Hair Sporrans

[OC Richard]

Are the traditional hair sporrans considered proper to wear with non military dress? I've been informed that the hair sporran is an item worn by pipe bands and military units, and should not be worn with non military kilts.

I've been looking at a load of old photos and collecting old Highland Dress catalogues and as far as I can figure out, in the period around 1900 and the first decades of the 20th century Highland Dress sorted itself out into neat, compartmentalised categories.

Here's some photos from vintage catalogues showing these categories. Note how each mode of dress has its dedicated jacket, sporran, and footwear:









Both this civilian Day Dress and Evening Dress was quite distinct from military uniform. Civilian pipe bands usually dressed in miltary style uniform at that time. Military dress looked, and looks, like this:



But it was not always so!

In the 1860's Queen Victoria commissioned an artist to do a series of extremely detailed and accurate portraits of men in Highland Dress, published as The Highlanders of Scotland. In that book there are 56 kilted figures, and 46 are wearing long hair sporrans! This includes 16 men wearing long hair sporrans with otherwise quite plain Day Dress. No sporrans resembling the Day Dress and Evening Dress sporrans, as seen in the above mid-20th-century Highland Dress catalogues, appear.

In other words, long hair sporrans were the norm with all sorts of Highland Dress, from plain tweed jackets to the "riotous finery" of Victorian evening dress.

Here's what Day Dress looked like in the 1860's



In addition, I have a quite large collection of vintage photographs of civilians in the late Victorian/Edwardian period wearing long hair sporrans.







In the thread "Highlanders discuss Highland attire" (or summat) there were some photos posted of modern-day Highlanders wearing long hair sporrans with civilian Evening Dress, where this photo was posted of young men at the Oban Ball:



I wear a long hair sporran quite often, as can be seen in my avatar.

(By the way I use the term "long hair sporran" because both goat hair and horse hair were used in the old days, and the sporrans are often difficult to distinguish.)

[MacMillan of Rathdown]

One can't help but noticing that in all of these illustrations the kilt "breaks" just at, or just above, the top of knee. Likewise the hose are worn several inches below the knee cap.

Traditionally, this is how it is supposed to be done.

[OC Richard]

Yes it's odd the way that in the pipe band scene, people have been wearing their kilts lower and lower.

Not just US pipe bands, and people new to wearing kilts, but Scots, Scots who have worn the kilt on a regular basis their entire lives.

Here's what I mean:





but it's not always so. SFU, the reigning World Champions, have some knee showing



The Army, though, still wear their kilts a bit on the high side and their hose a bit on the low side:

[creagdhubh]

One can't help but noticing that in all of these illustrations the kilt "breaks" just at, or just above, the top of knee. Likewise the hose are worn several inches below the knee cap.

Traditionally, this is how it is supposed to be done.

Quite right!!!

[MacBean]

.... In other words, long hair sporrans were the norm with all sorts of Highland Dress, from plain tweed jackets to the "riotous finery" of Victorian evening dress.

Here's what Day Dress looked like in the 1860's

I wonder if that is really valid. As I look back on photos from that era, families tended to dress up to sit for their portraits. It was a formal occasion, and they wore their best, whether day or night (and I suspect for light reasons it was nearly always day). I think the photos of Victoria's ghillies lying around with kilts and hair sporrans are probably misleading. My own family dressed in tails and top hats for their photos, but I sincerely doubt that was their daily habit.

All the same, I realy loved the photos. Thank you!

[M. A. C. Newsome]

I wonder if that is really valid. As I look back on photos from that era, families tended to dress up to sit for their portraits. It was a formal occasion, and they wore their best, whether day or night (and I suspect for light reasons it was nearly always day). I think the photos of Victoria's ghillies lying around with kilts and hair sporrans are probably misleading. My own family dressed in tails and top hats for their photos, but I sincerely doubt that was their daily habit.

All the same, I realy loved the photos. Thank you!

Remember, "day dress" does not mean the same thing as "everyday attire" nor does it mean "casual."

For a modern day equivalent, a "casual" look with a kilt might be a polo-shirt, hiking boots and scrunched down socks. While "day dress" would mean something more along the lines of a tattersal shirt, tweed jacket and tie, perhaps a waistcoat, and nice brown leather sporran. The hiking boots would be replace with maybe a pair of brown leather brogues. That might not be how you dress every day, but it is "day dress."

[OC Richard]

Now this has to be one of the nicest and most interesting of hair sporrans.

It's worn to this day by the pipers of the Royal Scots Dragoon Guards.



Both the body and tassels are mingled horse hair.

The regiment says:

"The late King Geroge VI too a great interest in the Pipes and Drums, granted them the privilege of wearing the Royal Stuart tartan, and personally designed much of the uniform.
The sporran is of grey horse hair reminiscent of the grey horses, with tassles of black and red hair similar to the jowl plumes which hung from the officers' bridles. The feather bonnets have a yellow Van Dyke band..."

Here you can see that, the yellow zigzag band, unique in the world of feather bonnets:



Note that the front pipe ribbon is tartan while the rear is plain blue. Likewise, the rear ribbon of the old Cameron Highlanders was plain green.