VICTORIAN PATTERN FARQUHARSON CLAN & INVERCAULD HIGHLANDERS PLAID BROOCH

Farquharson Clan - Invercauld Highlanders Plaid Brooch - We were lucky enough to recently borrow an original Victorian Farquharson clan and Invercauld Highlanders plaid brooch from an old friend and client. This Victorian pattern plaid brooch has been worn by members of the Farquharson clan and the Invercauld Highlanders since the nineteenth century.

Due to interest in this original pattern it was decided our regimental silversmith would make museum quality copy of the original Victorian pattern badge in fine silver plate and on request Edinburgh hallmarked sterling silver.

The Farquharson Clan

The chiefs of the Clan Farquharson trace their ancestry back to Farquhar, fourth son of Alexander "Ciar" Shaw of Rothiemurchus.Alexander Shaw was the fifth chief of the Clan Shaw.

His descendants took the name Farquharson. Another of Alexander's sons was Donald, who married Isobel Stewart, the heiress of Invercauld. Donald's son was Finla Mor who was the real progenitor of the clan. MacFionlaigh Mòr is the Scottish Gaelic patronymic. Finla Mor was the royal banner bearer at the Battle of Pinkie Cleugh in 1547 where he was killed.However he produced nine sons over two marriages from which the important cadet branches of the clan were sprung and the clan grew in stature.

The Invercauld Highlanders

The formation date of the Invercauld Highlanders is unknown. A group of the Clan Farquharson men did march in front of King George IV on his trip to Edinburgh on August 16th 1822. It is thought that the group formed at some point between the end of the Act of Proscription on July 1st 1782 and the founding of the Braemar Wrights Friendly Society in July 1815.

One of the early reference sources for the Victorian Highland revival style of the Invercauld Highlanders - Farquharsom men has to be the monograph of watercolours commissioned by Queen Victoria and undertaken by artist Kenneth MacLeay and published in 1870. One watercolour is of two men that worked on the Invercauld estate for Colonel Farquharson. Both are depicted wearing the Farquharson tartan in the uniform of the Invercauld Highlanders. James Bowman who was an estate forester and William Brown are shown with Forest of Invercauld in the background.

They turned out as a group of marching men for over one hundred years and their final march was during the 1938 Braemar Gathering.

Braemar Gathering. The Invercauld Highlanders raise their broadswords and cheer. 1938 © St Andrews University

On December 26, 2014 the permission was granted that the Invercauld Highlanders of North America could reform. Their members are growing and have started to use many of the original Invercauld Highlanders as part of their dress.

Farquarson - Invercauld Plaid Brooch

FAMILY - Farquharson

MOTTO - Fide et fortitudine - By fidelity and fortitude

BLAZON - A Demi-Lion Gu., Holding In The Dexter Paw A Sword Ppr.

SOURCE - Fairbairn's Book of Crests, 1905 ed.

Size Approx. 76mm round

To order your vintage pattern Farquharson - Invercauld clan badge, please visit our Regimental Shop page.