Here the Scots Guards Pipes and Drums brave the winter chill, echoing their melodies through the snowy trenches and snowy fields. A timeless tribute to all Scots Guards, past and present.

📸 @salopian_photography

The reward of one duty is the power to fulfil another.

George Eliot

HRH Prince Edward, Duke of Kent is one of the most underrated members of the Royal Family, always stoic he’s always been dependable and never flusters, the world needs more 'Steady Eddies'.

There’s no question that the Duke of Kent’s dedication to serving the crown and the country is beyond reproach. For over 50 years, the Duke of Kent has been performing royal duties and on behalf of the monarchy. HRH Prince Edward at a young age filled a huge role vacated by the untimely death of his father in 1942. Since then, the Duke of Kent has ceaselessly spent much of his time performing ceremonial functions, attending charitable causes and supporting various organisations on behalf of his cousin Queen Elizabeth II and the British Monarchy. He has represented Her Majesty in the independence celebrations in the former British colonies of Sierra Leone, Uganda, Guyana, and Gambia. Most recently he has attended the 50th Independence Anniversary Celebration of Ghana. He has also acted as Counselor of State during periods of the  Queen's absence abroad.

What is often forgotten is that HRH Prince Edward was a fine soldier. Much like the late Duke of Edinburgh’s naval service was subsumed by his royal persona, the Duke of Kent has never let his royal duties interfere with his army career.

Prince Edward attended Ludgrove in Berkshire for his preparatory education. He then proceeded to Eton College and later in Le Rosey in Switzerland. After school, he attended the Royal Military Academy in Sandhurst, where he won the Sir James Moncrieff Grierson prize for foreign languages. After graduating from Sandhurst in 1955, the duke joined the Royal Scots Grey as Second Lieutenant. That was the start of a military career that spanned over 20 years, one which took him to various places around the world.

In 1961, he was promoted Captain; Major in 1967; and Lieutenant Colonel in 1973. In 1970 the Duke commanded a squadron of his regiment serving in the British Sovereign Base Area in Cyprus, part of the UN force enforcing peace between the Greek and Turkish halves of the island. The duke also spent time commanding a unit in Northern Ireland shortly after the Troubles in the 1970s broke out, but was recalled early on grounds of security.

The duke now maintains his link with the services mainly through honorary rank, which includes that of Colonel of the Scots Guards. He was personal aide-de-camp to his cousin Queen Elizabeth II who promoted him supernumerary Major General on her official birthday in 1983. He was later made a Field Marshal in 1993.

HRH Prince Edward is the longest-serving royal colonel in history. Not just of the Scots Guards but of any regiment in the British Army.

Reading the address of General John French to the 2nd Battalion, Scots Guards, Menin Road, October 1914.

"Ferguson" Breech-Loading Rifle from Aberdeen, Scotland dated to 1776 on display at the Royal Scots Dragoon Guards Museum in Edinburgh Castle, Scotland

These rifles were invented by Lieut-Colonel Patrick Ferguson of Pitfour, Aberdeenshire. Ferguson's improved quick thread breech-loading rifle was an improvement on an earlier invention. He served as a subaltern in the Royal North British Dargoons (Scots Greys) from 1759 to 1762. Ferguson was killed in South Carolina at the Battle of King's Mountain in 1780 during the American Revolutionary War.

Photographs taken by myself 2023

Found Him

Major Jonny Thompson of the Scot Guard

Apparently lots of folks were asking about his identity,too, and someone on DM answered.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-10881669/Lady-Sarah-Chatto-joined-sons-Arthur-23-Samuel-25-National-Service-Thanksgiving.html#reader-comments

OK you cougars….here’s the mystery man👆👆👆 lemme see if I can find pics. Thank you Anon.

ETA pics….damn, he is hot 🔥 I wonder if he was another babysitter. They weren’t taking chances.

