Feathers in your cap

[Braw Cathairneach]

‘tis an interesting concept that you’ve raised. Mi bairns back home in Alaska are more predisposed to their late mother’s Yupik culture than they are to their Scottish culture. It’s not that they are intentionally exclusionary, but they were raised in many of the traditional ways during the pre-pipeline days that brought modern technology into the bush villages. They still practice a mix of bush with urban lifestyles, but I digress…

More to the point, I can conceive a hybrid sartorial statement of combining their indigenous right to wearing eagle feathers with a kilt and kuspuk.

[creagdhubh]

Thank you for this post, Father Bill. I value it's message highly and wish it was taken up by a wide spectrum of people/posters. Traditional highland clothing is a living language that's currently in a perilous state. I am no "tartan policeman" or even a traditionalist, but jings min, some of the things I read online............

Myself, I used to wear blackcock feathers in my glengarry, but only because a large shouty man with stripes on his arm was very insistent I do so.

***

[georgeetta]

feathers
there was a regiment that wore Black Cock grouse in their bonnets.. King's Own or Highland light infantry ? they have that neat reverse J ..they are now protected or I thiink not used now maybe wrong . On prints ..Roger's Rangers (Fr Ind War) afficianados ..wearing a sprig of balsam or white pine was an ID in NY ..they mention cock of the walk ..ie ..a ruffed grouse is real territorial and a rear fan was saying ..here I come ..from what I get .
d

[English Bloke]

Long response on the feathers issue and the general decline of traditional highland dress was deleted... I was even boring myself. (yawn...)

[McElmurry]

I typically avoid putting a feather in my cap not because I am overly concerned about being labelled a macaroni but rather I would prefer to not be misidentified as a Yankee, not that there is anything wrong with that.

[Mike_Oettle]

MacSpadger wrote: “Myself, I used to wear blackcock feathers in my glengarry, but only because a large shouty man with stripes on his arm was very insistent I do so. ”

Shouty men with stripes on their arm stopped me from wearing heather behind my regimental bonnet badge (shame on them!).
Thank heaven I can ignore people with striped arms nowadays.
Regards,
Mike

[creagdhubh]

Shouty men with stripes on their arm stopped me from wearing heather behind my regimental bonnet badge (shame on them!).

Really?! Wow. I would have glared at them with amazement, then promptly proceed to turn my back on them in a tactful manner. Wouldn't be worth my time to say the least.

Cheers,

[Mike_Oettle]

Well, that was then. This is now.
At any rate I didn’t quake in terror at these sergeants, as they were regimental NCOs, not the Permanent Force instructors who had me quaking in my boots.
Ciao,
Mike

[creagdhubh]

Well, that was then. This is now.

Precisely.

[georgeetta]

hello,
I mentioned the King's Own and many piping bands I think used the Black Game tail (there's a repro) with it's lyre reversed tail feathers ..and that's called a Kilamrnock bonnet not a Balmoral I'm told . The Black Watch soldiers and others in 1700's to use as a parallel bought out their own pocket OSTRITCH feathers ..it's a guess at Ticonderoga they used chunk of bearskin for a badge ..many officers high up had Hummels in their hands ..Bl Watch shown with Duncan Campbell are wearing a "Balmoral" style blue and red ..band ..on a shooting demonstration by platoons ..Lt Col MacCulloch mentions Ostritch feathers ..see the various Officers private paintings ..see Battle of Saratoga Highlander picture ..think he'd a feather or the bearskin ..Ostritch seemed popular then seen many portraits ..officers alwasy seemed to have Hummels ..some almost look like feather bonnets ..supposedly highlanders wore a plant badge in battle anybody's guess if some were a bird's feather -Americans wore pine sprig in their hats in Rev and maybe ..Fr Ind War . Also the red cockade straight up .
-Tandy alwasy had eagle looking turkey died ..now see any black powder plains re-enactor site . Sign of the Crow .
d