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YEOMEN OF THE GUARD

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Originally appearing in Volume V28, Page 918 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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YEOMEN OF THE GUARD , originally " Yeomen of the Guard of (the See also:

body of) our See also:Lord the See also:King," or in the 15th-See also:century Latin, " Valecti garde (corporis) domini Regis," the See also:title (maintained with but a slight variation since their institution in 1485, the See also:official wording under See also:Edward VII. being " The King's Body Guard of the Yeomen of the Guard ") of a permanent military See also:corps in attendance on the See also:sovereign of See also:England, as See also:part of the royal See also:household, whose duties, now purely ceremonial, were originally that of the sovereign's See also:personal bodyguard. They are the See also:oldest existing body of the See also:kind, having an unbroken See also:record from '485, as well as the oldest military body in England. Before that See also:time there had been forms of royal guard, but no permanent institution. Under Edward I. we find in England the " See also:cross-bowmen of the household," and under Edward II. an "See also:Archer guard of the King's body "; but the " Archers of the King," " of the See also:crown " or " of the household," who appear in the records up to 1454, seem to have had no continuous establishments. Apparently each sovereign, on coming to the See also:throne, established a new Guard of his own particular followers. It was not till See also:Henry VII. created the " Yeomen of the Guard " that the royal bodyguard came into See also:regular existence. The first warrants to individual " Yeomen of the Guard " date from See also:September 16, 1485, and it is a See also:fair inference that the Guard was created by the king on the battlefield of See also:Bosworth (See also:August 22, 1485), its first members being men who had shared Henry's See also:exile in See also:Brittany, followed him on his return, and fought as his private Guard in that See also:action. The See also:warrant of September 18, 1485, now in the Record See also:Office, " to See also:William See also:Brown, See also:Yeoman of the King's Guard," corroborates this view—" in See also:consideration of the See also:good service that oure humble and faithful subject William See also:Browne Yeoman of oure Garde hath heretofore See also:door unto us as well beyonde the see as at our victorieux journeye." It is argued by See also:Sir Reginald Hennell that the title of " Yeomen of the Guard " signified Henry VII.'s intention to choose the See also:special protectors of his See also:person not from the ranks of the See also:nobility, but from the class just below them (see YEOMAN), who had proved in See also:war the backbone of the See also:national strength. The See also:term valecti, or " valets " (see See also:VALET), was already in use, as signifying personal attendants, with none of the See also:modern See also:menial sense of the word. The first official recorded See also:appearance of the king's bodyguard of the Yeomen of the Guard was at the See also:coronation of its founder Henry VII. at See also:Westminster See also:Abbey on the 31st of See also:October 1485, when it numbered 50 members. This number was rapidly increased, for there is an See also:authentic See also:roll of 126 attending the king's funeral in 1509. Henry VIII. raised the strength of the Guard to 600 when he took it to visit See also:Francis I. of See also:France at the See also:Field of the See also:Cloth of See also:Gold.

In See also:

Queen See also:Elizabeth's reign it numbered 200. The corps was originally officered by a See also:captain (a See also:post See also:long associated with that of See also:vice-See also:chamberlain), an See also:ensign (or See also:standard-See also:bearer), a clerk of the See also:cheque (or chequer roll, his See also:duty being to keep the roll of every one connected with the household), besides See also:petty See also:officers, captains, sergeants or ushers. In 1669 See also:Charles II. reorganized the Guard and gave it a fixed See also:establishment of 10o yeomen, officered by a captain, a See also:lieutenant, an ensign, a clerk of the cheque and four corporals, which is the See also:present organization and strength. The only variation is that the captaincy is now a ministerial See also:appointment filled by a nobleman of distinction under the lord chamberlain, and that the old See also:rank of " corporals " has been changed to " exon," a title derived from " exempt," i.e. exempted from regular regimental duty for employment on the See also:staff. Formerly officers on the active See also:list were given these appointments in addition to their own. The See also:original duties of the Guard were of the most comprehensive nature. They were the king's personal attendants See also:day and See also:night at See also:home and abroad. They were responsible for his safety not only on journeys and on the battlefield, but also within the precincts of the See also:palace itself. The regulations for making of the king's See also:bed in Tudor times were of the most elaborate formality. No one but the Yeomen of the Guard under an officer might See also:touch it. Each portion was separately examined. Each See also:sheet or coverlet was laid with the greatest ceremony, and the sovereign could not retire to See also:rest until the See also:work was reported as well and truly done.

