Drummers were also buglers, and this Oilette postcard from the first decade of the 19th century shows a young drummer staying close to the commanding officer to relay his orders to the regiment on parade. He does not have a drum nor the drum carriage, the white strap worn on the right shoulder. A bugle is strung from the left shoulder on a red, yellow and blue cord. In this order of dress he has a sporran like the rank-and-file. The mounted officer has medals for the Sudan campaign of 1896-98 and the South African war of 1899-1902. The youth of the drummer may be explained by the fact that drummers had to train from childhood, at an age when their wrist muscles were supple enough to use the drumsticks to the best of their ability. They were usually the sons of men serving in the regiment who had been permitted to get married.
