What hat do you wear with a kilt?

[Bob C]

I've always preferred to go hatless, but the growing surface area of visible scalp has caused me to seek refuge from the sun beneath my Tilley hat.

[ElCabong]

Well, someday I'll get a real Scot hat to wear with the kilts. For now, I wear what I wear with other clothes: A Stetson Drifter, a Bailey Cutler, a brown Outback Hat, or one of several OP floppy rain and sun hats. The Stetson and the Bailey command enough respect with a kilt, dress shirt, tie, and leather jacket. Hats, like kilts, are fun!

[O'Callaghan]

I don't generally wear hats much, but I do sometimes wear a caubeen. Technically any hat is a caubeen, but it's usually taken to mean the Irish equivalent of the balmoral, with no toorie (bobble) unless you are in the Canadian army(!), and worn raked to one side. Scottish balmorals always come with a toorie, and only Americans wear a balmoral raked, Scots wear them flat like a pancake! Obviously, caubeens and balmorals have a common origin in hats worn by the Gaels who came to Scotland from Ireland, albeit they didn't wear kilts at that point.

Tams are the knitted version of a balmoral, and there is an Irish name for that type of hat, but seldom any call to use it!

The glengarry is basically the highland regiments' version of a British army forage cap. The Irish military even wear them, and so do pipers the world over, but if they have a military or uniform association it's not accidental.

As for diced bands on hats, the Irish view, correct or not, and obviously with the exception of Northern loyalists, is that it represents the crown, which is the British term for the British government. Pipe bands in the Republic of Ireland seem to have switched from green caubeens to black glengarries over time, but with a notable complete absence of diced bands. I don't think Scots take that view, even if they are pro independence. Evidently at least some Scottish Americans do.

[English Bloke]

... Those who forget their history have no past... and no future. ...

Well I certainly agree with that...

I have heard the dicing = Crown theory before, I just choose to ignore it as it isn't (to my mind) substantiated and therefore isn't a relevance to me in current times. It's not something I would wish to perpetuate either, mainly from the "a hat is a hat" perspective.

It's fine that you take a stand on this and I would never expect you (as a US citizen) to swear fealty to the British Crown so rest assured, diced or un-diced, the hat you wear doesn't convey any hidden meanings to me. Any more than my choice of plain bonnet implies I'm a Jacobite (I think the cockade might say more)

That said, we do whatever works for us and one man's opinion is as worthy as the next. You are perfectly entitled to avoid dicing on your hat if it makes you feel uncomfortable and you are also entitled to tell us why should the opportunity arise.

[chrisupyonder]

Most of the time as per photo. I only wear my balmoral at highland games.



Chris.

[MacGumerait]

I'm with you Jock !

If I wear a Balmoral, I wear it without dicing. No offence intended or taken but I DO accept Elizabeth as my Queen but prefer my Balmoral plain... with ties a-flyin'... And I'm married too. There's no politics in that either.

To answer the OP. I also wear a canvas or rooskin bush hat if it's hot (I burn easy... It's the Ginger Celt in me), but more often than not, I'm bare-headed. I have a plain black glengarry too. Although I think it's one of the coolest hats I've ever owned, I've only worn it once meeself, it emphasises a "pipe-band" look I'm not really after although I think they are fine on other folks.

I am a man of many hats, from pith helmets to Roman Centurion's helmet, from Russian Red Army to Davy Crockett. I've not found one that I'd routinely wear while Kilted though.

I must create a photo-thread of my drinking hat collection sometime... While kilted of course. That would be fun to put together. int:

John , I was surprised and impressed that an " English Bloke " would have a Davey Crockett coonskin cap .

The Davey Crockett coonskin cap has always begged the question - did we colonials make a cap out of a full face racoon sporran or did we make a sporran out of a racoon cap ?

[Derek]

This is the only hat I ever wear most places I go and whatever I'm doing ...




