|
The Queen's Bays (2nd Dragoon Guards)
Regimental Music:
Slow March; The Queen's Bays, or Rusty Buckles.
Quick March; The Queen's Bays, or Rusty Buckles.
The Regimental March was known as 'Rusty Buckles'. This originated from the time when the Regiment were stationed in Ireland in the mid Eighteenth Century. Attending a parade on their return to England the steel buckles of their harnesses and saddlery were rusty because of the damp Irish conditions. All other cavalry regiments had recently changed their buckles to brass to combat this problem.
The Queen's Bays Slow March was composed for the regiment by Mr Charles Cousins who was bandmaster from 1863 to 1874 in which year he became Director of Music at the Royal Military School of Music, a position he held until his death at Twickenham in 1890. Within the regiment the march composed by Mr Cousins became known as 'Rusty Buckles'-a title that became official in connection with the quick step adaption published many years later.
When the regimental slow march was played at a Ceremonial Parade in Egypt in 1895, the Sirdar, Lord Kitchener took a fancy to it and endeavoured to obtain the march for the Egyptian Cavalry, but the Commanding Officer of the Queen's Bays objected to the proposal.
Regimental Badges
Prior to 1896.
Officer's Full Dress. The Royal Cypher within the Garter, on a metal diamond star.
Other Ranks. On a white- metal star a gilt Garter, within which a white-metal numeral 2 on a black leather ground.
1896 to 1959. 'Bays' in old-English script within a wreath of laurel with the Imperial Crown between the ends of the wreath. The officers' bbadges are made of gilt an dthe other ranks, in guilding metal.
Uniform
1685 to 1742. Scarlet with scarlet facings.
1742 to 1784. Scarlet with buff facings.
1784 to 1855. Scarlet with black velvet facings.
1855 to 1959. Tunic scarlet with pale buff facings.
Breeches. Blue with white stripe.
Helmet. Dragoon Guard Pattern helmet with black plume, white plume for the band.
The Queen's Bays were raised in 1685 as Peterborough's, or the 3rd Regiment of Horse. The first mention of uniform occurs in 1686, when the two regiments were reviewed by JamesII on Hounslow Heath. Peterborough's Horse (Bays) were dressed in scarlet, faced in buff and lined with scarlet. The coats were decorated with a large number of buttons, down the front, on the cuffs and pocket flaps, as well as along the slits at the back and side. They wore leather jackboots, coming halfway up their thighs, known as 'Gambados'.
In 1687 Peterborough's Horse wore buff breeches, they had buff gauntlets, and broad-brimmed black hats, turned up at oneside and worn with a white feather, the cloaks were of red and the regiment had a kettledrummer and trumpeters who were clothed in rich costumes.
In 1715 the regiment had its first change of name from 3rd Regiment of Horse, Peterborough's to that of 'The Princess of Wales Own Royal Regiment of Horse. Another change in 1726 saw it styled as The Queen's Own Regiment of Horse. A Royal Warrant of 19th December 1746 changed the status of Regiments of Horse to that of Dragoon Guards (The reasons for the change were that Regiments of Horse were paid more than Dragoons hence the government of the day saw a way of saving money). The Queen's Own Regiment of Horse now became 2nd, or Queen's Regiment of Dragoon Guards. The old distinction of velvet facings for regiments of Horse was allowed to continue, with the Bays retaining their buff facings. Trumpeters were replaced by drummers and hautbois. The clothing warrant for the King's Dragoon Guards for 1751, which was the same for the Bays except for the regimental colour, facings and distinctions, describes the uniform.
Drummers and Hautbois: Red coat blue facings and lining, ornamented with yellow lace with a blue stripe, long hanging sleeves fastened at the wrists, blue waistcoats and breeches, blue cloth caps, embroidered with the King's Cypher within the garter and crown over, the little red flap, with the White Horse and motto 'Nec Aspera Terrent' back of cap red with tassle hanging behind, blue turn-up with a drum and 2. D.G. in the middle.
Cloaks: Red lined blue, blue collar, buttons set at top in same manner as on the open coat upon frogs or loops of yellow and blue lace.
Watering or Forage caps: Red turned up with blue, 2 DG on the little flap.
The main differences for the Bays were their buff facings, waistcoats and breeches, their buttons set three and three, and 2 D.G. on the appointments. The drummers and hautbois wore the same red coats faced with blue, and the same blue breeches and waistcot as the KDG. The horse furniture was buff with royal lace, and the Queen's Cyhper within the Garter.
The regiment had yet another change of name in 1766 to that of 2nd (Queen's) Dragoon Guards (Official Title). The Queen's Bays (Unofficial Title)
In 1767 the Bays changed their facings from buff to black, drummers and hautbois also changed their blue breeches and waistcoats for buff. This only lasted a few years for in 1774 both regiments changed their waistcoats and breeches to white.
A major change occured in 1812 when a new helmet was issued, often called the 'Waterloo' helmet. It had a black leather skull piece with a metal crest and plate bearing the regiment and a reverse G.R. Cypher. To the front of the metal crest was fixed a little tuft of black horsehair, which then swept back into a long flowing tail which hung down behind. In 1834 the black helmet was changed to an all-brass helmet with a metal crest terminating into a lions head, which was removable to enable the large bearskin crest to be fitted for full-dress occasions. A KDG inspection report of 1834 remarks: 'The helmet worn by the band has a scarlet ornament above the crest in lieu of bearskin. In 1843 a new type of brass helmet was introduced with acrest and long black horsehair tail, and this was again replaced by the 'Albert' helmet with a central spike supporting a black plume, white for the band.
In 1848 the coatee was shortened when, after the Crimean War, it was replaced by a full-skirted tunic, which gave more protection to the stomach, much of the elaborate and expensive decoartion being removed at the same time. The new tunic was scarlet with collar, cuffs and edging in the regimenal colour, fastened by eight buttons down the front. The end of the Crimean War also saw the facings of the Bays change from black back to buff. In 1864 the loops of lace on the tunic collar hiding the colour of the facings were abolished, as were the loops and buttons on the cuffs and skirt, and an 'Austrian' knot of white was substituted on each sleeve of the tunic.
The regiments title was changed for the final time in 1868 when it became known as 2nd Dragoon Guards (Queen's Bays). The word Bays originated as a nickname for the regiment. About the middle of the eighteenth century it was mounted on bay -coloured horses, a practice which was long maintained. So fixed had this soubriquet become that the regiment was universally identified by it, and in 1870 the word BAYS was incorporated into the official regimental title. The wreath is officially described as laurel, but is of bay leaves, bay belonging to the laurel family.
With minor changes in detail, full-dress uniform remained the same for both the KDG and Bays up to amalgamation in 1959.
|
