[1][2] After the restoration of Charles II, the Scottish Parliament passed an Act in 1661, ratified in 1663, creating a militia of 20,000 infantry and 2000 horse, available for Crown service anywhere in Scotland, England or Ireland.

However, there were residual fears of Jacobitism in Scotland, so rather than embody the moribund militia, full-time regiments of 'Fencibles' were raised for the duration of the war by means of normal recruitment.

[5][8][9][10][11] During the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars the militia were embodied for a whole generation, and became regiments of full-time professional soldiers (though restricted to service in the British Isles), which the regular army increasingly saw as a prime source of recruits.

By now the Earl of Crawford (soon to be a major-general) had been appointed colonel of the regiment, with James Wemyss, another regular officer, as his lieutenant-colonel.

During the summer of 1805, when Napoleon was massing his 'Army of England' at Boulogne for a projected invasion, the regiment with 546 men in 8 companies, under Lt-Col Wemyss, was stationed with the Denbighshire Militia at Chatham Camp in Kent, forming part of Major-General the Hon Edward Finch's Brigade of Guards.

[17] The adjutant of the Fifeshire Militia from 1833 to 1855 was Capt W. Scott, a veteran of the Peninsular War and the Waterloo who had served in the Scots Fusilier Guards.

Their role was to man coastal defences and fortifications, relieving the Royal Artillery (RA) for active service.

[5][8][9][10][24] The Hon Colonel (John Balfour, late of the Grenadier Guards) and Lt-Col Commandant (Brevet Major (retired) Charles Robert Wynne, RA) were both appointed on 23 February 1855.

[9][24] Some of the artillery militia were embodied during the Indian Mutiny to relieve Regular RA units for service in India.

The Fife Artillery was embodied at Cupar on 25 April 1859 and in May it went to do coastal garrison duty in South West England, first at Devonport, then at Pendennis Castle in June, moving to Falmouth during August.

Most were formed within the existing military districts into which the United Kingdom was divided, and for the first time associated the artillery militia with the regulars.

[8][9][10][20][24][25][28][22][29][30] Most of the militia was embodied at the time of the Second Boer War to release regular units for service in South Africa.

There were moves to reform the Auxiliary Forces (Militia, Yeomanry and Volunteers) to take their place in the six Army Corps proposed by St John Brodrick as Secretary of State for War.

[31][32] Under the sweeping Haldane Reforms of 1908, the Militia was replaced by the Special Reserve, a semi-professional force whose role was to provide reinforcement drafts for Regular units serving overseas in wartime.

In that year the King drew the lots and the resulting list remained in force with minor amendments until the end of the militia.

When the unit took the RA's brown fur Busby into use, the plume holder was a flaming grenade, on the ball of which was a crowned circlet carrying the Earl of Fife's secondary motto 'VIRTUTE ET OPERA' ('Courage and Effort') with the Thane of Fife in the centre, the circlet being surrounded by a wreath of thistles.

In this version the crown above the Royal Arms of the white metal plate was replaced by the Thane of Fife surmounted by the 'VIRTUTE ET OPERA' scroll in gilt.

The Sabretache badge of the same period had the Thane of Fife within a strap with the 'VIRTUTE ET OPERA' motto, above which was a crown surmounted by the Scottish Lion rampant, the whole surrounded by a wreath.