A tam o' shanter (in the British military often abbreviated to ToS) or "tammie" is a name given to the traditional Scottish bonnet worn by men. The name derives from Tam o' Shanter, the eponymous hero of the 1790

Robert Burns Robert Burns (25 January 175921 July 1796), also known familiarly as Rabbie Burns, was a Scottish poet and lyricist. He is widely regarded as the national poet of Scotland and is celebrated worldwide. He is the best known of the poets who hav ...

poem.

Description

The tam o' shanter is a flat bonnet, originally made of wool hand-knitted in one piece, stretched on a wooden disc to give the distinctive flat shape, and subsequently

felt Felt is a textile material that is produced by matting, condensing and pressing fibers together. Felt can be made of natural fibers such as wool or animal fur, or from synthetic fibers such as petroleum-based acrylic or acrylonitrile or wood ...

ed. The earliest forms of these caps, known as a blue bonnet from their typical colour, were made by bonnet-makers in

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

. By the year 1599 five bonnet-makers'

guild A guild ( ) is an association of artisans and merchants who oversee the practice of their craft/trade in a particular area. The earliest types of guild formed as organizations of tradesmen belonging to a professional association. They sometimes ...

s had formed in cities around the country: Edinburgh, Aberdeen, Perth, Stirling and Glasgow. At the end of the 16th century, it was said that the Scottish caps were the normal fashion of men and servants, and they remained so throughout the 17th century. Similar in outline to the various types of flat bonnet common in northwestern Europe during the 16th century, the later tam o' shanter is distinguished by the woollen ball or

toorie A pom-pom – also spelled pom-pon, pompom or pompon – is a decorative ball or tuft of fibrous material. The term may refer to large tufts used by cheerleaders, or a small, tighter ball attached to the top of a hat, also known as a ...

decorating the centre of the crown; the name itself did not enter common usage until the early 19th century, subsequent to the popularity of Burns' poem. The term came to denote a hat, usually associated with Scottish military regiments, derived from the old bonnet,Brandreth, ''Wordplay'', 2015. along with the

Glengarry The Glengarry bonnet is a traditional Scots cap made of thick-milled woollen material, decorated with a toorie on top, frequently a rosette cockade on the left side, and ribbons hanging behind. It is normally worn as part of Scottish military ...

and the

Balmoral bonnet The Balmoral (more fully the Balmoral bonnet in Scottish English or Balmoral cap otherwise, and formerly called the Kilmarnock bonnet) is a traditional Scottish hat that can be worn as part of formal or informal Highland dress. Developed from t ...

s. The Balmoral was sometimes simply described as synonymous with the tam o' shanter.Rinker, ''World War II collectables'', 1994, p. 25. Before the introduction of inexpensive synthetic dyes in the mid-19th century, the Scottish knitted bonnet was made only in colours easily available from natural dyes, particularly

woad ''Isatis tinctoria'', also called woad (), dyer's woad, or glastum, is a flowering plant in the family Brassicaceae (the mustard family) with a documented history of use as a blue dye and medicinal plant. Its genus name, Isatis, derives from ...

indigo Indigo is a deep color close to the color wheel blue (a primary color in the RGB color space), as well as to some variants of ultramarine, based on the ancient dye of the same name. The word "indigo" comes from the Latin word ''indicum'', m ...

(hence "blue bonnet"). Since that time the tam o' shanter has been produced in a wider range of fabrics, such as serge, as single colours, as well as

tartan Tartan ( gd, breacan ) is a patterned cloth consisting of criss-crossed, horizontal and vertical bands in multiple colours. Tartans originated in woven wool, but now they are made in other materials. Tartan is particularly associated with Sc ...

. Women have also adopted a form of this hat, known as a "tammy" or "tam".

Military use

In the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, a khaki

was introduced in 1915 for wear in the trenches by Scottish infantry serving on the Western Front. This came to be known as the "bonnet, tam o' shanter", later abbreviated among military personnel to "ToS". It replaced the

– which was the regulation bonnet worn by Scottish troops with khaki field dress at the start of the war. Originally knitted, the military tam o' shanter subsequently came to be constructed from separate pieces of khaki serge cloth. Today, the

Royal Regiment of Scotland The Royal Regiment of Scotland is the British Army Order of Precedence, senior and only Scottish regiment, Scottish line infantry regiment of the British Army Infantry. It consists of three regular (formerly five) and two Army Reserve (United ...

