Earliest use of brass-cantle sporrans?

[eckersley]

I would agree with the date at around 1725 and also attribute it to the uniform of the Black Watch.

[TheOfficialBren]

This has been a fascinating thread!

[MacRobert's Reply]

And a few that are in Edinburgh.

http://nms.scran.ac.uk/database/resu...erm=%2Bsporran

I fear that all I am doing is fuelling further sporran envy ... I wonder what Freud would say?

[Tobus]

I fear that all I am doing is fuelling further sporran envy ... I wonder what Freud would say?

Sometimes a sporran is just a sporran.

[SlackerDrummer]

From my limited research, the MoD "Culloden" brass sporran cantles were introduced in 1953 when the Scottish regiments needed a dress uniform for HM Queen Elizabeth's coronation. They apparently had not had anything more formal that battle dress uniforms since the beginning of WWI and all the regiments were issued the same parade dress uniforms (the various tartans being the exception) as needed. These new sporran cantles were supposedly based on an 18th C design. By the end of the 1950s, however, the regiments had all adopted individualized uniforms which more closely resembled those just prior to 1914 and all went back to horsehair sporrans. At least I think I've got that right.

[Downunder Kilt]

Kenneth, you are spot on in relation to the issue of the MoD "Culloden" cantles. though the bags for them were still being produced in 1968 (The lastest dated one I have seen) There were four models of the cantle, Mkl with steel rivets as the dimples on the front with a steel spring and hook locking mechanism which required the knob on top of the cantle to be pulled up. Mkll with the pressed brass dimples on the front and the push down locking mechanism, MKlll that was a silver plated MKll and MKlV which was made of thinner brass and had smaller dimples that the MKll. The newest one I have seen was a MKlV cantle with a bag dated 1968 that was in unworn, unblancoed condition.

[creagdhubh]

And a few that are in Edinburgh.

http://nms.scran.ac.uk/database/resu...erm=%2Bsporran

I fear that all I am doing is fuelling further sporran envy ... I wonder what Freud would say?

Very nice!

[Tullibardine]

I have a Mk I with original unblancoed pouch, Mk II BW and QOCH, and Mk IV, and have owned several others, both with and without cantle. They are supposedly based on an original worn by an Athollman at Culloden, but that story has never been conclusively proven.

Metal cantles don't appear in portraits until well into the 18th century. As only wealthier highlanders could afford them, they weren't common until later. The 1750s Ticonderoga sporran belonged to an officer, Lt. (later General) John Small of the 42nd. Even sporrans of the wealty were simple all-leather affairs until about 1750 - Major Fraser, Moray of Abercairney, the MacDonald children, and Thriepland of Fingask to name a few.

[M. A. C. Newsome]

This one belongs to Sir Malcolm MacGregor of MacGregor, and if I recall correctly, the cantle is stamped with the date 1729.

[longhuntr74]

Peter and Matt...question for both of you. Are you aware if the bags on those 18th century cantles are also original or were they replaced at some point throughout the life of the sporran? They are both obviously old leather...especially the MacGregor one. Also...on the one that Peter posted (and I think I remember reading a thread before about this particular sporran but have forgotten...so I apologize if we're recovering old ground)...what is the purpose of the holes drilled in the face of the cantle? Were they from repairs to the latch mechanism?