Page:Notes and Queries - Series 11 - Volume 4.djvu/357

 ii s. iv. OCT. 28, mi.] NOTES AND QU EBIES.

351

The Young Guard was composed of recruits, at first picked, but its cadres (officers, sous-officiers, &c.), contrary to the English system, came from the Old Guard, young men joining an old framework. The regiments of the Young Guard had numerous names Fusiliers, Tirailleurs, &c.

A company of Mameloucks was attached to the cavalry of the Old Guard. In 1814 the total strength was 102,706. The real Old Guard, which perished in Russia and in 1813-14, was a closely knit body, with its own traditions. That which the English met at Waterloo, composed of brave old soldiers, had not the cohesion of the original Guard. The English had a mania for believ- ing they had met the Old Guard in Spain, and the Cuirassiers of the Guard sweep through the pages of Lever and of more serious writers. The term " Moyenne Garde " does not appear till 1815.

R. PHIPPS, Colonel late R.A.

Napoleon I. constituted his famous Im- perial Guard on 29 July, 1804, the nucleus being formed by the existing Garde Con- sulaire. It then included 9,775 men. In 1804 eight companies of Velites were added ; and in 1806 four more infantry regiments and a- regiment of dragoons. These were all picked veterans, but in 1807 the Young Guard was formed from recent recruits, including a regiment of Polish Lancers, and two battalions of Velites (Florence and Turin). Thus a century ago (1811-12) the Guard mustered 57,346 men. It con- tinued to be increased, till in 1813 it num- bered 81,000, and would have reached over 100,000 had not Napoleon's fall and exile cut short his plans. Resuscitated during the Cent J ours,

La garde, espoir supreme et supreme pense, included at Waterloo eighteen infantry and four cavalry regiments.

It fell with the First Empire, to be revived with the Second Empire by Napoleon III., and figure at Magenta and Solferino before once more disappearing in the Metz and Sedan catastrophes. To this epoch belong the famous Cent Gardes, the smaller personal bodyguard of which a few survivors still linger in Paris -the Guides, Zouaves, and other famous corps.

Even under the present republic the tra- dition has to some slight extent been pre- served, the mounted Garde Municipale and the foot regiment of the Garde Republicaine the "gendarmes" of Paris being the flower of the French army in physique, long service, and good character, and usually

figuring in the place of honour in such State pageants as the reception of foreign sove- reigns, &c. ANGLO-PARISIAN.

' The Old Guard,' by J. T. Headley, Lon- don, 1852, gives a full history, with many illustrations showing events, uniforms, &c.

W. B. H.

[MR. H. B. CLAYTON also thanked for reply.]

NELSON: " MUSLE " (11 S. iv. 307). In answer to SIR J. K. LAUGHTON'S query, I may say that I have through life been familiar with the saying " There's life in a mussel ! " It a favourite expression with my mother, who would quote it as often as she heard or read of some one whom she had regarded as timid or " simple " performing a smart or courageous act. I do not know what would be the right way of spelling the final word, though I fancy I have met with the saying in print ; but I have always taken it for granted that the funda- mental idea was to select the mollusc as a good example of low vitality.

Another old saying, somewhat similar, though not exactly so in its meaning, is " Orson is endowed with reasons ! " a jeering commentary sometimes uttered by a bully when he finds himself countered in a trial of wits by the innocent who seemed such an easy prey.

HERBERT B. CLAYTON.

le yet a lad.

is a

saying I heard often enough as a lad. May not " musle " be a misprint for " mule " ? I am not confusing the phrase with " There's life in the old dog yet," a saying which some of the old folks used as " There 's fight in the old dog yet." THOS. RATCLIFFE.

Possibly Nelson used the word " musle " to signify a loiterer. " Musle " is the obsolete form of " muzzle "= to skulk, to loiter, and the expression " Put some life into the sluggard " is a common one.

Dickens in ' Pickwick Papers ' calls one of his characters " Mr. Muzzle."

R. VAUGHAN GOWER. [Further reply next week.]

" SWALE," ITS AMERICAN AND ENGLISH MEANINGS (11 S. iv. 67, 114, 175). At the second reference a correspondent remarks that " there does not seem much reason to doubt that ' swale ' = clearing in the passage cited." The difficulty with this explana- tion is that, so far as appears, the word " swale " has never had that meaning in this country. In 1816 J. Pickering remarked : "To Swale or Sweal. To waste or blaze