Officers, 7th Middlesex (London Scottish) Volunteer Rifle Corps, 1895 (c)

Glass negative, William Gregory and Company, 51 Strand, London, 1895 (c).

This image comes from a collection of glass plate negatives associated with William Gregory and Company. The negatives depict the British Army, including some members of the colonial forces, 'at home' in Britain during the 1890s.

As well as being intimate portraits of soldiers from this era, the images provide detailed illustrations of uniforms worn during the high point of military tailoring.

The London Scottish Rifle Volunteers were founded in 1859, under the command of Lieutenant Colonel Lord Elcho, who decided to clothe the soldiers not in a tartan kilt but in the solid 'hodden' grey cloth common throughout Scotland. Both officers wear a frogged patrol jacket with toggles, cut away at the front like a doublet. The officer on the left is wearing overalls, in place of the kilt worn by the officer on the right. They wear dark blue glengarry caps with the Scottish thistle badge, and carry swagger sticks under their arms.

The officer on the right wears a horsehair sporran over his kilt. His dirk is visibly attached to his belt and his skean dhu is tucked into his sock.

One of a collection of 280 glass negatives, associated with William Gregory and Company, London, and Francis Godolphin Osborne Stuart (1843-1923), 1892 (c)-1900.