Independent Highland Companies

The Independent Highland Companies were irregular militia raised from the Scottish clans of the Scottish Highlands by order of the Scottish (later British) government between 1603 and 1760 in order to help keep the peace and enforce the law in the Highlands and were recognized as such by the government. The officers of the Independent Highland Companies were commissioned as officers of the British Army but the independent companies were not recognized as official regiments of the line of the army.

Source: Wikipedia — Independent Highland Companies (CC BY-SA 4.0)