Quality Sporrans for less money

[OC Richard]

Yes and the back has the common Pakistani equilateral triangle belt tab.

It's scary though how close they got.

Hmmm in the Pakistani image are the logos actually stamped in the leather or are they Photoshopped on?

It could be that those Pakistani logos weren't taken from the USA Kilts sporran itself, but rather stolen from a graphic image that appears somewhere on the USA Kilts site.

[User]

Adobe Express - file.jpg
The lion logo is on the sporran in the video, so I doubt it's photoshopped.

[OC Richard]

A beautiful Nicoll Brothers seal Evening sporran £60

Obviously for those not in the USA.

I'm puzzled about the cantle design. At first glance I thought it was merely Celtic knotwork, but then I noticed that the middle has stylised letters "ST" or "GT"

https://www.ebay.com/itm/25756936284...Bk9SR_D1zZDaZw

[jsrnephdoc]

In the military, he's the highest-ranking drummer in the pipes & drums.

People often confuse the bearskin headdress worn by the Guards with the feather bonnets worn in Highland Dress. As you can see they look quite different to each other.

First, I don't know what I was THINKING (or not at all) when I started this in the "Quality Sporrans for Less Money" epic. But, here it is, so I still have two (oops, THREE) more questions:

1. Any idea how much those feather bonnets weigh, and even how much MORE the bearskin versions must weigh?
2. It's still not clear to me why the guy with the mace is called the "Drum" Major. If he's the best drummer in the band, why is he not playing drums? If what he "wins" by reaching that peak is the right to get clobbered by the Mace in freefall, I can think of better rewards…
3. The pipers in rows 3 & 4 are wearing their sporrans on or close to the right hip. I don't think that's typical. is it perhaps unique to that band?

[User]

... and even how much MORE the bearskin versions must weigh?
...

A number I've seen quoted for the bearskin hats is 1.5 lbs. I feel bad for the clarinetists having to deal with that lip strap while playing.

[OC Richard]

Lovely brown "Day" sporran by Nicoll Brothers, stamped KA (Kinloch Anderson, a retailer), seemingly in new condition.

$25 Buy It Now.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/17822886180...102140.m167418

[OC Richard]

A number I've seen quoted for the bearskin hats is 1.5 lbs. I feel bad for the clarinetists having to deal with that lip strap while playing.

I used to work at Disneyland, we had a unit of "toy soldier" fanfare trumpet players who marched in the Main Street parades.

They had to wear huge round heads which had a small hole in front to stick the trumpet mouthpiece through, in order to play.

I asked one of the guys about playing trumpet while marching in that costume.

He explained "this costume is perfectly designed to turn good trumpet players into mediocre trumpet players."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2c_OrFkfmuc

[OC Richard]

Any idea how much those feather bonnets weigh?

Strangely enough feather bonnets are extremely lightweight and comfortable to wear. (I've worn those a lot. I have one in my closet now, though I've not worn it in many years.)

The only solid part is the diced headband. Attached to the headband is a frame of aviary wire over which is attached lengths of artificial ostrich-tail. Air can pass through so the whole thing is air-conditioned one could say.

One side has long "tails" that hang down, the number of which vary by regiment and rank. My civilian feather bonnet has four tails. The Scots Guards I don't know, probably five or six. On the tail-side of the bonnet, under the spot where the tails attach, there's a big hole in the side of the bonnet you can't see. The tails are tucked inside for storage. (And when you're wearing the bonnet tails-out you can store things in there.)

It's still not clear to me why the guy with the mace is called the "Drum" Major. If he's the best drummer in the band, why is he not playing drums? If what he "wins" by reaching that peak is the right to get clobbered by the Mace in freefall?

For one thing, traditional military Drum Majors don't twirl their maces or toss them in the air. Those military maces are extremely expensive regimental treasures, sometimes quite old and fairly fragile.

The US High School twirling & tossing Drum Major thing uses special maces made for that purpose.

Sometimes in Drum Major contests they have a separate "military" category.

As for the question "why does the top drummer in the military Pipes & Drums march in front of the band? Why not the top piper?" I think it's because the office of Drum Major predates the existence of pipes & drums bands.

Each regiment had a "military band" of brass, woodwinds, and drums which AFAIK has always been lead by the top drummer.

In addition to the military band each company its own drummer. Then when Highland regiments came along they petitioned the King to be allowed a piper instead of a drummer. Pipes & Drums bands were a later, Victorian, invention.

The pipers in rows 3 & 4 are wearing their sporrans on or close to the right hip.