The existence of the See also:

custom is verified at the present day by the designations Y.B.H. (" Yeomen Bed-Hangers ") and Y.B.G. (" Yeomen Bed-Goers "), which are still affixed against the names of certain yeomen on the roll of the Guard. Another of their duties outside the palace is retained, viz. the searching of the vaults of the houses of See also:parliament at the opening of each session, dating from the " See also:Gunpowder See also:Plot " in 1605, when the Yeomen of the Guard seized See also:Guy See also:Fawkes and his See also:fellow-traitors and conveyed them to the See also:Tower. Owing to the destruction by See also:fire of most of the records of the Guard in St See also:James's Palace in 1809, the precise See also:history of the See also:search is a See also:matter of controversy. It is recorded in the papers of the See also:House of Lords that the Guard conducted it in 1690 and that it has been continuous since 176o, but Sir Reginald HenneIl's contention is that it dated from 16o5 and has since been regularly observed. Though the corps from the earliest day was composed of See also:foot-soldiers, during royal progresses and journeys a portion of the Guard formed a mounted escort to the sovereign until the end of the Georgian See also:period. The See also:dress worn by the Yeomen of the Guard is in its most striking characteristics the same as it was in Tudor times. It has consisted from the first of a royal red See also:tunic with See also:purple facings and stripes and gold See also:lace ornaments. Sometimes the sleeves have been See also:fuller and the skirts longer. Red See also:knee-breeches and red stockings (See also:white in Georgian period only), See also:flat See also:hat, and See also:black shoes with red, white and See also:blue rosettes are worn. Queen Elizabeth added the See also:ruff.

The Stuarts replaced the ruff and See also:

round hats with See also:fancy lace and plumed hats. Queen See also:Anne discarded both the ruff and the lace. The Georges reintroduced the ruff, and it has ever since been part of the permanent dress. But the most interesting point connected with the dress is that the gold-embroidered emblems on the back and front of the coats tell the history of the consolidation of the kingdoms of See also:Great See also:Britain and See also:Ireland. From 1485, when the Guard was created, till 1603, the emblems were the Tudor crown with the Lancastrian See also:rose, and the See also:initials of the reigning sovereign. When the Stuarts succeeded the Tudors in 1603, they substituted the St Edward's crown for the Tudor, and added under it and the initials the See also:motto " Dieu et mon See also:Droit," which is still worn. When William and See also:Mary came to the throne in 1689, their initials were entwined, W.M.R.R. (William, Mary, Rex, See also:Regina), the only instance of the queen and king's initials being so placed. Anne restored the Tudor crown, and added the See also:thistle to the rose on the official See also:union with See also:Scotland in 1709. The Georges reverted to the St Edward's crown, and on the union with Ireland in 18o1 See also:George III. added the shamrock to the rose and thistle. No See also:change was made during Queen See also:Victoria's reign. But Edward VII. ordered the Tudor crown to be substituted for the St Edward's, and now the coats of the Guard are as they were in 1485, with the additions of the motto " Dieu et mon Droit " and the shamrock and the thistle.

Up to 183o the officers of the Guard wore the same Tudor dress as the non-commissioned officers and men, but when William IV. ordered that in future no civilian should be appointed, and that the See also:

