Renfrewshire Militia Records

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nixonclan73
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Re: Renfrewshire Militia Records

Post by nixonclan73 » Tue Jul 25, 2017 4:57 pm

If there are any other uniform geeks out there I have done some background reading in the Osprey Men at Arms series and volume 5 of the Cecil Lawson book previously mentioned. I have also looked at some documents from the 1790s in the Scottish records Office. I hope this is of help and if anyone has an alternative view, I'd be happy to hear it. The West Lowland Fencibles were dressed as an army line regiment with red tunics and green facings. They also wore trews instead of white trousers. It is suggested that they wore a round leather, flat fronted light infantry hat with a small peak, maybe with fur trim. They may also have worn bonnets (Kilmarnock Style). The light infantry cap, with or without peak (See Osprey 261- Men at Arms) was worn on special occasions only and the bonnet, being more comfortable was the headgear of choice.

The Lanarkshire Militia were dressed as a line regiment with red tunic over a white waistcoat and white trousers. The facings were blue.
The Renfrew - North British militia, were as above with yellow facings and a yellow cockade in the bonnet or cap The Osprey 285 -Men at Arms is also helpful.

I am sure of the facings, but there could be variations on the other details There seems to be less information on the militia than the regular army and if you've seen a contemporary Gilray cartoon, it could have been a complete mish-mash. My conclusion is that after the Militia act of 1797, once the protests had settled down that the militia became more standardised and more like line regiments. There is a line drawing on page 61 of the Cecil Lawson volume, showing the Dumfries Militia in 1802, which bears out much of the above.. it also suggests that by 1802 the hats had got bigger!

If you have a more informed view, please let me know. Otherwise, Happy Hunting !

Terence.

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