Interesting Victorian Sporrans
One of the great things about MacLeay's paintings of Queen Victoria's highland retainers, is not just that its a snapshot of a time long since gone, but all the wonderful sporrans 
I'm going to post three more below that are somewhat different than the rest (most are the hairy 'goat', in some variation or the other).
The first of Duncan Drummond & Andrew Murray, show's Murray with the 'standard' badger:

next is Archibald MacKintosh & Alexander MacKintosh. Note the sporrans, with their raccoon heads, though I question if the body of the sporran is 'coon. In a larger version the fur doesn't look like it, espically when I compare to the raccoon's I've worked with:

finally this one of Kenneth MacSwyde & Donald MacAulay (Harris Men) I find interesting not only for the unusual sporran that MacSwyde is wearing, but also for the hairy waist belt & baldric he has on as well:

It should be noted that the men in the MacLeay portraits were chosen by the clan chiefs themselves. These portraits were commissioned by Queen Victoria around 1865, and were exhibited in Bond Street, London in 1869, where they caused a sensation and a limited edition printing was done in 1870 (they have since been reproduced).
The originals are preserved in the Royal Library at Windsor Castle.
[SIZE="2"][FONT="Georgia"][COLOR="DarkGreen"][B][I]T. E. ("TERRY") HOLMES[/I][/B][/COLOR][/FONT][/SIZE]
[SIZE="1"][FONT="Georgia"][COLOR="DarkGreen"][B][I]proud descendant of the McReynolds/MacRanalds of Ulster & Keppoch, Somerled & Robert the Bruce.[/SIZE]
[SIZE="1"]"Ah, here comes the Bold Highlander. No @rse in his breeks but too proud to tug his forelock..." Rob Roy (1995)[/I][/B][/COLOR][/FONT][/SIZE]
Bookmarks