Musicians

It has been often asked, why the dre of musicians, drummers and fifers, should be of so varied and motley a composition, making them appear more like harlequins and mountebanks, than military appendages? The following anecdote will explain the reason, as far at least as it regards the British service:—The musicians belonging to the English guards formerly wore plain blue coats, so that the instant they came off duty, and frequently in the intervals between, they visited alehouses, . without changing their uniform, and thus added considerably to its wear and tear. It will be here remarked, that the clothing of the musicians then fell wholly upon the colonels of regiments; no allowance being specifically made for that article by the public. It is probable, that some general officer undertook to prevent this abuse by obtaining permi ion to clothe the musicians, . in so fantastical a manner that they would be ashamed to exhibit themselves at public-houses, .