Category: Loyalists

Song of Defiance

6/15/2015

On October 19th, 1781 Lord Cornwallis surrendered Yorktown to the French and Americans. Legend has it the British drummers and fifers played The World Turned Upside Down to demonstrate the confusion at this turn of events. Loyalists maintain the British instead played When The King Enjoys His Own Again (which has the same tune) to demonstrate the British surrendered with a defiant spirit. When The King Enjoys His Own Again had by 1781 a long history of expressing loyalist sentiment.

Published in 1641 by Martin Parker it was associated with the Cavaliers, supporters of King Charles I & King Charles II. After the restoration of King Charles II to the Throne of England it was sung in celebration.

Later the Jacobites would adopt the song as well in their, ultimately futile, attempt to get their candidate on the throne.

Lyrics:

Let rogues and cheats prognosticate
Concerning king's or kingdom's fate
I think myself to be as wise
As he that gazeth on the skies
My sight goes beyond
The depth of a pond
Or rivers in the greatest rain
Whereby I can tell
That all will be well
When the King enjoys his own again
Yes, this I can tell
That all will be well
When the King enjoys his own again

There's neither Swallow, Dove, or Dade
Can soar more high or deeper wade
Nor show a reason from the stars
What causeth peace or civil wars
The man in the moon
May wear out his shoon
By running after Charles his wain
But all's to no end,
For the times will not mend
Till the King enjoys his own again
Yes, this I can tell
That all will be well
When the King enjoys his own again

Full forty years this royal crown
Hath been his father's and his own
And is there anyone but he
That in the same should sharer be?
For better may
The scepter sway
Than he that hath such right to reign?
Then let's hope for a peace,
For the wars will not cease
Till the king enjoys his own again
Yes, this I can tell
That all will be well
When the King enjoys his own again

Though for a time we see Whitehall
With cobwebs hanging on the wall
Instead of gold and silver brave
Which formerly was wont to have
With rich perfume
In every room,
Delightful to that princely train
Yet the old again shall be
When the time you see
That the King enjoys his own again
Yes, this I can tell
That all will be well
When the King enjoys his own again

Then fears avaunt, upon the hill
My hope shall cast her anchor still
Until I see some peaceful dove
Bring home the branch I dearly love
Then will I wait
Till the waters abate
Which now disturb my troubled brain
Then for ever rejoice,
When I've heard the voice
That the King enjoys his own again
Yes, this I can tell
That all will be well
When the King enjoys his own again

---

Loyally Yours,
A Kisaragi Colour

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Monarchist Profile: Lt. Richard Wilson

6/16/2014

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Uniform of the 22nd of Foot

Born in Ireland in the year 1740. Richard Wilson joined the British Army around 1757 at the age of 17. He was made a sergeant of his Majesty's 22nd Regiment of Foot. The 22nd had been formed in 1689 by the Duke of Norfolk but had yet to receive any battle honours. Richard Wilson would serve in the regiment for eight years and participate in the sieges of Louisbourg (1758) and Quebec (1759). The regiment next moved to the Caribbean to fight against the Spanish. With the capture of Havana in 1762 the French and Spanish sued for peace and brought The Seven Years War to an end.

Richard Wilson went with the regiment to the newly acquired Louisiana territory. In August of 1765 the regiment was ordered back to the British Isles. However, before they left they discharged any colonists who had enlisted in the regiment as well as any men who had reached the end of their terms and wished to stay in the colonies. Richard Wilson decided to stay and settled in North Carolina. It is possible he had been there around 1760 as two companies were detached from his Majesty's 22nd Regiment of Foot to deal with an uprising by the Cherokee in nearby South Carolina. However, since records indicate him being present at the capture of Dominica and Martinico this is questionable. Whatever the reason, Richard was happy to make North Carolina his home.

Richard Wilson re-enlisted in 1771 and was made a Lieutenant of a Company of Artillary by Governor Tryon. He fought in the final battle against a group of North Carolina rebels known as the 'Regulators' at Alamance. Afterwards he was given a commission as a Lieutenant of the Garrison at Fort Johnston, where he would serve until the 18th of July, 1775.

By the time the first rumblings of the revolution had started Lt. Richard Wilson was doing well for himself having a plantation, two houses, two lots in the town of Brunswick, and one house in the town of Crosscreek. He later built another house at Fort Johnston. He was married in 1767 and had four children. His wife died around 1776 from an unrecorded cause.

The only good public domain map of North Carolina I could find.

In 1775 the rebels stirred up his tenants to stop paying rent unless he accepted a commission in the rebel army; an offer he reported refused "with horror and contempt". At this point he probably realized he stood to lose everything he had built in his new home. It would have been very easy to side with the rebels or simply desert and remain neutral. However, he was not going to betray his oath to his king nor his support for the legitimate governing authority in the colonies. He would pay a high price for his principles as would others like him.

