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Comment by Clock The Wolf on November 6, 2013 at 12:03pm

The Blue Devils Drum and Bugle Corps (also known as "the Devils", "the Devs" or merely "BD") is a World Class (formerly Division I) competitive junior drum and bugle corps. Based in Concord, California, the corps is a member of Drum Corps International (DCI) and is a fifteen-time DCI World Champion.[1]

Comment by BUGGY (C) on November 6, 2013 at 12:03pm

Comment by BUGGY (C) on November 6, 2013 at 12:00pm

Thought this might be of interest. I am transcribing a 1870 letter from a Kentucky native writing from Iowa to the folks back home. The term "blue devils" was used.

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: : That's not surprising. "Blue devil" meaning "despondency, depression of spirits, hypochondriac melancholy" has been used in English at least since the 1780s, and in the sense "the apparitions seen in delirium tremens" since the 1820s. In which sense was it used in your letter? (VSD)

: Melancholy. Lizzie Bundy, a young wife and mother living in Ames, Iowa, is writing to her uncle Robert Hitch and his family. The weather is depressing in Iowa. Mrs. Bundy wants to come home to Kentucky for a visit. "I know Uncle Bob will dispel the 'blue devils' with his overflowing stock of fun and wit that he keeps constantly on hand." I have several old letters that I am scanning and putting online -- both original images and a transcript. Now I am working on one written in 1877. The writer -- William B. Vickers -- is in Colorado, writing "home" to Mr. Hitch in Kentucky. Mr. Vickers talks about family members who have moved to California. He uses the word "suburb" to refer to an area close to San Jose and Santa Clara. I thought that was a modern word. But Merriam-Webster says it dates to the 14th century. Interesting, I thought. http://wva.homestead.com/Kentucky-In-Laws.html

Yes: both Wyclif and Chauvcer use "suburbs". In the 14th century towns and cities were still fortified, and so the word had a quite specific meaning: viz. any part of the town that was outside the walls. (VSD)

Comment by Clock The Wolf on November 6, 2013 at 11:59am

Comment by BUGGY (C) on November 6, 2013 at 11:57am

blue devils - a state of depression; "he had a bad case of the blues"

Comment by BUGGY (C) on November 6, 2013 at 11:57am

blue′ dev′ils
n.pl.

1. low spirits.

Comment by BUGGY (C) on November 6, 2013 at 11:56am

blue devils Informal A feeling of depression; despondency.

Comment by Clock The Wolf on November 6, 2013 at 11:52am

Comment by Clock The Wolf on November 6, 2013 at 11:51am

Comment by Clock The Wolf on November 6, 2013 at 11:51am

Blue Meanies? ๏ ๏

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