Badge & Tartan of the Black Watch
Today’s Black Watch is the 3rd Battalion, Royal Regiment of the Scotland infantry battalion aka the Royal Regiment of Scotland. The source of the regiment’s name is uncertain but they were originally part of the Highland Watch that was formed on the orders of Charles II (king of England, Scotland, and Ireland) in 1667 but was later disband.
Then King George II had them re-established in 1725 following the rebellion of 1715; he undoubtedly thought it was good politics to use a Scottish infantry battalion to calm the troubled Highlands of Scotland.
The Government Issue tartan they were required to wear was dark and may have contributed to the name they were given locally, which was known as the “Black Watch” in the local Gaelic language (Am Freiceadan Dubh), but it’s possible that the nick-name was given by those who claimed its recruits had “black hearts” for siding with the enemies of the true Highland spirit; yet another argument states that the name derived from their original duty in policing the Highlands, namely preventing the “blackmail” of Highlanders who were routinely subjected to extortion demands for payments to spare cattle herds.
The Watch was officially brought into the British regimental system on 25 October 1739, a result of orders issued also by George II after much discussion and debate over a period of many years with the military hierarchy who admired Highlanders for their fighting prowess.
Under a plan devised by Alistair Irwin (a former Adjutant-General to the Forces in the United Kingdom) and approved by General Sir Mike Jackson (a high profile retired British Army officer as well); it was announced on 16 December 2004 that the Black Watch was to join with five other Scottish regiments: 1. The Royal Scots, 2. The King’s Own Scottish Borderers, 3. The Royal Highland Fusiliers, 4. The Highlanders and 5. The Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders thus creating the Royal Regiment of Scotland, a single regiment consisting of 5 regular and 2 territorial battalions.
The use of the “Black Watch Tartan”, a three color check fabric style, with black separating green and blue, is unlikely to have been a local Highland design in 1739 when it was originally proposed, or should we say decreed by the Royal Government. The Black Watch Tartan has routinely been associated with the early Campbell Clan (some argue it should be the Grant Clan) because of their role in leading the Black Watch and other Government forces back in the day. However, conventional wisdom does not accept that Clan Tartans, in a strictly defined sense, even existed in the early days (that era east and west of 1725).
Whether the Black Watch tartan was worn by the Highland clan of the Campbells, the clan of the Grants as some argue, or whether the military tartan was based on an existing design from some other Highland clan, will no doubt continue to be a subject for discussion, but the historical fact is clear that after its adoption by The Highland Regiment it became the official style for all troops in the government service wearing Highland dress.
None the less, the Black Watch Tartan being somewhat subdued, has benefits considered good for camouflage rather than that of display, thus suggesting the Black Watch Tartan had considerable influence in the creation of Hunting Tartans in the late 1800s.
Sources: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Watch http://www.tartans.scotland.net/reading_tartan/blackwatch.cfm.htm http://www.tartansauthority.com/research/tartan-spotlight/the-black-watch-tartan/ http://gbw247.info/gunnclan/military_tartans.htm
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