purchase and See also:sale of officers' commissions should cease, the old Tudor dress was discontinued, and the officers were given the dress of a field officer of the See also:Peninsular period. There has also been little or no change in the arms of the Guard. No doubt they retained during Henry VII.'s reign (1485–1509) the pikes with which they had helped to win the See also:battle of Bosworth Field. Under Henry VIII. See also:archery became a national pastime, and the long-See also:bow and arrow were issued to at least one-See also:half of his Guard. When firearms came into use, a certain portion were armed with the harquebus, the Guard being given See also:buff cross belts to support the See also:weight on service. When on duty in the palace gold-embroidered cross belts took the See also:place of the service buff, and are worn now as part of the See also:state dress. The present weapons of the Guard are a See also:steel gilt halberd with a tassel of red and gold, and an ornamental See also:sword. The real fighting days of this Guard ended with the Tudor period, but it was only at the end of the reign of George II. that the Guard's See also:function of attending a sovereign on the battlefield ceased. Their last duty in this nature was at the battle of See also:Dettingen (1743), when they accompanied the king as personal attendants. For a brief period during the Georgian era the Guard lost to a certain extent its distinctive military See also:character, and a custom crept in of filling vacancies with civilians, who bought their places for considerable sums, the appointments of the yeomen proper and the officers being of great value. But William IV. put a stop to the practice. The last civilian retired in 1848, and the Guard regained its original military character.

Every officer (except the captain), non-commissioned officer and yeoman must have served in the Home or See also:

Indian See also:army or Royal See also:Marines. They are selected for distinguished conduct in the field, and their pay is looked upon as a See also:pension for the same. The officers must be of the rank of captain and over, and the yeomen of that of sergeant or warrant officer. The Guard has a permanent orderly See also:room in St James's Palace, where the routine of duty is carried on by the See also:adjutant and " clerk of the cheque," the latter old true designation being retained after the former modern title, Under the orderly room is a guard room lined with lockers in which the See also:uniforms are stored. They are in See also:charge of a See also:resident See also:wardrobe-keeper. Here the See also:division for duty musters once a See also:week in the See also:season and once a fortnight at other times, and here the yeomen dress for state functions. These now are confined to receptions of See also:foreign potentates, levees, courts and state banquets, the Guard still taking part in the searching of the houses of parliament, the ceremony of the See also:distribution of Maundy See also:money in Westminster Abbey and in the See also:Epiphany offerings of gold, See also:frankincense and See also:myrrh in the See also:Chapel Royal, St James's rid, The yeomen live in their own homes. The See also:nickname " See also:Beef-eaters," which is sometimes associated with the Yeomen of the Guard, had its origin in 1669, when See also:Count Cosimo, See also:grand See also:duke of See also:Tuscany, was in England, and, See also:writing of the See also:size and stature of this magnificent Guard, said, " They are great eaters of beef, of which a very large ration is given them daily at the See also:court, and they might be called Beef-eaters." The supposed derivation from " Buffetier " (i.e. one who attends at the See also:sideboard) has no authority. A singular misapprehension exists as regards the Tower warders. Wearing as they do the same See also:uniform, except the cross See also:belt which used to hold the harquebus, and being so much more before the public in their daily duty as warders of the Tower, they are often thought erroneously to be Yeomen of the Guard. They had their origin in 1509-10 in the twelve Yeoman of the Guard whom See also:young King Henry VIII. See also:left, when he gave up the Tower of See also:London as a permanent See also:residence, to show that it was still a royal palace. When the Tower was finally given up as a royal residence they became warders and were deprived of the dress, but were given it back in Edward VI.'s See also:rein, on a See also:petition from the lord See also:protector, who had been confined were and to whom the warders had been most considerate.

They are now a distinct body, but in an honorary sense still termed " Extraordinary of the Guard." But they perform no state functions, being solely yeomen warders under the orders of the See also:

constable of the Tower. They are all old soldiers. A brief See also:notice of the other royal guard will be appropriate. In 1509, Henry VIII., envying the magnificence of the bodyguard of Francis I. of France, decided to have a See also:noble guard of his own, which he accordingly instituted and called " The Gentlemen Speers." It was composed of young nobles gorgeously attired. In 1539 this guard was reorganized and called See also:Gentleman Pensioners." This title it retained till William IV.'s reign, when the corns regained its military character, the king on their petition giving them their present designation, " The See also:Honourable Corps of Gentlemen-at-Arms." See The History of the King's Body Guard of the Yeomen of the Guard, by See also:Colonel Sir Reginald Hennell, D.S.O., Lieutenant of the Yeomen of the Guard (1904). (R.

End of Article: YEOMEN OF THE GUARD

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