Page:Notes and Queries - Series 11 - Volume 4.djvu/205

 ii B. iv. SEPT. 2, mi.] NOTES AND QUERIES.

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' LA CARMAGNOLE ' : ' 9 A I BA ' C 11 S. iv. 27, 158). ' La Carmagnole ' is not the regi- mental march of the 14th Foot, but ' (Ja Ira,' another French Revolutionary song. The official title of the regiment is the Prince of Wales' s Own (West Yorkshire Regiment). It is curious how much history is embodied even in the titles it has borne. It is really Kentish in its origin. It was raised in 1685, the colonel being Sir Edward Hales, Bt., of Woodchurch ; other companies were under the command of well- known Kentish gentlemen, with head- quarters at Canterbury. The colonel became a Catholic, but would not resign his com- mission, and was prosecuted at Rochester assizes. When James II. was attempting to escape in disguise to France, and was arrested at Faversham, he was accompanied by the quartermaster of the regiment, Edward Syng, and the colonel, the latter being imprisoned in the Tower of London. From the outset the grenadier company and the drummers wore the White Horse, and the motto " JSTec aspera terrent," which are still worn in addition to the Prince of Wales' s plume. Till 1751 the regiment was known by its colonel's name. It then became the 14th Foot, which title it bore till 1782, when it became the 14th Bedfordshire. The 16th Regiment is now the Bedfordshire, but from 1782 to 1809 was the Bucking- hamshire Regiment, when it exchanged its name for some reason with the 14th. The latter retained that title till 1876, when it added the Prince of Wales' s Own, which it received at Lucknow when new colours were presented by the then Prince of Wales (King Edward VII.). On 1 July, 1881, the title was again altered, and the official title as given above adopted. The buff facings were succeeded by white ; the shape of the cuff was altered from pointed to banded ; the royal tiger badges on the collars gave place to the Prince of Wales' s plume ; and " W. York " in white letters replaced the brass numeral 14 on the shoulder-straps.

With regard to ' Qa Ira,' the regimental tradition is that it was adopted by express command of the Duke of York in conse- quence of the incident at Famars ; but the various traditions differ considerably as to why an English band should play such a French air, and more than one account is in existence as to how the tune was acquired. When the regiment was marching through Dartford, the populace, I was told by an old gentleman, stoned the band ; but on an explanation being given, the people re- sponded with three cheers " to the honour

of the brave soldiers of the 14th who fought at Famars." There was an official record of the regiment published in 1845^ where the Famars incident is alluded to ou pp. 39-40, and its reception at Dartford oik p. 53 ; but the 14th is fortunate in having; a very good history published in 1892 by Capt. H. O'Donnell, who was adjutant. The account given by S. W. in his reply is- the legend in the family of the colonel who- commanded at Famars. It is dealt with at pp. 58-9 ; and the Dartford commotion at p. 70. The ' Ca Ira ' is Appendix VII. on pp. 369-76. J (Fuller information on this air will be found in Grove's ' Dic- tionary of Music.') Capt. O'Donnell's work is very good, and the absence of an index i& somewhat compensated for by a chrono- logical Table of Contents and one of Illustra- tions. A. RHODES.

Coleridge's Biographia Epistolaris : being fhe Biographical Supplement of Coleridge's * Bio- graphia Literaria,' with Additional Letters, &c. Edited by A. Turnbull. 2 vols. (Bell & Sons.)

MR. TUBNBULL has here taken the ' Biographical Supplement' of 1847, begun by.H. N. Coleridge, and finished by his widow, and printed, he says, "all the non - copyright letters of Coleridge available from other sources .... and additional biographical matter, explanatory of the letters." He has thus, he contends, produced " as faith- ful a picture of the Poet-Philosopher Coleridge as can be got anywhere, for Coleridge always paints his own character on his letters. Those desirous of a fuller picture may peruse, along with this work, the letters published in the Collection of 1895, the place of which in the narrative ia indicated in foot-notes."

The expert in the disjecta membra of this fine-

8oet will not be able to praise Mr. Turnbull for- tie thoroughness of his search for material, andi will, we think, be occasionally irritated by the comments supplied ; still, the collection has the- same kind of vivid interest as the ' Biographia Literaria ' from its range, its divagations, its '. varieties of style and matter, and, it must be added, its picture of a man whose promise was so much greater than his performance, great as that is now recognized to be in poetry.

The enunciation of Coleridge's many religious- and philosophic theses seems now more amusingly pompous than ever, and his recurrent hopes of making the public pay for such instruction will be amazing to the modern journalist. Looking back on his life, we may consider him at least as fortunate as he deserved to be, lucky above all in such friends as Sir Humphry Davy, James Gillman, and Thomas Allsop. But we have no desire to utter moral platitudes or patronizing comments concerning a great man whose pitiful weakness of will was a torment to himself. Besides the complaints of the valetudinarian and the disappointed writer, there are humorous touches.