Warriors of empire: popular imperialism and the Victorian Scottish Regiment, 1898-1938

Through a case study of the Victorian Scottish Regiment, this article investigates the way in which imperial experiences influenced cultural identities, and explores Scotland's military traditions and their relationship with Scottish culture in Australia. As organisations that operated under the auspices of the government, Scottish regiments competed with emerging Australian nationalism and, therefore, offer us the chance to place Scottish identities in their early-twentieth century Australian cultural context. While many celebrations of Scottish culture were harmless and sensible in relation to Australian politics, culture, and society, the regiment's maintenance of Scottish identity was often far more assertive. Instances where the state was involved with Scottish cultural maintenance, therefore, complicate and nuance our understanding of how identity and culture was constructed and maintained among Scots in the diaspora.