Part 174

The garter is of blue velvet bordered with fine gold wire, having commonly the letters of the motto of the same: it is, at the time of installation, buckled upon the left leg, by two of the senior companions, who receive it from the sovereign, to whom it is presented upon a velvet cushion by Garter king at arms, with the usual reverence, whilst the chancellor reads the following admonition, enjoined by the statutes. “To the honor of God omnipotent, and in memorial of the blessed martyr St. George, tie about thy leg, for thy renown, this noble garter; wear it as the symbol of the most illustrious order, never to be forgotten, or laid aside; that thereby thou mayest be admonished to be courageous, and having undertaken a just war, in which thou shalt be engaged, thou mayest stand firm, valiantly fight, and successfully conquer.”

The princely garter being thus buckled on, and the words of its signification pronounced, the knight elect is brought before the sovereign, who puts about his neck, kneeling, a sky colored riband, whereon is appendant, wrought in gold within the garter, the image of St. George on horseback, with his sword drawn, encountering the dragon. In the mean time the chancellor reads the following admonition: “Wear this riband about thy neck, adorned with the image of the blessed martyr and soldier of Christ, St. George, by whose imitation provoked, thou mayest so overpass both prosperous and adverse adventures, that having stoutly vanquished thy enemies both of body and soul, thou mayest not only receive the praise of this transient combat, but be crowned with the palm of eternal victory.”

Then the knight elect kisses his sovereign’s hand, thanks his majesty for the great honor done him, rises up, and salutes all his companions severally, who return their congratulations.

Since the institution of this order, there have been 8 emperors, and 28 kings, besides numerous sovereign princes, enrolled as companions thereof. Its origin is somewhat differently related: the common account is, that it was erected in honor of a garter of the countess of Salisbury, which she dropped dancing with king Edward, and which that prince picked up; but others think it was instituted on account of the victory over the French at Cressy, where the king ordered his garter to be displayed as a signal of the battle.

GASCONADE, a boast or vaunt of something very improbable. The term is originally derived from the Gascons, or people of Gascony in France, who it seems have been particularly distinguished for extravagant stories.

GASCONADE, Fr. pour menterie, ródomontáde, filouterie; a lie, a ródomontáde, an imposition.

GASCONNER, Fr. to gasconade, to repeat extravagant, wild stories.

GATE, an entrance, a large door, the passage into a walled place; in a military sense, is made of strong planks with iron bars to oppose an enemy. Gates are generally fixed in the middle of the curtain, from whence they are seen and defended by the two flanks of the bastions. They should be covered with a good ravelin, that they may not be seen or enfiladed by the enemy. The palisades and barriers before the gates within the town are often of great use. The fewer ports there are in a fortress, the more you are secured against the enemy. At the opening of a gate, a party of horse is sent out to patrole in the country round the place, to discover ambuscades or lurking parties of the enemy, and to see if the country be clear.

GAUCHE, Fr. The left.

A Gauche, Fr. On the left.

GAUGE. See STANDARD.

GAUGES, in gunnery, are brass rings with handles, to find the diameter of all kinds of shot with expedition.

GAULS, the name given by the Romans to the inhabitants of the country that now forms part of the kingdoms of Italy and France. The countries were called cisalpine, and transalpine Gaul, with reference to the position of Rome. The original inhabitants were descended from the Celtes or Gomerians, by whom the greatest part of Europe was peopled: the name of Galli or Gauls, being probably given them long after their settlement in that country.

GAUNTELOPE. GAUNTLET. See GAUNTELOPE. Run the GAUNTELOPE.

GAZETTE, a newspaper. The word is derived from gazetta, a Venetian coin, which was the usual price of the first newspaper printed there, and which name was afterwards given to the paper itself.

The first gazette in England was published at Oxford, the court being there, in a folio half sheet, November the 7th, 1665. On the removal of the court to London, the title was changed to the London Gazette. The Oxford Gazette was published on Tuesdays, the London on Saturdays. And these have continued to be the days of publication ever since that publication has been confined to London.

