The Heritage of Dress: Being Notes on the History and Evolution of Clothes

by Wilfred Mark Webb

In the Lancers there is a very long cap-line, which has been mixed up, we are told by Mr. P. W. Reynolds, with a very interesting survival. This is the remains of a cord used for binding up grass and other forage into bundles, worn for convenience round the body, and over one shoulder by cavalry men, when it was not in use. It is known to the French as a “fourragère.” In the Lancers the cap-line passes round the cap and is brought under the right shoulder-strap. So far it is the original cap-line; then it passes twice round the body, under the left arm, and under the right shoulder-strap, and ends, in a festoon and a couple of acorns, which remind one of aiguillettes, on the left breast. The part that goes round the body is the old forage cord.

The sergeants’ sashes, it is said, were originally intended to make slings so that the wounded could be carried out of action with the help of pikes, and the drum-major’s baton is the survival of a cane which the drill-sergeant sometimes used on the backs of the recruits. The “flash” of the Welsh Fusiliers, as we have seen, is a survival from the times when wigs were worn. Here and there we find old head-dresses once nearly universal, such as the shako which is now confined to the Highland Light Infantry and the Scottish Rifles. Other regiments, such as those of the Rifle Brigade, which have been at times used as cavalry, retain certain features of the horse soldier’s uniform. For instance, the Rifle Brigade has a head-dress which resembles the Hussars’ busby, and instead of a sash the officers wear a cross-belt.

The officers of the Somersetshire Light Infantry, which on one occasion was turned into cavalry at a moment’s notice, wear a mess jacket of the cavalry pattern; they have also a black worm in their lace, like the East Yorkshire and North Lancashire regiments, which is usually explained as being mourning for Sir John Moore in the first case, and for General Wolfe in the two others. Before turning to peculiarities which were granted for special services, we may mention the black tunics and black plumes of the farriers belonging to the Life Guards, who carry a great axe with which to kill horses that are wounded in battle, and the state trumpeters also of the Household Cavalry, who wear a highly ornamental uniform which has persisted for nearly two centuries.

There still remain relics of the time when commanding officers had a great deal to say in connection with the uniforms of their regiments. When the Cameron Highlanders were first raised in 1794, Colonel Cameron did not adopt the Cameron tartan, because he did not think it would go well with a scarlet tunic, and he introduced one which had been designed by his mother, called the “Cameron Erracht,” which has been worn ever since. The White Horse of Hanover appears as a badge on several regiments, and it is recorded that George I, objecting to the private crests of the commanding officers, replaced them in many cases with the Hanoverian device. Even now, in spite of the minute regulations of the War Office, which are continually being altered, the uniforms are not always made absolutely as they are prescribed. Little details may be added, and colonels still seem to exercise some influence in the matter. The red puggaree of the Duke of Cornwall’s Light Infantry is not obtained from the regimental tailor who supplies the uniform.

The white jackets of the Guards and Highland corps which are worn in undress are still called “waistcoats,” and, according to Mr. Walter Wood, are a relic of the white waistcoat which was worn under the tunic by the British soldiers down to the time of William IV. It must, however, be remembered that a waistcoat was originally an outer garment, as indicated on page [148].

An exceedingly curious privilege is that which has been accorded to the non-commissioned officers and men of the Royal Marines, who for many years have been allowed when in mourning, to cover one button of their tunics with crape. The Eighth Hussars wear their sword-belts over their shoulders, and the tradition is that at the battle of Saragossa they behaved so gallantly that they totally destroyed a corps of Spanish cavalry and took possession of their adversaries’ belts.

Perhaps the most curious mark of distinction is the extra drummer of the Third Hussars, who enjoys special pay and is permitted to wear a sergeant’s uniform. This privilege was granted by George III when it was brought to his notice that the regiment possessed some silver kettledrums which they had captured. The request for this honour was made in 1778 by General Fitzroy, and his wife presented a silver collar for the use of the additional drummer which is still worn to-day. It is handsomely engraved with military devices, and fits closely round the throat. In full dress the Eleventh Hussars wear an ivory-hilted sword made on the model of one picked up at Bhurtpore. The Fifteenth Hussars wear the Austrian Imperial lace on account of their gallantry at Villiers-en-Couche, which prevented the Emperor of Austria from falling a prisoner to the French.

The Scots Greys were given Grenadier caps, which are not worn by other cavalry regiments, for their bravery at Ramillies. The Northumberland Fusiliers have red and white hackle feathers—that is to say, that the upper part of their plume is red, and the lower part white. It is recorded that at Wilhelmstahl, and also when in St. Lucia, this regiment was victorious after great struggles, and took from the caps of the French Grenadiers who were slain, enough white feathers to fit up the whole regiment with plumes, the use of which afterwards received official sanction. When, however, an order was made in 1829 that white plumes should be generally worn, the Fusiliers complained that they would lose the distinction which they enjoyed, and by a compromise they were allowed to have a plume which was half red and half white. The Northumberland Fusiliers share with one or two other regiments, that distinguished themselves at the battle of Minden, the privilege of wearing roses in their caps on St. George’s Day.

We might spend a considerable time in dealing with the badges of various regiments, for often the history of the latter is bound up with them. They figure on the collar and other parts of the uniform, and occasionally, as badges might be expected to do, they appear on the buttons. We have touched upon this subject in connection with George I. The Scots Greys have as a badge an eagle with outstretched wings. It commemorates the capture of a French eagle at Waterloo by Sergeant Ewart, who was given a commission for his bravery.

The Gloucestershire Regiment has a badge in front and another on the back of the helmets, because on one occasion, in Egypt, when it was attacked in the rear as well as in front by large bodies of French cavalry, and there was no time to form a square, the commanding officer gave the order, “Rear rank, right about face, fire!” The result was that the enemy was beaten off. In connection with this achievement the second badge was given.