Feather bonnet

This article is about the Scottish military headdress. For the headdress traditionally worn by Plains Indians, seewar bonnet.

Drum majorof theBand of the Royal Regiment of Scotlandwearing the feather bonnet

Thefeather bonnetis a type ofmilitaryheaddressused mainly by theScottish Highlandinfantryregimentsof theBritish Armyfrom about 1763 until the outbreak of World War I. It is now mostly worn bypipers and drummersin various bands throughout the world. It is also worn in a similar fashion by regiments in various Commonwealth armies.

History

Queen's Own Cameron Highlanders' Piper, Kenneth MacKay, urges on the Highland Troops at TheBattle of Waterlooin 1815, byWilliam Lockhart Bogle.Note his headgear, the feather bonnet of c. 1800.

The feather bonnet began with the knittedblue bonnetwith a chequered border. This was propped up and worn with a tallhackle.During the 17th and 18th century, the highlanders who wore this hat began to addostrich feathersto decorate it. This decoration evolved into a full covering of the original bonnet. The ostrich feathers were then entwined into a lightweight cage, producing the height. The feather bonnet has one or more (usually 4 or 5) "tails" that hang down below the headband, and the regimental badge and hackle are displayed on the left.

There are parallels between the evolution of the Highland bonnet between 1760 and 1790 and the stationing of Highland regiments in North America in this period. The influence of the head-dresses ofNative Americanson the bonnets of these troops is likely as contemporary pictures of Highlanders in Scotland do not show similar ornamentation with feathers, other than those of a few clan chiefs. On the return of the42nd Footto Britain in 1790 an official report commented that"Their bonnets are entirely disfigured. They are so covered with lofty feathers that they appear likegrenadier capsof blackbearskin."

Use

The feather bonnet has been used by all of theScottishhighland regiments at one point or another. Examples include theBlack Watch(red Hackle) and theSeaforth Highlanders,Gordon Highlanders,Queen's Own Cameron HighlandersandArgyll and Sutherland Highlanders(all with white hackles). Despite its elaborate appearance, the feather bonnet is a highly practical piece of military gear, as it is lightweight and the internal cage offers protection from blows. William Gordon-Alexander, an officer of theSutherland Highlanderswho served in India in the 1850s, after describing how atulwar-cut to the head of a fellow officer had been averted by the wire frame of his feather bonnet, said: "Burroughs' feather bonnet saved his life from this sword-cut, as many of our lives were saved by it, in the succeeding hot-weather campaign, from the sun", immediately quoting an 1884 pamphlet by Lord Archibald Campbell in defence of the feather bonnet as being:

[…] not only the most serviceable head-dress in the British army as a protection against sword-cuts but also being,when properly made up,the most perfectly ventilated and coolest one for hot climates hitherto invented.

Feather bonnets, as worn by theSutherland Highlandersformed in'The Thin Red Line'which repelled the Russian cavalry at theBattle of Balaklavain 1856.