The Scottish Tartans: 1920, 1945, 1961

[OC Richard]

My sensibilities came from being in a Pipe Band in the mid 70's here in Australia...we wore a walking out outfit as per most of the gents in this book - tweed Argyll jacket, brown sporran, brown shoes, balmoral...

Yes that's the "traditional Highland Day dress" as I knew it when I first got into kiltwearing, in the mid-1970s.

Here are some prominent piping gents in the 1950s showing exactly the same dress seen in the Semple illustrations

What I do recall was coming back to Pipe Bands recently (after 30 years away) and being rather shocked to see everyone wearing Glengarries! Not a Balmoral in sight. Dark hose also threw me because at least in the 70's we only wore light coloured hose...

Wow, 30 years away from the Pipe Band world!

I never went away from the Pipe Band thing for more than a couple years at a time, so I lived through both the evolution of how bands dress, and the evolution in musical aspects.

When I joined my first band in 1977 bands around here (California) were starting to follow the trend set for us by the top Canadian bands, which we looked up to because we could never beat them!

Up until then bands here were still wearing Full Dress with feather bonnets etc. The Canadian bands had recently switched to an outfit that looked cool and trendsetting then, but looks dated today: Balmoral bonnets, black Prince Charlies (or less often black Argylls) with long ties, hand-knit cream-coloured Arran hose, and black Ghillies.

(Grade One Canadian band in 1976)



(Grade One Canadian band 1979)



By the mid-1980s a new and completely standardised Pipe Band uniform had appeared:

black Glengarry
black Argyll
long necktie
white shirt (less often blue)
black leather Hunting sporran with chrome top
gleaming pure white hose with bobble/popcorn tops
black Ghillies
black bag-covers



As you see everything was either black or white save for the tartan of the kilt, the necktie, and the flashes. Black ties and flashes were common, thus eliminating all colour but the kilt.

This uniform was worn by all top competition bands the world over. The only changes that have happened have been:

-in the early 2000's bands abandoned jackets for competition and went to waistcoats sans jackets, the waistcoats usually being black, less often navy blue.

-around 2010 bands abandoned white hose and went to black, navy blue, or charcoal grey.

-just within the last couple years some bands are going with grey, blue, or brown tweed waistcoats and Lovat hose.

With the pipes themselves, in 1977 we were playing wooden Hardie chanters at 466. Then around 1980 we got plastic chanters that were around 469. By 1990 the pitch had risen up to the high 470s and today it's between 480 and 485.

With the drums Kevlar heads came in allowing higher pitch. The main thing in the drum corps, as you have seen, has been The Rise Of The Mid Section. In the 1970s tenor drums were there mainly for show. Now bands might have 8 tenor drums all tuned to different notes, playing sophisticated scores.

[Stewart of Galloway]

Yes that's the "traditional Highland Day dress" as I knew it when I first got into kiltwearing, in the mid-1970s.

Here are some prominent piping gents in the 1950s showing exactly the same dress seen in the Semple illustrations






Wow, 30 years away from the Pipe Band world!

I never went away from the Pipe Band thing for more than a couple years at a time, so I lived through both the evolution of how bands dress, and the evolution in musical aspects.

When I joined my first band in 1977 bands around here (California) were starting to follow the trend set for us by the top Canadian bands, which we looked up to because we could never beat them!

Up until then bands here were still wearing Full Dress with feather bonnets etc. The Canadian bands had recently switched to an outfit that looked cool and trendsetting then, but looks dated today: Balmoral bonnets, black Prince Charlies (or less often black Argylls) with long ties, hand-knit cream-coloured Arran hose, and black Ghillies.

(Grade One Canadian band in 1976)



(Grade One Canadian band 1979)



By the mid-1980s a new and completely standardised Pipe Band uniform had appeared:

black Glengarry
black Argyll
long necktie
white shirt
black leather Hunting sporran with chrome top
gleaming pure white hose with bobble/popcorn tops
black Ghillies
black bag-covers



As you see everything was either black or white save for the tartan of the kilt, the necktie, and the flashes. Black ties and flashes were common, thus eliminating all colour but the kilt.

This uniform was worn by all top competition bands the world over. The only changes that have happened have been:

-in the early 2000's bands abandoned jackets for competition and went to waistcoats sans jackets, the waistcoats usually being black, less often navy blue.

