71st HLI (mistaken attribution) Tartan
- Name of Tartan:
- 71st HLI (mistaken attribution)
- ITI Number:
- 798
- Category:
- Military
- Designer / Source:
- Wilsons of Bannockburn
- Date:
- 1819?
- Slog:
- RKG:RKG
- Colour Sequence:
- RKGKBKWKBKGKGKGKGKGKBKWKBKYKGKR
- Thread Count:
- R5 K2 G25 K6 DB31 K2 W5 K2 DB31 K6 G2 K2 G2 K2 G86 K2 G2 K2 G2 K6 DB31 K2 W5 K2 DB31 K2 Y5 K2 G30 K2 R5
- Notes:
-
All thread counts halved to show sett. The Tartans Society notes this as a curious mistake made by Sir William Cockburn of Cockburn when – for the Cockburn Collection (1810-15) – he mistakenly certified this as the Cockburn sett to which it is in fact, very similar. It transpired however that it was the tartan worn by the 71st Highland Light Infantry in which he had served.
This attribution is now (Nov 2004) said to be quite wrong since there is no evidence of the 71st ever wearing this sett. The notes are retained for interest.
The 71st Foot was first raised in the North of Scotland in 1756, as a second battalion 32nd Foot, and was made a separate regiment as the 71st Foot in 1758. It served in some of the descents on the French coast in 1758, at the famous siege of Belle Isle in 1761, and afterwards in the West Indies. It was disbanded at the peace of 1763. It was, like many such regiments, reformed again in times of need and was finally amalgamated with the Royal Scots Fusiliers to become the Royal Highland Fusiliers in 1959.
