Madam, – Further to your “Oddities” article (January 19th) about the Irish antecedents of the bugle used to sound the charge of the Light Brigade, there is a further Irish connection.
The man believed to have sounded the charge was William (Billy) Brittain, Orderly Bugler to Lord Cardigan in the Crimea. Billy Brittain was a Dubliner and at least one of his descendants (a cousin of mine) is still living in Dublin today.
The famous copper bugle is still extant and may be seen in the Belvoir Castle Museum in Grantham, Leicestershire.– Yours, etc,