Horse Hair Sporran length

[KenB]

I have seen some real beautiful Horse Hair sporran pics here in the forum.
I'd love to wear one but being rather vertically challenged I think a good HH sporran may be too long for me and look a wee bit odd.
Are there varied lengths for these sporrans? Can a shorter sporran be made or can an existing model be altered to accommodate a shorter person?

[artificer]

I have seen some real beautiful Horse Hair sporran pics here in the forum.
I'd love to wear one but being rather vertically challenged I think a good HH sporran may be too long for me and look a wee bit odd.
Are there varied lengths for these sporrans? Can a shorter sporran be made or can an existing model be altered to accommodate a shorter person?

If you look at old pictures, the hair might vary from hanging a few inches below the bottom of the kilt to ~ an inch or so above the bottom edge.

You COULD try to trim the hair of an existing one, but unless you've got a fantastic knife and good long straight edge and are used to cutting the hair, I'd be reluctant to recommend hacking away at a perfectly good (and most likely expensive) sporran.

You'd also run the risk of 'off balancing' the piece, in that it might appear too wide for it's length, depending on how much you have to cut off.

A custom piece can be made to any size you like. HERE'S one I made based on a piece pictured in Ken MacLeay's watercolours for Queen Victoria.

This is an older, less military style of sporran.

ith:

[thescot]

WPG has hair sporrans that they advertise as being designed to be trimmed to the length desired. They're military, but they look really nice. The Argyl and Sutherland as well as the Cameron are my favorites. You can see them here: http://onlinemilitaria.com/shopexd.asp?id=1745&bc=no

Oh, and by the way, I've always heard that the length is pretty open as long as it doesn't go much beneath the selvage of your kilt. Sounds good to me.

[KenB]

Thanks for the great information.

[OC Richard]

I think a good HH sporran may be too long for me and look a wee bit odd.
Are there varied lengths for these sporrans? Can a shorter sporran be made or can an existing model be altered to accommodate a shorter person?

Well, for one thing it's a simple matter to trim the hair on a sporran to make it shorter.

For another thing, in the old days it was quite common for the hair of the sporran to go quite beyond the edge of the kilt, even past the knees.

There was never any concept, even in the Army, that a sporran ought to end at any specific point. (This is just one of the many misconceptions about Scottish military kiltwearing I've seen promulgated by American Drum Majors.)

Traditional long horsehair sporrans were usually around 18 inches long (from the top of the cantle to the bottom edge of the hair).

What would work great for shorter men are the 1980s-2000s Other Ranks MOD horsehair sporrans. These were a univeral sporran introduced (probably as a cost-cutting measure) to replace the various traditional sporrans worn by the various kilted Scottish regiments. These have a universal curved plain chrome cantle, the colour of the hair and the colour and number of tassels changing from regiment to regiment. These open to reveal a very large roomy pouch and are a very practical as well as attractive sporran. The great thing for the shorter man is that they're around 15 inches long rather than 18.

Now that The Royal Regiment of Scotland has replaced all the traditional regiments, and has gone with a different universal sporran, these 1980s-2000s MOD sporrans are widely available for little money on Ebay. I see them every day... nobody wants them.

Specifically, these 1980s MOD OR sporrans were made in the following setups:

white body, five short black tassels: The Black Watch
white body, two long black tassels: The Gordon Highlanders
black body, two long white tassels: The Queens Own Highlanders
black body, six short white tassels: The Argyll & Sutherland Highlanders
black body, three short white tassels: The Lovat Scouts

You'll also see, on Ebay, new unissued examples of these sporrans with no tassels yet attached, and tassel sets. These sporrans have the grommets fitted so that you can attach any variation of tassels you want.

Here's one on Ebay right now, very reasonably priced. It's badged for The Queens Own Highlanders but doesn't have the tassels attached. You can always put tassels on yourself if you want tassels.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Scotish-regi...item415d6f11c9

Just to be accurate and clear, those sporrans being sold by What Price Glory are NOT military sporrans, but rather Pakistani/Indian reproductions of military sporrans. (Using the only definition which has meaning to me, that a military sporran is one ordered by the MOD from a contractor for use in the Army.)

The sporran on Ebay that I linked to is an ACTUAL MOD military sporran, purchased for use in the Army from a military contractor for use in the Army. The quality of a Scottish-made MOD sporran is far far superior to that of a sporran made in Pakistan.

[OC Richard]

BTW here are some photos of men wearing long hair sporrans, the hair going well past the bottom edge of the kilt:







Even in the modern military, you'll see the hair going past the kilt oftentimes: