Engraving of a soldier of the Black Watch, then known as Sempill's Regiment

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Engraving of a soldier of the Black Watch, engraved by G. Bickham and published by William Mayer, 30 April 1743, at the time that the Black Watch mutinied briefly.

At this time the regiment was known as Sempill's Foot. The mutiny was caused by the threat to send the Highlanders to fight in Europe, although the regiment believed that they had been raised to serve only in the British Isles.

This print has often been copied and was widely reproduced, including on a Chinese porcelain plate. Versions of it were linked to the Jacobite cause, although the mutiny was not Jacobite-inspired.

Record details

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• Online ID: 000-000-100-236-C
• Image Rights Holder: National Museums Scotland
• Project: The Thistle at War
  Project description   View all records in project
• Ref: National Museums Scotland  M.1931.1019
• Date: 1743
  
• Material: Paper
  Engraving of a Highland soldier, 1743
  
• Dimensions: 335 mm H x 218 mm W
  
• What: Engraving of a Highland soldier, 1743
  
• Subject: Prints
  
• Who: Black Watch (British land forces)
  G. Bickham (Delineator)
  Mayer (publisher)
  Sempill's Regiment
  
• Where:
• Event:
• Description: Black Watch - Engraving of a Highlander, a soldier of The Black Watch, published by Mayer, 30 April 1743.
  
• References:
  • McCorry, Helen (ed.) The thistle at war: an anthology of the Scottish experience of war, in the services and at home. Edinburgh, NMS, 1997 
  • Prebble, John Mutiny; Highland regiments in revolt, 1743 - 1804 London: Secker and Warburg, 1975 
  • Wood, Stephen The Scottish soldier. Manchester: Archive Publications in association with the National Museums of Scotland, 1987 
• Translations:
• Related Records: