The prototype of the corps is to be found in that of "les gentilhommes du Bec de Corbin," (so named from the bill-hook kind of battle axe they carried,) formerly constituting "la grande garde du corps" of the French monarchs. Like those, the English pensioners were furnished with an axe, which they bore when doing dismounted duty in the palace; a branch of service quickly accruing,—and, in our day, the only one remaining to them. By some it has been thought that King Henry disused his band of pensioners for many years, on account of the heavy expense entailed, and only revived it towards the end of his reign, but there is no sound reason for the belief. At all events we find it shone with much splendour during the reigns immediately succeeding. With Queen Elizabeth, the due selection of its members appears to have been a matter of constant care and interest.* All were the cadets of noble families, if not the immediate representatives. Indeed, Earl Clare, alluding to the subject, is recorded to have said, that at this time, "he did not know a worse man than himself amongst them;" yet he was known to possess £4000. a year. At the Queen's death the character of the troops must truly have been honourable, for Lord Hunsdon, its then commander, formally recommended it to the countenance of the successor as a nursery to breed up Deputies of Ireland, ambassadors into foreign parts, counsellors of state, captains of the guard, governors of places, and commanders both by sea and land." James, however, did not take especial note of this recommendation, for during his rule the pensioners sunk into somewhat of their modern condition.+ Under his unfortunate son, Charles I., they did faithful service during the parliamentary war. Charles II. reembodied them at the restoration; but reduced their number to forty; at which complement they have since continued. The latest historical fact we have concerning the band occurs in 1745; when George II., issued the royal mandate for raising his standard on Finchley common. The pensioners were then ordered to provide themselves with horses and equipment to attend his majesty to the field. It may fairly be concluded that such orders will never again break in upon the habits of this, now perfectly peaceful, establish ment. As now constituted, the band consists of a captain, * The axe, or partizan, of Sir Dudley Carleton, Captain of the Pensioners to Queen Elizabeth, bearing his arms and crest, was formerly shown in the Spanish Armoury in the Tower, as the Spanish General's Staff, or Halbard. + Thomas Percy, one of the band, was engaged in the Gunpowder plot of 1605. lieutenant, standard bearer, clerk of the cheque, and forty private gentlemen. The pay of each of the latter is £100. a year, and the situation is transferable by sale and purchase. Their uniform appears to have varied with the times. In 1557, the Queen's Pensioners mustered in Hyde Park, in green cloth and white, that is, in green guarded with white;-the livery colours generally used by the Tudor family. It has been lately scarlet and gold; shaped after the prevalent military style. Battle axes, with the offensive part diminished in size, and the shafts covered with crimson velvet, are an invariable appendage to their parade. The captain bears an ebony baton with a gold head; the lieutenant a similar baton with a silver head. We will not so far occupy the province of the "court circular" as to intrude any account of the ordinary functions performed at the palace by the "honorable corps." On days of ceremony, solely, it is, that a field quota from the general roll is put in requisition. Contributing to what has been called the "decent splendour of the crown," the two demi-military Guards of Honour of Pensioners and Yeomen are little to be quarrelled with, even in this era of retrenchment; and would be quite the contrary, were their ranks filled up so as to relieve the half pay and general pension list of the Nation. C. S. A. DOCTOR COX; A BLANSCUE.* WRITTEN IN EXEMPLIFICATION OF THE SOMERSETSHIRE DIALECT. BY JAMES JENNINGS, Esq. Omnes una manet Et calcanda semel via lethi.---Horat. THE catastrophe described in the following sketch, occurred near Highbridge, in Somersetshire, about the year 1779.--Mr. or Doctor Cox, as surgeons and apothecaries are usually called in the west, was the only medical resident at Huntspill, and indeed the only medical man in actual practice for many father-in-law, Dr. Jeffery, was an old man, and had miles, in every direction, around that village. His know that he was called in to attempt the resuscitaretired from practice; and, in this instance, I do not tion of his son-in-law. Indeed, such was the then general ignorance, even among medical men, of the * Unexpected accident. proper means of treating drowned persons, that there is no reason to suppose that any then known, if adopted, would have been successful. But that, with our present knowledge, the life of Cox, a young and healthy man, might have been preserved, there is every reason to believe.