Green’s Dictionary of Slang

colonel of a regiment n.

also colonel of horse
[not necessarily a soldier]

one who ‘drinks in his boots and gingling spurs’.

[UK]Eighth Liberal Science n.p.: He that drinks in his boots, and gingling spurs, is called a Colonel of a Regiment.
[UK] ‘The Art of Drinking’ in Wit’s Cabinet 137: He that drinks in his Boots and Spurs, Colonel of Horse.