GARTER 



Garter, ORDEK OF THE. British 

 order of knighthood, the most an- 

 cient and illustrious in the world. 



Garter. Insignia of the Order. Top, 



star ; centre, the garter ; below, 



collar and George 



It was originally instituted as a 

 purely military order by King Ed- 

 ward III in or about 1348, but in 

 modern times is more generally be- 

 stowed on royal personages and on 

 leading representatives of the Brit- 

 ish peerage. The first statutes 

 limited its number to the sove- 

 reign, the prince of Wales, and 24 

 other knights companions. The 

 order was enlarged during the 

 reigns of George III and William 

 IV, and now includes the above 26 

 knights as a constituent part of the 

 original foundation, together with 

 such descendants of George I as 

 have been elected, or may be eli- 

 gible to be elected, with the addi- 

 tion of those foreign rulers and 

 princes who may be admitted. 



Each knight is allotted a stall 

 in S. George's Chapel, Windsor 

 Castle, on which is set up a plate 

 engraved with his titles and coat of 

 arms. The earlier plates are some of 

 the most interesting and remark- 

 able examples of heraldic design in 

 existence. Above each knight's 

 stall are also placed, during his life- 

 time, his banner, sword, helmet, 

 and crest. There was formerly a 

 special ceremony in the chapel, 

 when the new knight was invested 

 with the habits and insignia of the 

 order and conducted to his stall, 

 but in the case of ordinary knights 

 companions this ceremony has 

 been dispensed with for some con- 

 siderable time, and they are usu- 

 ally invested by the king person- 

 ally. The prince of Wales was, 

 however, formally installed at a 

 special service which was held in 

 June, 1911. 



Insignia of the Order 



The habits and insignia of the 

 order are the garter, mantle, sur- 



3434 



coat, hood, star, collar, George 

 and lesser George. The garter, 

 of dark blue velvet inscribed in 

 gold with the motto of the order 

 Honi 'Spit Qui Mai Y Pense (Evil 

 be to him who evil thinks), is worn 

 below the left knee. The star 

 has a buckled circular garter, with 

 the motto, enclosing the cross of 

 S. George, the whole enamelled in 

 the proper colours, and surrounded 

 by an eight-pointed star of silver 

 rays ; it is worn on the left breast. 

 The collar is of gold and consists 

 of 26 Tudor roses (alternately red 

 and white), each within a circular 

 garter, and joined together by 

 chains and interlaced knots of cords. 

 The George, in enamelled gold, re- 

 presenting S. George and the dragon, 

 is suspended from the collar. The 

 lesser George has the same device 

 on an enamelled ground sur- 

 rounded by an oval garter. It is 

 worn suspended from a broad 

 ribbon of garter blue, which passes 

 over the left shoulder and under 

 the right arm. On the death of a 

 knight companion his insignia are 

 returned to the sovereign. 



The original statutes provided 

 that on or about the feast of S. 

 George (April 23) the knight 

 companions should meet at Wind- 

 sor and attend a special service in 

 S. George's chapel. This was car- 

 ried out for many years, but at 

 irregular intervals, and was finally 

 discontinued in the 19th century. 

 In 1911, when the prince of Wales 

 was installed, and again in 1912- 

 13-14, however, King George V 

 revived this special service. 



The order has the following 

 officers : prelate, the bishop of 

 Winchester ; chancellor, the bishop 

 of Oxford ; registrar, the dean of 

 Windsor ; herald, garter king of 

 arms ; gentleman usher of the 

 black rod ; and secretary. Included 

 in the order of the garter under 

 the statutes are the canons and 

 the military (formerly called 

 poor) knights of Windsor, and 

 the lay clerks and choristers of 

 S. George's chapel. See Heraldry ; 

 Knighthood; Military Knights of 

 Windsor. 



Bibliography. The Institution, 

 Laws and Ceremonies of the Most 

 Noble Order of the Garter, E. Ash- 

 mole, 1672, ed. T. Walker, 1715; 

 The History of Antiquities of Wind- 

 sor Castle . . . and Ceremonies 

 of the Order of the Garter, Joseph 

 Pote, 1749 ; Memorials of the 

 Order of the Garter, G. F. Beltz, 

 1841 ; History of the Orders of 

 Knighthood of the British Empire, 

 N. H. Nicolas, 1841-42. 



Garter King of Arms. Prin- 

 cipal officer of the English Heralds' 

 College. His office was instituted 

 in 1417. He is herald of the order 

 of the garter. 



GARVICE 



Garth (Icel. garthr, enclosure). 

 Enclosed space of ground, par- 

 ticularly the turf within a cloister, 

 known as the cloister-garth. The 

 term is also used to describe a kind 

 of dam or weir for fishing pur- 

 poses. See Close. 



Gartok. Chief town in W. 

 Tibet. It is situated at an altitude 

 of 14,656 ft,, 800 m. W. of Lhasa, 

 It was opened in 1904 as a trade 

 mart, with a British commercial 

 agent, as a result of the Young- 

 husband expedition to Lhasa. 



Garton Foundation. British 

 politico-economic trust. Itwasfoun- 

 ded by Sir Richard Garton (b. 1 857 ) 

 for the purpose of scientific inquiry 

 into political and economic ques- 

 tions. The results of the inquiries 

 are usually published from the 

 headquarters in London. 



Gartsherrie. District of Scot- 

 land. Formerly an independent 

 municipality, it is now part of 

 Coatbridge. It has a station on 

 the N.B. Ely., and it is also served 

 by the Monkland Canal. Iron- 

 works form the chief industry, 

 while around are coal mines. Pop. 

 16,200. See Coatbridge. 



Garua. Town of Cameroons 

 Protectorate, W. Africa. In the 

 N.W., it is situated on the Benue 

 river, which is navigable for shal- 

 low boats to this point from June 

 to Dec. It is the chief centre of the 

 Garua district, and an important 

 station on the Benue route to 

 the Niger. It surrendered to the 



Allies, June 10. 



1915. Pop. T <;f2fc 



530,000. See m 

 Cameroons, r 

 Conquest of. 



Garub. Set- | 

 tlement of the 

 S.W. Africa 

 Protectorate. It 

 is a station on 

 the line running, 

 inland from 

 Luderitz Bay 

 or A n g r a 

 Pequena, about 

 70 m. from that 

 place. It was 

 seized by the 

 forces of the 

 Union of S. Africa under Sir 

 Duncan Mackenzie, Feb. 22, 1915, 

 and at the peace passed into British 

 possession. See South-West Africa, 

 Conquest of. 



Garumnian. Local stage of the 

 Upper Cretaceous series of strati- 

 fied rocks reaching a thickness of 

 2,500 feet; it is developed in Pro- 

 vence. It is notable on account of a 

 fresh-water origin, containing fresh- 

 water and terrestrial fossil shells. 



Garvice, CHARLES (d. 1920). 

 British novelist. He began by 

 publishing a volume, Eve and 





Garter King oi 

 Arms 



