This coloured print by J A Atkinson, taken from Patrick Mileham’s book The Scottish Regiments 1633 - 1996 is simply titled ‘Highlanders manning a picquet’ with an acknowledgement to RHQ Queen’s Own Highlanders. It does not purport to show men of the 79th, but the style of dress for kilted Highland regiments at the time was similar for all units.
The men are from a battalion company, indicated by the tufts on their shoulders, instead of wings. Their caps are covered in black ostrich feathers and have diced bands, with a white over red plume on the left side.The white shoulder belts support a black ammunition pouch on the right hip, and a bayonet on the left, with an oval belt plate at the point of crossing on their chest. They have sporrans on the front of their kilts.
The red jacket is long-waisted with white turn-backs and false pockets sloping on the tails. This print shows the button loops as bastion shaped. This, along with the green facings confuses us about the identity of the regiment. At the time of publication of Mileham’s book (1996) the Queen’s Own Highlanders consisted of the Seaforths, Camerons and Gordons. The only one of these regiments to have bastion loops in 1807 was the Seaforths who were, at the time, the 72nd and 78th Highlanders, both having bastion loops but with yellow and buff facings respectively. The 73rd Perthshires had bastion loops and green facings but they became linked to the 42nd Black Watch in 1881.
To confuse the issue more, the list of Military prints produced by J A Atkinson in the Army Museums Ogilby Trust publication of 1972, lists this print as no.4 in a series of 31, titled Highlanders [93rd]. The print series was published by William Miller on 1 Jan 1807 so the subject matter is based on drawings made by Atkinson the previous year or earlier.
