Note 148 — Chapter IV · FIRST PART OF THE LONG EUROPEAN PEACE.

There is evidence to show that when the standing army was in its infancy, the designation “Second” instead of “Coldstream” Guards was, upon a few occasions, used in official documents; but this happened through inadvertence, and the Regiment invariably protested against this name, basing the objection on the origin of the corps and its services at the Restoration of King Charles II. The military authorities acquiesced in this protest, and admitted the validity of the objection. Hence the motto “Nulli Secundus” was used; and the motto soon took a wider meaning than is merely expressed by Regimental succession in the army roll. While on this subject, it will not be amiss to note that the modern ungrammatical appellation of “Coldstreams” is incorrect. The Regiment is the “Coldstream,” and the men are called “Coldstreamers.” Soldiers who handle grenades or fusils may be known as Grenadiers or Fusiliers; but those who are called after one town (Coldstream), cannot be designated by the plural of that town. One or two old documents, dated about 1689, contain the word “Coldstreams.” The rest are invariably correct; but if language was, in a very few instances, defective at that period, it might surely be corrected in the present day.