Show THE QUEENS CHAMPION I 1 I 1 I 1 an n official whose duty it la Is t to 0 throw down a clovo 1 A chivalric title which has been held by the dymoke fanaly ever since the days of richard I 1 II 11 scotts description of the challenge the death of francis dymoke the queen of glands En champion which occurred at recently has ren reminded the world that evenin even in the midst of the present prosaic and utilitarian age one oile knightly ollice office at least is in existence to contradict the assertion of edmund burke that the age of chivalry is gone the late holder of the was a lincolnshire Lincoln shire magistrate and an officer in the local militia the two previous ones were clergymen the office is not as it has often been stated hereditary to the dymoke family but is attached to the lord of the manor of scrivelsby Scriv elsby which is bel held I 1 by the ancient tenure known as grand i c e where one holds lands landa of the sovereign by service which lie he has to perform in person the service by which scrivelsby Scriv elsby is held is thus quoted by the new york world that the lord thereof shall be the kings cli champion the championship has no salary attached to it for tho though agh the dymoke family hold scrivelsby Scriv elsby on the feudal tenure of por performing forming this duty they have been owners owner of that manor for upward of five hundred years and they obtained it not by royal grant or out of the public purse but by marriage with an heiress the last of the brou prou proud line of marmion granddaughter of philip de marmion a name which recalls memories of chivalry and of the poetry of shakes shakespeare and Sirl sir walter Valter scott there is no record of the office under the saxon kings icings but according to the late sir bernard burke its duties were nvere appended by william I 1 as an honor to the old baronial house of Mar 11 1 myon armyon or II Tar armion the ancient owners of the manor of scrivelsby Scriv elsby this manor together with the castle of tamworth had been conferred soon after tho the norman conquest on ono one robert de marlyon Mar myon lord of fontenoy in normandy on condition of performing the office of champion at the kings coronation the name of dymoke is welsh the Dym dy or for the name is spelled both ways claim a traditional descent from tudor trevor lord of hereford and rid whittington and founder of the tribe of the marches the chief himself had three sons the second of whom marrying a dan daughter U liter of the prince of ll 11 caleb h half af a century before the norman conquest became came the ancestor of one david ap madoc who alio in the welsh tongue was styled colloquially dai madoc the word dai bein being 1 the short form of david uis his son soil and heir was david ap dai madoc or david dai madoc INI adoc and by the usual abridgement abridge AD ment dai madoc came in the course of time to be pronounced wj a darmoc or damoc the transition from which to damoc or damoc and again from that to dimos or dymoke is easy an do obvious the first then than of the dymoke f family am who fulfilled his office as champion was sir john Dym dymoke olce knight 0 who married margaret ual oivin the reign of edward EdwardI III IL anan as present at tho coronation L of t auchard II 11 his claim 1 11 was dispute dby baldwin do freville the lord afi of r tamworth cast castle e but after deliberation found that the tight right belon belonged eato to the manor of ser scriv iv i elsby shy as tho the kaput or head of the marmion family ond as it appears appeared thu that I 1 the t e late king edward adward ILL III raifa cl hi his 1 s son edward prince of wales adle e binas known as the black prince had Tenen of 1 aheard to sy say that the office wa a she adby by sir john dymoke Dy alid question was settled in his favor the Gent lemans magazine for 1821 I 1 L Wit stains ains a pichura of tho the royal champion henry dymoke in alio aci of riding on his white charger into westminster hall and throwing down the I 1 glove or oi gauntlet of de defiance Alance supported on either side by the duke of wellington and the marquis of anglesey also on horseback while two heralds band by on foot with tabard and plumes the performance of the champion on this occasion is thus described by sir walter scott in a letter to one cf his friends the champions duty was performed as of right by young Dym dymoke olce a fine looking youth but bearing perhaps a little too much the appearance of a maiden knight to bo bethe the chal challenger longer of the world in the king hing s behalf lie he threw down ili his gauntlet however with becoming manhood and showed as much horseman horsemanship hip as the crowd of knights lini glit 1 and squires around him would permit to be exhibited his armor was in good taste but his shield was out of all propriety being a round or ili highland P hrand target a defensive deap weapon on which it would be impossible to use on horseback instead of being a three cornered or leather shield which in the time of the tilt was suspended round the neck pardon this antiquarian scruple which you may believe occurred to few but myself on the whole this striking part of the exhibition somewhat disappointed me for I 1 would have had the champion less embarrassed by his assistants and at liberty to put his horse on the grand pas and yet the young lord of scrivelsby Scriv elsby looked and behaved extremely well 99 the last time the ceremony of the challenge was carried out was at the coronation of george IV when henry Dym dymoke olce the deputy of his father a clergyman threw down the gauntlet in westminster hall this henry dymoke soon after queen victorias accession was created a knight as a recompense it was said for waiving his claims to discharge the duties of his office at the que queens eils coronation sir henry was succeeded by his brother rev john dymoke and he b bj Y hisson his son henry lionel dymoke whom francis seaman dymoke just deceased succeeded in 1875 the present champion ional is his only son also named francis seaman dymoke |