My New, Older Military Sporran

[truckie561]

Just wanted to show off my new acquisition. I tried doing a search for a thread with some information about these sporrans, but I didn't come up with too much. I guess these were issued by the Ministry of Defence at some point, but I don't know who or what regiments they were issued to. I got it on eBay and there was only me and another fella bidding on it....which I was very surprised to see. It's in amazing shape and looks brand new. The seller stated that the sporran was never issued and from the looks of it I believe him. I'm not sure what the numbers and letters mean that are stamped on the inside, but here are a few pics.

[freddie]

Badge looks like the Gordon Highlanders and the date 1968.

[plaid preacher]

Nice find truckie. The numbers inside are the catalogue number of the item and there also seems to be a maker stamp and date. Also the stamp with the arrow is a historic mark denoting that it was issued by the war department / national defence.

[creagdhubh]

Well done! Now, send it off to Scott (Artificer) to have it rebagged with a more interesting bag! Just my suggestion.

Cheers,

[Downunder Kilt]

Congratulations on your purchase. Fine looking sporran. There have been a number of threads on these sporrans and their history.
They were first issued in 1952/53 by the Uk's Ministry of Defence to the Highland Regiments for reasons of uniformity at the coronation of Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth ll. The bags were covered with white blanco, which beame a nemisis for those that wore them.
There were 4 versions of the sporran, one brass with white metal dimples with different closing mechanism, one all brass (same size dimples), one silver plated (same size dimples) and the last, all brass with smaller dimples (which I believe yours is) As you can see from the interior of yours, the bag is stamped 1968 and from memory this was the last year the sporrans were issued.

A number of members of the forum have these sporrans/cantles and if you search "brass cantled sporran' here or on the web I am sure you will get lots of hits and photos. I was following the sale and wondered if a member here was the winning bidder.

Great sporran and wear it in good health

[Downunder Kilt]

If you go to Artificers sporran site or his facebook page you will also see a fair few that he has rebagged, and done a fantastic job at it, by the way.

[Tobus]

Welcome to the club! These things were really hard to find for a while, since there were a lot of people after them. Sounds like the craze has calmed down by now, if there were only two bidders on yours. Congrats on the purchase. Looks like yours is in pretty good shape.

Here are a couple of threads where people have rebagged them (including me). You might find some useful info...

http://www.xmarksthescot.com/forum/f...rements-76366/ (scroll down to reply #11 where it gets into the MoD cantle stuff)

www.xmarksthescot.com/forum/f144/silver-plated-mod-cantle-white-leather-formal-bag-76276/

http://www.xmarksthescot.com/forum/f...sporran-75145/

*edit: I agree that yours looks like it was never issued. They are usually blancoed, which is why they have a rough side out. I'm led to believe the person who it was issued to would have done that final step, though I could be wrong.

[Downunder Kilt]

*edit: I agree that yours looks like it was never issued. They are usually blancoed, which is why they have a rough side out. I'm led to believe the person who it was issued to would have done that final step, though I could be wrong.

You are spot on with that in your belief there Tobus. Can you ever imagine a goverment issuing a piece of kit that does not have to be finished/altered by the recipient.

[cable scot]

I sent my nickel plated one off to Scott(Artificer) If you can swing it, you won't be sorry.

[OC Richard]

Thanks Downunder Kilt for the detailed information!

To expand a bit, these sporrans were issued as part of an entirely new No1 Dress kit which included an Archer Green coatee and dark blue Balmoral bonnet. The Highland regiments had had nothing more dressy than khaki (olive drab to Americans) since Full Dress had been withdrawn in 1914, and with the 1953 Coronation approaching the MOD thought that the regiments should be dressed up a bit.

These sporrans were worn by all ranks by all the kilted regiments from 1953. Just when they were withdrawn is a bit of a puzzle to me; it seems to have been different times in the various Highland regiments. Photos from the mid-1960s show the Argylls already having switched out to the traditional "swinging six" long horsehair sporrans, though photos of The Black Watch from the same period shows them still wearing these Culloden sporrans. Each regiment wore a different badge on the front of the sporran.

Here is your sporran in situ (with the exact badge) worn by a Gordon Highlander in 1955 (pipers continued to wear their traditional horsehair sporrans and Glengarries, though they did switch to coatees in 1953 like the rest of the regiments)



And, with different badges, worn by The Black Watch (note that the Officer wears exactly the same brass sporran as the enlisted man, not silver plated)



and by the Queens Own Highlanders



and by Prince Philip



Here's mine! It's been sent off to a sporranmaker to have an 18th century style bag attached.