hunter sporran advice

[David Dubh]

Hi all I have a question about the huter style sporrans.I have a sealskin dress sporran and a semi dress also with sealskin on it. I have read some previous posts about the hunter style and formal wear so I know that they are ok for that. I am considering getting one as sealskin is now banned and I certainly couldn't wear one if I went to the States, my question is should I get one with a metal cantle, if I don' get the metal cantle does that mean that I shouldn't wear it with formal wear (ie prince charlie), or only with an tweed day jacket?
David

[CMcG]

The metal cantle variety of hunting sporran is considered to be more formal. I have one without a cantle and, while it is quite versatile, I would not wear it with formal wear.

[Chas]

As far as I know and has been discussed here, the 'hunter' style sporran is a relatively recent invention in the retail industry. I do not believe that any 'rules' would, or should, apply to its wearing.

Regards

Chas

[OC Richard]

About the origin of "hunting sporran", like all the rest of the small pocketlike sporrans which became the standard by the 1920s, I can't pin down when they appeared.

Nothing at all like 20th century Day Sporrans, Evening Sporrans, or Hunting Sporrans appear in The Highlanders of Scotland (1860s) or in any of the dozens of 19th century images I've collected. Somebody did post here, a while back, a c1900 photo of some member of the aristocracy wearing a sporran which had the cantle of 18th century sporrans but a body somewhat like a modern Hunting Sporran.

Anyhow, Hunting Sporrans appear in some of my old Highland Dress catalogues, in this case Anderson. As you can see it is classed as a "day" sporran



And it's hard to see clearly, but in this old Forsyth catalogue that might be a hunting-like body with a metal cantle (I lost the bidding war on Ebay for this catalogue)



Anyhow here's the classic Hunting Sporran as it appears in old Highland Dress catalogues down to today, this a fine example made by L&M



Now, when pipe bands all went to black Argyll jackets and Glengarries in the 1980-1990 period, they at first didn't know just what to do sporranwise, some bands going with Evening, some with Day, sporrans.

Then this sporran, almost overnight, became the world standard for pipe bands. Why? I suppose it has some "bling" with the chome cantle, yet has no fur which screams "evening", and has no dangling tassels for band members to lose. It's the old Hunting Sporran, but done up in black, with a chrome Evening cantle stuck on top, another excellent L&M product:



And here's top-notch modern pipe band dress as worn by multiple World Champions SFU, wearing these exact sporrans. At many competitions you can see five to ten pipe bands in a row wearing these sporrans.



L&M also offers some extremely lovely, interesting twists on the traditional Hunting design. I really want to get one of these:





I have a feeling that the red one would not look much out-of-place with Evening wear.

And lastly, I came across this interesting blend between a standard Day and Hunting sporran