The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1876-01-08 00:00:00

HER MAJESTY'S CHAMPION.

The following is from The Times of Friday, Dec.
31 :—Our obituary column yesterday contained the
name of a gentleman who, though not the possessor of
a peerage or even of a baronetage, enjoyed a descendible
title of higher note than most of our hereditary nobility
—Mr. Henry Lionel Dymoke, of Scrivelsby Manor,
Lincolnshire, "the Honourable Her Majesty's Cham-
pion," who died on Tuesday, in Redcliffe-road, South
Kensington, London, at the early age of 42. He was
the eldest son of the late Rev. John Dymoke, of
Scrivelsby, whose death we recorded in these columns
little more than two years ago, by his marriage with
Mary, daughter of the Rev. Clement Madeley, vicar
of Horncastle, Lincolnshire. He was born in 1833, and
was educated at Eton. He was a magistrate for Lin-
colnshire, and a captain in the Lincolnshire Militia.
He held the manor and patronage of Scrivelsby, which
has been for centuries a feudal appendage of the office,
which he inherited, by a female descent, from the
ancient holders of both the one and the other, the
Lords Marmyon or Marmion, immortalised by Sir
Walter Scott. It appears that the estate and feudal
manor of Scrivelaby was acquired by his ancestor, Sir
John Dymok or Dymoke (grandson of Henry Dymok,
living in the reign of Edward III.) by his marriage
with Mary de Ludlow, sole heiress of Scrivelsby, whose
mother was a daughter of Philip de Marmyon. To-
wards the close of the reign of Edward 111. this Sir
John Dymoke represented Lincolnshire in Parliament,
along with one of the Marmyons, and be officiated at
the coronation of Richard 11. as "the King's Cham-
pion." He is the first person of whom it is historically
recorded that he performed this knightly office, but, as
it was in virtue of the lordship of Scrivelsby that he
officiated, there can be little doubt that he inherited the
Championship from his wife's ancestors. His son, Sir
Thomas, acted as Champion at the coronation of
Henry IV., having previously been made a Knight of
the Bath in the Tower of London, then, of course one
of the residences of the King and his Court. On this
occasion, says Sir Bernard Burke, he officiated for his
widowed mother, who, doubtless, held the manor of
Scrivelsby for life; and he again discharged the same
duty at the coronation of Henry V. It would be
neither interesting nor profitable to give here a full
list of the members of the noble House of Dymoke
who have ridden forth on horseback, glove in hand, in
Westminster Hall, at the successive coronations of our
Sovereigns of the rival Houses of York and Lancaster,
or of the Tudor and Stuart lines. Enough to say
that one Sir Thomas Dymoke, grandson of
the first Champion of the family, met with
a premature death on the scaffold in the reign
of Edward IV., being suspected of Lancastrian
tendencies, and that his son, afterwards a distinguished
military commander in the wars of France, in spite of
his tender years, officiated as Champion at the corona-
tion of Richard 111., and again at those of Henry
VII. and Henry VIII. The heads and representatives
of the Dymoke family during the next five or six
reigns represented Lincolnshire in Parliament, married
high-born heiresses, and rode forth in State to West-
minster Hall as often as it was needful to do service
on behalf of the Sovereign on his or her accession
i ;
and t is not a little remarkable that in no case was
the loyalty of a Dymoke put to the teat by being
called on to officiate at a second coronation during
the time when the nation was hovering in its
attachment to the rival lines or rival monarchs.
The Championship, however, descended in 1820 to
the grandfather of the gentleman just deceased, the
Rev. John Dymoke. rector of Scrivelsby, whose elder
brother, Lewis Dymoke, made an unsuccessful
attempt before the House of Lords, to claim the
ancient barony of Marmyon as a feudal dignity.
Being a clergyman, he could not well officiate in
person at the coronation of George IV., but nomi-
nated as his deputy his eldest son Henry, who, on
the 19th of July, 1821, rode in a suit of full armour
into the Hall of Westminster as Champion, sup-
ported on either side by the Duke of Wellington and
the Marquis"of Anglesey, as his mounted "esquires,"
and threw down the glove, challenging all gainsayers
to come forth and maintain their counter-claim in
single combat. An engraving of this scene is pre-
served in the Gentleman's Magazine of the time, and
a fac-simile may be seen in the last-published volume
of Cassell's "Old and New London." The scene
at the coronation banquet is minutely and graphi-
cally described by Sir Walter Scott, who was present
on the occasion, and who describes the ceremony at
great length, and pays a compliment to the grace and
dignity with which young Harry Dymoke fulfilled his
duties, and the sensation which was caused by his ap-
pearance on his charger. As most of our readers are
aware, the Whigs, in their zeal for retrenchment and
reform, cocked the coronat4on of King William IV.,
in 1831, of this ancient ceremony, and the like parsi-
mony prevailed at the coronation of Her Majesty in
1838, not very long after which Mr. Dymoke received
the honour of a baronetcy, which, however, became
extinct at his death in 1865, when the office of "the
Honourable Her Majesty's Champion" passed to his
brother, the late Rev. John Dymoke, who died in
1673, leaving the " Championship " to his son, just
deceased, the 19th Lord of Scriveleby who has enjoyed
that distinction.

