Behind pipers wearing plain Glengarries whether or not the rest of the regiment wears diced ones?
It's related to why pipers, from the mid-19th century up to the abolition of Full Dress in 1914, wore dark green doublets while the rest of the regiment wore scarlet doublets, why pipers wore wide black waistbelts and crossbelts, and why pipers wore Glengarries in Full Dress while the rest of the regiment wore feather bonnets.
Pipers weren't on the official establishment in the British Army until 1854. Until that "any of our officers may keep a piper, and pay him too, for no pay is allowed him, perhaps as he deserves." Pipers were hired and paid by the officers, or falsely kept on the establishment as drummers.
So there was no official piper's dress, and their dress varied wildly from regiment to regiment.
In the old days members of regimental Military Bands (brass and woodwinds) wore 'reversed colours' so if a regiment's facing-colour was dark green (their uniform being scarlet jackets with dark green collars, cuffs, and lapels) the Military Band would wear dark green jackets with scarlet collars, cuffs, and lapels. Other Military Bands wore white jackets.
Pipers' dress in the various regiments included:
1) being dressed like the other musicians, in white or reversed colours
2) being dressed like the other soldiers of the regiment, in scarlet
3) being dressed in livery like civilian pipers employed by the aristocracy (including such things as full tartan outfits).
In the 1840s the 79th Foot (The Cameron Highlanders) introduced a new costume for their pipers which consisted of:
-plain dark blue Glengarry (the 79th wore no dicing on their Glengarries)
-dark green doublets (dark green was the facing-colour of the 79th)
-wide black crossbelt and waistbelt with silver hardware, to support the sword and dirk
-long diced hose with buckled shoes.
For whatever reason the other Highland regiments began copying this piper's costume including the plain Glengarry (whether or not the regiment wore dicing) and dark green doublet (regardless of the regiment's facing-colour).
Piper in dark green doublet and plain Glengarry, the rest of the soldiers in scarlet doublets and feather bonnets:
The story of the 79th's 1840s piper's costume didn't end there. Full Dress was abolished in 1914 never to be revived, and from 1914 to 1953 Highland soldiers had nothing dressier than khaki drab. But for the coronation in 1953 a new Number One Dress was introduced, the jacket being dark green (rather than the traditional scarlet) for all Highland regiments.
Piper and non-piper both in dark green jackets, the new No1 Dress introduced in 1953
And that wasn't the end, for in 2006 with the formation of The Royal Regiment Of Scotland all Scottish troops, Highland and Lowland, were put into green doublets. The specialized costume of the half-dozen pipers of a single battalion had become the dress of the entire infantry of a nation.
The RRS (2SCOTS) showing piper and non-pipers in dark green doublets, piper wearing plain Glengarry

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