Uniform in 1903 The radical change of headdress came in 1903 when the ‘English’ blue home service helmet was exchanged for the Kilmarnock Bonnet cocked. The top of the blue bonnet was stiffened and tilted to the right so that a black silk cockade and white metal badge would show to good effect on the left side. The most striking part of the headdress was the blackcock feathers inserted between the silk rosette and the body of the bonnet. These are curled black feathers from the tail of the black grouse. The bonnet was worn in dress uniform in Britain and Ireland until it was replaced for the rank-and-file by the Lowland bonnet cocked in 1914.
The other change to the uniform was the adoption of Leslie tartan trews to replace the government, or McChilders, tartan worn since 1881. This scheme shows the Leslie tartan on the right and the Royal Stewart tartan, worn by the pipers, on the left. The rest of the items include the undress Glengarry, parts of the dress doublet, and the badge worn on both the Kilmarnock and the Glengarry. Lower right is a collar badge worn by the rank-and-file.