Iechyd Da
Derek

[MacSpadger]

I don't generally wear hats much, but I do sometimes wear a caubeen. Technically any hat is a caubeen, but it's usually taken to mean the Irish equivalent of the balmoral, with no toorie (bobble) unless you are in the Canadian army(!), and worn raked to one side. Scottish balmorals always come with a toorie, and only Americans wear a balmoral raked, Scots wear them flat like a pancake! Obviously, caubeens and balmorals have a common origin in hats worn by the Gaels who came to Scotland from Ireland, albeit they didn't wear kilts at that point.

Tams are the knitted version of a balmoral, and there is an Irish name for that type of hat, but seldom any call to use it!

The glengarry is basically the highland regiments' version of a British army forage cap. The Irish military even wear them, and so do pipers the world over, but if they have a military or uniform association it's not accidental.

As for diced bands on hats, the Irish view, correct or not, and obviously with the exception of Northern loyalists, is that it represents the crown, which is the British term for the British government. Pipe bands in the Republic of Ireland seem to have switched from green caubeens to black glengarries over time, but with a notable complete absence of diced bands. I don't think Scots take that view, even if they are pro independence. Evidently at least some Scottish Americans do.

I don't know where to begin here. Although it's become the norm for Scottish balmorals to have toories, historically most of them didn't and today not all of them do. As for, "only Americans wear a balmoral raked, Scots wear them flat like a pancake", have you ever been to Scotland and seen the variety of ways in which the balmoral is worn? Some guys wear them so "raked" that you wonder if they are glued to their heids in order to stop them falling off as they are jist aboot worn sideways.
As for the "caubeens and balmorals have a common origin in hats worn by the Gaels who came to Scotland from Ireland", I think you'll find that the origin of this type of headgear is the simple European bonnet from which the French beret, etc, also derives. It was worn throughout Europe in the 15th century. The bonnet seems to have travelled up through the low countries and reached the Lowlands of Scotland first, (where it was a staple headgear for hundreds of years). Although it may be seen as particularly Highland nowadays, even in the 1700's it was worn by Highlander and Lowlander alike. The origin of the Irish Caubeen (as we know it nowadays) is attributed to Owen Roe O'Neill around the 1610's. He is noted as having entered negotiations with the MacDonalds of Antrim, who had arrived from Scotland to claim title and territory. One story says that he had a bigger version of MacDonald's balmoral made to "intimidate him" by wearing a larger hat to the next meeting. The Royal Irish Rangers website says the Caubeen was adopted by O'Neill through association with the Highland MacDonalds of Co Antrim. Most sources seem to agree that the origin of the caubeen in Ireland is Owen Roe O'Neill around 1610 and that it was modelled off/adapted from the MacDonald headgear. Nothing to do with Gaels coming to Scotland, (and even that legend has been discredited many times).
Tam's are not knitted versions of the balmoral. Earlier bonnets/balmorals were also knitted. The name Tam also means the bonnet/balmoral and is an abbreviation of Tam O'Shanter, which is just another nickname for the bonnet/balmoral/boinead biorach, that came in the 19th century after the Burn's poem. The actual name Balmoral is itself a Victorianism, named after the Queen's place of residence. The bonnet, Tam and Balmoral were different names for the same thing. In 1915 a khaki style of balmoral bonnet was made for WW1 Scottish troops and this was named the 'Bonnet, Tam o' Shanter' which nowadays everyone calls the 'ToS'.
There is no way in which diced headbands represent any kind of allegiance to anything, they are simple decoration. I have only heard this mistaken view from the USA, along with the equally mistaken one that says the dicing means wounded in action. I have lived and worked on both sides of the Irish border and I have many long term friends in the pipe band world, it's just considered absolutely daft by those I have spoken to, uninformed nonsense. (BTW, the British Term for the British Government is just the Government). I don't see what diced headbands have to do with Scots independence either. Dicing doesn't appear in portraits or illustrations until after the mid 1770's, which is the exact same time that the Highland Society of London was formed and started having a massive say in what was considered Highland clothing, so there may be a connection there.

[Alan H]

I don't think you're taking this dicing thing seriously enough, or anywhere near angry enough about it.

[cessna152towser]

I usually go hatless when kilted but for a clan event I would wear my bonnet with my Armiger's badge.