Our Motto's

Every good Cape Town Highlander knows what our motto "Bydand" means - "steadfast" or "vasbyt", as the modern Army would say.

But ask them what language it is in, and there is a variety of answers. Some say it is Gaelic. Others answer it is Doric, the dialect of Robbie Burns; one newspaper which once ran a story about the CTH explained that "Bydand" was a "Garlic" word, but that was just a spelling mistake and is not to be taken to indicate an Italianate or other Latin origin.

Well, courtesy of WOII Kim Zocher and a videotape he brought back from the Gordon Highlanders Museum after a recent visit, I can tell everybody that they are all wrong.

According to the videotape, "Bydand" is not Gaelic, Doric or even Garlic. It is, in fact, a corruption of the Norman French brought to the British Isles by William the Conqueror in 1066.

It might seem a little odd that as thoroughly Scottish a clan as the Gordon's should have a Norman French motto, but there is an interesting explanation.

The exact origins of the Clan Gordon are now lost in the mists of time, but it would appear that they are descended from a Norman knight who came over the water, probably from an estate called "Gourdon", settled in England for a while, and by the 12th Century had moved northwards and acquired land in Berwickshire (at that time the name was still spelt "Gourdoune")

Scotland then promptly swallowed them up, and in no time at all they were kilties of the deepest dye; the rest, as they say, is history.

Oh, yes - about the meaning of the word. Well, the Gordons Museum got an expert to look at the roots, and what "Bydand" means is .....

wait for it ...." steadfast".

OR

In the constellation of regimental mottoes, it is not at all unusual to see Latin or English phrases, and even one Gaelic (the motto of the Queen's Own Highlanders and now of The Highlanders). "Bydand", however, is a creature that fits into none of these languages, and as such raises a great amount of discussion.

There are two primary theories of where it comes from:

Theory #1: Bydand is a corruption of a Gaelic term. Exactly what term is uncertain, and the translations vary considerably. It is usually interpreted as "steadfast," but also comes across as enduring, faithful, and abiding. We encountered one wizened Gordon Highlander in Huntly who was quite knowledgeable in Gaelic and had clearly studied it closely who denies that any of these are correct. He claims that a single word translation is impossible because the Gaelic phrase in a 'present continuous' tense of 'to stand prepared.' The implication of the conjugation is that one has been and currently is standing ready, fully prepared for whatever might come. In this sense, it corresponds very closely to the United States Marine Corps motto, Sempre Fidelis. Yours truly, being a linguist by trade, finds this explanation very appealing. Aberdeenshire is not historically Gaelic speaking, and so the Regiment's tie to this region would not support this view. However, when one considers that the vast majority of the intial recruits came from predominantly Gaelic-speaking Inverness and the Isles, this theory takes on much more possibility.

Theory #2: Bydand is a shortened version of the Scots phrase "Bide and Fecht" meaning to stand and fight. Over the years, it came to be understood that if one were to 'bide,' one was certainly going to 'fecht.' With the Regiment's 'home' being a more Scots-speaking area, this could be a real possibility.

In the final analysis, and whatever the original meaning may have been, it cannot be but that the Gordon Highlanders served Crown and Country for 200 years with unwavering faithfulness, an amazing steadiness in action, and an eagerness to 'fecht' second to none.

 W.P. Steenkamp (Major CTH)