The regiment was formed in January 1900 for service in the Second Boer War by Simon Fraser, 14th Lord Lovat as the Lovat Scouts. Recruited initially from gamekeepers on Highland estates, the unit was commanded by The Hon. Andrew David Murray from his appointment by Lord Lovat in February 1900 until killed in action September 1901. Well practiced in the arts of marksmanship, fieldcraft and military tactics, they were also phenomenal woodsmen always ready to tempt fate, but also practitioners of discretion: "He who shoots and runs away, lives to shoot another day." Lovats scouts have the distinction of being the first military unit to wear a Ghillie suit.