In connection with the above, the following communica-
tion has been sent to The Times for publiJation :

Sir,—The Duke of Wellington and the Marquis of
Anglesey rode on either side of Champion Dymok at
the Coronation of George IV., as Lord High Steward
and Lord High Constable of England, two offices so
exalted that they are invariably created pro hqe rice.
The High Stewardship was established earlier than
the reign of Edward the Confossor, and was in the
family of the Earls of Leicester, as Lords of Hankly,
until Simon de Montfort forfeited his office by
rebellion, Henry 111. wisely abstaining from re-
creating so powerful a functionary except for special
occasions, such as to preside at the trial of a Peer or
for a Coronation.
' The Lord High Constable ranks next after the Lord
Great Chamberlain, and was with the Earl Marshal,
Judge of the Court of Chivalry, called in Henry IV.'s
time Curia Militaris. This office existed before the
Conquest. and was checked by Richard 11. and for-
feited by Edward Stafford, Duke of Buckiligham, at-
tainted of high treason in 1521 he holding it as heir of
the Bohuns, Earls of Hereford.
This office has never since that date been given but
for Coronations, with the single exception of Robert
Bertie, Earl of Lindsey, appointed Lord High Con-
stable for the trial by combat betweer lord Reay and
David Ramsay, November 28, 1631.—tour obedient
ant, WILLIAM FRASER.
'

WHOLE NVIG.—A gentleman at a ladies' bazaar,
being solicited to buy something by a fair cr(ature
who kept a table, and said he wanted to buy what was
not for sale—a lock of her hair. She promptly cut off
the coveted curl and received the sum asked for it-
-220. The purchaser was showing his trophy to a
friend. "She rather had you," said the friend •, "to
my certain knowledge, she only paid twenty shillings
for the whole wig."

EPITOME OF NEWS.

BRITISH AND FOREIGN.

Daring last week theze were forty-six wrecks re-
ported, making the total number for the year 1,867.
In the last 11 months the value of unmanufactured
tobacco imported was 4,598,738 and manufactured and
snuff, £1,026,503.

,
Mrs. Goodenough, the widow of the late Com-
modore. has arrived in England accompanied by her two
orphan boys. _ _

In the ten days ending with the 20th of December
the number of ships which passed through the Suez Canal
was 43 The transit revenue collected by the Suez Canal
Company in the same period was £33,600.
The seven rattlesnakes of the Jardin des Plantes in
Paris have all died of cold this winter.

Four more bodies have been recovered from the
workings of the S waithe Main.

The first sixpenny day at the Crystal Palace on
Monday resulted in the attendance of 8,287 visitors, of
whom 6,185 were admitted by payment, and 2.101 by season
tickets.

Disturbances have oocurrecl among the coal miners
on strike at Louviere, in Belgium, and a detachment of
soldiers has been sent there from Mons.