The Royal Scots Dragoon Guards Pipes and Drums - Auld Lang Syne (2008) w/ The Band of The Coldstream Guards Robert Burns / Traditional from: "Auld Lang Syne" (LP|CD)

Pipe Major: SSGT Derek Potter Director of Music: Lieutenant Colonel Graham O. Smith (MBE)

Scottish | Pipes and Drums | Celtic

JukeHostUK (left click = play) (320kbps)

Recorded: @ The Angel Studios in London, England UK

U.S. Memorial Day, 2023

The Pipes and Drums and Military Band of The Royal Scots Dragoon Guards - Amazing Grace (1967) Traditional from: "Heart of the Highlands: The Great Celtics Anthems of Scotland" (2002 Compilation)

Arranged by Graham Owen Jones

JukeHostUK (left click = play) (320kbps)

On June 26th 1574, Gabriel de Lorges was beheaded in Paris for treason.

A wee tenuous one this but it has a couple of links to Scotland so it's enough to make a post about him. 

Known by the time of his death as the Comte de Montgomery , he had been a Captain of The Garde Écossaise, The Scots Guards  an elite Scottish military unit who were bodyguards to the French Monarchy.   

Gabriel was born in Ducey, France, the son of Jacques, Duke of Montgomery, a Scottish nobleman with a sound career supporting the kings of France

To rewind a wee bit to to 1559, during a jousting contest was pitted against the Sporty French King, Henry II,  his shattered lance somehow found a chink in the king’s visor and managed to catch the royal jouster just beside the eye. After a week and a half in agony, Henri succumbed to the injury and left this mortal coil. While Henry absolved Montgomery of any blame while on his deathbed finding himself disgraced, Montgomery retreated to his estates in Normandy and hurled himself into study that soon converted him to the Protestant faith.

At the time France was in a struggle  Huguenots, a Protestant faction who followed in the Calvinist traditions of the Reformation that was sweeping through Europe at the time. Montgomery through himself into the struggle and was appointed a commander quickly distinguishing himself as perhaps the ablest of the soldiers fighting the cause.

Gabriel was in Paris in 1572 during an ostensible truce for interparty dynastic nuptials when the Catholic faction sprang the St. Bartholomew’s Day massacre upon The Huguenots.  Though Montgomery was a specific target for assassination that day, he somehow managed to escape. He gave the Catholics fits for the two years left him, enough that the crown tried to buy him off. (Like most Protestants, he was distrustfully defiant after the horrors of St. Bartholomew’s Day.) He fled to England for a time and the Medici’s asked for his extradition in 1573 but Elizabeth I refused, the following year he was captured after trying to start a revolt in Normandy, taken to Paris and sentenced to be beheaded.  Gabriel refused to confess his sins or receive a catholic priest’s last rights.

In front of a partisan Catholic crowd baying for blood he was led out to meet his end in Paris, a royal edict was read to him; his land was to be confiscated and his children would not inherit his titles. Still unbowed Gabriel shouted

 “tell my children, if they are not able to reclaim their position, I curse them from the grave!” 

The blade of the guillotine dropped and his head was off, seemingly spraying his son with blood as he stood below the platform.

The story is told in the  Alexandre Dumas book, The Two Diana’s. You can find a more in-depth account of the story here

https://www.normandythenandnow.com/the-heroic-end-of-gabriel-comte-de-montgomery-in-domfront/

also i need the HBO execs that are in charge from ASOIAF to let GRRM take FULL control because the omitions and certain changes are just.... bruh.... and like im sorry but a world POST-BRBA and BCS how come they cannot see how the complexity that GRRM gives to his characters ARE more than welcomed in TV. IT MAKES GOOD TV. But they want to somehow take the fangs away from certain characters that WOULD BE far more compelling than just :( makes doe eyes at the camera* and mind you SOME changes ARE needed but the more considerable ones didnt make sense.

Scots Guardsman, 1799.

