HLI Chronicle 1915 - The Royal Highland Fusiliers

HIGHLAND LIGHT INFANTRY CHRONICLE.
93
Highlands of Aberdeenshire, and brought by
him to Glasgow. He belonged to one of the
upper Strathdon Forbes families, who, in
()pposition to the general politics of their clan,
had been Cavaliers in the Civil Wara and out
with Montrose, and who are said to have been
termed in sarcasm by the rest of their name,
" The Gordon Forbeses," and to have replied
by abandoning the motto of "Grace me
guide" for the defiant one of "Solus inter
plurimos." I am told that in Aberdeenshire
the 74th were popularly known as "the
Forbes Highlanders," the chief county regiment,
the 92nd, being "the Gordon Highlanders."
It seems probable that Lieutenant-Colonel
Forbes' men arrived at and left Glasgow
wearing the 'Forbes tartan, and possible that
the later recruits, who came largely from
Argyllshire, wore the Campbell when they
appeared.
It would be interesting to know what was
the tartan worn from 1806 to 1809.
When I first met some of the 74th, between
1879 and 1881, I was surprised to see them
wearing what I thought was the Forbes tartan,
and was told that it was the Lamont, and that
the regiment was originally raised by a
Colonel Lamont. This, of course, was not
the case, though I think there was a I.Jamont
among the captains, and the nucleus of the
regiment was, in fact, brought by Lieutenant­
Colonel Gordon Forbes from his own country
of Strathdon and the adjacent Aberdeenshire
Highlands.
I believe that the same pattern of tartan
has been at one time termed and used for the
supply of both the Forbes and the Lamont
tartan, though there may be some slight
distinction. The green of the Lamont, as
worn about 1879, might be a little lighter
than that of the Forbes.-I am, &c.
YOUR CONTRIBUTOR.
THE SEVENTY-FOURTH OF 1758-1763
AND OF 1777-1783.
15 St. Mary's Square, Paddington, W.,
June 20, 1915.
SIR,-The following short statement on the
above-mentioned subject may prove to be of
interest to your correspondent " One of the
Campbells." It is copied from the Historical
Record of the Seventy-Fourth Regiment. "In
April, 1758, the Second Battalions of fifteen
regiments of infantry, between the 3rd and
the 37th, were directed to.be formed into
distinct regiments, and numbered from the
61st to the 75th successively. The Second
Battalion of the 36th Regiment was constituted
the 74th Regiment, and was disbanded
in the year 1763, after the peace of Fontainebleau.
"Soon after the commencement of the
American War a regiment was authorised to
be raised in the Highlands by Colonel John
Campbell of Barbreck, in the year 1777, for
service in America, where it was employed
until the conclusiou of the war in 1783, when
it was disbanded."
To my mind, the most interesting man in
the 74th of 1777-1783 was the chief of the
Macquarries, the old laird of Ulva, who entertained
Boswell and Dr. Johnson in his little
island home. But, alas! he sold his estate
in 1777 to pay his debts, and at the age of
62 became an officer in the 74th, on its being
raised for service in America. This gallant
old warrior, after having served his country
with distinction, died at Glenforsa, in Mull,
on the 14th of .January, 1818, at the great age
of 103. The colours of his old regiment-­
the 74th of 1777-1783-are, I believe, in
Inveraray Castle.-I am, &c.
DONALD NORIUN REID.
2 Hyde Park Street, London, W.,
June 18, 1915.
SIR,-This question as to whether the tartan
worn by the old 74th between 1846 and 1881
was rightly called Lamont or should have been
called Forbes is not easy to settle now, for the
printed records give no help, but perhaps
contemporary manuscript evidence may turn
up from some quarter, or some person's
memory may supply the information, for,
remember, we need not look before 1846.