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  #16  
Old 07-07-20, 01:53 PM
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Mike H Mike H is offline
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Originally Posted by jf42 View Post
Let's not over think this, gentlemen. I suspect that by 1960 only a few serving soldiers would have an idea who Sir Hector Macdonald was. Those who did might have known he was Gordon Highlander.
If that's the case its probaly a dig at the rival Gordon's
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  #17  
Old 07-07-20, 03:28 PM
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I suspect that by 1960 only a few serving soldiers would have an idea who Sir Hector Macdonald was. Those who did might have known he was Gordon Highlander.
He was a "national hero" , especially in the Scottish Highlands , there are numerous statues and 2 massive monuments one at Mulbuie and an even bigger one at Dingwall.

Anyone from that region would know about him and young Scottish soldiers in the 1960's would be well aware of his military history and achievements.

He is buried in the Dean Cemetery in my home town Edinburgh.(30,000 turned up for his funeral)
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  #18  
Old 08-07-20, 06:50 PM
jf42 jf42 is offline
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Anyone from that region would know about him and young Scottish soldiers in the 1960's would be well aware of his military history and achievements.
Well, perhaps. Those assumptions will probably have to remain untested

By the time the QOHldrs were formed, sixty years and two world wars had passed since Fighting Mac's sad demise. Young soldiers get a thumbnail version of their own regimental history with selected highlights- more complicated after a recent amalgamation. And it was the 1960s! I suspect the Jocks of the former Seaforths and Camerons would not be bothering too much with a long dead Gordon general, certainly not to name their regimental badge in his honour- if the name didn't originate with the Seaforths before the amalgamation. The name 'Hector' does feature quite prominently in Seaforth and Rosshire history, predating the unfortunate Gen. Macdonald's career- as evidence by his own given name.

As it is, the QOHLDRS museum at Fort George have been unable to offer any confident answer to as to the origin or date of the name 'Hector' for the 'Caber feidh.' There was a tentative reference to a stuffed stag's head in possesion of the regiment which might have been the original 'Hector' but this was not repeated by a more reliable authority, who relayed that despite repeated attempts by the SFTH/QOHLDR community, it has not been possible to find an explanation for the name.

Regiments are not always reliable repositories of their own history, with the origins of some cherished traditions receding enigmatically into the mists of time. Sometimes this prompts palpable fictions to provide an explanation, but not in the case of 'Hector,' it would seem.
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