Lt. Richard Wilson and Captain John A. Collet were ordered by Governor Martin to dismantle the fort and transport the guns to Boston as the fort's defence could not be guaranteed due to lack of supplies and desertions (some likely due to the same ultimatum given to Wilson). They managed to save the guns, and embark for Boston. As the men waited for transport they watched their property being burned by the rebels. They arrived in Boston on July 21, 1775, delivering to General Gage "a very valuable and costly set of artillery, arms, stores, and ammunition belonging to the Crown". Both Lt. Richard Wilson and Captain John A. Collet would join the Royal Fencible Americans, a loyalist regiment, serving under Lieutenant Colonel Joseph Gorham at Fort Cumberland, Nova Scotia. Richard Wilson would serve in the regiment until 1782 eventually rising to the rank of captain.

Fort Beausejour (aka Fort Cumberland)

The revolution wasn't quite done with Richard Wilson however, and in late 1776 Fort Cumberland was attacked by rebels led by Jonathan Eddy. The British were outnumbered 2-1 and endured a siege from November 10-29th. Matters were only made worse by the fact that the regiment had not received their uniforms and warm clothes were scarce. Thus the men were "permitted to wear the barrack ruggs and blankets". It must have been a miserable time.

Belt buckle and uniform button

However the regiment's courage to hold out despite some close calls helped greatly. The effect of the failed siege was the dampening of revolutionary sympathies in Nova Scotia. The colony would remain loyal throughout the rest of the American Revolution. The years following the failed siege were chaotic as the rebels brief control of the region and reprisals against their supporters afterwards resulted in a wave of litigation that crippled the judiciary in Cumberland County.

Richard Wilson would build a new life for himself in the nearby town of Sackville. He married Ann Harper, daughter of Christopher Harper. Christopher Harper himself had lost property during Eddy's Rebellion and it is easy to imagine the two men becoming quick friends through shared experiences and values.

Richard Wilson would continue his military career when he was made Lt. Col. of the Westmorland County Regiment of Militia consisting of two battalions. Militia drills were conducted on the field behind his house and provided a day of entertainment for the townspeople as the militiamen went through their maneuver.

Lt. Col. Richard Wilson died in 1810 having served king and country faithfully and well.

Loyally Yours,
A Kisaragi Colour

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Canada's Royal Chapels & The Mohawks

6/6/2014

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Prince Arthur at the Royal Chapel of the Mohawks

Royal Chapels, or Chapels Royal, refer to the various churches that are called upon to minister to the sovereign (although the term more accurately refers to the people called upon to minister). The institution emerged at the latter end of the 1400s. Previously, those who ministered to the sovereign's spiritual needs travelled with the royal court from place to place and did not have an official base.

Of the six Chapels Royal located outside of Britain two are in Canada. Both are symbolic of the strong ties between the Mohawk nation and the Canadian Crown. They are the Christ Church Royal Chapel in Deseronto, Ontario and Her Majesty's Royal Chapel of the Mohawks in Brantford, Ontario.

The Christ Church Royal Chapel is a stone building in the Gothic Revival style and was built in 1843 both to symbolize the political and military alliance between the Crown and the Mohawks as well as to house the various gifts given by the sovereign to the Mohawk people over the years. It was elevated to the status of a Chapel Royal by The Queen in 2004.

Queen Anne

While no longer housed at the church, on special occasions a silver communion set given to the Mohawks by Queen Anne in 1711 is displayed and used. As well there is triptych in the Mohawk language given by George III, a royal coat of arms of the United Kingdom and church bell given by George V, and a bible given by Queen Victoria. Queen Elizabeth has given two gifts: a communion chalice in 1984 commemorating the coming of the Loyalists (which included the Mohawks) and a set of eight silver hand bells in 2010.

Her Majesty's Royal Chapel of the Mohawks is a simple wooden structure built in 1785 and given to the Mohawk Loyalists led by Joseph Brant. Joseph Brant's remains were moved to the chapel from their original resting place in Burlington in 1850. Prince Arthur met with Chiefs of the Six Nations at this chapel in 1869 (pictured above). It was elevated to the status of Chapel Royal in 1904 by King Edward VII.

In 2001 there were two failed arson attempts that caused minor damage. The building has been renovated several times and currently eight stained glass windows are installed depicting events from the history of the Six Nations of the Iroquois.

The four 'Mohawk Kings' (one is actually Mahican) that travelled to Britain in 1710 to discuss an alliance against the French. They were received by Queen Anne, who commissioned these paintings to mark the occasion.

The Mohawk Chapels illistrate a key way that royal traditions in Canada and Britain have diverged. In Britain royal chapels play no role in signifying a relationship between peoples while in Canada it might be described as their primary purpose. The ties between the Maple Crown and Canada's Aboriginals are not easily ignored. They weave through Canadian history and form the underpinnings of much of what Canada is today.

Loyally Yours,
A Kisaragi Colour

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Song of Defiance

Monarchist Profile: Lt. Richard Wilson

Canada's Royal Chapels & The Mohawks

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