A committee has been formed at Berlin to ensure
the due representation of Germany at the Exhibition of
Scientific Instruments to be held in London in May.
Recently a mamma's little daughter addressed her
with: "Mamma, my doll's worn out, and I don't want any
more rag dollies ; I want a meat baby."—Court Journal.
A fire has occurred in a salt mine in Galicia, more
than nine hundred feet in depth. Two hundred men were
saved. Attempts made to rescues few who were left behind
ended fatslly, and in all it is believed that eight lives have
been lost.
Mrs. Turner, Dingle Head, Liverpool, has sent a
donation to the South American Missionary Society of
R.. 2,000, in memory of her late husband, Mr. Charles rurner.
The magistrates for Warwickshire and Worcester
shire have resolved to employ the county police in carrying
out the provisions of the Agricultural Children Act passed
in 1873.

Earl Fortesoue has written to the Western Times,
bearing tntimony to the great value of training ships as
feeders to the navy, and suggesting that the Treasury should
be asked t) contribute to their maintenance.
A letter in the Paris Rappel gives an account of a
visit to General Garibaldi, who still suffers much from his
various wounds, especially in damp weather, and is then
forced to keep in bed most of the day. He is inundated
with callers, many of them English.
"It is announced that Miss Bauer and Mdlle.
Norele, who were formerly governesses to the younger prin-
cesses, are appointed " lectrices " to the Queen and Princess
Beatrice."—Pall Mall Gazette.

Lord Penzance, sitting in the Archiepiscopal Palace
at Lambeth. on Tuesday, tried his first case in the Court of
Arches, under the provisions of the Public Worship Act of
1874. It was a "representation" made by three parishioners
of St. Peter's, Dover, against the incumbent of that church
for ritualistic practices.

At the County Quarter Sessions, Exeter, at which
str:Stafford Nortbcote, Sir Massey Lopes, and other members
of Parliament were present, regret was expressed at the
great increase of lunacy in the district, which necessitated
another large grant to the County Asylum.

Mr. W. F. Denning, F.M.S., states the rainfall at
Bristol during 1875 to have amounted to 43-143 inches, or
11 140th inches above the annual average. During the 16
months ending (and including) November, 1875, the total
fall was 63-221 inches, or 18946 inches in excess, which
corresponds to-an actual surplus of 1,919 tons of water per
sore.

The Avenir de la Vendee states that in consequence
of the prices of everything having risen, manual labour as
well as the fruits of the earth, the Bishop of Lucon has de-
cided upon a rise in the price of masses. The mass that has
hitherto cost one franc is to be charged one franc and a half,
and so on in proportion. The new tariff was published a
week ago, and commences from the Ist inst.—Pali Mall
Gazette.

The Post Office authorities are about to make a,
change in the mode by which payment is make for tele-
grams. Hitherto ordinary postage stamps were accepted in
payment, but after the close of this month all telegrams
must be prepaid in telegram stamps, which will be issued of
the value of 3d., 6d., is, and bs. tv

A shocking accident, says the Liverpool Pose, oc-
eurred on Saturday evening in Fox-street to some men
IT:retail, Son, fixing
boiler
As thebelboonutngwhtiochMweesaed David
14 tons, was being placed in position a crane gave way; the
huge BUM was unexpectedly brought to the ground, and two
men were killed and several others injured.
As an instance of the longevity of elephants, it is
said that the identical state elephant which carried the
Marquis of Hastings when he visited Lucknow, India, a
century ago, as Governor-General, was to be in the procession
to welcome the Prince of Wales when he visits that city.

Mr. Ralph Waldo Emerson, who has for some time
been prevented by bodily feebleness from doing his usual
literary labour, Is now in better health, and the public hope
to see the result of his restoration to comparative bodily
vigour in productions of his pen, which are not so numerous
as to make any nelv addition to the existing treasury of
them other than a welcome rarity.

"Christmas-box," said an extremely ragged little
urchin, entering an extensive pastrycook's establishment
"What claims have you upon me?" asked the proprietress.
"I never saw you before." "Why, please, ma'am, I looks
in at the window to see what o'clock it is when I go to
work "—Court Journal.

