Ghillie brogues - why the dislike and resentment..?

[JPS]

I think that you have the picture time line about right there OCR, perhaps the top left one might be a tad earlier, but not enough to matter. Going off topic a tad, it’s interesting and striking that the headwear is common in all the pictures. I see a “deer stalker” as an exception, in one of the pictures but generally the bonnet choice is a common choice for nearly all of those marching. These days I suspect the front rank of a similar march today would wear a bonnet and the following ranks, even in inclement weather would be mostly bare-headed.

What's more, I'd wager that several of these are the exact same bonnets, photographed multiple times over many years. I recognize at least one of them, worn by the Duke of Argyll.

[OC Richard]

What's more, I'd wager that several of these are the exact same bonnets, photographed multiple times over many years. I recognize at least one of them, worn by the Duke of Argyll.

Right, it's the same event (Oban) and the same people can be traced from photo to photo in several cases.

There's quite a time leap from the 1930s to the 1950s to the 1990s and then more recent.

All told, nearly a century.

[OC Richard]

It’s interesting and striking that the headwear is common in all the pictures. I see a “deer stalker” as an exception in one of the pictures but generally the bonnet choice is a common choice for nearly all of those marching. These days I suspect the front rank of a similar march today would wear a bonnet and the following ranks, even in inclement weather would be mostly bare-headed.

About the bonnets, what I haven't posted are the photos from all those years of the crowd of competing solo pipers (as opposed to a Pipe Band) marching in, and those also exclusively show Balmoral bonnets up till around 1980 when a smattering of Glengarries start to appear.

Also the pipers, like the Stewards, are all in tweed jackets till one piper appears in a black Argyll around 1980.

It always strikes me as odd how few people in the piping community realise how recent the black Argyll + Glengarry + Ghillie kit is.

(I guess it shows how old I am, to regard the 1980s as 'recent'!)

[JPS]

About the bonnets, what I haven't posted are the photos from all those years of the crowd of competing solo pipers (as opposed to a Pipe Band) marching in, and those also exclusively show Balmoral bonnets up till around 1980 when a smattering of Glengarries start to appear.

Also the pipers, like the Stewards, are all in tweed jackets till one piper appears in a black Argyll around 1980.

It always strikes me as odd how few people in the piping community realise how recent the black Argyll + Glengarry + Ghillie kit is.

(I guess it shows how old I am, to regard the 1980s as 'recent'!)

Here's an old video of the Glenfinnan Piping Competition that illustrates this well. There's also a decent survey of footwear here.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ThNNSd3Xf5o

[Jock Scot]

Here's an old video of the Glenfinnan Piping Competition that illustrates this well. There's also a decent survey of footwear here.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ThNNSd3Xf5o

Just a wee observation having looked at the video clip, Glenfinnan is no more than 15 miles from where I stay(live)and from what I see on the film the choice for most kilted non musicians, is the plain black brogue. Even some pipers are wearing brogues too------ AND there was no one in the film that I know personally, so. Just why is it I am not surprised in the least, about the footwear choice?

[OC Richard]

from what I see on the film the choice for most kilted non musicians, is the plain black brogue.

Even some pipers are wearing brogues too.

How cool, at 00:24 a nice closeup of Fawn/Oatmeal hose. They used to be a standard colour but now are rare as hen's teeth.

Why the horrid trumpet soundtrack??

It's not surprising to see pipers in ordinary brogues. Then, as now, pipers competing in solo competitions generally make a point out of avoiding dressing in band kit (unless they're also competing with a band the same day). Part of that is seeing solo pipers wearing traditional-looking outfits including plain brogues and bonnets. Pipers almost universally hate being required to wear Ghillies, Glengarries, etc in their bands.

BTW Seumas MacNeill died in 1996 which helps frame the video.

Here are the promised photos of pipers at Oban 1950 to 1985.

Some pipers choose to wear Ghillies, and have since the 1860s, as shown in Victorian photos.

However it wasn't till the 1970s and 1980s that they became associated with Pipe Bands.

[Troglodyte]

How about this?

Nothing in the article most of us don't already know, but it's interesting to note it shows a ghillie brogue which it tells us is ...a modern Brogue exactly one hundred years old...

Yeah, so what, you say.

This cutting is in a museum archive bound volume of articles published in 1933..!

[OC Richard]

How about this?

Nothing in the article most of us don't already know, but it's interesting to note it shows a ghillie brogue which it tells us is ...a modern Brogue exactly one hundred years old...

Yeah, so what, you say.

This cutting is in a museum archive bound volume of articles published in 1933..!

Do you have a link?

It would be interesting to find out what provenance the "exactly 100 years old" claim is based upon.

The timings do fit, as the Allen Brothers were in Scotland cutting their capers by that time.

[OC Richard]

[Troglodyte]

Do you have a link?

It would be interesting to find out what provenance the "exactly 100 years old" claim is based upon.

The timings do fit, as the Allen Brothers were in Scotland cutting their capers by that time.

I have been unable to find the original publication so far, but the cutting is just one of a whole series that have been photocopied from what might be a scrapbook of sorts, and bound in hard covers to be part of a publicly accessible museum archive, with a simple title.

The cuttings appear to be fairly uniform in style, but with widely different subjects of a passed, or passing, way of life in Scotland. The fact that they are numbered suggests they come from something like a weekly periodical and were a regular feature. Identifying the periodical is the task.

If I can find the accession record in the museum's ledgers, I may have more luck - but my guess is that these copies were made possibly in the 1980s or '90s. I would very much like to find the original cuttings, if nothing else.

The museum concerned is due to open its latest exhibition this weekend - Piping Routes - which traces the modern form of civilian pipbands to its origins in Angus about 150 years ago, with pipe-making thriving alongside, and draws on burgh records to show provincial towns had pipers playing in an official capacity in the 1600s.

Although not part of the exhibition, but they may be added, are the cuttings previously mentioned that deal with pipes and piping. What I have seen so far makes a fascinating and informative display, and is backed by one of the local weavers producing Wilson's of Bannockburn tartans.

I had the chance yesterday to lay the modern samples swatches over those in the WoB's book that will be part of the display, and, allowing for a bit of fading over the years, the match is pretty accurate. The swatchbook cannot be as old as originally believed, as I have found samples of setts that were presented to the public in Vestiarium Scoticum, so I think we can say not before 1842.

But the book is a wonderful thing, whatever, and is due be scrutinised tomorrow by a certain tartan expert who is known to all XMarkers. I'm greatly looking forward to hearing his comments.