2'"« S. No 37., Sept. 13. '56.] 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



215- 



so obtained the red-topped feather as a deco- 

 ration. 



The light company of the 46th regiment wear 

 the distinctive mark of a red ball. The circum- 

 stance that occasioned this occurred in 1777, 

 during the American war. After the affair of 

 Brandywine, the light company of the regiment 

 made themselves very obnoxious to the enemy 

 from their very great address and intrepidity at 

 the above affair, which caused the Americans to 

 vow vengeance against them, and refuse them 

 quarter. The soldiers of the company, on this 

 account, and to prevent any one else from suffer- 

 ing from this threat, stained their feathers red, as 

 a mark to be known, and they have ever since 

 worn that coloured ball, instead of green, the usual 

 colour of the ball or feather of a light company. 



In ] 833 a Horse Guards' letter gave due au- 

 thority for this practice. 



The 2nd, or Queen's regiment, bear in the 

 corners of the second colour and in their appoint- 

 ments " The Paschal Lamb." This was the dis- 

 tinguishing badge of Portugal, and was worn first 

 by the regiment as being raised for the defence of 

 Tangiers, which constituted a portion of the dower 

 of Catherine, Infanta of Portugal, on her marriage 

 with Charles II. In the bloody assizes of Jeffreys, 

 this regiment, under the command of Col. Kirke, 

 were well known for their cruelties under the so- 

 briquet of "Kirke's Lambs." In 1703 the regi- 

 ment gained the motto of " Pristinse Virtutis 

 Memor," Avhen the Queen Dowager's regiment, in 

 allusion to its former services. Miles. 



■ I do not see that the epithet " the fighting 9th " 

 has been noticed. The origin of this I am not 

 aware of. That of the 97th, too, is not mentioned 

 by your correspondents as far as I have seen, " The 

 Celestials," from their shy -blue facings. Among 

 the mottoes I have not seen that of the 39th given, 

 " Primus in Indis," referring to the brilliant page 

 of their history where the name of " Plassey " is 

 emblazoned. T. J. E. 



The 97th Regiment are called the " Celestials," 

 from their sky-blue facings. 



The " recover," in the officer's salute with the 

 sword, is the relic of the custom of kissing the 

 hilt, which was once in the shape of the cross. 



Mackenzie Walcott, M. A. 



HOLLY THE ONLY INDIGENOUS BYBRGKEEN. 



(2"" S. i. 399. 443. 502. ; ii. 56. 1 13.) 



Let me now give you some extracts from my 

 grandfather's paper in the Oent. Mag., 1780 

 (p. 940.), in defence of my, or rather his, asser- 



tion that the yew is not an indigenous tree. He 

 says : 



" Though we have observed the yew tree growing wild 

 in many parts of the kingdom, yet we can by no nicana 

 allow it to have been originally a native ; for had any 

 indigenous tree, whose seeds are disseminated by birds 

 like the yew, been planted in almost every churchyard 

 throughout the kingdom, been cultivated for archer^', 

 and introduced into every ornamented garden of former 

 times, it would certainly have become one of our com- 

 monest trees; instead of which, the yew, since bows 

 liave been laid aside and it has been excluded gardens, 

 is manifestly in a decreasing state : for very few young 

 trees are to be found in proportion to the old, many of 

 which are undoubtedly as ancient as archery. It is pro- 

 bable that the yew was very early dispersed through 

 Europe, as the Saxon and British names are the same, 

 which we believe is observable in no others — that general 

 and most useful tree, the apple, excepted. Seeds and 

 plants of the tree, which would make bows much superior 

 to any other, would be equally sought after in early 

 times, and as precious as iron to the inhabitants of the 

 islands of the South Sea. The wood of this tree in 

 warmer climates is superior to any which grows in this 

 country, and therefore Spanish bows always bore a much 

 greater price here than our own; and this inferiority is 

 no mean argument against its being a native, for we know 

 of none of our undoubted indigenous trees whose timber 

 is not equal in quality to any foreign. Virgil observes 

 that yews love a northern and cold situation ; but in this «> 

 country they thrive best in one warm and sheltered, ^ 

 provided it hath sufficient moisture ; which should seem 

 to show that they are with us in a climate colder than 

 their own." 



In another paper, 1787 (p. 313.), in reply to 

 some remarks on this question, he added : 



" Having spent my early days on chalky downs, I had 

 many opportunities of observing various collections of 

 yew trees, which I think have more the appearance from 

 situation of growing naturally, than the hat 3'our corre- 

 spondent mentions. The propensity, now so general, of 

 planting the tops of hills cannot be supposed to be con- 

 fined to the present age ; and I have already given rea- 

 sons why our ancestors were so peculiarly solicitous to 

 cultivate this tree. From what I have seen of the naked 

 part of the kingdom around Salisbury, it hath evidently 

 been much more populous than at present : for the widest 

 plains show in most places manifest appearance of tillage, 

 and in many marks of inclosures. The devastations 

 caused by the destructive contest of the Two Roses must 

 also have left deserts round many plantations in all parts 

 of the kingdom. So that this hat, and many venerable 

 groups, now distant from modern gardens and cultivation, 

 may be the remaining vestiges of ancient industry. Not 

 many miles from Guildford, a great number of j'ew treas, 

 of some former century, are growing on so rude a waste, 

 that, had they not stood in straight lines, it would be 

 difficult to persuade many that they were placed there by 

 the hands of man." 



Seventy years since, thus wrote my grand- 

 father on this then disputed question. I sliould 

 have more respect for our modern writers, if they 

 had taken more pains to have settled these ques- 

 tions, instead of servilely copying and taking for 

 granted what they happen to find written. My 

 belief is the yew was introduced with Christianity, 

 and one at least was planted in every churchyard, 