According to the Treasury return issued on Tuesday
night, the expenditure during the first nine months of the
financial year amounted to £55,084,855, as compared with
£54,052,615 last year. The balance in the Bank of England
on Friday last was £2,609,757, and in that of Ireland
£1,030,849. The receipts for the same period were published
in the revenue returns issued on the 31st ult.

The additions to the Zoological Society's Gardens I
in London during the past week include a black lemur from
Madagascar, presented by Captain Burke; a white-fronted
lemur from Madagascar, a night parrot from New Zealand,
a grey ichneumon from India, deposited ; a yellow baboon
from Wees Africa, purchased; a gavial from India, pre-
sented by Captain Barnet; a common fox, European, pre-
sented by Mr. W. Saville —Nature.
Mr. W. S. Stanhope, M.P., addressing an assem-
blage of rifle volunteers at Dewsbury on Monday night, corn
mented upon the militamproblem which is now supposed to
be engagiug the attention of the Government Be had
great faith in the efficiency of the volunteer reserve—i.e., the
mem who have passed.through the volunteer ranks but are
not now enrolled; and with regard to conscription, he was
of opinion that it would be "disastrous "to this country.
An accident, by which a' number of persons have
been injured, though, fortunately, not very seriously, oc-
curred at a miduight service at Christ Church, Kensii,gtoo,
Liverpool, on Saturday morning. As the large congregation
were leaving the church by the west door the fisgged floor
Immediately inside the doorway gave way, ana about 20
persons suddenly fell late the basement—a depth of about
10ft The occurrence naturally created alarm, but the
sufferers, some of whom had sustained contusions, were
quickly extricated.
It is stated from Paris that anxiety is felt as to
Queen Isabella's health, the measles she has just had having
left her in a state of prostration from which she seems to
have a difficulty in rallying.
Under the auspices of the Evangelical Alliance,
special and united devotional services, to be continued
throughout the week, were commenced in London, on Mon-
day morning at Willis's Rooms, St. James's, and at the
London Tavern, Bishopsgate-street.

The desertions from the Army during the year 1875
as announced officially number 5,629, while in 1874 they
reached 7,939, and in 1873 a still larger number. The diminu-
tion may be due to the fact of absentees not being so
promptly advertised as formerly, or it may show an actual
decrease in the rate of desertion; but in any case a large
deduction must be made from the figures given, in order to
allow for those men who are apprehended or who return
voluntarily to their regiments. At the present season of the
year, when the reliefs are being despatched to India, there
is always a large increase in the number of desertions—The
Times.
From the volunteer returns for 1875, just issued by
the War Office, it appears that during the past year there has
been an increase in the number of efficients throughout the
United Kingdom of 7,609, and a decrease of non-efficients in
the same period of 1,916. The total volunteer strength of the
country at the present time comprises 181,080 men, of whom
168,709 (or 93 per cent.) are efficient. No fewer than 145,763
men have been present at the annual inspections in the
course of the year. Officers and sergeants to the number of
14,869, having obtained certificates, have gained the extra
grant for proficiency.
A comic incident occurred at one of the recent per-
formances of Tannhciuser at the Imperial Operas, Vienna. In
the second scene the Landgraf Hermann enters on horseback
followed by a cavalcade of huntsmen and a numerous pack
of hounds. After the septet the riders dismount, and one of
the cavaliers, in descending from his steed, trod on the paw
of a couchant dog that was peacefully listening to Wagner's
music. This caused a fearful uproar; the dog howled, and
the other hounds barked in sympathy.—Concordia.
It is officially announced that Lord Northbrook, the
Viceroy of India, will retire from that post in the spring,
feeling unable to perform the duties during another summer.
He was appointed in 1872, and succeeded Lord Mayo, who
was assassinated on Feb. Bth in that year, at Port Blair, in
the Andaman Islands, by the convict Shere AIL Lord
_Northbrook is to be created an earl. Lord Lytton,
by whom he is to be succeeded, is at present the British
Minister at Lisbon, and was formerly First Secretary of
Emnassy at Paris, having previously filled several other
diplomatic appointments.

