214 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



[2nd g. Ko 37., Sept. 13. '56. 



Miles is correct in liIs assertion that the words 

 " Quis separabit," which Me. Walcott calls the 

 motto of the 4th Dragoon Guards, is in fact the 

 legend of the Order of St. Patrick, the star of 

 which is borne as a badge by that regiment. Thus, 

 these words are applicable, not to the regiment 

 as an irrefragable phalanx, which might be sup- 

 posed, but to the three leaves of the shamrock, 

 borne on the centre of the cross. The defiant 

 question may also be held to apply to the three 

 crowns, one of which will be found to be em- 

 bliizoned on each of the leaves, and which doubt- 

 less refer to the junction of the three kingdoms. 

 Tiie query may yet have a third significance ; 

 viz. to the three persons of the Trinity ; the tre- 

 foil having been used as a symbol of that mystery 

 by St. Patrick, when he preached Christianity to 

 the heathen inhabitants of Ireland. Hence, too, 

 the adoption of the plant as the national symbol. 



In like manner the motto " Nee aspera terrent " 

 does not belong to the regiments by which it 

 is borne, but is that of the Royal Hanoverian 

 Guelphic Order, which is borne by the regiments 

 in question, as a badge, upon their colours, and 

 probably applies to the running horse thereon. 



Many regiments have no motto : as, for instance, 

 those to which Ma. Walcott has ascribed the 

 legends of the orders which they are entitled to 

 bear ; some again have a motto of their own in 

 addition to that of the order : thus the motto of 

 the 1st Dragoons is " Spectemur agendo," while 

 they also bear as badge the Order of the Garter, 

 with its well known legend, " Honi soit qui mal y 

 pense," which it would not be correct to speak of 

 as the motto of the regiment. 



Again, it is stated that the motto of the Ar- 

 tillery is " Ubique ; " that of the Engineers, " Quo 

 fas et gloria ducunt." Now, there is no such dis- 

 tinction ; each corps bearing both mottoes : viz. 

 "Ubique," over the gun; "Quo fas et gloria 

 ducunt " beneath it. I believe, indeed, that the 

 Indian Artillery has the word " Ubique " only : 

 probably with reference to the usually scattered 

 disposition of the corps. 



1 am not aware that there is such a device as 

 that mentioned by Ma. Smith ; a skull and cross- 

 bones, surmounted by the words " Victory or." 

 The badge of the 17th Lancers is a " death's head," 

 with the words " or glory " beneath it. 



I have heard that the sash worn by officers, 

 which Mr. Walcott asserts was intended to 

 serve in carrying away the wounded, was de- 

 signed to be used as a tourniquet. It is probably 

 equally applicable to both purposes. 



William Bates. 



Birmingham. 



In continuation of my remarks on regiments 

 inserted in a former number of "N. & Q.," and 



with a view to prevent all such mis-statements as 

 appeared in an earlier number of your valuable 

 publication, I beg to give particulars relative to 

 some other regiments ; and I cannot but acknow- 

 ledge the valuable information I have derived from 

 Cannon's Historical Records of Regiments, to 

 which work I recommend your clerical correspon- 

 dent, should he wish to obtain ti^ue information on 

 this subject. 



Many of the regiments have on their colours 

 or appointments, in some shape or other, " the 

 White Horse " of Hanover with its motto " Nee 

 aspera terrent." This was given naturally for ser- 

 vices rendered to the Hanoverian branch of the 

 House of Guelph after they had succeeded to the 

 British throne, and whose monarchs in rewarding 

 these several regiments bestowed on them the 

 armorial distinctions they themselves used, with 

 its motto " Nee aspera terrent." These are well 

 known as the insignia and motto of the Order of 

 the Guelph, and it was only at the advent to the 

 throne of our present beloved sovereign that the 

 White Horse on an escutcheon of pretence as part 

 of the arms of the sovereigns of Great Britain 

 ceased to be borne, as the Salic law which regu- 

 lated the royal succession in Hanover did not 

 permit the female sovereign of these realms to be- 

 come its monarch. 



The sphynx is a memento of the campaign in 

 Egypt, and as such carried on their colours by 

 very many regiments therein engaged. 



The 36th regiment bears on its appointments 

 the word " Firm." Cannon (the best authority) 

 states that the origin of it is unknown from its 

 extreme antiquity, but " by authority that regi- 

 ment bears the distinction." The " old bold 5th" 

 had the distinction of wearing " a white plume " 

 in the cap when the similar ornament in the other 

 regiments of the service was a red and white tuft. 

 This honourable distinction was given to them for 

 their conduct at Morne Fortune in the island of 

 St. Lucia, where they took from the slain French 

 Grenadiers who opposed them their white feathers 

 in sufficient numbers to equip every man in the 

 regiment. This distinction was subsequently con- 

 firmed by authority, and continued as a distinc- 

 tive decoration until 1829, when a general order 

 caused the white feather to be worn by the whole 

 army. By a letter from Sir H. Taylor, Adjutant- 

 General, dated July, 1829, the Commander-in- 

 Chief, referring to the newly issued order by 

 which that distinction was lost to the regiment, 

 states that " as an equivalent," the 5th shall in 

 future wear " a feather half red and half white, 

 the red uppermost, instead of the plain white fea- 

 ther worn by the rest of the army, as a peculiar 

 mark of honour." This at once does away with 

 the ridiculous story of your correspondent that it 

 arose from their having dipped the tops of their 

 feathers in the blood of their slain enemies, and 



