Original British Victorian Era Scottish Highland Light Infantry Shako – Dated 1900 Original Items

Original Item; Only One Available. This 1900 manufactured pre Great War Scottish shako is in wonderful condition. The blue woolen body of the hat is clean with no evidence of moth.  The diced band is red-white-red and red-green-red. The front features a Victorian regimental hat badge and a black rosette with a silver thistle, both of which contain a fair amount of green-blue verdigris. Ornamental coredellete strap and tassel are attached and in very nice condition. Visor and leather banding show no cracking or stitching issues.  

The thick, interior leather sweatband has some wear and flaking to it, but not to a detrimental degree. The same goes for the rather thin chin strap. The original maker tag is in clear display on the inside of the crown:

4/12   1900
F. Jacobson
Army Contractor,
10, St. Martin’s Ct, London W.C.

There is also a light white WD broad arrow stamp and 1901 date

Dimensions:
Overall length:  10”
Overall width:  7 ½”
Height:  7”
Circumference:  21”
Size: 6 3/4 56cm

The Highland Light Infantry (HLI) was a light infantry regiment of the British Army formed in 1881. It took part in the First and Second World Wars, until it was amalgamated with the Royal Scots Fusiliers in 1959 to form the Royal Highland Fusiliers (Princess Margaret’s Own Glasgow and Ayrshire Regiment) which later merged with the Royal Scots Borderers, the Black Watch (Royal Highland Regiment), the Highlanders (Seaforth, Gordons and Camerons) and the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders to form the Royal Regiment of Scotland, becoming the 2nd Battalion of the new regiment.

The regiment was formed as part of the Childers Reforms on 1 July 1881 by the amalgamation of the 71st (Highland) Light Infantry (as the 1st Battalion) and the 74th (Highland) Regiment of Foot (as the 2nd Battalion) as the city regiment of Glasgow, absorbing local Militia and Rifle Volunteer units. Its exact status was ambiguous: although the regiment insisted on being classified as a non-kilted Highland regiment it recruited mainly from Glasgow in Lowland Scotland.

The 1st battalion was posted to South Africa in October 1899, after the outbreak of the Second Boer War. They were stationed in Egypt in 1902.

The 2nd Battalion saw action at the Battle of Tell El Kebir in September 1882 during the Anglo-Egyptian War: Lieutenant William Edwards was awarded the Victoria Cross for his actions during the battle.[3] The battalion was stationed in England from 1883, but moved to India the following year. In February 1900 the battalion departed from Colombo to return home,[4] and in October 1902 they were posted to Jersey.

Following heavy British losses in the early part of the Second Boer War in 1899, many of the militia battalions were embodied for active service, including the 3rd battalion Highland Light (formerly the 1st Royal Lanark Militia), under the command of Lieutenant-Colonel William Story. The battalion served throughout the war, and 890 officers and men were reported to return home on the SS Doune Castle in September 1902, after the war had ended earlier that year.

In 1908, the Volunteers and Militia were reorganised nationally, with the former becoming the Territorial Force and the latter the Special Reserve; the regiment now had two Reserve and five Territorial battalions.