- -
"The nuts commonly sold in the shops as Spanish
nuts are said to be coloured in the drying by the fumes of
sulphur. Those known as Barcelonas are mostly kiln-dried,
and are exported from Tarrsgona, in the district ot Catalonia
So prolific are these trees in Spain that a single wood is
recorded to have furnished no less than 80,000 bushels in one
year. Nuts of this species are also imported into this country
from various ports of the Mediterranean. From Italy like-
wise quantities of these nuts are imported. From all sources
the imports of these nuts amount in some years to between
200.000 and 300,000 bushels."—Gardeners' Chronicle.

About six weeks ago a British merchant ship named
the James Paton was wrecked off Fukashima, Japan, and
was totally lost. The Japanese authorities and the native's
near that place showed the greatest kindness to the ship-
wrecked men, alt of whom, including the captain's wife, owe
their lives to the exertions made by the natives. The suf-
ferers had every attention shown them, being fed, housed,
and conveyed to Yokohama gratuitously. The Board of
Trade, learning these particulars from despatches received
by the Foreign office, have forwarded the sum of £lOO to Sir
Harry Parkes, her Majesty's Minister at Yokohama, to be
distributed at his-discretion to the natives who showed such
kindness to the unfortunate crew.
season
hrtk Nhedraiotial sfenoGnatzehette s
l,ket
ynsumthbaetre (di u1r1,076g,
theTphreesNenetw Y
.
being a decrease from last year of 131. Of this number 582
occurred on Lake Michigan 162 on Lake Huron, 169 on Lake
-
Erie, 62 on Lake Ontario, 19 on Lake Sift. Clair,2oofnalLle.adke
Superior and 46 on the rivers.lgtyve vessels
E
vriptions, with an aggregate carrying capacity of 27,177
tons, valueddnagt
hl,l69l.,sazioOddole. g
oThe
ftotal
fammaotuendt
aotf p379ple,
3r tooy
lost, incf Li
dots., which exceeds that of last year by 1,017,000 dols.
On Monday morning, at three o'clock, Mr. George
Eceersiey, station inspector at Preston, in the employ of the
Loudon and North-Western Company, was crossing the
lines from the east to the west side of the station to meet
the train due at that time from London, when an engine
from the coal yards came forward almost noiselessly tram
the tunnel on the north side of the station. Re did not see
the engine, was knocked down, run over, and killed. Mr.
Eckersley had been upwards of 20 years in the service of the
company, and has left a widow and six children.
In London last week 2,494 births and 1,782 deaths
were registered, the former having been 409, and the latter
sceai
rounneff fue hrnt,
hoh
et2eor first
hdf reeo
from
nodifferentSeptember.
p tstoem m7a
bsll
ea:
small-pox.
onsdridmldTosweh3Teeeolf
The
deaths
fever,
al edaovtwpehtneesoer
deaths
rulte3mehf9eafforrrn,noo
nmmoad.f
23, above the average numbers. Seventy persons died from
in
measles, 75 from scarlet fever, 16 from diphtheria, 76 from
asdwcriliy:r iwehPtecei
week
kaegv,
wtohdicihse2a4s9esreosfultthede
fromrespiratory
These 397 deaths were 69 below the corrected average number
in the corresponding week of the last ten years.
Duke
ne
oTuesday
Edinburgh
and
pr
ntche e
Christianal rit o 1, it
with
gah ns
eel se se et s p
atrht
ye
' of gentlemen, left Cumberland Lodge at eleven o'clock, in
tne Queen's char-a-banc and four, and proceeded to Overton's
Lodge, where they were met by a staff of Royal keepgs, and
commenced shooting over the well-stocked coverts known as
Smith's beat, in the vicinity of Cranbourne, and shot right
away to Duke's-lane, near Cranbourne Lodge, where the
Royal party finished, after enjoying some excellent sport.
The Duke of Edinburgh, who arrived at Cumberland Lodge
on Monday last, on a visit to the Prince and PrillC43lll
Christian, after lunching with their Royal Highnesses drove
to Windsor, and left by ordinary train on the Great Western
Railway an routs for Esstwell Park.