The post-medieval period saw an increasing professionalisation of warfare in the British Isles – with implications for weapons and equipment. During the 17th century regiments of full-time soldiers began to be raised in South East Scotland. For example, in the 1620s and 1630s the East Lothian commander John Hepburn raised local men into a professional infantry regiment for service in the Thirty Years War – this later became The Royal Scots regiment which continued recruiting in Edinburgh and the Lothians until its amalgamation in 2006. The 1650s also saw units from the Cromwellian New Model Army fighting and stationed in the region. Following the Restoration of Charles II in 1660 government soldiers remained a feature of life in the region into modern times.
It is generally thought that the post-medieval period saw a growing standardisation in military equipment, as an increased emphasis on drill and on moving as a unit (as well as greater state involvement in the organisation of armies) encouraged uniformity. However, this process was only in its infancy at the beginning of the 1600s, and even in the 1790s there may have been more variety and improvisation in the equipment of individual soldiers than is sometimes appreciated. The archaeological record has the potential to provide valuable insights regarding the date and extent of standardisation in military equipment during the post-medieval period, and the processes by which these items were produced.
In many parts of the English speaking world the 17th and 18th centuries have attracted significant attention from military historians, re-enactors, and archaeologists. However, the specific story of the development of military equipment in post-medieval Lowland Scotland needs more research. Work by scholars such as David Caldwell has demonstrated that by 1600 manufacturing of hand held fire-arms in Edinburgh was well-established (Caldwell 1982). The capital also had a long tradition of making bladed weapons. Although commendable biographical study of Scottish arms makers was undertaken during the twentieth century, further investigation of post-medieval weapons manufacture within Edinburgh and further afield in the region would be desirable (Whitelaw 1977). Much more research needs to be undertaken into the arms and armour used in South East Scotland during the 17th century. Excavations at sites such as Tantallon Castle have revealed significant assemblages of post-medieval military equipment, including lead bullets, caps from powder flasks and cast-iron shot (Caldwell 1991, 342-346). Future excavations may cast more light on the evolution of the region’s military equipment during the post-medieval period, and the extent to which the South East had its own distinct traditions.
The military equipment of the 18th century, and in particular the arms and clothing used during the Jacobite risings, have attracted attention from scholarly and popular authors. Significant finds associated with the rising of 1745 have been found in the area around Prestonpans. Yet, discussions about the Jacobite armies do tend (for understandable reasons) to concentrate on the equipment of the Highlanders. There is room for better understanding of the Lowlanders who took up arms during the Jacobite risings. Indeed, it should perhaps be noted that recent research indicates that although Jacobite support was most intense in the Highlands, Midlothian had a significant Jacobite presence, and that more named supporters of Charles Edward Stuart are recorded for this region than for many parts of the Highlands and Islands (Layne 2016, 237). The ongoing Jacobite threat also encouraged the establishment of local militias in the South East of Scotland, although there is some indication that these were often poorly armed. For example, in 1715 the Midlothian militia reportedly had less than 100 muskets for a force of 7000 men (Henshaw 2011, 213). Research into the extent to which surviving 18th century military equipment in the South East relates to militia activity would be desirable.
Much more research could be undertaken with items that are already held in museums and in private hands. The National Museum of Scotland, regimental museums, and many of the region’s great houses, hold significant collections. Although the provenance of these items is not always clear, funding for more detailed cataloguing, recording, and scientific analysis, combined with comparative research projects might help us build up a fuller picture of the weapons and military equipment present in the region in the eventful period between 1600 and 1800.