Comments | anything_aos: Wellington's Pants!

fullofowls in anything_aos

Wellington's Pants!

Feb 12, 2011 19:30

Now that I've gotten your attention (especially those of you for whom "pants" = "underpants" instead of "trousers")-- a funny story about Wellington being unable to read somebody's handwriting, from Futility Closet:

The following story has been told, but I have not met with it in its absolute correctness. The Duke of Wellington received a letter, ( Read more... )

officers, literature, useful facts, humour, wellington, army, item of interest, war of 1812

Comments 7

eglantine_br February 13 2011, 01:14:42 UTC

Pants is trousers to me. But I laughed so loud at this that my family asked why.

Very funny. Did poor Wellington ever get it straightened out?

fullofowls February 13 2011, 15:45:04 UTC

Explanations, however, of a satisfactory kind, followed and the friendship of these worthy men was not changed.
That probably means he did get at least part of it straightened out eventually.

anteros_lmc February 13 2011, 12:47:15 UTC

Hehe! What a lovely story! I'm glad I'm not the only one that is endlessly entertained by Age of Sail undergarments ;)

latin_cat February 13 2011, 13:29:39 UTC

*giggles so hard* Considering some of the requests he got from 'fans' after Waterloo I wouldn't be surprised if he sent that reply. XD

There is, however, a story about the Duke's pants (as in the underwear sense) concerning Gerald Wellesley's (7th Duke of Wellington) devotion to the 'Wellington Legacy'. It was largely due to the 7th Duke's enthusiasm that the Wellesleys came back to live at Stratfield Saye in 1940s after it had been empty for decades, and the restoration of the building began;

"However, the First Duke would have regretted the obsessive idolatry of his memory, even amongst his own family. Gerry's share in this was gently mocked in Lees-Milne's diary. 'He showed me the Great Duke's Garter robes unpacked for the first time since his death and in perfect preservation, even the long brown curl with the wig-maker's name attached to the label. Gerry held up the Great Duke's underpants to the light, looked intently at the fork, and said solemnly, 'I am glad to see no signs of sweat - or anything else,' as though this were ( ... )

fullofowls February 13 2011, 15:44:00 UTC

BRB LOLING FOREVER.

also, it's interesting how Stratfieldsaye became Stratfield Saye.

latin_cat February 13 2011, 16:28:05 UTC

It's varied between Stratfieldsaye, Strathfieldsaye, Strathfield Saye and Stratfield Saye (The latter being the modern name for the House and nearby village). I think it's mainly to do with the fact that there was no standardised spelling, so people wrote place names down how they liked - though Wellington, I believe, always wrote it as Strathfieldsaye in his correspondence.

nodbear February 14 2011, 14:32:17 UTC

Remind me of the barely contained rage and frustration of CAptains and Admirals against the pun pushers of the Admiralty - its a wonder indeed what the heroes of those great actions by land and sea accomplished despite it all!
and as another from the pants = underwear school of English its good to see some army undregarments hitting the spotlight - a change of focus for us age of sail lingerie commemtators !