I’ve read enough about how Brexit has divided the country. It is small beer compared to the Restoration 360 years ago. One issue then was the creation of an army forged from Parliamentary and Royalist forces; necessary as there were three Anglo-Dutch wars between 1652 and 1674. But I must digress.
When Henry III married Eleanor of Provence in 1235 the lucky couple received three leopards as a wedding present from the Holy Roman Emperor, Frederick II. Continuing in this vein my sister was given a Hunt Terrier (Smartie) and the Duchess of Cambridge, a Cocker Spaniel (Lupo).
When Charles II married Catherine of Braganza in 1661 her dowry included Tangier. He called it “ a jewel of immense value in the royal diadem” perhaps inspiring the title of the first novel in The Raj Quartet. Tangier was valued for its strategic location at the gates of the Mediterranean and as a trading post but it needed to be defended against the Moors who were every bit as trying as the Dutch. The Tangier Regiment was raised to garrison the port. It was made up of Parliamentary forces that had been serving in Dunkirk and Royalist units from Flanders. Its first parade was held on Putney Heath in October 1661. The site is now part of Wimbledon Common where it is commemorated.
THIS MONUMENT WAS UNVEILED ON
THE THREE HUNDREDTH ANNIVERSARY
OF THE FIRST PARADE OF
THE TANGIER REGIMENT OF FOOT
NOW
THE QUEEN”S ROYAL SURREY REGIMENT
HELD ON PUTNEY HEATH ON THE
14TH OCTOBER 1661
If you hadn’t heard of The Queen’s Royal Surrey Regiment it’s because it only existed from 1959 until 1966. Now, after many amalgamations, it is the Princess of Wales’s Royal Regiment. But what of Tangier. The garrison proved too expensive and it was evacuated in 1684. The English occupation was shorter than its membership of the EEC.
Oh Christopher, this is indeed ‘grist to my mill’. My grandfather and father both served with the Queen’s Royal (West Surrey) Regiment which was the successor to the Tangier Regiment until amalgamation with the East Surreys in 1959 to form the Queen’s Surreys whose badge is on the memorial in your picture.
Interesting your observation about the Raj quartet, but I suspect the comment may actually relate to Bombay which was also part of the baggage of Catherine’s dowry.
The Paschal Lamb is oft cited as the British Army’s first ‘capbadge’. However, although it is indelibly linked to Queen C. and her own devotion as a co-religionist in an anti-catholic environment, it was not until 1715 that it appeared on the caps of the Regiment’s Grenadiers. It brought with it, along with ‘The Tangerines’, the delightful nickname of the Queen’s as ‘The Mutton Lancers’. There is a doubtless apocryphal story concerning an inter WW regimental inspection by a peppery general. The brass issued capbadges worn hitherto had been replaced with bronzed versions with greater relief in design. It had been the habit of the ranks to sand down their badge to a smooth and thus easily ‘shineable’, gleaming, flat, brass surface. One old worthy in the front rank of the inspection had, as usual, applied physical treatment to his brand new badge and was berated by the general, ‘You, Corporal, your capbadge is totally flat. Have you ever seen a sheep without a fleece?’ Came the swift response, ‘No Sir, but I ain’t seen one carrying a ‘kin flag either.’ Collapse of stout party.
Tangier 1662-80 is, of course, the British Army’s oldest Battle Honour carried inter alia by the Blues and Royals and Coldstream Guards. Thank you for a truly, for me, memorable blog. Anthony
Anthony,
Thank you. You have brought depth and expertise to the history of the Tangiers; I had to mug it up on wiki.