SEVENTEENTH LANCERS.
The Regiment was raised as the 18th Light Dragoons in Hertfordshire and the vicinity of London in 1759; its Colonel chose its crest of a “Death’s Head” with its motto “or Glory,” as he wished every member of it to remember General Wolfe, with whom he was at his death at the battle of Quebec 1759. It was renumbered 17th in 1763.
It received its title in 1876 in honour of H. R. H. the Field Marshal Commanding-in-Chief, who served in the Regiment.
It was nicknamed “Bingham’s Dandies,” from its Colonel (Lord Bingham) causing the men’s uniforms to fit so well.
The first 17th Dragoons was called the “Edinburgh Light Horse,” raised in Scotland in 1759 and disbanded in 1763.