Lecture | From Highland Companies to Scotland’s ‘National Regiment’: The Black Watch

From Highland Companies to Scotland’s ‘National Regiment’: The Black Watch – origins and evolution, c.1739-c.1939.

This lecture will consider the regiment’s origins and the exploits which, by the turn of the century, meant that the instantly recognisable figure of the Highland soldier was not simply a tangible expression of Scottish identity but had become synonymous with Empire and Britain’s martial achievements. Reflecting on items in the museum’s collection Dr Patrick will chart the evolution of the regiment, and how it’s reputation occupied a special place in the hearts of the nation. Irrespective of the process of localisation which followed the military reforms of the late nineteenth century the regiment could and did take on the characteristics of a national regiment, with contemporaries extolling the virtues of Scotland’s ‘best beloved regiment’ which came to represent ‘Scottish chivalry as a whole’.

Dr Derek J Patrick is a Lecturer at the University of St Andrews. He was a founding member of the Great War Dundee Commemorative Project, is part of the Gateways to the First World War research network, and a former academic adviser to the BBC’s World War One at Home project. Derek has a longstanding interest in The Black Watch and is an associate member of The Black Watch (Royal Highland Regiment) Association.

6.30pm Drinks Reception (Drink included in ticket price), 7.00pm Lecture Commences

£12 non members | £10 Friends