DESCRIPTION:
Changing of The Queen's Guard at Buckingham Palace on 7 June 2015.
OLD GUARD: 1st Battalion Welsh Guards.
NEW GUARD: 1st Battalion Grenadier Guards.
1st Battalion Grenadier Guards Corps of Drums accompanies the St James's Palace Detachments of both the Old and the New Guard to and from St James's Palace.
The Household Cavalry Band Dismounted accompanied both the New and Old Guard to and from Wellington Barracks.
CORPS OF DRUMS: Each of the 1st Battalions of each of the five Regiments of Foot Guards (Grenadier, Coldstream, Scots, Irish and Welsh Guards) has a Corps of Drums. For parade they comprise a Drum Major (or Drum Sergeant or Lance Sergeant acting up), up to seven side drummers, up to 15 flautists (fifers) predominantly B Flat flutes, a bass drummer and cymbalist, and excepting the Drum Major, all are appointed and addressed as "Drummer". The Corps of Drums are additional to the five Regimental Foot Guards Bands, 1st Battalion Scots Guards Pipes and Drums, and 1st Battalion Irish Guards Drums and Pipes.
The 1st Battalion Grenadier Guards Corps of Drums are under the ultimate command of 1st Battalion's Adjutant, currently Captain Hugo Cartwright. Whilst most often seen leading the Regimental Bands, administratively Drum Majors are part of the Corps of Drums. All Drum Majors are the rank of Warrant Officer Class 2 (WO2) excepting that occasionally new appointments are still Sergeants, and some senior members can attain Warrant Officer Class 1 (WO1) rank. All members of 1st Battalion Grenadier Guards Corps of Drums are fully trained infantry soldiers and perform Assault Pioneer roles such as construction of defensive installations, obstacle clearance and demolition in addition to their ceremonial role.
HISTORY: In the haze of battle, at a time well before any other means of mass communication, drums provided the signals of battle. Earliest written accounts of fifes and drums used as battle signallers comes from the Swiss in the 1300's. Henry VIII combined the fife with the drum for battle signals in 1513. The bugle, usually played by drummers, became the prime signalling device from around 1800 at which time the Drummers appointed to each Company combined at Battalion level as the "Corps of Drums" and their role expanded to accompany marching. The Staff Sergeant became the leader of the Drummers and this position evolved into the Drum Major who still carries a "Staff", not a "Mace". As early as 1685 the fifes were joined by hautbois (early oboes) in the 1st Regiment of Foot (Grenadier Guards) and these eventually evolved and separated into the Regimental Bands. From the 1830's the Scottish and Irish regiments started replacing their fifes with authorised bagpipes. Fifes have now been replaced by keyed flutes and Fifers are now Flautists. All that said, it should be noted that every account of the early history of corps of drums I have read contradicts each other. This may be due to the complexities and differences between the histories of different regiments.
Next time you see a Corps of Drums perhaps consider the ancient history and legacy they hold.
UNIFORM: As their original role was to convey battle orders, Drummers were necessarily close to the Commanding Officers. As battles could quickly develop into chaos, a practice developed of displaying colourful flags to identify the Company command point. These became known as "Colours" and were protected by Drummers who had their uniforms embellished by lace to assist in identifying the command and rallying point for the Company. The Drummers of the five Regiments of Foot Guards are unique in having their ceremonial tunics embellished with "Royal Lace" which comprises repeated blue fleur-de-lys motifs on a white background. The fleur-de-lys was a motif used by French Kings and it's use on British Royal devices symbolises an ancient claim over France. "Crown Lace" comprises red crowns repeated on a white background and is used by infantry drummer's tunics but not on the Foot Guards uniforms. Bearskin caps worn by all members of the Corps of Drums, including Drum Majors, are tapered to a sharp point at the rear.
SIDE DRUM: Introduced to Britain by the Romans, early drums came in many sizes and forms. By 1650, drums used by the military were almost bass drum size (and much deeper in thickness) and hung on a shoulder sling, the top skin facing forward and entirely on the left side of the body ("side drum").