Sporran tassels: the long and short of it

[OC Richard]

I discovered something interesting while looking at a large number of images of members of Highland regiments in the 19th century.

I was looking at the long hair sporrans and the arrangement of tassels on them.

We all know the regimental sporrans which have come down to us from the late Victorian period:

Black Watch: white hair with five short black tassels
Argyll & Sutherland Highlanders: black hair with six short white tassels
Gordon Highlanders, Seaforth Highlanders: white hair with two long black tassels
Cameron Highlanders: black hair with two long white tassels

But... the earlier images of the Gordon Highlanders show a black sporran with five short white tassels... and I found out that if I went back far enough, ALL regiments had five or six short tassels, and none had long tassels.

Something I didn't know, that long tassels were a bit of a late-comer.

Now keeping in mind that the regiments as we've always known them came into being in the 1881 reforms which amalgamated pairs of numbered regiments into named regiments, I observed the following:

regt#: sporran - earliest long tassel image, and colours

42nd: white with 5 short black - (never changed style)

78th: white with 6 short black - 1877 white with two long black

79th: brown with 6 short black - 1855 black with two long white

92nd: black with 5 short white - 1885 white with two long black

93rd: black with 6 short white - (never changed style)

As you can see the 79th Foot (Cameron Highlanders) seem to have once again been the trend-setters. The 92nd didn't change until after the 1881 reforms were in place. The 42nd and 93rd never changed over to the new style.

Actually the first image of a military long hair sporran with two long tassels I have is a painting of a 79th officer in "undress" uniform from c1850.

Of note, perhaps, is that the officer's full dress or in some cases levee dress sporrans never made the switch, the Cameron Highlanders still with five short tassels on a grey body etc.

Here are some lads before the switchover to long tassels, the 78th Foot wearing the short-lived 1856 style doublets before gauntlet cuffs were introduced:



In this regiment NCOs wore white tassels, ORs black. The pipers' sporran appears to be grey hair and tassels. The 78th became part of the Seaforth Highlanders in 1881.

[Lachlan09]

Yes, until the 1850's, all the regiments wore sporrans with multi-tassels. I’m working purely from memory of books and visits to the United Scottish Services Museum, Edinburgh Castle many moons ago.

My recollections are – pre-1881:-

42nd – white with 5 black bell tassels in black leather cups - arranged horizontally, 2 on top, 3 below, black leather shaped cantle and St Andrew badge.

78th – white with 6 black bell tassels arranged vee-shape, 3 on top, 3 below, can’t remember the cantle.

79th – dark grey with 5 white bell tassels arranged horizontally, 2 on top, 3 below, black leather shaped cantle (badge ?). Changed by Crimean War to 2 long white tassels.

92nd – dark brown with 5 white bell tassels arranged horizontally, 2 on top, 3 below, brass cantle with shield-shaped badge (?)

93rd – black with 6 white bell tassels in brass cups - arranged vee-shape, 3 on top, 3 below, brass arc cantle. In addition, bandsmen of the 93rd wore white sporrans with 6 red bell tassels.

[Bigkahuna]

All your lads in the picture appear to be wearing their full dress/levee dress sporrans. These are not necessarily the same as would be worn with daily uniform.

[Lachlan09]

The gauntlet cuffs were introduced in 1868. The facing-coloured slashed panel cuffs in the photo were initially worn with the double-breasted “Crimea” doublet with Inverness flaps in 1855, which also had diamond-shaped buttons (all very Highland-Gothic). That mirrored the double-breasted tunic introduced for British infantry at the same time, which had slashed panel cuffs similar to what the Guards wear today on their No1 Dress ceremonial uniforms. The DB doublet was shortly after replaced by a single-breasted version with round buttons (as per the photo), which lasted until 1868. That year facing-colour gauntlet cuffs were introduced, plus a red collar with 2 facing-colour patches at the throat. Collar badges were discretionary, according to regiment. The rest of the army wore a new tunic with red collar and facing-coloured patches, facing-coloured pointed cuffs with white trefoil braid decoration (as per the film Zulu Dawn). Red was replaced by scarlet in 1872 for rank and file (stands out better for being massacred in, don't y' know old chap, what what !)

[Lachlan09]

In addition, bandsmen of the 93rd wore white sporrans with 6 red bell tassels.

Anyone fancy wearing a sporran with coloured tassels ?

[OC Richard]

All your lads in the picture appear to be wearing their full dress/levee dress sporrans. These are not necessarily the same as would be worn with daily uniform.

At that time the Highland soldiers were only issued one sporran, the type pictured. It WAS their daily uniform. They did sometimes wear no sporran at all with the kilt, for work details etc. The modern categories of regimental dress such as No1 Dress, No2 Dress, etc did not exist at that time.

Only officers maintained a seperate levee dress, with its own sporran, like these officers of the Argyll & Sutherland Highlanders c1890:

[Lachlan09]

I always thought it a curious thing that the Argylls' officers sporrans had the normal 6 tassels whilst their levee sporrans had only 5.

Do you recall the feather bonnets situation ? According to various books on the British Army, officers of the Black Watch had 4 fox-tails, the Gordons, Seaforths and Camerons had 5, whilst the Argylls had no less than 6 !

[OC Richard]

Here's another old photo showing the 1856 pattern doublet.

I believe these are members of the 78th Highlanders because of the white sporrans with six black tassels for Other Ranks, Sergeants having white tassels.

[Lachlan09]

Excellent photo !

I think it was taken not too long after the Crimean War, as the double breasted doublet has been replaced by single breasted, but they still have the Crimean beards !

[OC Richard]

Excellent photo !

I think it was taken not too long after the Crimean War, as the double breasted doublet has been replaced by single breasted, but they still have the Crimean beards !

Yes in 1855 the coatee was replaced, in the Highland regiments, by a double-breasted doublet with square buttons like this:



It only lasted a year and was replaced in 1856 by a single-breasted doublet as seen in the photos of the 78th Highlanders above.

That original cuff style was later replaced by the familiar gauntlet cuffs, as seen in the photo of the Argyll officers above.