Shoes with closed lacing (Oxfords/Balmorals) are considered more formal than those with open lacing (Bluchers/Derbys). A particular type of oxford shoe is the wholecut oxford, its upper made from a single piece of leather with only a single seam at the back.
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The regiment was amalgamated with the Prince Edward Island Light Horse in 1946 and renamed The Prince Edward Island Regiment in 1949. The Prince Edward Island Highlanders were allied to the Black Watch (Royal Highland Regiment) and were kitted as Black Watch except for badges. Officers wore grey Balmorals in Service Dress and Battle Dress.
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Evening Oxford shoes created by Alfred J. Cammeyer in 1891 Oxfords first appeared in Scotland and Ireland, where they are occasionally called Balmorals after Balmoral Castle. However, the shoes were later named Oxfords after Oxford University. This shoe style did not appear in North America until the 1800s. In the United States, Oxfords are called "Bal-type" as opposed to "Blucher-type".
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In reference to Scottish Highland dress and Scottish military uniforms, the small pom-pom on the crown of such hats as the Balmoral, the Glengarry, and the Tam o' Shanter is called a "toorie." The toorie is generally made of yarn and is traditionally red on both Balmorals and Glengarries (although specific units have used other colours). It has evolved into the smaller pom-pom found on older-style golf caps and the button atop baseball caps. Scots refer to any such hat decoration as a toorie, irrespective of the headgear.
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The RCAC successfully fought to retain its distinctive black beret, and the Canadian Airborne Regiment wore the maroon beret until the unit was disbanded. Scottish and Irish infantry regiments wear Tam o' Shanters, glengarries, balmorals or caubeens instead of berets. The beret is used in the Army with service dress as formal headdress (especially after the move away from the forage cap in the 1990s) as well as with CADPAT clothing as garrison dress and as a form of combat dress. Navy personnel wear the service cap and Air Force personnel the wedge cap with their service dress.
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Although the 2nd Battalion continued the proud tradition of wearing balmorals, the traditional headdress of the regiment, the 1st Battalion did not. There was a strong movement within the unit by the majority of the troops to replace the beret with the balmoral once again as it marked out the highland unit as distinctive and showed the ties with the unit's heritage that contributed to its ésprit de corps. As of January 1, 2011, the balmoral once again became the official headdress of the 1st Battalion as well. The khaki tam o' shanter is worn in combat dress.
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Some regiments of the Canadian Army wear different coloured toories: the Royal Highland Fusiliers of Canada have traditionally worn dark green; The North Nova Scotia Highlanders wore red toories during the Second World War; and the Stormont, Dundas and Glengarry Highlanders 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 (and in some cases senior non-commissioned officers) 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.
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The Glengarry worn by the Argylls is unique in having red and white dicing; other Scottish and Highland units generally have a black square alternating with red in the centre row. This pattern of dicing was worn by the 93rd Sutherland Highlanders on Kilmarnock bonnets and balmorals from their inception in 1803 to their amalgamation with the Argyllshire Highlanders in 1881, and on glengarries by the Imperial Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders from 1881 to 2006. Affiliate regiments in the Commonwealth also wear this unique pattern of glengarry, including the Calgary Highlanders. Regimental pipers in all Argyll-affiliated units wear plain black glengarries without dicing.
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Barker began his career in his late teens reporting for the Evening News. Two well-received pieces, one on school life and the other on the 1936 Crystal Palace fire, earned him a weekly column as the paper's amateur drama critic at the age of 19, making him the youngest dramatic critic working on Fleet Street. During World War II he served as private and later a sergeant in the Gordon Highlanders where he helped run the theatrical entertainment group, the Balmorals. After the war he rejoined the Evening News, becoming a feature writer in 1946, the deputy drama critic later that same year, and the chief critic in 1958.
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