farby ACW bagpiper figurine

**OC Richard** · 18th September 14, 07:50 AM

Here it is!

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Bagpiper-ACW...item1c45dc2b9a

This is inaccurate (or 'farby' as re-enactors say) on so many levels. I have to assume that it's ostensibly depicting the 79th New York, that being the only Civil War period kilted regiment as far as I know.

-the 79th NY had two modes of dress, trews & kepi, and kilt & glengarry. The kepi was not worn with the kilt.
-the sporran is incorrect (the one on the figurine looks like a Waterloo period one)
-spats are incorrect (they were not a part of the pre-war Full Dress uniform of the 79th NY, which was withdrawn from use at the start of the war)
-the cuffs on the jacket are incorrect.
-as far as we know the 79th NY did not have pipers.

Thing is, there are so many people who have misconceptions about the 79th New York, and about pipers in the ACW, and a figurine like this will serve to feed them.

(ACW is the acronym used outwith the US to refer to what we call The Civil War, in order to distinguish it from the English Civil War.)

Here's the photo from the Ebay auction

Here are the actual uniforms (photo in the private collection of Lawrence Beattie)

**Father Bill** · 18th September 14, 09:30 AM

... and I thought it stood for Anglican Church Women!

**sydnie7** · 18th September 14, 09:32 AM

Is that "farby" as in "far be it from me to comment. . ." or is there a meaning I'm missing?

**IsaacW** · 18th September 14, 09:45 AM

From good ol' Wikipedia...

The origin of the word "farb" (and the derivative adjective "farby") is unknown, though it appears to date to early centennial reenactments of the American Civil War in 1960 or 1961.^[2] Some believe that the origin of the word is a truncated version of "Far be it from authentic.".^[3] Or alternately, short for "far be it from me to say what is right...but..." An alternative definition is "Far Be it from me to question/criticise,"^[4]^[5] or "Fast And Researchless Buying".^[6] Some early reenactors assert the word derives from German Farbe, color, because inauthentic reenactors were over-colorful compared with the dull blues, greys or browns of the genuine American Civil War uniforms that were the principal concern of American reenactors at the time the word was coined.^[7]^[8]Since the word was coined, it has become widespread throughout the reenactor community.

**sydnie7** · 18th September 14, 10:00 AM

Originally Posted by IsaacW

From good ol' Wikipedia...

Ha! Never thought to wiki it. I rather like the Germanic-origin explanation, myself, but am pleased that I got "close enough" on my own.

**Tarheel** · 18th September 14, 10:28 AM

Thanks for the photo and explanation. I had a question about the jacket the sergeant was wearing but I changed the tint/hue of my laptop screen and it was answered.

**OC Richard** · 20th September 14, 06:38 AM

Initially the 79th wore the same tunic for their two modes of dress, both seen in the photo above, what we might call "Full Dress" and "Service Dress" (though I don't think anyone knows the terms they actually used at the time).

It's not known for sure, but it seems that not all companies were issued the Full Dress (Glengarry & kilt outfit, worn by the standing soldiers above). And when the regiment was brought up to full strength for war service in 1861 the new troops were only issued the Service Dress (kepi & trews outfit, worn by the seated soldier above) and that's how the 79th NY entered the war. (The tartan trews gave way to white linen or cotton trousers, and then to sky blue wool trousers, but that's another story.)

Both modes of dress used the same tunic, which was dark blue. The fancy gold epaulettes were removed for active service.

About "farb" and "farby"... when I was in college the library had the complete set of The Semi-Centennial Photographic History of the Civil War in Ten Volumes and as a do-less teen I spent many hours pouring through it and making pages of notes and sketches. After seeing thousands of period photos one gets not only a clear notion of the minutiae but also an overall feel as to hair styles, how clothes fit, body language, and so forth and as they say "what has been seen cannot be un-seen" and with Civil War movies or reenactors etc if anything isn't quite right it stands out like a sore thumb, or stands out as looking 'farby' as they say. It's the little stuff, like the fit of the clothes, and the ever-present 'hat hair' of the men, that is almost never got right.