NICKNAMES OF BRITISH REGIMENTS.

Manawatu Times, Volume III, Issue 37, 3 May 1879, Page 3

NICKNAMES OF BRITISH REGIMENTS.

The -regular. name ;bf -the.;'* Slashers "has been given to ; the Twenty-eighth. - ■ Some say, that the regiment earned it by dashiiiffand slashing heroism; at; the battle v White Pl.aiUß/du'ri th e men : lipid themselves .ready to go anywhere, and dp anything,' in virtue of .'their connection with/ this corps. But another story is more sp'eoiflc "arid sensational, to the' effect, that during the war just named a Canada mei'pjiant,' in a seyere winteij," refused.to give comfortable billets or qtiarfers' lo' the? women of the regiment,, wives pf some%f the men,, Whereby many of *tije poor/creatures perißJiediwlth;-'c6ld; . The^ofßcers, exasperated "ai" this bruf atity'and its" result, took a revenge which ■' the'-rnerchant never forgot for the remainder of his life. They dressed ; tlieuißelresliko? savages, ; burst, in.tp. • his sitting-room'' one evoiimg^arid slashed off;, his ears j IynolMaw r; in ' good ' sooth '■■! ■: yC\te>' Thirtieth ate, the "Treble X's" (X_tX): The THirEjf-flrst;,'-: the 'Young* Buffs;?'-bncei earned thegood'opinion.bf aißeneral .-under whom they were serving. He cried out, | " Well done; cild Buffs !<"- "We are not the pid Buffs, sii-l'V^sftheireply; ; '? Then, well done;yp,uus' B.uffe;'Vwas the Anal response, ; and the " Young Buffs:' they/became."'' 'The" foot" wished to become .known {as thj» M Duke of Wellirigtou's Regiment," and lie consented, but. stipulated foi^^postponement pf. the naming until after his jdecease -.itheiassumptipn of tlierefpre,^.did not take place. till ._Bsa! ■ His.tory'of the regiment'' tellsy however^ of arioldei* :and more : fa^niliav' appellation, the, " Havercake Lads,"" due to the fact that when first' raised, their recUitingsergearit; was -wont tp march .withao eat-cnkeimpaled qn his sword. The Thirty-fifth ;.are the t ''j Orange Lillies,'-' from the colour; pf their ! facings. : The yThirty-eightb are proud of | the incident has earned fpr ,the-.n thp. privilege of ,'wearing. the regirnehtal number- ' I badge on-tlie bkek as well as the front of their- caps arid shakoß. It was a bit of prompt .tactics during the campaign in Epypt. Bein^ draWn/up ih^xt'n extendedline only two deep,, were suddenly attacked by the entoiy'BpaVft^y/bpth^in front and in rea". THo cpmmaiidihg officer gave the word, "Rear ran It;- 'right -ibout face; fire !" They. did so, and repelled both attacks at once. The light :cpnipany;of tji'e Forty-sixth; it^^ appears V areypri.Tll|ged; tp ; wear a red. ball in, their paps.t; When en.-' | gaged in the Battle of Brandy wine, during ' the gre« t Aai er jcsW w'ari t hfQO wpahv greatly [

annoyed the enemy; who threatened t& gi*'e them ho quarters if tlie opportunity arose. Nothing daunted; the riienl of •thjß'.Fprty.--sixl h resolved that there should be no. mistake, .tbey. dyed the ball red,, instead °.f th? .green worn' ' by 'the rest r of the"- regiment. And many years afterwards the War Office this, peculiar idistincMpn.Y. The Fiftieth are the " Devil's Royals," and more politely, the " Gallant Fiftieth," in recognition .of ;.tiieir, .prowess rat ,-the, battle of Yimiera. They are, or were, also the " Blind .Half Hundredths," from "their having been Pearly blinded: by r^bphthalitiia ; during the 'cam paign in Egypt j.. and when, on one occasion, fchey -.wiped'"' their *perspiri.ng t'uees withitheir dark cuffs, they became for the npnee the 'I Dirty Half Hundredth^.," r i^^ '' l '''■^^^^'^^l ■^■*■^l ''^^ll^^ ■i^^ ■■^^^^ ■■^^l ' ,^^^ '^^-