The Royal Scots Dragoon Guards Museum is a regimental museum displaying the collections of the

Royal Scots Dragoon Guards The Royal Scots Dragoon Guards (Carabiniers and Greys) is a light Cavalry regiments of the British Army, cavalry regiment of the British Army, and the senior Scottish regiment. The regiment, through the Royal Scots Greys, is the oldest survivi ...

and its predecessor regiments. It is based in the New Barracks (built between 1796 and 1799) at

Edinburgh Castle Edinburgh Castle is a historic castle in Edinburgh, Scotland. It stands on Castle Rock (Edinburgh), Castle Rock, which has been occupied by humans since at least the Iron Age. There has been a royal castle on the rock since the reign of Malcol ...

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

History

The museum brings together the collections of the 3rd Carabiniers (Prince of Wales's Dragoon Guards) (themselves the product of the amalgamation in 1922 of 3rd Dragoon Guards (Prince of Wales's) and

6th Dragoon Guards (Carabiniers) The Carabiniers (6th Dragoon Guards) was a cavalry regiment of the British Army. It was formed in 1685 as the Lord Lumley's Regiment of Horse. It was renamed as His Majesty's 1st Regiment of Carabiniers in 1740, the 3rd Regiment of Horse (Carab ...

), and The Royal Scots Greys (2nd Dragoons). The museum, which was originally located in the basement of the New Barracks, was opened by the Queen in 1995. It moved above ground in the New Barracks in 2006 and was officially re-opened by the Queen on 7 July 2006.

Collections

The exhibits include uniforms, medals, weapons, regalia and music of the

. A highlight of the museum is the

French Imperial Eagle The French Imperial Eagle (, ) was a figure carried into battle as a standard by the ''Grande Armée'' of Napoleon I during the Napoleonic Wars. Although they were presented with regimental colours, Napoleon's regiments tended to carry at their ...

that was captured by Sergeant

Charles Ewart Ensign Charles Ewart (1769 – 23 March 1846) was a Scottish soldier of the Royal North British Dragoons (more commonly known as the Scots Greys), famous for capturing the regimental eagle of the () at the Battle of Waterloo. He was born n ...

of the Royal Scots Greys from the French ''45th Régiment d'Infanterie de Ligne'' at the

Battle of Waterloo The Battle of Waterloo was fought on Sunday 18 June 1815, near Waterloo, Belgium, Waterloo (then in the United Kingdom of the Netherlands, now in Belgium), marking the end of the Napoleonic Wars. The French Imperial Army (1804–1815), Frenc ...

in June 1815. It also includes military and personal memorabilia loaned by the explorer Sir Ranulph Fiennes, who served with the regiment, and the

Victoria Cross The Victoria Cross (VC) is the highest and most prestigious decoration of the Orders, decorations, and medals of the United Kingdom, British decorations system. It is awarded for valour "in the presence of the enemy" to members of the British ...

awarded to Sergeant Henry Ramage of the Royal Scots Greys during the

Crimean War The Crimean War was fought between the Russian Empire and an alliance of the Ottoman Empire, the Second French Empire, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, and the Kingdom of Sardinia (1720–1861), Kingdom of Sardinia-Piedmont fro ...

. The gift shop sells the music of the

Pipes and Drums A pipe band is a musical ensemble consisting of pipers and drummers. The term pipes and drums, used by military pipe bands is also common. The most common form of pipe band consists of a section of pipers playing the Great Highland bagpipe, ...

, including "

Amazing Grace "Amazing Grace" is a Christian hymn written in 1772 and published in 1779 by English Anglican clergyman and poet John Newton (1725–1807). It is possibly the most sung and most recorded hymn in the world, and especially popular in the Unit ...

", which reached number one in the charts in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

and

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

in 1972. File:Edinburgh Castle (16133444836).jpg, Statue of a piper outside the museum File:Ensign Ewart's Eagle.jpg, The

Eagle Eagle is the common name for the golden eagle, bald eagle, and other birds of prey in the family of the Accipitridae. Eagles belong to several groups of Genus, genera, some of which are closely related. True eagles comprise the genus ''Aquila ( ...

captured by

at Waterloo in June 1815 File:Royal Scots Dragoons, Edinburgh Castle - geograph.org.uk - 2179529.jpg, Model of the charge of the Royal Scots Greys at Waterloo in June 1815 File:Nicholas II of Russia by V.Serov (1902, Royal Scots Dragoon Guards Museum).jpg, Painting of Tsar

Nicholas II of Russia Nicholas II (Nikolai Alexandrovich Romanov; 186817 July 1918) or Nikolai II was the last reigning Emperor of Russia, Congress Poland, King of Congress Poland, and Grand Duke of Finland from 1 November 1894 until Abdication of Nicholas II, hi ...

, Colonel-in-Chief of the Royal Scots Greys, by

Valentin Serov Valentin Alexandrovich Serov (; – 5 December 1911) was a Russian painter and one of the premier portrait artists of his era. Life and work Youth and education Serov was born in Saint Petersburg, son of the Russian composer and music crit ...

, 1902 File:Colonel of Royal Scots Greys (Nicholas II of Russia's uniform).jpg, Tsar Nicholas II of Russia's uniform

References

{{reflist

External links

Official site
Regimental museums in Scotland