Wednesday 26 February 2020

Scottish soldiers c1720

Photos Boris Megorsky

These cherubic wooden figures designed for comic effect are one of the earliest representations of Scottish soldiers in service with the British Army. It was one of several that decorated the 'Old Chelsea Bun-House', a London coffee-house close to the Royal Hospital, Chelsea, a home for discharged soldiers founded in the 1680s. The uniform is that of the Royal North British Fusiliers, an infantry regiment formed in 1678. The regiment's name reveals its Scottish identity, as does the figure's thistle cap badge. Now displayed in the Scottish National War Museum in Edinburgh Castle.



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