seaforth sporran

[bif]

Does anyone have a photo of a 4th or 5th Battn Seaforth  sporran ?  I'm confused as to if they were the same, did the cantle have any kind of device, and were they tasseled ?   

 

                                                                 Thanks in advance,   Bif   

[gordon92]

First photo shows 5th Seaforth sporran; officers had 3 tassels.

 

Second photo has sporran worn by 4th Seaforth and all other Seaforth battalions.

 

How is that story coming on the Thornhill medals?  I guess you have been pretty busy the last 2 or 3 years.

 

 

  

[mancpal]

Perhaps a silly question but didn't all the Seaforth bttns wear the same tartan? I'd assumed each Scottish Regiment would have their own and it would have been worn by all bttns within.

The two shots above look like two different tartans, did they have a dress and a hunting tartan?

 

Please educate,

 

Simon

[Andrew Upton]

2 hours ago, mancpal said:

Perhaps a silly question but didn't all the Seaforth bttns wear the same tartan? I'd assumed each Scottish Regiment would have their own and it would have been worn by all bttns within.

 

Simple answer - no. As per the illustration above, the 5th Bn. in particular did various things different to most (eg tartan, glengarries, badges, hose, sporran, etc). I have only ever really concentrated on regular Seaforth kit to any degree because otherwise it starts becoming confusing quickly...

[gordon92]

20 hours ago, mancpal said:

Perhaps a silly question but didn't all the Seaforth bttns wear the same tartan? I'd assumed each Scottish Regiment would have their own and it would have been worn by all bttns within.

The two shots above look like two different tartans, did they have a dress and a hunting tartan?

 

Please educate,

 

Simon

 

To add to Andrew's remarks, the 5th Seaforth had an entirely different origin than the other Seaforth battalions.  Its provenance was the 1st Sutherland Volunteer Rifle Corps.  With the Childers reforms of 1881 The Seaforth Highlanders acquired Sutherland as a recruiting area, and, just a few years later, with the territorialisation of the Volunteer battalions the Seaforth became the parent regiment of the Sutherland VRC.  The Sutherland VRC and its successor, the 5th (Sutherland & Caithness) Batt Seaforth Highlanders TF, retained its Sutherland uniform distinctions.  These included its own sporran, red-black diced hose, Sutherland dicing (red-white) on glengarries for ORs with officers wearing solid blue glengarries, and scarlet facings on the full dress doublet.  All the other Seaforth TF battalions conformed largely to the dress of the regular battalions.

 

Hope this helps.

 

Mike

[mancpal]

Yes, thanks to you both. I couldn't off hand think why one Regiment would have different uniform but what you tell me makes perfect sense.

 

Thanks again,

 

Simon

[gordon92]

1 hour ago, mancpal said:

Yes, thanks to you both. I couldn't off hand think why one Regiment would have different uniform but what you tell me makes perfect sense.

 

Thanks again,

 

Simon

Glad I could help.

[mancpal]

Bif ,

Forgot to mention, nice hat

 

Simon

 

[Steven Broomfield]

13 hours ago, gordon92 said:

 

 

To add to Andrew's remarks, the 5th Seaforth had an entirely different origin than the other Seaforth battalions.  Its provenance was the 1st Sutherland Volunteer Rifle Corps.  With the Childers reforms of 1881 The Seaforth Highlanders acquired Sutherland as a recruiting area, and, just a few years later, with the territorialisation of the Volunteer battalions the Seaforth became the parent regiment of the Sutherland VRC.  The Sutherland VRC and its successor, the 5th (Sutherland & Caithness) Batt Seaforth Highlanders TF, retained its Sutherland uniform distinctions.  These included its own sporran, red-black diced hose, Sutherland dicing (red-white) on glengarries for ORs with officers wearing solid blue glengarries, and scarlet facings on the full dress doublet.  All the other Seaforth TF battalions conformed largely to the dress of the regular battalions.

 

Hope this helps.

 

Mike

 

Did that include the Government tartan?

10 hours ago, mancpal said:

Bif ,

Forgot to mention, nice hat

 

Simon

 

 

Don't encourage him.

[gordon92]

10 hours ago, Steven Broomfield said:

 

Did that include the Government tartan?

 

 

Yes, forgot to mention that.  5th Seaforth wore kilts of Government tartan box pleated identical to the A&SH.  After both World Wars 4th and 5th Bns amalgamated in the TA into a 4th/5th Batt.  Half the Batt wore the uniform of the 4th and the other half dressed like the 5th.  Thanks for reminding me about the tartan.

[bif]

Thanks  to you all,  Mike, Andrew, Simon,  and yes even you Steve.  Once again those of us who need to be encouraged are by examples like Mike sharing his wealth of knowledge with the lesser informed.  Maybe some day I'll be able to do the same.    a humbled,   Bif