A 300-year-old tradition which began on the bloody battlefields of France

The origins of the bearskin as ceremonial headwear are commonly dated to the bloody encounter between the Scots Greys and the French Regiment du Roi on the field at Ramillies in 1706. Having routed their foe and captured many of the French Grenadiers to boot, the regiment was awarded the distinction of wearing the Grenadier Cap in recognition of their triumph.

This tall, mitre-shaped head-dress was later altered to a design recognisable as the modern-day bearskin. On the wounded list at Ramillies that day was the celebrated female trooper Mother Ross, who concealed her sex from regimental chiefs for four years before being buried with full military honours.

The word bearskin, however, did not enter popular use until the middle of the 18th century, by which time the Grenadier Guards had worn them in another victorious encounter with the French Grenadiers, this time at Waterloo in 1815.

Such was their valour of their actions, the regiment, then called the 1st Regiment of Foot Guards, was renamed, becoming the only one in the British Army to be named for one of its battle honours. It is the most senior of the regiments of the Guards Division.

All five Foot Guards regiments now wear the bearskin, as do the Canadian Grenadier Guards, the Governor General's Foot Guards and the Royal Life Guards of the Royal Danish Army.

The honour of sporting a white bearskin is the preserve of the bass drummer of the Pipes and Drums of the Royal Scots Dragoon Guards - marking a presentation to the Royal Scots Greys by Tsar Nicholas II in 1894. The Thai army wears them in blue and pink. And while the use of real bearskins looks set to continue, leopard skin has been replaced by fake fur. The bearskin must never be referred to as a busby. For while the smaller busbys are worn by hussars, artillerymen and engineers, bearskins remain the preserve of the Guards.

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