What does the "dicing" mean?

[macwilkin]

Some have said that the dicing symbolizes allegiance to the crown.

I have always been led to understand that the dicing does have "government" connections.There are certainly many people in the Western highlands here, that would not be seen with a diced(civilian)bonnet.

My understanding is the red and white dicing indicated support for the House of Hanover, i.e., King George, and blue and white indicated support of the House of Stewart, i.e, King James and Bonni Prince Charlie.

That's always been the legend, and yet I have never seen any documentation supporting it. Stuart Reid, in 18th Century Highlanders, actually quotes one Stewart of Garth who believed that dicing "was intended to represent the fesse-chequey of the Stuart arms", which would make the dicing a Stewart symbol, and not a Hanoverian one, but Reid does not endorse this; he belives that dicing mirrored the diced hose, and even notes that some contemporary drawings have bonnets with a diagonal pattern. Since diced bonnets really aren't seen until after the '45 (1760's-1770's), the assigning of certain loyalties to them may be a romantic notion only.

If it was the case, then wouldn't the Royal Highland Regiment, the Black Watch, have worn diced bonnets, since they were the senior Highland regiment raised for service to the crown?

And I've never seen anything about blue and white dicing being a Jacobite symbol; the white cockade really is more of that, with the black or red cockade (some of the independent companies wore red saltires in their bonnets) symbolizing government forces.

Then there's the whole matter of the "Sillitoe tartan", aka police dicing, which was adopted by Sir Percy Silitoe, Chief Constable of the Glasgow Police, as a way to distinguish police offices, especially at night. The "Sillitoe tartan" has become a universal symbol of police, with many forces around the world adopting it. But that's another story...

Regards,

Todd