Interesting imagine of a Black Watch piper from the Crimean war

[OC Richard]

When I read the OP in the link provided, there is one segment which might explain it. They are talking about a different image, but the description seems to describe this one pretty well, with a sidebar on tartans:

"A rather blurry photo of the 42nd in Halifax, Nova Scotia c 1853 includes a piper in the centre. He is wearing the Black Watch’s feather bonnet with red hackle, what appears to be a coatee rather than doublet (no flaps discernable), wrap-around plaid, black cross-belt and waist belt, regimental sporran, red/white hose and white spats etc. The tartan appears to be the 42nd’s Government tartan rather than Royal Stuart, as no light stripes are in evidence. (Photos of the 72nd in the 1850’s clearly show the light-coloured lines of their Prince Charles Edward Stuart tartan - a close cousin of Royal Stuart tartan). The colour and pattern of the 42nd piper’s coatee is difficult to determine but is presumably either red, dark green or 42nd tartan. It does not look to be a regimental coatee and the cuff decorations appear to be possibly piped at the 4 buttons, rather than standard regimental cuff with 4 broad bastion white lace details. Presumably the 42nd’s pipers wore this uniform to the Crimea."

Interesting.

The illustration in the OP is clearly copied from the photograph of Piper Muir.

Here is the Halifax photo. The text above is making a lot more out of the photo than I can! With the Piper Muir photo for comparison

The Prince Charles Edward Stuart tartan is not an exact match to the tartan in this image...

I don't think it's a match at all. The description of the Halifax photo makes it clear that it's neither BW nor PCES due to lacking any white overstripes. Ditto the Piper Muir photograph.

Here's a colour illustration from approximately the same period showing a red tartan for kilt & plaid and the BW tartan coatee, bag-cover, and drone ribbons.

[Tobus]

Interesting.

The illustration in the OP is clearly copied from the photograph of Piper Muir.

You all seem to think that the painter was trying to copy that photo exactly. He wasn't. Other details in the photo have been changed on purpose by the artist. The flag on the drone, for instance, has been replaced by a tartan strip in the painting. The badge next to his plaid pin is different. The sporran is different. And of course the tartan is different. I think he used that photo as a basis for the figure and the pose of a piper, but the details of the regiment he was trying to portray are obviously not the same. We can debate all day long about the details in the original photo (tartan, badges, etc.), but I don't think that has anything to do with the painting.

[OC Richard]

Just for reference here's the illustration by Jeffrey Burn from Scottish Military Dress by Peter Cochrane





In truth we can't know an artist's intent unless we ask.

However, since the only changes to the Piper Muir photograph, save for the omission of the pipe banner, are ones which move various items from the way they appear in that photograph, other period photographs, and extant period items to an appearance that those items never apparently had, either in the Black Watch of that period or other Scottish regiments of that period, it certainly appears to me that the artist simply made errors.

I know of no evidence that BW sporrans or any other sporrans of any period were made that way- all the photographic and extant evidence I've seen is consistent and contrary to that illustration. I don't know why the artist changed the sporran strap to black; the Muir photo, Halifax photo, and all other period photos show white belts.

Ditto the hose and the plaid brooch (yes the pipers of the Cameron Highlanders worn plain circlets at that time, but not the BW). The pipes are drawn in a way that is contrary to the way pipes are made. The long plaid isn't nearly long enough. All this points to an artist unfamiliar with the things he's drawing, and filling in the gaps with guesses. (An old art teacher of mine said "never guess; guesses are always wrong".)

If the artist was using the Muir photo for the general pose, but illustrating the uniform seen in the Halifax photo, why didn't the artist change the Muir photo to show the only clear difference between the two, the cuffs? The Muir photo shows 3-button cuffs (the standard cuffs on Scottish regimental doublets at that time) while the Halifax photo shows 4-button cuffs, and the illustrator followed the Muir photo for that detail.

I've come to deeply distrust most illustrations on these books on military uniforms. Most of the illustrators of these books are obviously unfamiliar with the things they're drawing and make loads of errors.

I did a thread a while back listing the errors in the volumes of the Osprey Men-at-Arms series I have to hand:

http://www.xmarksthescot.com/forum/f...-errors-79267/

BTW Jeffrey Burn also illustrated some of the Men-at-Arms books.