Drummers had a dual role as buglers and drummers. This drummer holds a bugle and is carrying a valise and neatly rolled greatcoat on his back. He has a shoulder belt to carry his short drummer’s sword. The belt has a brass belt plate which is not clear. He has no bayonet therefore does not need a waist-belt like the others, nor does he need an ammunition pouch which the rank and file carried on the belt slung on the left shoulder. The drummer’s jacket is laced with the patterned tape as seen in the sketches of 1847, but the padded shoulder wing is no longer striped but dotted with thistle designs. He has a waterproof cover on his feather bonnet. The drummer is one of many figures included in a painting by R R MacIan commissioned by Colonel Lauderdale Maule.
