kids in Highland military uniforms

[Michael Weatherhead]

This intrigued me, as a former member of the Boys Brigade (In England 1968-71) I had never heard of rifles being carried, but sure enough there old Pathe Films, of boys carrying rifles and also there are references to an American company making non firing rifles specifically for the Boys Brigade.
Today The Boys Brigade Pipe bands wear the kilt and kilts may be worn by others at their COs permission and there are notes around that indicate kilts were worn by some, pre WW2.
There is a Boys Brigade tartan https://www.scotweb.co.uk/tartan/Boys-Brigade-/54378
Of course many famous people such as Baden-Powell were members of the Boys Brigade, one wonders how much of the Boys Brigade influenced His starting of The Scouts.

Yes, when I saw the Boys Brigade carrying dummy rifles, it was as recently as the early 80's. But it seems that they all wore scout/military-type shirts, and trousers, not kilts (it was 30-ish years ago..memory is a wee bit foggy). As to Lord Baden Powell, I read that when he returned to England, from the Boer War, he attended a parade. The Boys Brigade was marching in the parade. Their quasi-militaristic look/behavior gave him the idea, to form the Boy Scouts. He decided then and there that young boys did not need to carry rifles, but did need to learn outdoor skills. He had already written his military training manual (Aids to Scouting). He decided to rewrite it, geared more to young men, than to soldiers. (It was a best seller, was being used by youth leaders and teachers, while he was still away). His is an interesting story, including his military service. Those interested in military heroes, or scouting, in general, should read about Lord Baden Powell.