Glengarries through the years

[OC Richard]

In another thread a question was raised about the sizing of Glengarries and I thought it deserved it's own thread.

Glengarries first appeared in the 1840's (supposedly invented by an officer of the 79th Foot) and initially they were somewhat taller than today's but by the 1860's looked nearly exactly like they do today.

Here's one worn in 1865:



and here's one some years later, by a veteran of The Thin Red Line (the 93rd Foot in Crimea)



In the 1870's military headgear in general got smaller (just compare the kepis worn in the US Army in the Civil War to the kepis worn in the 1870's) and by 1900 Glengarries were smaller and worn at a rakish angle. Here are the Pipe Majors of various Highland regiments, in India c1900:



and smaller yet are some Scots Guards pipers perhaps c1910:



Yet smaller is this Glen worn by a civilian piper. However does it stay on his head?



Over the course of the World Wars the Glens increased in size a bit. Here's some WWI soldiers:



Here's Evan MacRae, Pipe Major of the Queens Own Cameron Highlanders, in the 1950's.



and the trend has continued. Nowadays in the Army the Glens are bigger and worn more straight on the head. This is nearly identical to our Crimean War veteran above.



and even to this extreme, shoved all the way on the head and nearly touching the eyebrows:



(BTW see anything wrong about that book cover?)

I've mostly used military images because in the Army it's not "anything goes" but things must be worn strictly according to the prevailing style.

[Chas]

(BTW see anything wrong about that book cover?)

Would it be the bag cover?

Regards

Chas

[OC Richard]

(BTW see anything wrong about that book cover?)

Would it be the bag cover?

It's not the bagcover, though the bagcover is a clue! (So is the sporran...)

[EagleJCS]

The piper on the cover is in The Highlanders, not the QOH, right?

(I cheated - I saw the thread over on Dunsire a couple of years ago.)

[OC Richard]

The piper on the cover is in The Highlanders, not the QOH, right?

(I cheated - I saw the thread over on Dunsire a couple of years ago.)

Yes indeed! The photo is of a piper of The Highlanders, which was formed by amalgamating the Queens Own Highlanders and the Gordon Highlanders.

The dress of the pipers didn't change much: switching sporrans to the Gordon Highlanders pipers' style, and switching bagcovers from Seaforth MacKenzie to Gordon.

[Macman]

Richard, thanks for putting that together. It's neat to see how the glen has been worn. These days, I see it worn so many different ways, even in the military.

[Jack Daw]

(BTW see anything wrong about that book cover?)

Yes, the piper's fingers are too far off the chanter. Where's my ruler?

[creagdhubh]

I love glengarries! Especially since I am an Armiger and wear one eagle feather. The stiffness of the bonnet lends itself well to keeping the feather securely in place, more so than the balmoral. I also like to wear my glengarry in the plain black or navy with either matching touries or in red. I make sure to follow military regs and iron the ribbon tails flat and wear it straight and low on my head-I find it looks better this way, rather than it cocked like the regiments used to wear it-though that isn't that bad looking at all-espcially if you have a lot of hair underneath your glengarry! I also like to wear white heather, the plant badge of the Clan Macpherson with my glengarry as well-typically in front of my eagle feather-very tradtional and correct. A more detailed photo is forthcoming, yet the one below shows a snippet!

[macwilkin]

I love glengarries! Especially since I am an Armiger and wear one eagle feather. The stiffness of the bonnet lends itself well to keeping the feather securely in place, more so than the balmoral. I also like to wear my glengarry in the plain black or navy with either matching touries or in red. I make sure to follow military regs and iron the ribbon tails flat and wear it straight and low on my head-I find it looks better this way, rather than it cocked like the regiments used to wear it-though that isn't that bad looking at all-espcially if you have a lot of hair underneath your glengarry! I also like to wear white heather, the plant badge of the Clan Macpherson with my glengarry as well-typically in front of my eagle feather-very tradtional and correct. A more detailed photo is forthcoming, yet the one below shows a snippet!

That looks like the Scottish Arms!

T.

[Lachlan09]

Did you notice the Watch piper and SG pipers wearing glengarries instead of the more recent feather bonnets ? I wonder what year they changed over for full-dress purposes ?