THE FAMOUS blue bonnet and red hackle will be on display tomorrow when The Black Watch Association rallies at its Aberfeldy monument to commemorate the first muster of the regiment in May, 1740.

The Black Watch was raised in a unique way.

After the 1715 Jacobite rebellion, companies of trustworthy Highlanders were raised from local clans—Campbells, Grants, Frasers and Munros.

The first muster took place six months after King George II authorised extra companies, and the forming of a regular army regiment.

The men were to be “native of that country and none other to be taken.”

The muster is commemorated by a monument in the form of a soldier dressed in the uniform of those days.

Tomorrow’s noon service —led by the Rev Matthew Robertson, a former member of The Black Watch—will also commemorate those who gave their lives serving with the regiment.