Black Watch Pipers

[OC Richard]

I'm sure that OC Richard will chime in at some point but as a starter for 10, you might find this of interest - 42nd Regiment Band or Musicians’ Tartan. In summary, sometime after 1850.

Well I have little to add. I'm thankful that you shed the light of scholarship on a topic that has much misinformation surrounding it. I've often read that the pipers of the Black Watch wore Royal Stewart all along which you demonstrate is untrue.

Interesting about the 93rd's musicians wearing that tartan too, but not the pipers as we see there.

There was such a variety of piper's dress up until the mid-19th century when all the regiments put their pipers into what amounted to a copy of the piper's dress of the 79th. Some were dressed as soldiers, some as musicians (reversed colours like the 79th's green doublets) and some in rather non-military-looking livery, like the civilian livery the pipers would wear in the employ of a member of the aristocracy. We see the Black Watch pipers in Black Watch tartan doublets, and Barnes illustrates a piper of the 93rd in a full red & black tartan outfit. (I wonder on what authority?)

In any case here's an excellent photo showing a piper and the Pipe Major of 3SCOTS (The Black Watch) well showing the Royal Stewart kilts and plaids and Black Watch tartan bag-covers. Note that the front drone-ribbon is Royal Stewart while the rear ribbon is Black Watch. The Pipe Major in most military pipe bands wearing a velvet bag-cover with metallic fringe rather than a tartan cover like the rest of the pipers (the exception being the Cameron Highlanders).



Here you can see that the drummers and Drum Major wear Black Watch tartan kilts and plaids