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In 1771 the family title of "Earl of Seaforth" was restored to Kenneth Mackenzie after his family had forfeited it because of their involvement in the Jacobite Rebellion of 1715. As a gesture of gratitude, the Earl offered to raise a regiment on his estate for general use by the Crown. The offer was accepted and a corps of 1,130 men was raised. Of these, 900 were Highlanders and the remainder coming from the Lowlands and was located at Elgin, its first base, in May 1778. In August 1778 the Regiment marched to Leith for embarkation to the East Indies– but a dispute regarding their terms of service lead the men to march back to Edinburgh and they took up a position of protest in the vicinity of Arthur's Seat, remaining for several days. During this protest, the men were amply supplied with food and ammunition by the populace of the capital, who had taken side with them in their grievances. After three days of negotiations, compromises were reached and the men again marched from the capital to their quarters at Leith, this time led by the Earl of Seaforth, but the idea of sending them to India now having been abandoned. At this time, the Regiment was designated as the 78th Regiment of Foot. In 1881 the regiment was linked with the 78th (Highlanders) Regiment to form the 1st and 2nd Battalions of the Seaforth Highlanders.
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