Pete,
Please excuse my ignorance, but would you mind explaining the patch?
Thanks,
Lil
No excusing necessary - it's quite obscure and only Scots would really recognize it.
That's the Logan Clan badge. We were in the service of Robert the Bruce when he died, and two of our knights and some soldiers were in the contingent under the Black Douglas who set out to carry his heart to Jerusalem for burial, according to his last wishes.
The heart represents the heart of the Bruce, and the passion thorn Jerusalem.
The Clan motto over the top is HOC MAJORUM VIRTUS - This is the Honor of my Ancestors, and the Clan name is the bottom rocker.
Done in metal, it would be worn as a cap badge, like this, as an arm badge. I've never heard of it being worn as a back patch.
Here's one story:-
http://www.fife.50megs.com/bruce-death.htm
The end of the tale is told in the Clan thus, which I like better. We made it as far as about the middle of Spain when we were set upon by a vastly superior force of Moors. Being surrounded and heavily outnumbered, and seeing the cause was hopeless, the Black Douglas took the casket containing the heart of his King, and threw it forwards into the thickest part of the fighting, and followed it to his death, crying "Where thou goest, Lord, I follow".
The entire party was wiped out to the last man. The Moors, having no idea of the significance of the lead casket, simply left it where it fell.
Fortunately, one of our number had been left behind at the previous night's stop, having got so drunk that he fell off his bench and broke his arm. Having had the arm set in the morning, he followed on, and found the party entirely dead. Seeing no realistic prospect of completing the mission on his own, he retrieved the casket, did his best for the dead, and returned to Scotland, where he turned the casket over to the Church, and it was buried in Melrose Abbey.
And for this brilliant victory, we were awarded the badge