* The conduct of Mr. Robert Evans, the friend and associate of Cox, can only be accounted for by one of those unfortunate infatuations to which minds of a certain order are sometimes liable. Had an immediate alarm been given when we children first discovered that Cox was missing, he might, probably, have been saved. The real cause of his death was, as it now appears to me, a too great abstraction of heat from the body; as the water was fresh and still, and of considerable depth; and, under the surface, in consequence, much beneath the usual temperature of the human body. This fact ought to be a lesson to those who bathe, particularly in still and deep fresh water; and it ought, besides, to warn them to continue only a short time in such a cold medium. If, in the style of this sketch, I have departed from what is usually esteemed modern refinement, and attempted to relate, in a simple way, facts, to me at any rate, interesting, after the manner of some of our old writers, and if I have, at the same time, exemplified a dialect of considerable importance in our language, my objects are accomplished. The genuine delineation of natural feeling is infinitely more valuable than all the blandishments of art. The BRUE war bright, and deep and clear,1 And Lammas dâ and harras 2 near; Various efforts to restore the suspended animation of Cox, such as shaking him, rolling him on a cask, attempts to get out the water which it was then presumed had got into the stomach or the lungs, or both, in the drowning; strewing salt over the body, and many other equally ineffectual and improper methods to restore the circulation were, I believe, pursued. Instead of which, had the body been laid in a natural position, and the lost heat gradually administered, by the application of warm frictions, a warm bed, &c., how easily, in all probability, would animation have been restored! The reader must not suppose, from this description of the river Brue, that it is generally a clear stream, or that it is always a rapid one. I have elsewhere called it "lazy Brue." It is sometimes, at and above the floodgates at Highbridge, when they are not closed by the tide, or other cause, a rapid stream; but through the moors, generally, its course is slow. In floods, its motion is necessarily much accelerated. In the summer time, and at the particular period to which allusion in the text is made, it was exactly as above described. Of course, the state of the river was that in which the floodgates were closed. * Harvest. It is scarcely necessary to observe, that the preceding word dâ is day. The zun upon the waters drode,3 Doff'd quick ther cloaths and dash'd in zoon s Threw. 21 13 8 Afternoon. 12 Seen: this word is sometimes a long syllable, as zeed. 14 Other. Through. 15 Affording. 16 Young eels are called elcers in Somersetshire. Walton, in his Angler, says, Young eels, in the Severn, are called yelvers." In what part of the country through which the Severn passes they are called yelvers we are not told in Walton's book; as eels are called, in Somersetshire, yels, analogy seems to require yelvers for their young; but I never heard them so called. The elvers used to be, and I dare say still are, obtained from the salt-water side of the bridge. 17 Then. 18 When. 22 Him. 21 This. 20 Since. 19 Yes. 23 World. 27 It. 24 Wing. 28 For him. 25 Remember. 23 Seemed. 22 To daver, in a neuter sense, is to droop, to fade; the tutties be all a daver'd-the flowers are all faded. I am not aware that daver is ever used in the active sense in which it is here employed; but it is nevertheless in strict accordance with the genius of the dialect. The pectur now I zim I zee! I wish I could het's likeniss gee 130 Thie Evans had a coward core Jist38 whaur a stook39 let water droo:40 Zim'd vor a space thic dâ to bless! Or shriek, or splash, or groan, or sigh! "54 Than, Evans vrom the wâter rose; 49 Go up. Several other similar verbs undergo contraction in Somersetshire, namely, to g' auver, to go over; to g’under, to go under; to g' out, to go out,---this is probably the origin of gout, a drain; to g' in, to go in; to g' auf, to go off; and g'on, to go on. 50 Mr. Stole resided near Newbridge, about a mile from the spot where the accident occurred; he was somewhat famous for his cyder. $3 Find. * By and by. 67 Sank. 5 Frightened. 02 Boat. si Empty. 65 He. 59 For him. 63 Found. 59 Wind. $6 Proved. 60 Amused. 64 On end, upright, 61 Gave. But death 'ad done his wust 65---not all Zo Doctor Cox went out o' life, Two sons,---one dáter, Zumthin hereâter: What thâ veel'd 67 now I sholl not tell--- L'ENVOY. To all that sholl theeäze70 storry read The mooäst76 whun Brue war deep an clear, A zumthin âllès zim'd to zâ, "War whing 179-The water's deep an clear, But death mid be a lurkin near!" Of Sommersett at Sainte Albans. Of Yorke at Wakefield. Of Sommersett at Hexham. Of Sommersett at Tewkesburye. Of Yorke in the Tower. Of Norfolk at Bosworth field. MARQUES.-The Marques Montague at Barnet. EARLES.—Of Northumberland at St. Albans. Of Oxford at the Tower Hlil. Of Wiltshire at Mortimer's Cross. Of Northumberland at Tawnton. Of Devonshire at Bridgewater. Of Rivers at Deventrie. Of Rivers at Pomfrett. Of Devonshire at Tewkesburye. Of Lincolne at Stokefield. Of Warwick at ye Tower Hille. Lo: Clifford at Tawnton fields. Lo: Stolis at London. the Third, King of Castile and Leon, to whom he THIS very beautiful remnant of the olden times (which of his beloved consort Eleanor, daughter of Ferdinand gives name to a small hamlet in the parish of Cheshunt) stands on the high road to Ware and Cambridge, at the distance of twelve miles from Shoreditch church. It was erected by King Edward the First, in memory second wife, who was the daughter and heiress of John, Count Eleanor was the only child of Ferdinand, by Joan, his of Ponthieu. |