Steady the Buffs

April 11th, 2008 by admin

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Posted in April 2008, columns | 7 comments

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7 comments on this post.

  1. A Sweet:

    March 14th, 2009 at 2:58 pm

    The phrase Steady, The Buffs was not originally coined on the battle field but the parade ground. When the 3rd of Foot were sharing barracks with the 21st Fusiliers. One of the 3rds’ NCOs would urge the Buffs to be steady on the parade ground as the 21st were watching them. Something that amused the Fusiliers, so they took to shouting it at the 3rd whenever they met from then on. This then spread to be called out whenever the 3rd marched past.

  2. Stella:

    August 31st, 2009 at 5:37 pm

    I’ve also looked up the expression in a few Dictionaries, without much success, but what I think,is, that in the context of the play, this expression may have another connotation: Sheila has just become engaged and her fiancee has given her a diamond ring, which apparently, is very bright. Perhaps the expression may take the other meaning of buff, which is shiny, and Eric, Sheila’s brother, might be referring to the way the ring shines, its rays should be steadied… perhaps.
    What do you think?
    Looking forward to your feedback,
    Stella

  3. Tony:

    March 1st, 2010 at 5:02 am

    In the interwar years of boredom, young soldiers wanting a bit of excitement on a Saturday evening would shout, if they saw any Guardsmen in tne same pub or canteen,”Forward the Buffs and steady the Buffs ! and let the gentlemen of the Guards take a place of safety at the REAR!”
    The resulting fight satisfied everyone. Have things really changed since then?

  4. Hermes:

    April 11th, 2011 at 6:53 pm

    I think it would be like the ‘Hold your horses’ of the 1900′s. I believe that Sheila looks to be extremely excited about this ring, so his brother Eric tries to put her feet back on the ground…

  5. William Harris:

    December 20th, 2011 at 8:38 am

    The Buffs is also the nickname of a Scottish Junior Football club from Kilwinning in Ayrshire. Those not familiar with Scottish Junior football should note that the term junior does not mean young and Ayrshire Junior Football endures a somewhat brutal reputation. The club website links parts of the previous comments thus.

    “Kilwinning Rangers or The Buffs as they are more affectionately known, were formed in 1899 as a
    Juvenile football club, playing at Blacklands Park, which they shared with the then senior side
    of Eglinton Seniors.

    “They officially became a Junior football club on the 26th of July 1902.

    “The name Buffs was first recorded on the 21st of September 1900 when the local paper, the
    Irvine Herald recorded that the so-called Buffs had had an emphatic victory over
    Kilmarnock Belgrove.

    “The name Buffs has had folklore of its own and to this day there is no definitive version of how
    the name came about! but there are a few well told theories. One is that a soldier played for
    the team who was a member of the 1st East Kents, 3rd regiment of the line an army regiment who
    were nicknamed The Buffs. The second being that the name was used at that time to describe
    anything that was “smashing” but the third and most likely theory is that the team played at
    that time in a dull yellow, or Buff strip.”

  6. Moira:

    May 6th, 2012 at 1:38 pm

    Seems to me it does come from the nautical sense, as if you’re sailing straight and need to go straight and the waves are coming at you at an angle, and the color of the froth is beige, or “buff” at the top of the wave, so you fight the waves to go the direction you need to go…make sense?

  7. Ash:

    May 10th, 2013 at 4:20 pm

    I agree with Hermes about the similarity to “hold your horses!”, but i think Eric’s proclamation is due to Sheila kissing Gerald.

    In this sense it seems almost a mocking statement, which would agree with Eric’s earlier comment on Sheila’s temperament.

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