Fig. 59.—Plumes on the left side.
Sir George Darwin has shown why plumes are, and used to be, on the left side of a hat only. In the days when the feathers were particularly long there was also plenty of fighting, and it only needs the attention to be drawn to the point, to make one realize that if the plume had been on the right side, it might often have got in the way of a sword and thereby caused the overthrow or even death of its wearer. At the present day in the army (see Figure [59]), the plumes will be found on the left side as in the days of cavaliers.
Sir George Darwin[8] has traced the origin of the busby, and has shown that the little red flap that hangs on the left side as a useless appendage is really the original cap. Busbies were the special attributes of the Hussars, who were originally Hungarian soldiers. It is the peasant’s cap of Hungary that is the forerunner of the military head-dress which we are considering, and it consisted of a red cap of cloth with a band of fur round the edge. As time went on, the fur on the cap, which was adopted in the end by various regiments, became wider and wider, and the original red cap got smaller and smaller until the form of the modern busby was reached. In some cases even the flap already mentioned has gone, though the fact that the top of the busby is made of cloth instead of fur still points to its origin. (See Figures [60] and [61].)
Fig. 60.—The red Hungarian cap, which was the forerunner of the busby.
