Staunton vindicator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1860-1896, 1875-07-30
THE HEAD OF CHARLES I.

l IL cofTeSpoHuollG OI NOCoS ana queries
recalls Sir Henry Halford's account of the
| appearance of the remains of King Charles
| | slxty-two years ago. The corpse was
| buried in the vault OF Henry VIII, in st.
| Georges chapel at Windsor, and the coffin
was opened by command and in the pres
ence of the Prince Regent Oh April l, 1913.
Halford, who witnessed tue sdisinter-
( ment. wrote report of the proceeding,
which was authenticated by the sign man
! uel OF the regent. After remarking on
the striking resemblance of the head, even
| in its decayed state, to the coins. busts,
and especially the Vandyke pictures of the
| king, the report proceeded:
when the head had been entirely dis
engaged from the attachments which con-
| fined it, it was found to be loose and with
! out any difficulty, was taken up and held
to view. 1t was quite wet. and gave
greenish red tinge to paper and to linen
which touched it. The back part of the
scalp was entirely perfect, and had a re-
markable fresh appearance. the pores of
the skin being more distinct, as they
I
the tendons and ligament of the neck were
of considerable substance and frmness.
| ''The hair was thick at the back of the
head, and, in appearance, nearly black.
| A portion of it, which has since been
| cleaned and dried, is of beautiful dark
brown color. That of the beard was of
| redder brown. On the back part of the
| head it was more than AL inch in length,
| and had probably been cut so short for the
convenience of the executor, or. perhaps,
! by the piety of friends after death, in Or
| der to furnish memorials of the unhappy
| king.
son holding up the head to inspect the
place of separation from the body, the
muscles of the neck had evidently retract-
ed themsel YES considerably, and the fourth
cervical vertebra was found to be cut
| through it's substance transversely leaving
| the surface of the divided portions perfect
ly smooth and even, an appearance which
could have been produced only by heavy
| blow inflicted with sharp instrument,
and which furnish the last proof wanting
to Identify King Charles I.
| CATER the examination Of the head,
which served every purpose in view, and
without examining the body below the
neck, it was Immediately restored to its
situation, the coffin was soldered up again
and the vault closed.
| ssNeither of the other coffins had any in
description upon them. The larger one, sup
posed on good grounds, to contain the re-
mains of King Henry VIII, measured six
feet ten inches in length, and had been in
closed in an elm one Of two inches in thick
ness, but this was decayed, and lay in
small fragments near it.
'The leaden coffin appeared to have been
beaten in by violence about the middle,
and a considerable opening in that part Of
I it exposed mere skeleton of the king.
Some beard remained upon the chin, and
there was nothing to discriminate the per-
sonage contained in it. The smaller coffin,
understood to be that of Queen Jane Sey-
mour, was not touched, mere curiosity not
being considered by the Prince Regent as
a sufficient motive for disturbing these re-
mains.'
| The correspondent contradicts Halford's
conjecture that the kings hair was cut
short for the convenience of the execution
er. by quoting the following extract from
the state trials report Of the execution:
''He 1.-THE king) called to the bishop for his
Inightcap, and having put it on said to the
executioner, Does my hair trouble you?'
who desired him to put it all under his
cap, which the king did accordingly, by
the help of the executioner and the bishop.
Then the king said to the executioner, s'Is
my hair well?"