The Washington herald., 1908-08-23
n EX-ATTACHE.

OF aneEGDrn 10 Lfe once OF ensign u
the Royal Company Of Archers. attention
is called 20 the fact that King Edward,
like the Emperor Of Austria the Gar Of
Russia, and the King Of Bavaria. has a
bodyguard the rank and file Of which
are stiH armed with bows and arrows, in
lieu of the firearms Of the most modern
and approved type
In each instance this corps dates from
oIden times. and its quaint equipment, 50
thoroughly out Of keeping with the pro
sale environment Of the twentieth cen
tury, constitutes picturesque and cher
ished survival Of -he historic past.
The four bodyguards in question
namely, those OF poor crazy King otto,
OF Emperors Nicholas and Francis JO-
seph and Of King Edward VII. the lat
Ter in his capacity OF King Of Scotland
are what may be described as corps
d'elite, are recruited from men who have
held commissions in the army and Of gen
tie birth. and are Differed by the great
est mobiles in the land
Necessary Qualification.
Thus. in the case Of the Scotch Royal
Company OF Archers. no one who does
not possess landed estates OF domicile IN
the Northern kingdom. OF who IS not
The son Of one having held the Office Of
lord lieutenant or deputy lieutenant OF
q county in Scotland. is qualified for
membership Of the guard. the present Of
ncers Of which comprise the Duke Of
BuccIeuch- who IS its captain general
and commander. The Duke OF AbeTcora.
Lord Rosebery. the nonogenarlan Lord
Weuyss, the Marquis Of Bread1lo3ne,
The EarIs Of Aberdeen and OF Elgin- Lord
BaIfour, Lord Harrington, and Lord
lIiuto-
The corps IS said 10 have been instituted
Ii. King James / Of Scotland. on his re-
r1lrn from captivity in England wiki
the object Of Improving the science or
archery and in the history Of the battle
Of Flodden Field 10 is related that the
body of King James " was found Gov
cred and surrounded by the bodies Of his
Archer Guard The regiment. as now
constituted, was reorganized IN LIS, oy
Queen Anne. on The occasion OF her visit
10 Edinburgh. and she invested The mem
bers OF the corps with the prerogative OF
leepf-F guard over the sovereign when
in Scotland-a somewhat risky proceeding
seeing that The royal company OF aTclers
IT the time was composed almost exc---
SiveIy Of JaC1bites-
Indeed. u is on record tEat in li54 Two
Of the archers were court-nlartialed and
pretexr- the real reason being that they
were the only TWO men OF the guard Who
were not in sympathy VITA the p-etender-
BY the time OF The visit Of George " 20
Edinburgh IN 1s22. the Jaco5ite movement
had however. passed out OF existence
and he could. therefore l1trISI himself
70 the protection OF the Royal company
OF Arclers while n Scotland without any
fear for his safety L is related that Sir
waiter scott designed q special uniform
for tEe use Of the corps during the King S
progress north Of the Tweed and that i
was Of surprising ugliness-
But in 1,3- the uniform was fortunately
changed. and now consists where the
rank and file are concerned or "a sreel
c1-sc u.ta black braid fa-lnss- with a
narrow stripe Of crimson velvet IN the
center sls-ITs- vlrss. AID gau-tleted
cuffs. similarly trimmed, Dark green
trousers. with black and crimson stripe
q Scotch cap with thistle ornament and
eagles feathers. a black leather waist
belt. vs-a sold clasp. 20 which a short
sword OF the Roman order Is suspended
the equipment being completed BY bow
SIX fer il length. in The case OF officers
tie tunic is replaced by green cloth
tail coat richly embroidered with go-d-
1ais-l-s. and arrows. with green velvet
-a-5-z7- gold epaulettes and aigrettes,
crimson six sash. gold laced dark green
trousers. and cooked hat. with green
plume.
seen At Court Functions
This uniform IS often seen al court
fucc-i0-s IN London and at Windsor.
being much affected by Lord Rosebery
and those other peers who hold comuis-
siolz in -he bodvguard- But the garb
Of the private IS seldom. Il ever. seen
south Of the Tweed Whenever the SOW
ereigr visits the capital OF the Northern
kingdom the commanding officer pre-
ser-s O RedGendO. consisting Of three ar
rows made Of suakew00d. barbed with
silver and feathered with the pluues Of
the Argus pheasant fl token OF the fealry
Of the regiment. and the Duke OF Buc-
cleuch is by virtue Of his Office Of cap
tain general Of the corps. gold stick %
the monarch when il Scotland. his two
officers next in rank being the silver
sticks OF Scotland In this way the com
ulauding officers Of the BOdyguard Of
Archers enjoy in the Northern Kingdom
the same privileges and status as do
the coIoreIs in chief and the lieutenant
colonies Of the Horse Guards and Life
Guards in England
Every month throughout the spring.
summer. and autumn, archery drills, pTac-
tees and shooting contests take place
burgh. Cne OF the queerest matches being
that for the so-called Goose Medal The
old mode Of competing Tor this was By
building a live goose into q, turf butt. in
such a manner as 10 leave only the head
Of The bird exposed 10 view, the archer
who hit the head and killed the goose
being entitled to have her. OF course
this barbarOus practice is now diScOn-
tinued II is the head Of the stuffed
goose which takes the place OF the live
bird, while a gold medal constitutes the
prize Of the victor. Headquarters OF the
regiment is al the Archers' Hall, in
Edinburgh. built one hundred and fifty
years ago. adorned with q number OF
fine paintings. including some splendid
Raeburns. and with superb silver trophies
and plate. Il IS there where the regimen
tai dinners take place several times a
year. the first toast given being not as
elsewhere. the King" but the mark, "
which is drunk sitting down
While the archer bOdyguards OF the
rulers OF Austria and Bavaria are far
more picturesquely and magnifcently
garbed than those OF King Edward. the
Cars corps Of archers consists OF fan
1astically garbed Orientais. who cOnsti-
rUte a very striking feature az all the
grand ceremonies Of the 8Iuscovite court
To Russia. by the by. belongs the distinc-
ton OF having been the last European
government 20 employ archers in modern
warfare. For among the troops that
marched into Paris after the battle OF