Cameronian Swagger Stick/Cane

[Stevec66]

I have inherited a small collection of militaria from my Grandad. He served in the Navy but many of the items are from the South Wales regiments. Amongst the items was a swagger stick/cane (about  26" in length)with a badge I have discovered belongs to the Cameronians. Is there anyway of dating the item from the design? .Some of the collection relates to the Boer war and I believe the Cameronians and Welshmen fought alongside one another. Is it possible that it dates back that far. I would be very interested to find out more.

[peter monahan]

Swagger sticks, as carried by all ranks in the British Army when 'walking out' in uniform -  off duty and 'oot on the toon' as  Cameronian might say - weer popular from the 1880s or so until WWI and many examples still exist.  "The practice ceased with the outbreak of World War II. Uniforms are no longer worn by British army personnel when off-duty and the swagger stick has accordingly become obsolete.", according to Wikipedia, but I think it was not common by then, the Great War having taken the shine off the sight of uniformed soldiers in the pubs and theatres.

Probably impossible to date any more closely than 1880-1918 or so [or just possibly from the 1920s-30s] unless there is something very distinctive about the badge on the end, or a maker's mark, either of which I presume you would have mentioned.   Your Granfer may just have picked it up because it is a sharp looking souvenir!

[Stevec66]

Many thanks for the information. I had forgotten about my post with the Christmas holidays a pleasant distraction but this info is very useful