Pipers' doublet wings

[OC Richard]

On another thread the topic came up of the castellated 'wings' or 'shells' on pipers' doublets of The Scots Guards, which stand out nowadays as unique, all other pipers' doublets having a standardised design.

The wings on the Scots Guards doublet



The wings on all other modern Scottish military doublets



In recently sorting through a load of vintage photos of army pipers I was struck by the variety of these wings in the past, which stands in contrast to the near-unanimous uniformity of today.

The first thing to keep in mind is that 'wings' have never been exclusive to pipers. In the 18th century and into the 19th, all of the members of each of the two 'flank companies' of each regiment wore them. They were also worn by each regiments' musicians.

Here is the 79th foot mid-19th century clearing showing wings on the coatees of non-pipers (doublets weren't introduced for non-pipers until 1855)



The first thing that struck me was that it's not uncommon to see military pipers wearing no wings at all



Here's large elaborate knot epaulettes, rather than wings



Here is a simple style, piped, with notches



Similar, but more notches? Approaching castellated?



Here's a similar piped notched outside, but with another piped bit, and a zigzag of lace/braid in between



Similar to this



Being the Cameronians, these wings were probably black lace/braid on a dark green backing

[Liam]

Now those are hot wings... Oops the Super Bowl is over! Actually this is an interesting feature.

[OC Richard]

Here the Black Watch are wearing the tuft-style wings often seen in the early 19th century



Another tufted style, worn by a musician of the 72nd



Similar worn by a piper of the 74th



Big wings, big cuffs, big stripes



Three different styles l-r Scots Guards, Gordon Highlanders, Cameron Highlanders



Still some variety remains, but the standard style is taking over