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| Grenadier, 2nd Foot 1715 by P H Smitherman
The details for this image come from two contemporary wooden figures, painted in colour, and made for some purpose at which we can now only guess. The hat is of the familiar grenadier shape with a stiff front and the bag behind standing up with its tuft showing. As is usual, the bag in this case was red, and the tuft white. The stiff front was usually of the regimental facing colour, in this case blue, but here the front is red, with an elaborately embroidered design incorporating the Prince of Wales feathers. This badge was displayed because on the accession of King George I in 1692 the regiment became the Prince of Wales Own Regiment of Foot, a title which it retained until the Princess of Wales became Queen, and the regiment became the Queens Own Regiment of Foot. The lamb displayed on the little flap was the family crest of the House of Braganza, to which Charles IIs queen belonged. As part of her dowry she brought the colony of Tangier, to garrison which the 2nd Foot was raised in 1661 as the Tangier Regiment. The lamb and the motto, Pristimae virtutis memor, also on the little flap, are still displayed by the regiment. The elaborate lace on the coat, particularly that on the sleeve, should be noted. The grenadier is wearing long woollen socks pulled up over his knees, instead of the spatterdashes shown previously. The wooden figure from which these detail come was possibly displayed at the gates of the barracks in which the regiment was stationed, and so might well show the dress worn by the sentry on duty nearby, which would probably include stockings rather than spatterdashes. He is shown with a plug bayonet. This has a wooden handle which was wedged in the end of the barrel of the flintlock. At about this time this was superseded by the ring bayonet, similar to that in use today, which allowed the weapon to be fired with it in position. |