kids in Highland military uniforms

[OC Richard]

I was watching Wee Willie Winkie the other day, one of the classic "kilt movies"!

It was cool how they made a miniature Black Watch uniform for Shirley Temple:



(Looks like they used a collar badge for her sporran badge.)

It's not just a Hollywood thing: there are vintage images showing the same thing, children kitted out in regimental uniform.

Here's the same regiment, The Black Watch, c1900.



And this

[The Q]

It would be interesting to know why they are in uniform, At the time boy soldiers were taken on from the age of 15, the last picture looks too young for that but the middle a maybe. Although we also know that recruitment ages were somewhat "flexible" from long before WW1 to and through it, although boy soldiers were not meant to got to war.
3/4s of boy soldiers trained as Musicians, but post WW1 proper trade training became available in other trades, as there was a shortage of skilled trades.

[Roderick Powell]

Perhaps this was a dress like Daddy craze rather than Boy Soldiers at Fourteen.The uniforms look smart and immaculate.
I have seen farmer's sons in fitting Daddy's tractor logo coveralls. Sons wear kilts and Argyll jackets matching their Father in his traditional kilt and day jacket.
I may be missing the point but the the Victorians were into this sort of thing.Only the well off could afforf studio matching photos of Father and Son.Daughter may have had a male kilt uniform to match her brother. Check the photos for studio screen backdrops. Please remember I am UK based. Roderick Powell

[Tarheel]

Two points I can agree upon with this subject are the, "Daddy's boy" and dress just like the father's profession and the idea of apprenticeship or even fostering of children to relatives to learn a trade. One would wear the costume of the work regardless the age.
But, our new member Roderick has a clue which might be the case with promotional backgrounds in photos.

By the way, welcome Mr. Powell if I neglected your introduction before now.

[The Q]

Two points I can agree upon with this subject are the, "Daddy's boy" and dress just like the father's profession and the idea of apprenticeship or even fostering of children to relatives to learn a trade. One would wear the costume of the work regardless the age.
But, our new member Roderick has a clue which might be the case with promotional backgrounds in photos.

By the way, welcome Mr. Powell if I neglected your introduction before now.

I too agree this is a possibility, the local family Land Rover garage that do the major work on my 110, Is father and two sons, and grand son who must be five or six all wearing matching green overalls with the family business name embroidered landrover style on them.
I've just realised that the last photo says, Royal Naval and Military tournament. So I suggest the boy is probably from a military cadet unit band.

[blackwatch70]

some more pictures:

92nd Gordon Highlanders drummer boy, 1866



Seaforth Highlanders Drummer boy, WWI



93rd Sutherland Highlanders bandboys, 1856

[Roderick Powell]

some more pictures:

92nd Gordon Highlanders drummer boy, 1866



Seaforth Highlanders Drummer boy, WWI



93rd Sutherland Highlanders bandboys, 1856

blackwatch70 ,thank you for photos of boys in military uniform. Please can you clarify from your file ; is your earliest black and white picture a photo,
or black and white copy of a painting.
The quality of the Southerland Highlanders band boy 1856 pic may well be very early Photo, or may be black and white copy of painting. this is not clear from computer photo.

one of the other photos in another thread is clearly a modern colour copy of an old original colour painting.... Roderick Powell...31.10.2015

[Michael Weatherhead]

When I was young, I lived in Scotland, for two years. I remember seeing members of the Boys Brigade, marching in uniform, during parades. They even carried phony rifles, on their shoulder. I wonder if in the past, they wore the tartan, from their respective areas/districts.....

[The Q]

This intrigued me, as a former member of the Boys Brigade (In England 1968-71) I had never heard of rifles being carried, but sure enough there old Pathe Films, of boys carrying rifles and also there are references to an American company making non firing rifles specifically for the Boys Brigade.
Today The Boys Brigade Pipe bands wear the kilt and kilts may be worn by others at their COs permission and there are notes around that indicate kilts were worn by some, pre WW2.
There is a Boys Brigade tartan https://www.scotweb.co.uk/tartan/Boys-Brigade-/54378
Of course many famous people such as Baden-Powell were members of the Boys Brigade, one wonders how much of the Boys Brigade influenced His starting of The Scouts.

[Roderick Powell]

Two points I can agree upon with this subject are the, "Daddy's boy" and dress just like the father's profession and the idea of apprenticeship or even fostering of children to relatives to learn a trade. One would wear the costume of the work regardless the age.
But, our new member Roderick has a clue which might be the case with promotional backgrounds in photos.

By the way, welcome Mr. Powell if I neglected your introduction before now.

Thank you for your welcome , Tarheel ,and my late response.

I never heard of the idea of fostering children to learn a trade . Perhaps this was the origin of "Keeping the trade in the Family"

My record shows that children of 10 or 12 years of left school in the 1920's or1930's to work with their parents on the fishing ,on the farms ,or on the Land,
to supliment the Family Income.

The Early photos of the thread go back to the birth of photography in the mid 1800' s with William Henry Fox- Talbot . See Lacock Abbey Photo Museum and the Frenchman.... Niepse.

The earliest record of boy soldier so far is Major General Joseph Brome 1741/ 1751 age 8 years old.

If we consider my historical dates which may not be correct we get a perspective regarding this thread.

1715 first Jacobite rebellion

1725 founding of the Black Watch

1745 Second Jacobite Rebellion

By considering these dates together with the first reference to boy soldiers in 1741/1745 we find Boy Soldiers is not a new Idea

There are probably early Archive Records showing paintings of boy soldiers. One of the issues which complicates this thread is that Shirley Temple was certainly not a Boy soldier and I think it was O C Richard's second photo showed a boy in military uniform with a Dirk longer than his Kilt.
The correct length of a dirk was shown in another photo. However the boys swagger stick was smaller than his fathers stick.
Roderick Powell 31.10. 2015