The Cincinnati daily star. [volume] ([Cincinnati, Ohio]) 1875-1880, 1875-09-21
The Head OF Charles 1.

A correspondent of Notes and Queries
recalls Sir Henry Halford's account of
the appearance OF the remains Of King
Charles l. sixty-two years ago, The
| corpse was buried in the vault Of King
Henry VIII, in st. Georges chapel, at
| Windsor, and the coffin was opened by
the command and i'll presence of the
prince regent on April /, 1903 Halford,
who witnessed the disinterment, wrote
a report Of the proceeding, which was
authe henticated by the sign manual of the
regent. Alter remarking on the striking
resemblance of the head, even in its de-
cayed state, TO the CONS, DIsts and es-
pecially the Vandyke pictures of the
king, the report proceeded:
| When the head had been entirely dis
engaged from the attachments which
confined IT, IL was found to be loose, ,and
without any difficulty was taken up and
held to view. IL was quite wet anu gave
a greenish tinge 10 paper and to linen
which touched II. The back part of the
scalp was entirely perfect, and had re-
markably fresh appearance, the pores OF
the skin being more distinct, as they
usually are When soaked in moisture,
and Tie tendons and ligaments OF the
neck were OF considerable substance
and tirmness. The hair was thick at The
| back part of the head, land in appearance
nearly black. A portion OF it, which has
since been cleaned and dried, is of a
| beautiful dark brown coior. That of the
| beard was OF a redder brown. On the
back part OF the beard 1t was more than
an incn IN lengLn,a and had probably been
cut SO short Tor lne convenience of the
eXecutiOner, or perhaps by the piety OF
friends soon after death in order to fur
nish memorials Of the unhappy king.
On holding up the head " examine
the place Of separation from the body,
the muscles of the neck mad evidently
reLracueu themselves CONSIDERABLY, and
the fourth cervical yerleDra was found
to be cut through its substance trans
versely, leaving the surface OF the di-
vided portion perfectly smooth and even,
an appearance winch could have been
produced only by IA neavy blow inflicted
with sharp instrument, and Whicn tur-
nished the last proof wanting to identity
King Charles L. After this examination
ol tne mead, which served every purpose
in view, and, without examining the
body Doiow .he neck, 1T was immediately
restored to its situation, the cotfia was
soidered up again and the vault closed.
Neither OF the other collins had inscrip-
tions on them, Tue large one, supposed
on good authority To contain tue remains
of Henry VIll, measured SIX feet and
ten inches in length, and had been in
closed in an elm one or two inches in
thickness; but tBis Was decayed and
laid i'll sin I'll fragments near it. The
leaden coffin appeared to haye been
beaten i'll with violence about the md
die, and a considerable opeiiing i'll that
part ot it exposed a mere skeIeton OF the
king. Some beard remained ON the chin,
and there was nothing TO discriminate
the parsonage contained i'll 1t. The
smaller G, iii, understood to be that OF
Queen Jane seymour, was NOT toucLed,
mere curiosity not being considered by
the prince regent as sufficlent motive
Tor disturbing these remains. aA
The correspondent contfadicts Hal
rord's conject ture tnat the kings hair was
cut short lur tne convenience of the eK-
ecuuoner, by quoting the following eX-
tract from the Lllal reports oi the eXecu-
tion:
lie (the king) called TO the bishop for
his nightcap, and, having put IT on, he
said to The eXecutioneer. "Does my
hair trouble your who desired him TO
put it all under his cap, which the King
did accordingly, by the neIp OF the eXe-
cutioner and Lhe bishop. Tnen the king
said to the eXecutionef. "ls my hair
weilp'