I just bloody love history...
May. 2nd, 2010 09:11 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
I ran my siege of Limerick game again today for the local club. Getting it pretty well tuned...
One of the regiments that plays a part in the battle is Sir Piercy (or Percy) Kirke's Regiment of Foot, aka the Queen's Regiment of Foot, which later became the 2nd Foot [now the Princess of Wales's Royal Regiment (Queen's and Royal Hampshires), senior English infantry regiment and holder of the oldest battle honour in the Army :Tangier, 1662: which goes back to Kirke's, which was the garrison regiment in Tangier].
So, I pointed out during the game that the regiment was known when Kirke was in command as "Kirke's Lambs" because of its badge, a lamb with a flag. I said I rather guessed this was some great incongruity, as the old sweats in Kirke's were probably far from ovine in their behavior. Someone asked why the badge was a lamb, and I had to say I didn't know.
So I looked up the "why" of the badge when I got home, and here is the explanation:
Kirke's Lambs: The Queen's Royal West Surrey. Called “Kirke” from Piercy Kirke, their colonel, 1682-1691; and “Lambs” from their badge, the Paschal Lamb, the crest of the house of Braganza, in compliment to Queen Catherine, to whom they were a guard of honour in her progress to London.
Also, the "Historical Records of the Fourth, Or King's Own Regiment of Foot" recounts rather wonderfully that Kirke was "distinguished for personal bravery and gross immorality". The latter seems to have come, in that 19th century author's fevered narrative, from Kirke's service with British regiments that Charles II loaned to Louis XIV and which fought on the Rhine frontier. Here, we are told breathlessly, "the loose discipline which prevailed in the French Army in Germany enabled the troops to contract licentious habits, from which Kirke was never afterwards thoroughly reclaimed"!!! It's imputed that being at Tangier* was no good for him either. He was not only commander of the regiment, but of all British troops, effectively the governor of the post, and went as ambassador to the court of the Emperor of Morocco where he made many friends. Our guide, pursing his lips censoriously, opines that "his connexion with these barbarians, among whom internal feuds and the exercise of cruel propensities were frequent, was not calculated to soften the rugged traits of his character."
He did go on and pretty much massacre a lot of the rebels captured at Sedgemoor, and he stood at the right hand of "Bloody" LCJ Jeffries, so the "rugged"ness may not be exaggerated. He finally left James II and went over to the Orange several years later, failing to snag James and hand him over to William by only the greatest misfortune. Apparently James was supposed to inspect a post Kirke commanded outside London, but the King was bled by his physician that morning and didn't have the energy to make the trip. And modern quacks say bleeding doesn't do you good!
*The British held Tangier (Tanjah) because it had been captured by the Portuguese in 1471 as part of their early empire building and when Catherine of Braganza (a princess of Portugal) married Charles II of England &c. (see the bit above about where the Lambs got their badge), she brought Tangier with her as a dowry. The Moroccans kept fighting to get it back, though, so eventually the British left in 1684, on their way out the door blowing up all the harbour improvements they had made. Charles died the next year, so you might say it was only a lifetime grant, with reversion to original owners. On the other hand, the other port city Catherine brought as dowry was Bombay (Mumbai), which the British held onto for almost 300 years...
One of the regiments that plays a part in the battle is Sir Piercy (or Percy) Kirke's Regiment of Foot, aka the Queen's Regiment of Foot, which later became the 2nd Foot [now the Princess of Wales's Royal Regiment (Queen's and Royal Hampshires), senior English infantry regiment and holder of the oldest battle honour in the Army :Tangier, 1662: which goes back to Kirke's, which was the garrison regiment in Tangier].
So, I pointed out during the game that the regiment was known when Kirke was in command as "Kirke's Lambs" because of its badge, a lamb with a flag. I said I rather guessed this was some great incongruity, as the old sweats in Kirke's were probably far from ovine in their behavior. Someone asked why the badge was a lamb, and I had to say I didn't know.
So I looked up the "why" of the badge when I got home, and here is the explanation:
Kirke's Lambs: The Queen's Royal West Surrey. Called “Kirke” from Piercy Kirke, their colonel, 1682-1691; and “Lambs” from their badge, the Paschal Lamb, the crest of the house of Braganza, in compliment to Queen Catherine, to whom they were a guard of honour in her progress to London.
Also, the "Historical Records of the Fourth, Or King's Own Regiment of Foot" recounts rather wonderfully that Kirke was "distinguished for personal bravery and gross immorality". The latter seems to have come, in that 19th century author's fevered narrative, from Kirke's service with British regiments that Charles II loaned to Louis XIV and which fought on the Rhine frontier. Here, we are told breathlessly, "the loose discipline which prevailed in the French Army in Germany enabled the troops to contract licentious habits, from which Kirke was never afterwards thoroughly reclaimed"!!! It's imputed that being at Tangier* was no good for him either. He was not only commander of the regiment, but of all British troops, effectively the governor of the post, and went as ambassador to the court of the Emperor of Morocco where he made many friends. Our guide, pursing his lips censoriously, opines that "his connexion with these barbarians, among whom internal feuds and the exercise of cruel propensities were frequent, was not calculated to soften the rugged traits of his character."
He did go on and pretty much massacre a lot of the rebels captured at Sedgemoor, and he stood at the right hand of "Bloody" LCJ Jeffries, so the "rugged"ness may not be exaggerated. He finally left James II and went over to the Orange several years later, failing to snag James and hand him over to William by only the greatest misfortune. Apparently James was supposed to inspect a post Kirke commanded outside London, but the King was bled by his physician that morning and didn't have the energy to make the trip. And modern quacks say bleeding doesn't do you good!
*The British held Tangier (Tanjah) because it had been captured by the Portuguese in 1471 as part of their early empire building and when Catherine of Braganza (a princess of Portugal) married Charles II of England &c. (see the bit above about where the Lambs got their badge), she brought Tangier with her as a dowry. The Moroccans kept fighting to get it back, though, so eventually the British left in 1684, on their way out the door blowing up all the harbour improvements they had made. Charles died the next year, so you might say it was only a lifetime grant, with reversion to original owners. On the other hand, the other port city Catherine brought as dowry was Bombay (Mumbai), which the British held onto for almost 300 years...
Bloody Wonderful
Date: 2010-05-03 02:53 am (UTC)This post was a great read!
Re: Bloody Wonderful
Date: 2010-05-03 12:28 pm (UTC)Re: Bloody Wonderful
Date: 2010-05-03 04:03 pm (UTC)