GARTER. 
down.to their sight hi ip.- They are not to- appear abroad 
without the garter, on penalty of 6s. 8d. paid to the regifter. 
a the‘ left bre salt of their coats, — riding habit, or 
er garment, they alfo wear a ftar of eight points, em- 
ee with. filver; .having in the centre of it the arms of 
the order, viz. ar gent, a a crois gules, within a 
‘The manner of ele&ting a nig t-companion into ie moft 
noble order, and thecer ‘emonies os inveftiture, are as follow. 
When. the fovereign defigns to ele& a a companion of the 
garter, the chancellor of the nei draws up the letters, 
which, oe both under the f fovereign’s fign manual, and 
' Senet of the order, are t to the perfon b 
eipal mas at.arms; and ar 
companions of our mott on order of the garter, ae ae 
iW chon holden this prefent aoe . our caftle at Windfor, 
‘confidering the virtuous fidelity y av ewn, and the 
honourable exploits you have ei in our fervice, by vindi- 
eating and maintaining our rights, &e. have elected and 
chofen you one of the companions of our order. Therefore, 
we require you to make your Lae repair unto us, to 
ceive ore enfigns eee me be ready for your inftalla ation 
the day of t sre mont x Th 
garter, which is of blue me bordered with fire gold 
wire, having commonly the letters of the motto of the fame, 
is, at the time of eleCtion pee don the left leg by two 
of the fenior companions, whores ve it from the fovercign, 
to whom it was prefented ona velvet cufhion by Gar er kn ing 
at arms, with the ufual reverence, whilft the chancello 
‘reads the following acuta: enjoined by the ftatu 
*¢'T'o the honour of God omnipotent, and in pene of 
the bleffed martyr St. George, tie about thiy leg, for thy 
renown, this noble garter; wear it as the fymbol of the 
moft illuftrious order, re ft 
° bet 
oO 
‘gaged, thou mayeit ftand firm, valiantly fight, and fue- 
ceffively saa The Seagal garter being thus ne 
on, and the words of 
‘knight ele& is brought be for who ee 
, about his neck, kneeling, a ey-olored rikbon n, to which 
is eae wrought in gold within the garter, the image 
St. George on horfeback, with his fword drawn, encoun- 
eiiake ith an dragon n the ‘mean time the chancellcr 
_reads the following ions « Wear this ribbon about 
thy neck, adorned with the image of the bleffed mar tyr and 
foldier of Chrift St. George, by whofe imitation provoked, 
thou mayett fo overpafs both profperous and adverfe advén- 
tures, ae having itoutly vanquifhed thine enemies both of 
‘body and foul, thou mayeft not only receive the Pe ce 
this (teak camel t, but be crowned with the 
glory.”? Then the knight elected ‘kiffes hie ies 
‘reign’s hand, thanks his majefty for the great honour done 
him, rifes up.and falutes all the companions feverally, who 
as their congr iy ete 
The order of the Garter - appears to be the moft ancient 
‘and noble lay-or Jeri m aries orld. It is prior to the French 
order of St. Michael, by 50. years; to that of the golden 
Fleece, by 80 years; to that of St. eal by 190 years; 
and to that of the Elephant, by 209 ye 
ince its inftitution, there have i. en ‘eight entiperors and 
twenty~ -feven or twenty-eight ee ne eet numerous 
fovere ign pe — — d as companions the 
Its 0 rigin is fomewhat differently an ed: ie common 
account is, ane it was erected in honour of a garter of Joan, 
- of Salifbury, - which fhe dropped in "dancing, ani 
w king Edward picked up, whereupon fome o 
moos fmiling, as at an amorous a¢tion, he turtied it off 
with a ‘stply- 4 in French, “Honi feit qui mal y p eile 
ae that fhortly after they fhould fee that = ter sivaped 
to fo high an honour, that they ‘would account themfelve 
appy te ‘wear it ; but our bett antiquaries ae this afide as 
fabulou 
ee en Fern, &c. take it to lave been inftituted on- 
Hon o1 > 
the a er a 
Ses in the 
third t ”? publifhed by the 
Bollandifts, hase cobain on evr Orde er of the hale 
This order, he’ is no Jefs known under the n 
of St. George nee nee that. of Garter, and that, ous 
it was only inftituted by king Edward IIL. yet it had been 
projected before him by king Richard I. in his expedition 
to the Holy-Land, if we may credit an author who wrote 
maa ae VIIT. eee e adds, however, that he 
ot fee on what that author grounds his nae n; and 
that, en a generality of wri ae fix the epocha of this 
jae ets to the year 1350, he-rather chuf — with Froif- 
, to refer it to the year 1344,’ which agrees better with 
“e hiftory of that prince, ‘where we read, that he called. ar 
es aflembly of knights. ane bie r, 
Rattel’s Chro » lib. vi. quoted by 
Gr nes a ae Supplement to his Blog eo lical Hittory, that 
this order was devifed by Richard I. at the fiege of the city of 
‘Acre, when he caufed twenty-fix knights, who firmly flood 
by him, to wear thongs o of blue leather about their ait and 
that it was perfected in the nineteenth year of Edward IIT. 
If Edward IIT. eftablithed this order, he might be induced 
do it partly with oa reward appropriate to mili- 
tary actions, and'partly. from a ceremonious refpect. for the 
ladies. 
a 
In 1551, Edward VI. made wae apne area in the ritual 
of this order : = prince compo n Latin, the original 
whereof is ftill extant in his own ae iting. He there 
eae that nee pee thou Id no longer be called the order 
of St.George, but that of the Garter : and, inftead of the 
George, hung at the collar, he fubikituted a cavalier bearing 
a book on the point of his word, bes rl ey Ringe 
‘graven on the fword, and verd: 
‘buckle in the left-hand and the word 1 des oa r 
Fora farther account of the order of the Garter, fee 
Cale, Afhmole, aa — Polydore Virgil, 
‘Heykn, Legar, Glove 
Erhard, Cellius, and a ae ue Orange, adds Pape- 
broche, have given defcriptions of the ceremonies ufed at the 
inftalment of knights. A Ciftercian monk, named Mendo- 
cius cana ne ‘has a treatife, intitled ia Garretiete, or 
peculum Anglicanum, fince printed under the title of as 
e explain 
Catechifn of the Order of the Garter ; ey he 
‘all t legories, real or pretended, of thofe ceremonies, 
with the moral fignifications . reof. 
Garter principal king ‘at arms. ‘This office wasinftituted 
y Henry V5 fir Wilham Bruges, who, in ee reat 1417, 
arms, being the perfon o firft en- 
nitis has cle proved, 
George, orcas was ald after = 22d of May, ae “before 
the 3d of September in the year 
’ Garter; and principal king at arms, are two diti net offices: 
united j inone perfon: Garter’s employment i is to attend the 
fae of the order of the garter ; for which he i is allo wed @ 
~mantle 
