Glasgow Highlanders-Black Watch

[Peter Brydon]

Alan,

The J.B. Peters articles are known for errors some of which have unfortunately been repeated in later books.

I did wonder if the badge that JBP notes as having been seen but not worn was in fact another example of Robs badge which started the thread ?

P.B.

[Alan O]

I would suspect that was the case.

Alan

[Sonofacqms]

Thanks to all who have contributed to this thread, I can see what Alan means about a struggle to get Royal Highland regiment on the lower scrolls even with abreviating Regiment it would be a designers nightmare.

Interesting that both units objected to the idea, I wonder why?

Rob

[Alan O]

This was the blunt star badge which is attributed to the 2nd Bn rasied circa 1938. The badge was supposedly made in Glasgow to meet the sudden demand for new badges when a duplicate battalion was raised.

[Tinto]

Good work, Alan, an interesting badge. What are the dimensions?
I purchased a similar badge, along with other mint Scottish badges, from a Glasgow men's outfitters in 1963.
Cheers, Tinto
PS Have just looked through my bits and pieces to find the envelope of W.L.Thomson & Son Ltd., 25 Union Street, Glasgow.

[fougasse1940]

Originally Posted by Alan O

This was the blunt star badge which is attributed to the 2nd Bn rasied circa 1938. The badge was supposedly made in Glasgow to meet the sudden demand for new badges when a duplicate battalion was raised.

Thanks for posting. Never seen one before, but purely form a design point of view it is interesting to see how the 'blunting' of the star lends the original victorian design a much more contemporary art deco flavour, intended or not.

Rgds,

Thomas.

[dubaiguy]

Tinto
The dims on my blunt Glagow Highlanders badge are 71mm North/South and 55mm East/West measured from star end to star end.

Here are mine:

9th Btn Officers
9th Btn Lacesset spelling
9th Btn Lacessit spelling
Glasgow Highlander Q/C
Glasgow highlanders (suspect)
Glasgow Highlanders blunt

Dubaiguy

[Tinto]

Thanks, Dubaiguy.
An attractive lot you have shown. I don't have the QC variant.
Cheers, Tinto

[Malcolm Davey]

Some nice examples shown, here are the ones i have.

5th Btn Glasgow Highlanders QVC
9th Btn Lacesset spelling
9th Btn Lacessit spelling (Large Version)
Glasgow Highlanders blunt
Glasgow highlanders (I have 2)


Malc

[forty twa]

The badge was not worn by the Black Watch and according to the RHF museum and their records was not worn by the Glasgow Highlanders.
The theory is that someone got hold of an old die and messed about with it. This story, re the theory, came round in the 1970s.

TM

[forty twa]

This badge was not worn by the Black Watch or the Glasgow Highlanders. The consensus from both regiments is that someone got hold of an old die and re-cut it - 'just to confuse collectors'.
Some clearly have been struck too heavily and have pierced the badges around the scrolls - these look hellish. Others which are only slightly better looking are scarce but worth having in your collection as curios only.

TM

[Alan O]

The '2nd bn blunt die' die has no similarities with any other so its not a case of re-cutting an old die to create the wide star arms, but a totally new die with a different design of sphinx, scrolls, arms the whole lot.

So I presume that forty twa means the GH badge with the altered Black Watch title?

It's mentioned in Gaylor's book of which the 1st edition which was published in 1971. If that's the case then it's a very early fake.

Does anyone have the 1st edn to hand?

[Peter Brydon]

Attached is what Gaylor said.

P.B.

[kingsley]

I have had two of these badges in the past 30 years, both quite well made and old-looking. I always regarded them as a manufacturer's mistake and never thought of them as a deliberate falsification. All I know is that they are neither BW or HLI!

[Alan O]

If as Peter's article above shows, they were about in 1968 then that would suggest a makers' error and never worn.