Robert Mackie Bonnets Available from Scotland Shop

**ASinclair** · 3rd March 25, 09:57 PM

Originally Posted by OC Richard

...

-Royal Blue (not the Saxe blue, it's a deep and very strong Royal Blue, I have a photo of a guy wearing it but not a photo of just the bonnet) ....

Here's a picture of Royal Blue -

Also, I emailed you a PDF containing the brochure this came from.

**OC Richard** · 5th March 25, 02:32 AM

Thank you so much!! You know how much I love old catalogues.

We have a local piping judge who wears a Royal Blue Mackie. He's not hard to locate at a Highland Games.

**Allan Thomson** · 13th March 25, 03:21 PM

What I don't like about these bonnets is the uniform colour. For example Dark Blue with Red and White Dicing looks much better than just one colour.

The Khaki ones look like the one I picked up cheaply from an Army Surplus..

**OC Richard** · 14th March 25, 09:32 AM

Originally Posted by Allan Thomson

The Khaki ones look like the one I picked up cheaply from an Army Surplus..

Yes the fact that Mackie was making them makes me think that they must have had a military contract, if not with the UK perhaps with Canada.

There's tons of ex-army khaki RRS bonnets on Ebay but they're never big enough for me. Also the MOD bonnets have been getting smaller and smaller in diameter, and I don't care for that look.

Ironically the size of the TOS shrunk over the course of the 20th century while at the same time the size of the Glengarry grew. Usually in fashion men's military and civilian hats tend to grow or shrink together regardless of which sort of hat.

**SF Jeff** · 7th June 25, 11:02 AM

https://thepiperscove.com/ has some original Mackie diced bals in stock. They recently found them in a storage bin, new in the original package, thought to be over 20 years old. I don't think their website accurately reflects what they have in stock so I would email them directly with what you are looking for (color, dice, size, etc.) and they will check their inventory. Price is $99, same as the new ones from scotlandshop.com, but if you're in US/CA you might save some money on postage and customs fees.

**Canadian Vet** · 7th June 25, 04:04 PM

Originally Posted by OC Richard

Yes the fact that Mackie was making them makes me think that they must have had a military contract, if not with the UK perhaps with Canada.

There's tons of ex-army khaki RRS bonnets on Ebay but they're never big enough for me. Also the MOD bonnets have been getting smaller and smaller in diameter, and I don't care for that look.

Ironically the size of the TOS shrunk over the course of the 20th century while at the same time the size of the Glengarry grew. Usually in fashion men's military and civilian hats tend to grow or shrink together regardless of which sort of hat.

Check the label on the inside for a little Broad Arrow [=》] and perhaps the initials BO (Board of Ordinance)
That would identify it as British army and not Canadian.

**figheadair** · 8th June 25, 03:44 AM

Originally Posted by OC Richard

Yes the fact that Mackie was making them makes me think that they must have had a military contract, if not with the UK perhaps with Canada.

They certainly did. When they closed Mackie gave some elder military samples of military bonnets to the STA. Tese included Balmorals and Kilmarnock bonnets but I cannot recall if there were any TOSs. What struck me about these c.1970 era ones was how much stiffer the cloth was with less knap than their more recent civilian ones. I wish that I could have acquired one for myself.