Glengarry cap ot; The Cameronians (Scottish Rifles)

[Watchdog]

A Christmas addition;

During the Cardwell reforms of 1881 The Cameronians (Scottish Rifles) was formed by the amalgamation of the 26th Cameronian Regiment and The 90th Perthshire Light Infantry. At that time they were the only Scottish "Rifle Regiment" (an archaic / historical term relating to the use of rifles rather than smoothbore muskets).

This amalgamation coincided with the decision to style the Cameronian Regiment as "Scottish Rifles".

The "rifles" connection resulted in the adoption of a "Rifle Green" glengarry with a black toorie (as the terms "Rifles" and "Light Infantry become quite synonymous the Highland Light Infantry also wore a green glengarry).

The Cameronians (SR) served with great distinction in both Word Wars and were renowned for their aggressive and tenacious fighting spirit.

In 1968 with post-war reductions the Cameronians elected to be disbanded rather than amalgamate with another regiment (only the York and Lancaster Regiment made a similarly proud choice) and the name "Cameronians" disappeared from the order of battle.

As has been discussed before the glengarry cap itself is very hard to date especially when any issue or maker marks have faded. One can be sure that a leather banded item is pre or early WWI but after that one has to rely on other factors such as patina and provenance.

So this one could be as early as WWI or as late as 1968 but my sense is that it originates probably during WWII. The green cap is now really quite rare and most that you will see are modern civilian types made (still on sale) for veterans and associations.
The colour can be very hard to tell apart from blue caps unless seen side by side in daylight so my last pic is a comparison.

I hope you like this one as much as I do and as always all opinion and comment is very welcome.

Regards

Mark

PS I have used different software recently and for some reason the pics which are all 250KB or less will not enlarge when added to the thread. It shouldn't be an issue for this purpose but I think I need to revert to my older method!

[tubist73]

Very nice and clean example you have there. For reference, here is my only Cameronians Glengarry - I was lucky enough to pick this up here in Europe from an old collection. It has a leather sweatband and luckily some visible stamps inside, including the maker Robert Sim and a date of either 1910 or 1916. An expert more knowledgeable than me might be able to work out if this is a pre-WW1 or mid-war example. But it illustrates some of the differences you mentioned in your post, so I hope you don't mind me sharing.

Matthew

inside

[Jerry B]

I believe they changed from leather edge trim to cloth in 1915

[Watchdog]

I believe they changed from leather edge trim to cloth in 1915

Hi Matthew,

I agree with Gerry about the change but I can't find written confirmation anywhere. So, accepting 1915 as the change point it is important to remember that such a change particularly in an army like the British and during a major war, would not be instantaneous with earlier and later patterns being worn concurrently for some time. This is confused further by the widespread use (still common today) of private purchase headdress which from the maker name stamp yours could possibly be. So, this cap would be a pre-1915 pattern but may well have been used after 1915.

The cap badge itself can be a source of information too. Yours looks like it might be frosted which would suggest an officer pattern. Also the size and whether it is stamped or solid is relevant.
If it measures 2.5 inches across then it would be for a Pte/Cpl but if it is 3 inches this would be for Sgts. It is a combination of these factors that help tell which it is.

There are other variations but that is another subject.

One thing I can say for sure is that the cap badge backing on yours is incorrect. It is the wrong material (looks like cotton duck or similar) and the wrong construction.
It should be a stylised "bow" of silk ribbon which is made of two pieces, the "bow" shape is stitched to a backing of the same material. If you look at the 2nd picture of my glengarry above you can clearly see this even though the picture is a bit small.
This could have been done by the owner but based on the importance placed on such things in British regiments I doubt it.

This "Bow" is sometimes mistakenly called a rosette which is a similar type of thing used in British dress but which is circular. For example some Scots highland regiments have a rosette cap badge backing rather than the bow on the feather bonnet.

Another thing to look for is whether you can see if this is the only badge to have been fitted to this cap. Generally speaking, with badges of the period the positioning of the lugs can vary slightly and the holes in the cap would be simple punctures made by the wearer so together with age related wear it is often possible to tell whether the badge has ever been changed. This is not cast iron proof of anything untoward as soldiers do replace badges for many reasons but it is a useful point overall.

As for the badge backing you may of course wish to keep it "as found" but whilst an original ribbon will be almost impossible to find (unless you take it from another cap which is not good) modern replacements which are made the same way from the same material are pretty good alternative.

This dealer is reliable (most of his stock is fairly modern) and carries a stock of these;

Black Watch & Other Scottish Glengarry Badges Badge Backing

NB He calls it a rosette.

Anyway, I hope this is of some interest / assistance.

Regards

Mark