‘‘Jock’s’’ uniform

Every English soldier in the British army knows his Scottish comrade Jock, and the distinctive title goes with a distinctive uniform. But this distinction of uniform is not as 99 out of 100 people imagine, in the wearing of the kilt. Only five of the 10 Scottish regiments wear the kilt. The distinctive features of the Scottish uniform is in the headdress. It is the Kilmarnock bonnet, so called because it is made of thick worsted cloth first woven on the looms of Kilmarnock. It may be either the Glengarry or the Balmoral. The Glengarry is the small narrow cap, in the shape not unlike an upturned boat; the Balmoral is the flat tam’oshanter. All Scottish regiments wear a khaki Balmoral on service, but at home it is worn only by a regiment or two of yeomanry — the Scottish Horse — and one or two battalions of certain foot regiments. A territorial

battalion of the Highland Light Infantry received the nickname of ‘‘Harry Lauder’s Own’’ through being equipped with the Balmoral . . .

All Scottish regiments wear the tartan, the Lowlanders in the form of trews — ‘‘plaid’’ trousers, as the English call them — the Highlanders in the form of the kilt, with the trews as an alternative dress. But only the Highlanders wear this cloth as a service dress, and even then under a khaki apron to hide its distinctive colours. The Black Watch and the Royal Scots Fusiliers wear the socalled universal tartan, a very dark kilt composed of two cross shades of deep green. The Argyle and Sutherland Highlanders wear a similar tartan, but with one green of a much lighter shade, while the Cameron Highlanders have a distinctive red and black tartan. All the other Scottish regiments have a subsidiary stripe or stripes on the universal ground work. — ODT, 31.8.1918