Scottish Martial traditions

Martial

• Related to military life or Army

• Suited to War

• Experienced in War– ie think about the word martial and where

have you heard it before?

Symbolic Scottish soldier• Praised for being

– Brave– Loyal– Trustworthy– Reliable– Fight to the bitter end for friends, regiment and

country

Strong Martial Traditions

• During the war Scottish troops were repeatedly used in the first wave of attacks

• “Shock Troops”

• Would hit the enemy hard through aggression and determination.

• Scottish troops carried a lot of history and tradition.

Scotland

WARS OF INDEPENDENCE

CovenantersWars of the Three

Kingdoms

Jacobite uprising

Scottish Clan System

• Gaelic word ‘Clann’• Large group of people• Controlled local areas under the

leadership of the Clan Chief• Authoritative form of government • Male clan members were valued for their

fighting skills.• Fighting between different clans was

common

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/78/Scottish_clan_map.png

• This made Scotland a dangerous and warlike country

• The Jacobite invasion of England in 1745-46 terrified lowland Scots and most of England.

• After the Jacobites defeat at Culloden in 1746 the Government wanted the end the concept of Clans as fighting units.

• They took away the power of the clan chief and destroyed the identity of the warrior by banning the wearing of tartan

• However the Government were keen to recruit Highlanders into the British Army

• By the middle of the 19th Century the nightmare image of the Hairy clansmen rampaging into England had been replaced by the image of the Scottish Soldier, ‘Kilted Hero’ of the British Empire.

Scottish Domination

• Scottish regiments: kilts and tartan, highly visible regiments.

• Highland regiments resistant to amalgamation.• Continued importance of military symbols, eg the

Highlands, the kilt and the bagpipe, to Scottish identity.

• Between 1777 and 1800 the highlands produced more than 20 regiments for the British Army.

• Highland soldiers were given new chiefs with the army

• Kilts were the official uniform and marched to the sound of bagpipes

• Sent to expand the British Empire• The UK government had turned the

features that made the Scottish clansmen such fierce enemies into British Military tradition