Cabar Feidh

Seaforth Highlanders of
Canada Museum
Historian’s Article
On The Origin and
Meaning of our Cap-
Badge
Copyright 2014 Robert John
MacDonald CD FSA Scot
Lesson One in our new Regimental
Social Literacy series:
The red deer or elk stag with
it’s majestic spread of antlers has
been one of the iconic images of
Scottish art since prehistory. It has
been carved on stones, painted on
vellum, and when a highland dancer
throws his arms above his head in
the classic pose he is imitating the
horns of the stag – but to students
of military history it means just
one thing; the badge of the Seaforth
Highlanders.
The Stag’s-head badge is
one of the oldest badges in military
heraldry and owes it’s origin to
a hunting incident on the Isle of
Lewis in or around the year 1266.
At one point in the hunt Alexander
lll, King of Scotland was ‘unhorsed’
and a wounded stag turned on him.
Colin (Fitzgerald) of Kintail, chief
of the Clan MacKenzie ran to his
“Death of a Stag” or “Alexander III being rescued from the Fury of a Stag
by the Intrepidity of Colin Mackenzie”, by Benjamin West (1738-1820)
aid with the shout ‘Cuidich ‘n Righ’!
(Scots Gaelic; “Help the King!”) as
he killed the stag.
In gratitude the King
granted the arms of ‘a stag’s head
caboshed’(cut off at the neck)
with the motto “Cuidich ‘n Righ”
as the armourial bearings of the
MacKenzies of Seaforth. To this day,
the patronymic for the Chief of the
Clan Mackenzie is CabarFeidh (The
Stag’s Head)
The ‘Stag’s-heid’ has long been a
ffectionately referred to as “Hector”
by the soldiers of Lord Seaforth’s
Highland Regiment. Can anyone tell
us why?
Although many regiments
and corps have different cap-badges
for Officers and Other Ranks, the
Seaforth’s (*) are one of the very few
regiments in the Commonwealth
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