THE "YECMEN OF THE GUARD."

Auckland Star, Volume XXXV, Issue 202, 24 August 1904, Page 2

THE "YECMEN OF THE GUARD."

chum who has ever visited the Tower of London will be familiar, aim waat are popularly known as the -Beef, eaters" in their quaint costumes, ditlng L'rcm the time of Henry Vll. isajs tit • writer of an article entitled. "Saca art - ths Beer-eaters" in "Chums" lor B«p., tender). The "Yeomen of tlie Guard,' i» give them their more correct title* are » portion t> the Eoyai Bodyguard, and the in His Majesty's service. Thej; to bo seen at the Tower, more frequently ifc.in elsewhere, because It is their headquarters, apart from, which a portion of the corps forms what is known as thei "Yeomen Warders of His" Majesty's Tow«r." As might be expected!: Iα use ease of such a digßifled and ,ancie.nt body -« soldiers, they are all picked m<?% Every one of the rank and file must hive, beea a nou-comintssioned officer, ia-the regular: army, and their captain is aitraye a peet of the realm. ON ALL STATE OCCASIONS the Yeomen of the Guard are to be «ea amongst tbe immediate attendants of the monarch. In fact, to imagine an English King or Queen without a guard of •'Beefeaters" would be almost 'impossible,, even in these unromantic days. But why eaters," you may ask? SVell, there are twe explanations. The first is that the leomau of the Guard of the old Tudor times waited upon the Kins at his table, and hi fetching and carrying the dishes from aaii to the buffet or sideboard, obtained the name of "BuffeCeeers," which was corrected into "Beef-eaters.". The seconi explanation is rather more olctnresane. Bluff King Hal, our old friend Henry VIII., was Tery much attached to his Beef-eaters, and now and then decked himself in their uniform. On one of these occasions, it is said, he went hunting, and* becoming very hungry, paid sf visit td IB abbot, who entertained him liberally, never suspecting, however, that-he, was anyone more important than a simple yeoman. Now the abbot, through too mack good living, was a • . MARTYR TO INDIGESTION,' and. as he watched the yeoman "potting away" slice after slice of roast beef, he remarked, enviously, "My son. I W>nld jive a hundred pounds to be able , to feed on beef as beartily as thou art doing." Not many days afterwards a body of soldiers waited on the good abbot, arrested him in \he name of the King, and carried hlnl to prison, where for some weeks he was kept in a cold dungeon, and fed on nothing bnt bread and water. So he remained, wondering much what his offence coula , be. until one happy morning two Beef-eaters entered .bearing a hot and savoury sirloin of beef, npon which the abbot fell td work with such an appetite as ne h:id not know" since be was a boy. He was in full enjoyment of his meal when the prison doer opened, and in walked the King with s jovial laugh. "Father Abbot" said he, "I have .given thee back iby appetite for beef. And now I claim my reward—a hundred pounds." And we may be sure he sot it. The ordinary yeoman carries a halberd of partisan, the old fashioned weapon, part spear, part battle-axe.