There are several suggestions as to the origin of the phrase. The one most often repeated, especially within the walls of the Melton Mowbray Tourist Office, is a tale dating from 1837. That is when the Marquis of Waterford and a group of friends are said to have run riot in the Leicestershire town of Melton Mowbray, painting the town’s toll-bar and several buildings red.
And this is what this merry revealer looks like sans the paint brush and barrel of red paint.
The Side Effects of Endorphins 