Wee Balmoral Kilt

Recently I was fortunate to acquire, through Ebay.co.uk, a child's Balmoral kilt from a Scottish antiques dealer. I got it for a steal, really, and it even came with a small photo album showing pictures of the original owner. None of the photos have a name or date, so we don't know anything of the wee chap. I would assume the photos to be from the 1930s. I've included a couple of them below.

When the kilt arrived, I couldn't help but notice that it looked to be just the right size for my son, Josiah, age 3. He was super excited to try it on. (He especially liked that fact that this child's kilt is of the variety that has an attached vest to help keep it up. He loves tank tops and would wear them year round if we let him. It was all I could do to convince him to put on a pull-over to go out in the 40 degree weather!). When I brought out a pair of kilt hose and flashes for him, he was beside himself. "Now I can come to work with you, Daddy!" he beamed at me.

We went out in the yard for a few pictures. (That's one of my other sons, Malcolm, in the background of the second shot). What do you think, is my son a natural in the kilt, or what?

Now I know what some of you are thinking. Isn't the Balmoral tartan restricted for the use of the Royal family? Well, yes it is. It was designed in 1853 by Prince Albert, Queen Victoria's husband. Today it is worn by the Queen and several members of the Royal family. According to the Scottish Tartans Authority, the only other person authorized to wear the tartan is the Queen's personal piper. The tartan was originally woven by Romanes & Pattersons, but today the Royal Warrant holders are Kinloch Anderson.

According to the Royal Insight page, however, it was Edward VIII in 1936 who put restrictions in place to "to prevent further commercial manufacture for the public." This indicates that prior to that time it was being manufactured and sold to the public, at least on some scale. Since I sincerely doubt that my wee kilt here was worn by a member of the Royal family (at least if it had been I doubt I would have gotten it at such a low price!), my assumption is that this kilt was purchased originally prior to 1936.

Wearing the Balmoral tartan is not illegal in the UK, though it would be considered in poor taste. If my family and I were to travel to the UK, I'd never have my son wear it there. However, I see no harm in him wearing it to explore his own back yard. He certainly loves wearing it! And he takes to it quite naturally. Now he wants a sporran for Christmas. All I can say is that his father is certainly proud!

Sporrans old & new

I promised in my last post to give some email on my newly revamped brass cantle sporran. If you remember, this is the sporran that I got about a year ago, seen pictured here. It was a very nice sporran, and I was very happy with it. But I was so impressed with the Ferguson Britt sporrans that we've been offering in the museum gift shop, that I asked the maker if he could fashion a new bag to fit with the metal top, and he was more than happy to oblidge.

I got the result just after the Stone Mountain Highland Games, and am very happy with it. The bag is a bit longer than the original, and is made from a heavier elk hide. The braided tassels are fastened at the two sides and one in the center in true eighteenth century fashion (as opposed to three on the front as in most modern sporrans). Like all Ferguson Britt sporrans, this one is fully lined with elk suede.

I'm such a fan of his work now that I also commissioned him to make me a lighter brown sporran. I have a few kilts that I thought would look better with a light brown, and thought that a sporran in this color would round out my collection. So I commissioned an Invernan style, which is similar to the beaver fur Glengyle that was my first sporran made by Britt. The main difference is the Invernan style has a much wider opening. I call this one my "large mouth bass" sporran. The first pic below shows you the sporran, made with light brown elk hide with dark brown elk details. Then the second shows you just how large the opening is. Believe it or not, I have my wallet, cell phone, work keys, car/home keys, and a bottle of eye drops (from my lasik surgery), and I can still fit my whole fist in on top of all of that!

Obviously, I am extremely happy with my Ferguson Britt sporrans. I've never encountered a better sporran anywhere than the ones made by this master craftsman. The only down side is how addicting they are!

At the Foothills Highland Games

I've just returned from the 7th Annual Foothills Highland Games in Hendersonville, NC. These are a very nice mid-sized Games that I have been neglecting to attend of late! I was at their inaugural Games in the year 2000, but since that time I've managed to have other commitments every year on that weekend. This year I was finally able to go, so took the chance.

The Scottish Tartans Museum has always had an information booth there, manned by some of our good volunteers. This year we had museum trustees Walter Taylor and Carl McSween, as well as volunteers Al Bullman and Chuck Coburn. With myself that made for five of us -- more than enough to cover the tartan information table and allow time for each of us to walk around, see the sights, and spend time chit chatting with old friends. And the best part is I was back home by supper time!

So here are some pics from the Games. First, yours truly.

It was a cool day. When we arrived at the Games site at 9:00am, I believe it was just above freezing. It warmed up during the day, but the wind picked up, making it feel very cold at times. I took the opportunity to wear my Harris Tweed kilt suit. It kept me nice and warm, though I admit that I had to keep the jacket on all day! I'm wearing my hinged-cantle sporran that I've posted about in this blog before, only I have had the bag completely replaced by one hand crafted by Adron L. Britt of Ferguson Britt sporrans. (More on that in another post). The walking stick I'm holding isn't mine. It was made by Mark Harden, Baron of Cowdenknowes, who has recently taken up stick making! It's a nice model with a bison horn crook and, if I recall correctly, a hazel wood shaft. I'm just holding it for him in this photo. Speaking of Mark...

Here is the Baron himself, wearing his Harden family tartan, and holding another of his walking sticks. Mark was the "chief of the games" at this year's Foothills Highland Games. He and his family appear to have had a great time. Mark is also a member of the Society of Scottish Armigers, and gave a talk on Scottish heraldry. I spoke to him about coming and giving a similar talk at next year's Taste of Scotland festival in Franklin, NC.

The above photo is of Adron L. Britt (left) and Bob Marin (right). Neither of these two characters really need an introduction, but Adron is the maker of the fine Ferguson Britt line of sporrans we are now proud to carry in the Museum's gift shop, and Bob is a kiltmaker (retired) and kilt historian, who taught yours truly how to make kilts. Adron is wearing the Burnett tartan in a feilidh mor and Bob is wearing a plaid in the Marin tartan, a waistcoat in the Campbell, and (though you cannot see it in this photo) a box pleated kilt in the "R. W.'s Fancy" tartan (his personal tartan). (By the way, those are Mark Harden's hands to the right grasping the single malt and pointing commands).

Lastly, a group shot. From left to right: James A. Bullman (my co-author on the Compendium of District Tartans), wearing a fine tweed Inverness cape (that he could have sold nine times over today!), and a 5 yard Kinguisse pleated Roxburgh tartan kilt that you cannot see; Bruce Ball, a friend of Bob Martin's who designed his own Ball tartan and made his own kilt; Marjorie Warren, of Thistle Studio, a very talented tartan handweaver; and yours truly.

I had a great day, spent some good times with friends, and managed to leave only buying a cup of coffee, a meat pie, and two heather plants that will soon be in my garden!