piper belt hardware Ebay mislabelled?

[OC Richard]

This

http://www.ebay.com/itm/White-Metal-...item5404214779

I have a very difficult time taking the labelling seriously.

It brings up the broader topic of piper's crossbelt hardware (usually with a matching waistbelt but not always) and the blurred line between civilian and military buckles.

When I first got into kiltwearing in the 1970s there were three designs of crossbelt & waistbelt hardware widely available, which were known by numbers, #90, #102, and #355. For my first Full Dress kit I ordered a #90 set, exactly like the set in this Ebay listing. So this hardware was widely available, newly made, as late as the 1970s. I wonder what provenance supports the seller's pre-1881 claim.

Here's the Ebay hardware, identical to the civilian "number 90" pattern



Some regiments are straightforward in this regard, the Cameron Highlanders wearing the exact hardware from the 1840s till today (the pipers of The Highlanders, a battalion of the RRS).

But others have changed up their hardware numerous times over the last 150 years or so. The Gordon Highlanders are one of these regiments.

The pattern in the Ebay listing, sold by civilian shops as #90, was in fact used by The Gordon Highlanders for quite some time, and the designation '90' might be a reflection of that.

Here's a Gordon Highlanders piper wearing that exact pattern, in 1955 (on his crossbelt; the waistbelt is different)



Now as to the seller saying this hardware is from the 93rd Highlanders, anything is possible, and I don't have any clear images of the crossbelt hardware. But the images do seem to show, over and over, a thin rectangular crossbelt buckle and an elaborate tip which resembles a thistle from a distance, but I'm told is actually a Queen Victoria Crown surmounting an elaborate design. Here it is



Now it gets interesting, because this photo, of a 93rd Highlanders Pipe Major, appears to show the buckle and keeper as in the Ebay listing (#90) but with the traditional tip of the 93rd Highlanders. It's common, actually, for the Pipe Major of a Highland regiment to wear different crossbelt hardware than the rest of the pipers, and oftentimes this hardware is of civilian origin, or in a few cases is bespoke



Another interesting thing is photos of pipers of The Gordon Highlanders wearing, on their crossbelts, the tip and keeper from the #90 set with the buckle from the #102 set. (For the eagle-eyed among you, you will notice that the Pipe Major of the Black Watch is wearing the civilian #355 pattern crossbelt, while in recent times the civilian #102 pattern is worn)