All commissions in the British army, militia, fencible, and volunteer corps must be gazetted. The dates specified in the gazette generally agree in every point with those of the original commissions. So that by referring to the gazette, an officer may always know the precise day on which he is entitled to receive subsistence from the agent, and to assume rank in the British army. Should an erroneous statement, however, get into the gazette, or a commission be wrong dated therein, a reference to the latter will always supersede any notification in the former.

GAZONS, in fortification, are pieces of fresh earth or sods, covered with grass, and cut in the form of a wedge, about a foot long, and half a foot thick, to line the outsides of a work made of earth; as ramparts, parapets, banquettes, &c. The first bed of gazons is fixed with pegs of wood: and the second bed is so laid as to bind the former, by being placed over its joints; and so continued till the works are finished. Betwixt those sods it is usual to sow all sorts of binding weed or herbs, in order to strengthen the rampart.

GEAR, furniture, equipage, or caparison.

GEAT, the hole through which the metal is conveyed to the mould in casting ordnance.

GEBEGIS. Armorers among the Turks are so called.

GEBELUS. Every timariot in Turkey, during a campaign, is obliged to take a certain number of horsemen, who are called gebelus, and to support them at his own expence. He is directed to take as many with him as would annually cost three thousand aspres (each aspre being equal to two-pence farthing English) for subsistence.

GELD, in the English old customs, a Saxon word signifying money, or tribute. It also denoted a compensation for some crime committed. Hence wergeld, in the old Saxon laws, was used for the value of a man slain; and orfgeld, for that of a beast.

GELIBACH. A sort of superintendant or chief of the gebegis, or armorers among the Turks. He is only subordinate to the toppi bachi, or the grand-master of the Turkish artillery.

GENDARMERIE, Fr. the gendarmerie was a select body of cavalry that took precedence of every regiment of horse in the French service, and ranked immediately after the king’s household. The reputation of the gendarmerie was so great, and its services so well estimated by the king of France, that when the emperor Charles V. in 1552, sent a formal embassy to the Court of Versailles to request a loan of money, and the assistance of the gendarmerie to enable him to repulse the Turks; Francis I. returned the following answer: “With respect to the first object of your mission, (addressing himself to the ambassador) I am not a banker; and with regard to the other, as my gendarmerie is the arm which supports my sceptre, I never expose it to danger, without myself sharing its fatigue and glory.”

The uniform of the gendarmerie, as well as of the light cavalry, under the old French government, was scarlet, with facings of the same color. The coat was formerly more or less laced with silver according to the king’s pleasure. A short period before the revolution, it was only laced on the cuff. The waistcoat of buff leather, and the bandouleer of the same, silver laced; the hat was edged with broad silver lace. The horse-cloths and holster-caps were red, and the arms of the captain embroidered on the corners of the saddle cloths, and on the front of the holsters. In 1762, a considerable body of men was raised by order of Louis XIV. The soldiers who composed it were called gensdarmes. And in 1792, the number was considerably augmented, consisting of horse and foot, and being indiscriminately called gens d’armes; but their clothing was altered to deep blue. Their pay was greater than what the rest of the army enjoyed, and when others were paid in paper currency, they received their subsistence in hard cash (en argent sonant.) They possessed these privileges on account of the proofs they were obliged to bring of superior claims to military honor, before they could be enlisted as gendarmes. It was necessary, in fact, that every individual amongst them should produce a certificate of six or eight years service.

GENDARMES (gens d’armes) de la garde, a select body of men so called during the old government of France, and still preserved in that country; but their services are applied to different purposes. They consisted originally of a single company which was formed by Henry IV. when he ascended the throne. He distinguished them from his other troops, by stiling them hommes d’armes de ses ordonnances; men at arms under his own immediate orders. They consisted of men best qualified for every species of military duty, and were to constitute a royal squadron at whose head the king himself might personally engage the enemy, as necessity might require. He gave this squadron to his son, the Dauphin, who was afterwards king of France, under the name and title of Louis XIII.

GENERAL, in a military sense, is an officer in chief, to whom the government of a country have judged proper to entrust the command of their troops. He holds this important trust under various titles, as captain-general, in England and Spain, feldt mareschal, in Germany, or mareschal, in France.