Royal Scots Fusiliers

The Royal Scots Fusiliers was a line infantry regiment of the British Army that existed from 1678 until 1959 when it was amalgamated with the Highland Light Infantry (City of Glasgow Regiment) to form the Royal Highland Fusiliers (Princess Margaret's Own Glasgow and Ayrshire Regiment) which was later itself merged with the Royal Scots, King's Own Scottish Borderers, the Black Watch (Royal Highland Regiment), the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders and the Highlanders (Seaforth, Gordons and Camerons) to form a new large regiment, the Royal Regiment of Scotland. History Naming Conventions In the late 17th century, many English and Scottish politicians viewed standing armies or permanent units as a danger to the liberties of the individual and a threat to society itself. The experience of the Wars of the Three Kingdoms and the use of troops by both the Protectorate and James VII and II to repress political dissent created strong resistance to permanent units owing allegiance to the Crown or State. Regiments were deliberately treated as the personal property of their current Colonel, carried his name which changed when transferred and disbanded as soon as possible. This makes tracing the origins of modern regiments very complex, particularly since many regimental histories were written in the late 19th or early 20th century. This was partly due to the 1881 Childers Reforms; the abolition of the numbering system for regiments was as bitterly resisted then as the various amalgamations have been since and establishing precedence or age became almost an obsession. The Earl of Mar's Regiment of Foot (1678–1689) The regiment was formed in Scotland in September 1678 by the Earl of Mar for service against dissident Covenanters and helped suppress Presbyterian rebellions at Bothwell Bridge in 1679 and the 1685 Argyll's Rising. Thomas Buchan, a Scottish Catholic and professional soldier replaced the Earl as Colonel in July 1686.