That's an illusion in the photo, the pipers are wearing their sporrans in the normal place in front.

It's true that Side Drummers and Tenor Drummers, if kilted, do wear their sporrans on the right hip.

Here's a video of the Scots Guards Pipes & Drums leading Scots Guards units where you can see how everything looks.

(Though this video makes the Drum Major thing even more confusing!)

Ha! At 1:20 notice the Pipe Sergeant has to adjust his chanter and strike in the pipes again. I'm assuming he had to take his chanter out of the pipes to adjust the reed right before they played, and put his chanter back in rotated wrongly. It happens!

Also you can see the piper in the front rank marching beside the Pipe Major playing with reversed hands.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iKE-AAAIQdU

[jsrnephdoc]

Strangely enough feather bonnets are extremely lightweight and comfortable to wear. (I've worn those a lot. I have one in my closet now, though I've not worn it in many years.)
The only solid part is the diced headband. Attached to the headband is a frame of aviary wire over which is attached lengths of artificial ostrich-tail. Air can pass through so the whole thing is air-conditioned one could say.

How about the bearskin variety. Surely THEY must be pretty heavy…

traditional military Drum Majors don't twirl their maces or toss them in the air. Those military maces are extremely expensive regimental treasures, sometimes quite old and fairly fragile.

The US High School twirling & tossing Drum Major thing uses special maces made for that purpose.

Sometimes in Drum Major contests they have a separate "military" category.

What still puzzles me is this: how and why is it that in modern or older Pipes and Drums bands, the major qualification for marching at the front of the band is because one is the best at doing something completely different? And, although I'm sure you must be correct, you've assigned me a pleasant YouTube video task: watching a bunch of military parades to make sure the Drum Major never tosses his mace

As for the question "why does the top drummer in the military Pipes & Drums march in front of the band? Why not the top piper?" I think it's because the office of Drum Major predates the existence of pipes & drums bands.

Each regiment had a "military band" of brass, woodwinds, and drums which AFAIK has always been lead by the top drummer.

In addition to the military band each company its own drummer. Then when Highland regiments came along they petitioned the King to be allowed a piper instead of a drummer. Pipes & Drums bands were a later, Victorian, invention.

Does that extinguish yet another bit of false Scottish history? Were the bagpipes not used to frighten opposing armies and therefore forbidden to be played by Highlanders with military intent by the Articles of Proscription? Or, possibly, did I even make up that myth all by myself?

[OC Richard]

What still puzzles me is this: how and why is it that in modern or older Pipes and Drums bands, the major qualification for marching at the front of the band is because one is the best at doing something completely different?

Recall that in the old military setting, say, each company having a drummer, the drummer's primary purpose is to keep time. That's the job of the Drum Major, to set and maintain the tempi (as well as herding everybody in the right direction).

Does that extinguish yet another bit of false Scottish history? Were the bagpipes not used to frighten opposing armies and therefore forbidden to be played by Highlanders with military intent by the Articles of Proscription?

Bagpipes aren't mentioned in the 1746 Articles of Proscription, so yes that part is a myth.

On the other hand from their introduction into the Highlands (possibly as early as the 14th century) bagpipes seem to have been used to accompany Clans into battle as part of the Chief's retinue.

From early on the pipes seem to have been seen as encouraging the Clan in battle. Frightening the enemy obviously wasn't a thing when both sides had pipers.

Each Chief would probably have one, perhaps two, pipers.

When Highland regiments were raised the Captains commanding Companies would bring their personal household piper with them, thus the tradition of each Company having a piper.

It's preposterous how the grand-scale 1970 film Waterloo shows a full Pipes & Drums band (with modern bagpipes and drums to boot)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e-0Y6h52TNc

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wd0M1IBwpyM

and in the film The Buccaneer (even more preposterous because the Highland troops were wearing plain trousers and undress bonnets in that battle)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KqkZr9C5C64

Pipe bands didn't exist at that time. Rather, each Company would have a single piper. What's not known (AFAIK) is if, when a Regiment was formed in Square, the various Company pipers would gather in the middle and play together.

BTW this use of the bagpipe is an outlier. Across Eastern Europe the bagpipe was/is one of the traditional instruments of shepherds, as well as playing for rural weddings. Across Western Europe the bagpipe was/is the traditional rural instrument for weddings and other festive occasions. Possibly because of the ancient association of bards and musicians with the Clan Chief's household in Gaelic society, when the bagpipes arrived they became part of the Chief's retinue, which included going to war.