Role of the Hunting Sporran

[Andy Ternay]

What is the role of the hunting sporran? I have read that it is favored by musicians because it does not have tassels (although I am unclear on whether or not this is because the tassels get tangled in with instruments or they don't want the tassels "drumming" on the sporran as they move). I know that hunting sporrans are not necessarily used for hunting although hiking with tasseled sporrans has shown me that the "drumming" can be loud enough to quiet wildlife in the area.

The term hunting does not by itself indicate the level of formality for which the sporran is suited, does it? Because I have seen hunting sporrans that are leather and others that are fur, hunting sporrans with leather cantles or metal cantles, etc. which I believe would indicate suitability for different occasions, correct?

For that matter, what makes a sporran a hunting sporran? That it opens from the top or that it lacks tassels?

I'm sure I will have more questions as I shop... I appreciate the explanations I got in my last thread, they were very helpful.

[Chas]

Hello Andy,

My understanding is that what we call hunting sporrans are in fact a 1960s invention and that there is no historical basis at all. Like all things in the clothing world, fashions come and go. All it took was for an unknown maker to produce a fixed tassel sporran at the same time as a pipe band was buying new uniforms and the deed was done.

More than that, I don't know. Except to say that I own a vast number of sporrans - horse-hair, full mask, fur, leather, formal, semi-formal, day and working - but not one hunting sporran in the lot.

Regards

Chas

[Andy Ternay]

Thanks Chas, sounds like I am taking something that is pretty simple and making it more complex than it needs to be!

[MacSpadger]

I've never even heard of a hunting sporran??

[ctbuchanan]

I own a sporran that is modeled after what was known as a falconer's bag. I readily admit that I am uncertain if they were originally intended as a sporran or not. It is of soft leather and designed to expand in order to accommodate the birds taken by the falcon and therefore a favorite when I think I may need some extra room.

[Mither Tap]

I always thought that the term "hunting sporran" was another term for "day sporran"...

Im not sure if there is a difference.

Chris S

[MacMillan of Rathdown]

In the middle of the last century, when people still wore clothes to fit the time of day and the occasion, Highland attire was divided into six categories:

(1) Formal Day Dress (as worn to levees at Buckingham or Holyrood Palace); (2) Morning Dress (as might be worn to a garden party at Holyrood Palace, or to a formal wedding in Scotland-- the sporran would be silver mounted fur, seal skin, or leather and worn with a silver sporran chain ); (3) Day Dress (which would be the equivalent of a business suit-- the sporran would be leather, fur, or hide, silver or brass mounted, and worn with a silver [or brass] sporran chain); (4) Hunting Dress (this was the Highland version of the outdoor tweed suit-- heavy tweed jacket, a heavier weight kilt, plain leather sporran with leather sporran strap, etc.-- in other words a very plain form of dress); (5) Informal Evening Dress (good old black tie, also called semi-formal in the USA-- a silver mounted fur or seal skin sporran with silver chain); and (6) Formal Evening Attire (white tie-- the choice of sporrans was the same as for informal evening attire with the addition of a silver mounted hair sporran if so desired).

So, any plain leather sporran is a "hunting sporran".

[David Thorpe]

...So, any plain leather sporran is a "hunting sporran".

Maybe so, in the context of your analysis of dress categories. However, there is a certain distinct style of sporran commonly called a hunting sporran. It features a layered leather front with a leather medallion often embossed with a Celtic knot or star pattern, a pinched oval shape, a welt along the lower front edge, a semi-circular cantle -- either leather or metal with a crescent-shaped leather under layer, metal studs in a particular pattern, leather willow-shaped leaves, a "clover-leaf" patterned closure strap attachment and even a unique piercing and edging pattern.
I confess ignorance as to when and how this particular style came to be, and why it is called a hunting sporran, but it is a distinctly different style from other types of day-wear, non-formal sporrans such as the Rob Roy and top-flap styles.

[SlackerDrummer]

Correct, DrummerBoy. It's a marketing term for a specific style of sporran. And just like Rob Roy never wore your "Rob Roy" sporran. Your "hunting sporran" has never been ... stalking? Is that the right word, Jock?

[Jock Scot]

Correct, DrummerBoy. It's a marketing term for a specific style of sporran. And just like Rob Roy never wore your "Rob Roy" sporran. Your "hunting sporran" has never been ... stalking? Is that the right word, Jock?

In UK terms "hunting" is usually(there are foot packs) done mounted on a horse with a pack of hounds. Shooting, is shooting and yes indeed shooting deer is generally called "stalking".

I have to confess that I have always wondered what a "hunting" sporran was and have just regarded the description as a rather inaccurate marketing ploy and if you asked me to describe one, I couldn't!