Trivia questions (of extreme import to me at the moment)

[Loren Allen Billings]

Dear fellow Slavicists:

I've uncovered a few examples of a particular construction and would like some
background on what some of the phrases mean.

1>  On brosalsia v rybnye riady, pokupal sterliad' rostom s IZVESTNOGO TAMBUR-
MAZHORA.  [IN THE LARGE _SSRLIa_ dictionary, citing Gertsen's _Dokt. Krupov_]

Could anyone tell me what the all-caps part means?  I know that _tambur-mazhor_
means 'drum major' (specifically, the lead drummer in a regiment).  Is the
entire all-caps portion a specific person in the story, or perhaps someone
well known in Russia at the time?

I'll have to continue this query on a different screen for technical reasons.