Feather Bonnets:

[A Robertson]

Hello Rabble!

I have just been watching a video on 'youtube' - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7vRtlhOGsOA

This might sound like a stupid question, but does anyone know the difference between certain types of feather bonnets?
In the video, some guys have short tails to their bonnets reaching to their shoulder, whilst others have long tails stretching down their backs.

Are the short ones 4 tails, and the long ones 5 tails? - or is there a different reason?

(No - I am not confusing bonnets with bearskins)

[Ron Abbott]

I don't know what the truth is as there used to be stories about commissioned officers, Pipe Majors and Drum Majors having five tails and other ranks have three.

I;m not so sure it's accurate and that instead it was a regimental thing. I think the Scots Guards pipers used to have either five or six tails whereas the likes of the RHR Black Watch only had three or four and the Gordons four.

However I've seen feather bonnets advertised over the years with a variety of tails for the same regiment, so that may well be all nonsense as well. Of course, for some it's just a matter of changing the hackle.

[OC Richard]

About length, I just looked over a load of photos of members of various regiments in the 1880-1914 period and they seem to be around the same, usually nearly reaching but not touching the shoulder. Sometimes the tails are a tad shorter and come to around the chin. We're only talking about a difference of around two inches between the usual length and the shortest I saw. I did see a photo of the Colonel of the Argyll & Sutherland Highlanders c1890 and his bonnet is enormous with the tails well touching his shoulder, the longest tails I've seen in an old Army photo.

About number of tails, Scottish Regiments and Uniforms 1660-1914 by AH Bowling has an illustration of a feather bonnet, the caption stating:

Officer's feather bonnet as worn between 1875 and 1914... the Black Watch bonnet had four tails, the Seaforth, Gordon, and Cameron five, and the Argyll & Sutherland Highlanders six.

Both book and caption have a cutoff date of 1914 because in that year Full Dress was withdrawn never to return, except, in certain cases, for pipers and bandsmen.

In various photos of members of various regiments Officer's feather bonnets appear larger and more full and have more tails than the Other Ranks' bonnets (except in The Black Watch) so I would reckon that ORs' bonnets probably had four tails in all four kilted Highland regiments. Civilian bonnets usually do; I can't remember ever owning or examining a bonnet that had any other number.

About the Scots Guards and Royal Scots Dragoon Guards, well you'd have to ask one of their pipers!

I watched that video and I can see the very long-tailed bonnet you're speaking of, worn by the bass drummer we see from behind for quite a while. The flaps on his doublet reveal that he's not a military man (at least not the British military) and the flaps are somewhat oddly styled. I wouldn't infer anything about military bonnets or properly made civilian bonnets from what he is wearing.

It's tricky watching a video like this for somebody who is not conversant with the uniforms of the various British military pipes & drums, because that video showed quite a mix between British military, Dominion military, and civilian bands. The British military people are all smartly and properly turned out, while the others are a mixed bag.

[Ron Abbott]

The men of the Royal Scots Dragoon Guards are not Guardsmen, they are Troopers.

The men of the Scots Guards are Guardsmen, but I think you'll find that the pipers; the only ones who wear feather bonnets; prefer to be referred to as....Pipers!

Maybe a very small point to those who have not served in the Scots Guards, but the British Army is full of unique names, rank nomenclature and traditions!

[OC Richard]

Thanks Ron, I edited my post.

I had a nice chat with the PM and PS of the Royal Scots Dragoon Guards a few years ago. I praised their piping and in particular the great tone they were getting, difficult on tour with all the various climates the pipes are exposed to. They appreciated the kudos and said that it was difficult for them to maintain a high level of piping due to the fact that the members of the Pipes & Drums are tankers first and musicians second, and that it's a struggle to carve out enough rehearsal time in between their regular duties. I wish the various Pipes & Drums could return to being fulltime musicians, but I suppose there's not the budget for that anymore.

[Ron Abbott]

No problem!!

In fact my own father was a piper in the Scots Guards and my best friend's uncle was a Pipe Major of the Royal Scots Dragoon Guards.