Godfrey Brennen’s copy of Richard Ebsworth’s painting of the 9th Lancers at their Maidstone depot in 1850 gives us valuable information on the drum horse and trumpeters in dress and undress. The service squadrons and HQ of the Regiment had sailed to India in 1842 remaining there until 1859. The musicians in this painting wear the blue uniform adopted c1842, with scarlet facings and yellow lace. They all have red horsehair drooping plumes on their lance caps, but one man, not a musician, is captioned as ‘sentry’ holding a lance and having a black plume. He is talking to the RSM who has a peaked forage cap, officer-style, and gold laced stable jacket with four inverted stripes and a crown.
In 1830 the regiment was titled Queen’s Royal and patronised by Queen Adelaide who, in 1832, donated two cream coloured colts from the Royal Stud. From that time the 9th Lancers had a cream coloured drum horse. But Brennen had not taken note of this when he made this coloured version from a monochrome photo of Ebsworth’s sketch. The drum horse looks like a crudely painted dark grey. The rest of the horses are greys apart from the mounted CO’s trumpeter on the right, who, it is noted, rides a brown horse. The drum banners are crimson with embroidered crown over the AR monogram, crossed lances and battle honours for PENINSULA and PUNNIAR.
The mounted figure, second from the left, is labelled as the Trumpet-Major. Brennen has given him three stripes on his upper arm with a crossed trumpet badge, but the original, shown below, has four stripes. The bandsmen/trumpeters in undress can be seen standing second from left and on the extreme right. They wear red forage caps with a yellow band and braid, and stable jackets with yellow or gold lace on the collar, and on the cuffs where they have a trefoil design. The corporal, standing on the left, shows his back to us. He is also not a musician and wears a different jacket and cap.
