Horsehair Sporrans

[michael steinrok]

hes bottom left behind the machine gun

Hey if he brings a machine gun to the next event or game will you guys let him wear the HH sporran? I like them too,but , mines' rabbit

Slainte ;)

[Presuming Ed]

Ed, I'm interested in the hose they wear with white (or black) tie. Is it generally tartan or diced?

Sometimes tartan, very occasionally diced. Commonly a colour toning with the kilt - lovat green is frequent, with darker colours much more frequent than lighter (blues and greens very common, oatmeal rare), and sometimes hose with single colour body and patterned top - as seen here:

[M. A. C. Newsome]

A couple of things...

First, the MacLeay prints should not be considered in the same category as the MacIan prints. (For those unfamiliar with the portraits painted by Kenneth MacLeay, click here. The MacIan prints are very famous, but if you are not familiar with them, either, you can see them here.)

Robert MacIan attempted to depict Highland dress from various different time periods and various walks of life. Generally, the further back in time from the 1840s when he made these portraits, the less accurate and more fanciful his depictions are. Not that they are not great pictures, but they simply cannot be relied upon for accurate information on Historic Highland Dress.

MacLeay, on the other hand, was commissioned to make his series of portraits in 1870 and depicts actual contemporary dress -- he was working with real models, and his attention to detail is fantastic. We have every reason to assume that he accurately depicted what his models were in fact wearing. So I would say his work is very useful for telling us what was worn in Highland Dress in 1870.

And looking at his work, one does find hair sporrans being worn both formally and casually.

However, this was 1870. The question is can a hair sporran be worn both formally and casually today? There are a few things to consider. First, "casual" Highland Dress in 1870 was a far cry more dressy than "casual" Highland Dress today. When one things of casual Highland Dress in modern times, this could mean wearing the kilt with a t-shirt and sandals! It could also mean wearing the kilt with a sweater, polo shirt, hiking boots, you name it. However, even the most casually outfitted man in the MacLeay portraits is wearing a vest, day jacket, or something similar.

Also, look at some of the hair sporrans being worn in those photos. For example, the portrait of James Morgan (the 8th one on this page). His hair sporran has no tassells, appears to be brown hair, and has a leather, not a metal, cantle. The typical hair sporran that you are going to find available today, however, has a light colored hair, with two or more black hair tassells (or possibly black hair with light hair tassells), and a fancy metal cantle of some sort.

Our modern day hair sporrans are simply made for formal use -- or as is more often the case, use in military and quasi-military functions, like pipe bands and the like. It would be difficult even to find one that was more suited to "dress casual" or "day formal" wear.

If you could find one that was not quite so fancy as our modern offerings, I think it would work as day wear only in an outfit that was more in line with the late nineteenth century fashion. In other words, if you are dressed like a Scottish gentleman going for a walk-about on his estate, rather than a Scottish-American going to a Celtic-fusion concert. :-)

As for my hair sporran that you see me wearing on my home page, I found this years ago at a Highland Games in VA (I think it was Williamsburg) begin offered by a merchant with a lot of British military regalia. He told me at the time it was an old regimental sporran, but I've yet to find any record of a regiment wearing any sporran like it. I have no idea where it came from -- it could very well be a modified lady's purse for all I know! But I like it for several reasons.

First of all, it has a very large soft leather pouch for a body. Most hair sporrans you see have no pocket -- just a stiff leather backing for the hair. They are made purely for decoration. Some have a pocket added in the back, but these are usually only large enough to accommodate a credit card (with a small balance!). But the sporran I have is actually usable. In fact, it has a greater capacity than any other sporran I own (if you fill it too much, though, it causes the hair to lay funny). Secondly, it uses brown leather, not black, which dresses it down a bit. Thirdly, the length of the hair is shorter than most hair sporrans you see offered today. All this makes it more suitable for general use than the average "parade sporran."

I wear it for formal, and semi-formal occasions. I don't wear it casually. You'll note in the picture, though I am not in black-tie, I am dressed in a white shirt, vest, and tie. Though I'm not wearing it in the picture, I also was wearing a tweed day jacket on that occasion -- my brother-in-law's wedding. (My lovely wife you see there was one of the bride's maids).

So, I'll end with this -- a hair sporran can in theory work for dress-casual, or formal day wear occasions. It needn't be reserved just for pipe bands or very formal events. However, the type and style of hair sporrans more often found today don't lend themselves to this use -- they are made for pipe bands and dress military attire, and I agree with everyone else who posted on this topic -- these should be avoided unless you are in uniform. But if you shop around, and keep your eye open for unusual things, you just might find a hair sporran that will work for other occasions.

Aye,
Matt

[Macman]

Thanks, Ed. I have a pair of wool hose that was custom-knitted to go with my kilt, and I probably haven't been wearing them as much as I could with my PC jacket.

[Muddy]

Matt to the rescue as usual with an excellent reply.
I agree. I really love old Victorian photos of gents with
the horsehair sporrans and canes and the works. But as Matt
said it works better if you've got the old tweed jacket and vest
and stuff to go with it for it to work right (although I'm not at all
opposed to trying unorthodox combos...sometimes they look great).
One note I've noticed about the old photos as opposed to modern
made pipers sporrans though....I love how in the old photos the bottom
edges of the sporran tends to be kind of rounded and fringy i.e. not all squared
off straight and too short. In the old photos and paintings of cheiftains and
such the sporran bottom hangs ever so little below the bottom of the kilt.
I like that look. I tend to like period looks of all kinds though so it's alllll up
to the individual aye?
Cheers.
Muddy

P.S......whoever it was mentioned the pic of his grandfather in front of his
croft-----I'd REALLY love to see a picture of that if you can post it for us
here. That sounds like a great photo.
(Russ)