of 15th (Scottish) Division until June 1944, when it landed in Normandy as part of Operation Overlord. It fought in north-west Europe until the end of the war, finishing the war in the Rhineland.
Post-war period (1945-2004)
In 1949, the 2nd Battalion disbanded, leaving the regiment with only a single regular battalion for the first time since the seventeenth century.
The 7th/9th (Highlanders) and 8th Battalions were reconstituted in the Territorial Army in 1947. Both battalions remained until 1961, when the latter was absorbed and the single battalion retitled the 8th/9th Battalion. In 1967 this was disbanded and reconstituted as two separate companies, A Company (The Royal Scots) of the 52nd Lowland Volunteers, and A Company (8th/9th Royal Scots) of The Royal Scots and Cameronians Territorials. By 1971, both companies were in the battalions of the 52nd Lowland Volunteers, and though the Royal Scots name was retained in the title the regiment no longer had a Territorial Army element. None of these units were activated for service.
The 1st Battalion briefly saw service in the Korean War in 1953, as part of 29th Infantry Brigade; after a brief spell in Egypt, they deployed to Cyprus from June 1955 to February 1956. They then spent two years in England, two in Berlin, one in Scotland, two in Libya, and four in England. In 1964, they deployed to Aden, then back to England and a three-year spell in Germany with the British Army of the Rhine.
1970 to 1974 was spent in Britain as part of the Allied Command Europe Mobile Force, with the battalion undertaking four two-month tours of duty in Northern Ireland; after a further two years in Cyprus, they moved to Münster in mid-1976 and equipped as an armoured infantry battalion, returning to Scotland in 1979. In 1980 they undertook a two-month tour in Northern Ireland, and moved there under 39th Infantry Brigade in 1981 for a two-year deployment. In 1985, they returned to Germany, deploying to the Persian Gulf in 1991 for Operation Desert Storm, where they operated with 4th Armoured Brigade.
In 1994, the battalion gained a company of Ghurkas, who were later transferred to The Highlanders. Deployments in the 1990s included a further one-year tour to Northern Ireland and two short deployments to Bosnia. In 2003 the battalion was deployed to Iraq as part of Operation Telic for four months, returning in January 2006.
, 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, Pozières, 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, Rosières, 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 War: Dyle, 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
Nicknames
Their nickname was Pontius Pilate's bodyguard, from a legend that prior to the ResurrectionChrist's tomb was guarded by Caledonian (Scottish) legionaries. The Royal Scots' claim to be decended from this unit is unsubstantiated. Their claim to ancient roots was blandly repeated some years ago without any actual evidence, however, when the BBC created a series on the traditions of British Regiments and approached the Royal Scots for a contribution. The response was that, as the oldest regiment in the army, it was not necessary to have "traditions"; these would be left to those regiments more junior to them.
The Royal Scots were also known as "First of foot, right of the line and the pride of the British army" The 7/9 battalion was known as "The Dandy Ninth" being the only kilted battalion of this lowland regiment which was mainly recruited from highlanders emigrated to the Edinburgh area. W Hay Melville Castle. The 2nd Battalion was sardonically referred to as "The First to Foot It" during the Battle of Hong Kong.Whiting, Poor Bloody Infantry
