Nemo me impune lacessit or Ne obliviscaris? The Highlander Soldier in British Parliamentary Debates (18th-21st centuries)

Abstract

In the past two decades, Scotland’s military identity has been the subject of several historical analyses, placing it in relation to the decline of Britain as an imperial power and as a nation.1 Few studies, however, have offered an overview of the treatment of the Highlander soldier in parliamentary debates since the eighteenth century. This article draws on Cobbett’s Parliamentary History of England,2 official transcripts of parliamentary debates provided by British History Online3 and Hansard4, as well as on press articles, in order to demonstrate that the Highlander soldier, whose uniform is instantly recognisable, was seen either as a threat to, or as a symbol of, British power and that he fitted in wider discussions on defence and Scottish identity.

Keywords

• identity
• Highlanders
• regiment
• disbandment
• British Parliament