Dear GUEST of 0520 on 27 June:

The relations between England and Scotland during the 18th century were such that they should be considered as they are today: separate kingdoms that happened to have the same monarch. The difference circa 1750-whatever was that opinion was divided over the identity of that monarch.

The British Army of the time was a masterpiece of ad-hockery, composed of regiments raised for specific missions and disbanded when those missions were completed if other employment could not be found for them. (Public-sector contingency employment goes back a long way, it seems.) Fraser's Highlanders is only one such regiment; I could also name the Glengarry Fencibles (who eventually settled *as a regiment* in Upper Canada) and even the Black Watch.

I think it fair to include these regiments among the mercenaries because of the social circumstances from which they arose, and the way in which they were employed.