Θαρσαλέος ανήρ εν πάσιν αμείνων.**

- Homer

**The courageous man is the best in everything.

The photos of a patrol from the SAS returning after a 3 month patrol is one of the mosy iconic. Many mistakenly believe it is a patrol of the Long Range Desert Group (LRDG). The series of photos were taken by a Captain Geoffrey Keating of The No.1 British Army Film and Photographic Unit. The series of photos shows the patrol’s commander Lieutenant Edward MacDonald at the drivers seat of the jeep closest to the camera. In the photos we also see their boss, David Stirling has come out to meet them. A keen eye will note the SAS wings on MacDonald’s left breast and a signature F/S dagger on his belt. The date of the photo is January 18, 1943. It would be a matter of days when Stirling would be captured and would spend the rest of the War as a German POW. These photos are referred to as “The Return of the Scots Patrol” as the troopers home regiments: - furthest from Camera to Lt McDonald: Jocky Henderson (Scots Guards); Jock Mcdiarmaid (Black Watch); Dave Goldie (Scots Guards); Malcom Mackinnon (Scots Guards); William “Bill” Kennedy (Royal Scots Greys) and Lt. Edward MacDonald of the Cameron Highlanders. The SAS was formed specifically to carry out deep penetration, covert reconnaissance patrols, intelligence missions and combat operations against the axis forces during World War 2. The small patrols were specialists in hit and run operations in the desert. These patrols launched covert attacks against high-value targets such as ships and airfields. Working in units of six to ten troopers, they would have the flexibility and stealth to achieve what larger forces couldn’t.

Who Dares Wins

ghost who eloped with his spouse, who moved into a small house for about a month before he had to fly out on a missions outside of england. hell, the place was pretty bare and he couldn't even manage to put in some nice furniture before price told him to get his arse into a plane to russia for a five month long mission. didn't even get to enjoy some honeymoon before his job fucked him over.

safe to say, he hadn't established a routine at his new home yet ever since he moved out of his barracks room at the base. he was only at home for a little while, it only makes sense that he doesn't know where everything goes sometimes. and of course, he somehow misplaced himself.

at the end of the deployment, he was too tired to even care. his eyes were so heavy and tired that he made his way back to his old barracks room, kicking the door down and throwing his bags to the side (and scaring poor soap who was asleep on the bed, since of course he's the one who took ghost's old room back at the base).

his eyes met the scot, a little confused as to why he sees someone on his bed.

"whit the hell!? lt!? did the missus kick ye out?" soap groaned, scared shitless as he tries to calm his heart.

the question took him off guard, and he stood by the doorway quietly, just processing it.

"... i have a spouse."

"ye eedjit." soap shook his head, telling him to leave soon or else an angry spouse will buzz off his mohawk.

poor ghost, rushed out of the base in the middle of the night trying to get back home. he's got a lot of apologizing to do. hopefully his spouse was asleep and didn't realize that he practically drove twice over the speed limit and possibly ran over someone just to get to his spouse's arms.

Basket-Hilted Cavalry Sword from the British Empire dated to the Mid-18th Century on display at the Royal Scots Dragoon Guards Museum in Edinburgh Castle, Scotland

Swords of this type were purchased by the colonels of the British cavalry regiments for the use of their men. The styles of hilt varied from regiment to regiment. Basket-hilted swords became popular, not just with Scottish regiments but many cavalry regiments around Europe.

The 2nd Royal North British Dragoons were part of the War of Austrian Succession (1740 - 1748) as part of the coalition forces. They fought at the battle of Dettingen in 1743 where King George II became the last British monarch to fight in a battle. In 1745 the last Jacobite Rising took place and unlike in the last risings the regiment were left in Flanders.

Photographs taken by myself 2023

He's Back

Just in case the picture doesn't come through here he is, photo #4

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-10969771/Queen-96-joins-Prince-Charles-watch-military-parade-Holyroodhouse.html

Oh my, yes he is back😋😋😋 thank you

Pic of the Day.

Richard Madden. The Bodyguard.

So they can show me a post of a man jerking off and they think this post is mature? Jeez.