Diced Glengarry.

[Katia]

It occurs to me that I've not spent a lot of time looking at bands' bonnets so I don't know if it's common to do it this way, but in my (former) band, drummers wore dicing on their Balmorals while pipers did not. Is this the same as "pipers do not wear dicing and non-pipers do" thing? (I never asked anyone in the band.)

[imrichmond]

It occurs to me that I've not spent a lot of time looking at bands' bonnets so I don't know if it's common to do it this way, but in my (former) band, drummers wore dicing on their Balmorals while pipers did not. Is this the same as "pipers do not wear dicing and non-pipers do" thing? (I never asked anyone in the band.)

This is pretty much standard in most pipe bands, in my experience, although there are many exceptions. In police pipe bands, for example, both pipers and drummers generally wear glengarries with black and white dicing, but this is a special case. I have played in a couple of civilian bands where pipers and drummers both wore red-and-white diced glengarries. In my six decades of piping this is the first time I have heard of the "pipers do not wear dicing and non-pipers do" thing. I have seen a good many solo pipers wearing diced glengarries (and balmorals). It really comes down to the individual piper's personal preference.

[Katia]

This is pretty much standard in most pipe bands, in my experience, although there are many exceptions.

In my six decades of piping this is the first time I have heard of the "pipers do not wear dicing and non-pipers do" thing.

Sorry, I wasn't clear if you were saying it is a common thing for bands to do, or if it is not something you'd seen before.


I did a google image search for "pipe band" and it seems that most do not wear dicing (all personnel the same. The only other time I've heard of it being common for different members to wear different headgear is in bands that wear the feather bonnets; sometimes tenor drummers will wear a Glengarry or Balmoral instead so the headwear doesn't get in the way of flourishing). This will be an interesting question to ask for my own band some time, if it is indeed an unusual practice; no doubt it has roots in some band tradition somewhere, thought I'm not sure if anyone will remember exactly why. Then again, at least for bands I've seen in the U.S., it's uncommon for bands to still wear Balmoral rather than Glengarry as well. (Mine is not currently a competing band, so I don't know if a return to competition would change headwear or not.)

[imrichmond]

Drummers wearing dicing while pipers wear plain is probably not as common as it used to be in pipe bands, but it is standard in the sense that, in bands that choose to wear both diced and plain glengarries, it is the drummers who wear the diced and the pipers who wear the plain ones. I have certainly never seen the reverse. That said, outside of the military, where regimental traditions hold sway, there are no rules other than an individual band's uniform requirements governing the wearing of dicing.

[Luke MacGillie]

Here are a couple of mid 18th Century images that show that dicing was something that started showing up in later part of the 1750's



The caption says a little different, Im of the mind that this is an officer of the newly raised 2d Bn of the 42nd in 1758



Ive lost my info on this image, if someone has the cite, Id love to have it again. Going to commission a knitter to make me a bonnet with this style of dicing here soon.

[PIPER IÑAKI]

Has a piper I wear a diced Glengarry when playing because it's more colored and I personally like it, but I "never" see a piper in a piping contest wearing a diced Glengarry or balmoral.
I like the black white and red trim and I thing it's looks very Scottish, a piper with a black trim seems me a bit sad.

[PIPER IÑAKI]

Thanks to all for the information.
Cheers

[Benning Boy]

Here are a couple of mid 18th Century images that show that dicing was something that started showing up in later part of the 1750's



The caption says a little different, Im of the mind that this is an officer of the newly raised 2d Bn of the 42nd in 1758



Ive lost my info on this image, if someone has the cite, Id love to have it again. Going to commission a knitter to make me a bonnet with this style of dicing here soon.

Each bonnet above appear to have a band of solid color below the checking and then a darker narrow stripe. I assume the dark narrow band is the same color as the body of the bonnet, but the band of another color below the check doesn't seem to belong. How does it fit in?

The second picture shows a zigzaged pattern rather than the usual sort of dicing. I like that, but haven't seen it anywhere else before.

[Luke MacGillie]

Benning Boy,

You are correct, its quite possible that the earliest dicing was not made via a knitted pattern, but an applied piece of work.

The zig zag dicing is part of the knitting process.

You see some bonnets where the brow band is done in red, others where there is a red line above the brow band. Im mostly interested in military bonnets, and the location of the red line Seems to be a unit specific.



This is an early 1760's officer portrait that shows the red line above the brow band.



In this image from the 1770's of an Officer of the 42nd, it appears to just be a 3 part braid of green and red wool tape sewn just above the brow band.