Journal of the Society for Army Historical Research 99/397

THE 105 TH REGIMENT OF FOOT , 1761-1763

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principal heraldic charges of Mecklenberg-Strelitz, the Duchy from which Princess Sophia Charlotte, the Queen Consort of King George III had come . 12 However, it does not appear to conform exactly with the device as usually represented. It would, nevertheless, certainly be an appropriate reference to be worn by the Queen’s Own Royal Highlanders and it is equally certainly not a clan badge. Gordon’s sword has a hilt of the Pinch of Snuff type and a blade of significant, though probably not unrealistic, flexibility.

The heraldic device of the bull of Mecklenberg that formed part of the arms of Mecklenberg-Strelitz Illustration by the author

12 The Arms of Mecklenburg are ‘Or a bull’s head erased and affronté sable, crowned proper, armed argent, the tongue extended gules’ – H.C. Fox-Davies, The Art of Heraldry – An Encyclopedia of Armory (London: 1904, Bloomsbury Reprint, 1986), p. 38 and Plate VII.