Royal Scots Greys (Men at Arms Series 26)

For just a little short of three centuries the Royal Scots Greys has had the proud distinction of being Scotland's only regular cavalry regiment, and during that time it has made, on more occasions than can be recounted, notable and gallant contri­butions to the martial story of its parent country. Like many another unit it was born in troublous times and of these none can have been more bloodily fanatical than the concluding years of the 17th century, when Scotland was rent right across by the most bitter religious strife and men walked abroad with the sword in the one hand and the Bible in the other. In those unhappy and evil days mercy was, practically speaking, unknown, and the regular troops of the government were given the unenviable task of crushing resistance to the theological dictates forced upon an unwill­ing people. Everywhere in the south of Scotland bands of devoted and armed men were prepared to resist the compulsion of authority, and scenes of brutality and the summary execution of prisoners were all too frequent. In order to aug­ment the already existing army, the resources of which in men and material were sorely strained, two troops of dragoons were raised in the spring of 1678, for inclusion in the forces of the Crown. It is in these two modest troops - raised in a time of almost unprecedented civil turmoil and upheaval - that we find the origins of the Royal Scots Greys.