Note 91 — Chapter VI

The dragoons are said to have received their name from the locks of the first muskets in use amongst them, on which was represented a dragon’s head with a lighted match in its jaws, a natural image of a death-dealing engine. Both weapon and name came from France. The cuirassiers were so called from the original name of the back and breast piece, a cuirasse. Like other pieces of defensive arms the cuirasse was made of leather (cuir) before it was made of iron. Buff was leather like buffalo-hide; it would often turn a sword-cut.