-around 2010 bands abandoned white hose and went to black, navy blue, or charcoal grey.

-just within the last couple years some bands are going with grey, blue, or brown tweed waistcoats and Lovat hose.

With the pipes themselves, in 1977 we were playing wooden Hardie chanters at 466. Then around 1980 we got plastic chanters that were around 469. By 1990 the pitch had risen up to the high 470s and today it's between 480 and 485.

With the drums Kevlar heads came in allowing higher pitch. The main thing in the drum corps, as you have seen, has been The Rise Of The Mid Section. In the 1970s tenor drums were there mainly for show. Now bands might have 8 tenor drums all tuned to different notes, playing sophisticated scores.

Thanks for all that very interesting info! Yes the last band I was in was a Police band and we wore the full military style dress with feather buzbee and spats and the lot (shockingly overdressed her in subtropical Queensland).
Your styles over the years look very smart I must say. Personally I love that homey old walking out style. I got married in a hired Bonnie Prince Charlie outfit which I think looks grand.
I love the rare days here when it's actually cold enough to wear a jacket. Usually even a shirt and black vest is blessed hot! I remember the yellow kevlar drum heads appearing late 70's early 80's. I like them but must admit I miss my Premier snare from the mid 70's, not quite so ear splitting.
I was in the Queensland Irish Association Pipe Band in the late 70's and we had a terrific guy in charge of the tenors, Keith McCullogh, who was a very innovative player. He influenced a lot of tenor players here in Australia (he had been a very good snare drummer in his youth.)
He used to put white tape around the snare sticks (Premier Alex Dutharts) and a luminescent head on the tenor sticks for our Ceilidh's -He would set up a ultraviolet light and the band would play in the dark for the drum salute, with a final strobe for added effect. Legendary, everyone loved it!

[OC Richard]

I think the sun and heat in the US southwest is similar to parts of Australia, and in both places the Scottish community has adapted a bit.

Here's an Australian pipe band, I love the hats! Why get a sunburned face and neck?

[Stewart of Galloway]

I think the sun and heat in the US southwest is similar to parts of Australia, and in both places the Scottish community has adapted a bit.

Here's an Australian pipe band, I love the hats! Why get a sunburned face and neck?

Your right mate, I think we have very similar climates, apparently we have a bigger hole in our ozone layer here so the summer sun is savage! bad sunburn in under half an hour.
I like those hats in that Aussie band. Many other bands are wearing what we used to call giggle hats in the military, which are sunsmart but I think look a bit daggy (a dag is someone with no fashion sense ). Better than sunstroke though!
It's a tough one finding a hat that looks good with a Highland outfit, the best I have seen was a bloke wearing an Australian army style 'slouch hat' with the brim down ( the famous brim up look was so that your 303 didn't knock your hat off whilst carried at the slope)

I saw him and thought 'that looks bloody good, very Scottish and very Australian.
We older Australian's are very proud of our 'diggers', our soldiers (and air force and navy bods).
Because the second World War saw a huge citizen influx into the Australian army the hats became the norm after the war for blokes out working in the sun.
The thing that really makes the slouch hat look great is the pugaree, a tradition gained from our Sihk mates during the Raj (British rule of India).

You could pin a clan badge to the front of the pugaree (you can see a badge on the hats in this pic) and it would look right.
Going to get one myself this summer. The hats dull khaki matches well with most tartan and even argyl tweed jackets. Probably would look odd with black jackets.
pugaree.jpg
diggers.jpg

[Stewart of Galloway]

I think the sun and heat in the US southwest is similar to parts of Australia, and in both places the Scottish community has adapted a bit.

Here's an Australian pipe band, I love the hats! Why get a sunburned face and neck?

pipes-drums-band.jpg
Found this photo of a band of ex-servicemen and women, they look good I reckon.

[OC Richard]

The Kiwis wear these, they look smart with the kilt. I only wish they could shorten their jackets a bit!



I used to have a great photo of a Massed Bands/March Past (in Texas perhaps) in which all the pipe bands and Drum Majors were wearing cowboy hats. Unfortunately I can't find that photo now.

At our California Highland Games it's Glengarries for the band competition and Massed Bands and sunburns do result!

It's standard for us to slather ourselves with sun-block at the Highland Games.