A message from Rosamunde Pilcher
The novelist Rosamunde Pilcher is an internationally acclaimed author who has sold millions of books world-wide. A number of her novels have also been made into films.
She was married to the late Major Graham Pilcher MC of the Black Watch.
"I am not by nature a great traditionalist; many traditions seem to me to be pointless and could well be abandoned, but others are deeply important to our inheritance, influencing and inspiring a younger generation, and leading, like a strong rope, from the past to the future.
The Black Watch is a name that resounds through the years, reminding us that the call to the colours, the serving of one's country, and the comradeship of colleagues, still have a vital part to play in these disturbing times.
The regiment of the Black Watch held onto the tradition of the best sort, so that a young man proudly sported the Red Hackle on his Balmoral or Tam o'Shanter, just as his uncles, his grandfather and his father had done before him.
The Black Watch is now part of the Royal Regiment of Scotland, but our hope is that the spirit of those who have gone before might live on, and do so in perpetuity, through the Regimental Museum at Balhousie Castle in Perth.
Here, history is to be seen as a living and unforgotten tribute to all who have served in this great regiment, and by way of momentos and paintings, old photographs and music, medals and battle-scarred standards, it will become a source of interest, pride and inspiration to coming generations."
Rosamunde Pilcher