and

Scottish regiments A Scottish regiment is any regiment (or similar military unit) that at some time in its history has or had a name that referred to Scotland or some part thereof, and adopted items of Scottish dress. These regiments were created after the Acts ...

of the

Canadian Army The Canadian Army (french: Armée canadienne) is the command responsible for the operational readiness of the conventional ground forces of the Canadian Armed Forces. It maintains regular forces units at bases across Canada, and is also respo ...

continue to wear the ToS as undress and working headgear. The various battalions of the

identify themselves by wearing distinctive coloured

hackle The hackle is a clipped plume or short spray of coloured feathers that is attached to a military headdress, with different colours being associated with particular regiments. In the British Army and the armies of some Commonwealth countries, ...

s on their bonnets. The

Black Watch The Black Watch, 3rd Battalion, Royal Regiment of Scotland (3 SCOTS) is an infantry battalion of the Royal Regiment of Scotland. The regiment was created as part of the Childers Reforms in 1881, when the 42nd (Royal Highland) Regiment ...

, 3rd Battalion,

wear a red hackle in their ToS, as do soldiers of The Black Watch of Canada. Some regiments of the

wear different coloured toories: the

Royal Highland Fusiliers of Canada The Royal Highland Fusiliers of Canada is a Primary Reserve light infantry regiment of the Canadian Army, with companies in Cambridge and Kitchener, and is an infantry sub-unit of 31 Canadian Brigade Group, headquartered in London, Ontario. The P ...

have traditionally worn dark green;

The North Nova Scotia Highlanders The North Nova Scotia Highlanders was an infantry regiment of the Canadian Army founded in 1936. In 1954, it was amalgamated with The Pictou Highlanders and 189 LAA RCA Battery to form 1st Battalion, The Nova Scotia Highlanders (North). History ...

wore red toories during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

; and the

Stormont, Dundas and Glengarry Highlanders Stormont, Dundas and Glengarry Highlanders is a Primary Reserve infantry regiment of the Canadian Army. It is part of 33 Canadian Brigade Group, 4th Canadian Division and is headquartered in Cornwall, Ontario. Regimental badge Superimposed upon a ...

wore blue. Most regiments, however, wear a khaki toorie, matching the bonnet. In many Canadian regiments it is traditional for soldiers to wear a ToS, while

officers An officer is a person who has a position of authority in a hierarchical organization. The term derives from Old French ''oficier'' "officer, official" (early 14c., Modern French ''officier''), from Medieval Latin ''officiarius'' "an officer," f ...

(and in some cases senior

non-commissioned officer A non-commissioned officer (NCO) is a military officer who has not pursued a commission. Non-commissioned officers usually earn their position of authority by promotion through the enlisted ranks. (Non-officers, which includes most or all enli ...

s) wear the balmorals instead. The tam o'shanter is generally in rough khaki wool, while the balmoral is in finer quality doe-skin of a pale tan or grey shade. The tam o' shanter was traditionally worn by various regiments of the Australian Army which have a Scottish connection. B (Scottish) Company 5th/6th Battalion, Royal Victoria Regiment wore both a khaki and blue bonnet at various stages. It appears this has now been superseded by the Glengarry.

Police bands

Hong Kong Police The Hong Kong Police Force (HKPF) is the primary law enforcement, investigative agency, and largest disciplined service under the Security Bureau of Hong Kong. The Royal Hong Kong Police Force (RHKPF) reverted to its former name after the t ...

Band bagpipes section wears a black and red version.

Academic tam

The velvet academic tam worn with a tassel is part of the ceremonial dress used at many universities to distinguish those holding a doctoral degree (e.g. Ph.D, Ed.D) from those holding other academic degrees. Although referred to as a "tam", the academic tam derives from the

Tudor bonnet A Tudor bonnet (also referred to as a doctor's bonnet or round cap) is a traditional soft-crowned, round-brimmed cap, with a tassel hanging from a cord encircling the hat. As the name suggests, the Tudor bonnet was popularly worn in England and ...

rather than the Scottish tam o' shanter, and the cap is constructed of two pieces of either six- or eight-pointed cuts of fabric attached to a headband rather than the pie segments used in a tam o' shanter.

Fashion tam

The tam, or tam cap, became a fashionable women's accessory from the early 1920s and was derived from the tam o' shanter. It followed the trends for closer fitting hats and for borrowing from men's fashion.

References