The Scottish Military Research Group - Commemorations Project

David McNay

A quick query for you all. Have the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders, at any time in their history, spelled their name as Argyle?

Just doing a little fact-checking for an upcoming blog article, and I want to be sure of my facts before I make myself look stupid.

Adam Brown · Posted: Tue Aug 30, 2011 7:16 am Post subject:

Not that I know off. Possibly unofficially in the mid 19th Century before numbers were replaced by regimental titles on 1st April 1881.

Adam

spoons · Posted: Tue Aug 30, 2011 7:36 am Post subject:

They were formed by the Duke of Argyll in 1794 and named the 98th Argyllshire Highlanders. There are some odd spellings around in the British Army - Welch and Goorka come to mind. I never heard of one changing spelling and then changing back again so I would say no, it if you see it with an e, then it is a spelling error.

\Paul

DelBoy · Posted: Tue Aug 30, 2011 1:55 pm Post subject:

From the 19th century bits and bobs I've read, spelling didn't seem to matter too much, as long as what was written or read could be understood.

From my genealogy research people would spell their own names differently, but it would always read the same.

A bit like the Serjeant/Sergeant stuff we see in military matters I suppose?

Cheers,
Derek.

spoons · Posted: Tue Aug 30, 2011 2:15 pm Post subject:

I think spelling generally settled down in the mid to late 1900s so before that, an alternative spelling would not necessarily be considered 'wrong'.

As an aside, there are 6 surviving examples of Shakespeare's signature, all spelt differently and none spelt Shakespeare!

\Paul

David McNay · Posted: Tue Aug 30, 2011 3:47 pm Post subject:

Thanks for the input folks. If you check the blog tomorrow, you'll see the reason for my question.