Talk:Sporran

Protrusions

I always thought it was to hide, uhh, unwanted protrusions.— Preceding unsigned comment added by 69.157.175.71 (talk) 05:31, 2006 October 9 (UTC)

dude, do you think any steel or leather could possibly contain a Scottish hammer?

Jeez!— Preceding unsigned comment added by 209.17.181.85 (talk) 20:49, 2006 October 31 (UTC)

Misconceptions

It took 5 days from someone removing the "misconceptions" section to someone frivolously putting one of them into the main body of the text as a "fact". It would be nice to stop this page descending back into the shortbread-tin fantasy it was a couple of years ago. Please provide citation notes rather than deleting sections wholesale — Preceding unsigned comment added by Jmackaerospace (talk • contribs) 00:21, 12 August 2011 (UTC)

Text of interest

When playing golf, driving a car, dancing or engaging in any activity where a heavy pouch might hurt, the wearer often turns the sporran and chain around the waist to let it hang on his hip in a more casual position.

This is not speculation, this is what one does. Try to drive with a sporran digging into your belly, and you will see the need to spin the thing to the side. It is also spun to the side when using a urinal too, but I'm not sure how to word that in an encyclopedic fashion. -Dr Haggis - Talk 05:36, 22 November 2006 (UTC)

Highland Drummers spin the sporran to the side whilst playing it. http://www.kinnairdbagpipes.com/docs/FAQ/Dress%20Instructions%20Mar%2006.pdf

Having worn the breacan feille more than once, I can say that it does not have a gap at the front. The citation that the sporran was used to 'hide the privates' is purely fanciful. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 71.231.58.201 (talk) 02:09, 10 September 2007 (UTC)

I read the comment about the sporran being for 'modesty' to protect the wearer while running or jumping. That is COMPLETELY false. If you're a man who has ever jumped or run with the sporran over your 'manhood', you've only done it ONCE to realize how painful being hit in the 'manhood' with a 2 pound bag can be. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 72.94.255.232 (talk) 13:38, 17 January 2009 (UTC)

These tidbits are insufficient to disprove the idea that the sporran contributes to modesty. Saying that a kilt doesn't have a gap in front may be a non-sequitur -- has anyone known someone who said a kilt DOES have such a gap? It doesn't have a gap IN FRONT, but it does have a gap -- at the bottom. Your legs DO protrude out of the thing, all the way to your feet and the ground. And therein lies the modestly issue. It may be true that vigorous movement of the wearer will cause a sporran to fly about and suck the kilt up into the sporran's updrafting wake, DIMINISHING modesty vs. no-sporran instead of enhancing it. I saw this once when a gentleman sat down abruptly in a chair facing a church congregation and his sporran bounced on his lap, pulling his kilt up with it into the vacuum of airspace left by the upward-moving sporran, showing his black Speedo to all. BUT, we should not assume that the wearer's movement is the only cause of up-flying kilts. A kilted soldier may be standing perfectly still IN HIGH WINDS. In such an instance it may be that only the weight of the sporran keeps the kilt down. Until this case, of a motionless man in winds, is dispensed with, the idea of sporrans as contributing to modesty has not been thoroughly disproved.76.8.67.2 (talk) 14:37, 30 May 2011 (UTC)Christopher L. Simpson

removing complete rubbish

I've just removed all the anecdotal rubbish, along with the stuff that is plain wrong. I think it would be good to put in a section called "common misconceptions about the sporran" because, guess what, the web is now full of pages that basicly quote wikipedia verbatim on this junk. The one thing that is quite interesting is the story of how 'the sporran as armour' myth got started.... Jmackaerospace (talk) 16:59, 28 January 2009 (UTC)

The text purporting to debunk the idea of sporran as groin-armor is not on point. It may be true that a Roman garment is called a "sporran". That doesn't "connect up" sufficiently to suggest that the sporran as we know it is NOT groin-armor. Nobody can state that there was never a Highland soldier who did not derive some level of reassurance from the fact that his sporran, filled with whatever soft rations there might be, might very well, if luck prevailed, stop a musket-ball before his yet-unconceived children became casualties of the battle. Unless every soldier who ever wore a sporran to battle wrote down every thought he had, and unless we've reviewed them all, we can't say that this comfort has never been drawn.76.8.67.2 (talk) 14:37, 30 May 2011 (UTC)Christopher L. Simpson

Day VS Night Sporran

I can recall reading somewhere that a Leather Sporran was traditionally worn during the day, and a fur one at night.. As I recall, it was something of a serious faux pa for Americans of Scottish decent to wear the wrong sporran at the wrong time. Anyone know anything about this? (Sorry, I wasn't logged in when I first posted this question..!) Dphilp75 (talk) 00:26, 22 January 2010 (UTC)

Tassle protocol

Most sporrans have two, three, or five tassels. A picture in Scotland Magazine Issue 51 July/August 2010 shows a clan chief wearing an eight tassle sporran that reaches his knees, with a row of five tassles above a row of three.

What determines who can wear what number of tassels? How must they be arranged? GilesW (talk) 12:06, 22 September 2010 (UTC)

the word "cantle" needs a definition or illustration early in the article

I just now removed the hyperlink cantle and left it as a plain word - because the word "cantle" redirects to Saddle which tells nothing about a sporran's cantle. Could someone please state "very early" in the article the various technical parts of a sporran, and define these parts, and perhaps provide an illustration (a picture of a sporran with labeled arrows pointing to the various parts maybe?)? This would help the reader to understand better what is being talked about the first time "cantle" is mentioned later in the article many times. Thank you so much. Fallendarlin (talk) 11:35, 14 June 2020 (UTC)