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British empire terminology

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bobby79 View Drop Down
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  Quote bobby79 Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Topic: British empire terminology
    Posted: 25-Sep-2013 at 15:53
Hi, this is my first post. Good to meet y'all  Big smile

My question is pretty simple:

In the Kubrick film "Barry Lyndon", the British army recruiter says the army is looking to replace "Veterans who deserve to be pensioned as letter-men". This takes place during the Seven Years' War (1756–1763).

I've googled this, but couldn't find any information; the British Army home page couldn't help, either. What was a "letter-man"?  Confused

Also, they're playing a card game that seems to be called "Killarney".  I'm fascinated about old games like these, but googling "Killarney" doesn't turn anything up. Anyone know what this was?

thanks,
bobby
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  Quote red clay Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 25-Sep-2013 at 17:27
Hi and welcome aboard.  Your the first newbie since I opened reg. for the first time in 3 mons.  Spammers were driving me nuts.  Sorry I have no answers for you, but I'm certain one of our members will.
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  Quote bobby79 Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 25-Sep-2013 at 17:35
Great, thanks.

I'm sure an expert will come along sooner or later and reveal the mystery  Thumbs Up


bobby
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  Quote medenaywe Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 25-Sep-2013 at 23:46
Letter-man is postman i suppose bobby 79!They gave civil job to soldier after service.
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  Quote Mountain Man Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 26-Sep-2013 at 11:45
Veterans who were released received a letter attesting to their service and preventing them from being impressed into service again.

Pensions were virtually non-existent in the English army of yore, even for severely wounded veterans.


Edited by Mountain Man - 26-Sep-2013 at 11:47
Quis custodiet ipsos custodes?
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  Quote bobby79 Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 26-Sep-2013 at 12:05
Ahhh, right...."LETTER-men"! Makes perfect sense. Thanks a ton for that. Now when we watch "Barry Lyndon" next time, I can sound smart  :D



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  Quote Sidney Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 26-Sep-2013 at 12:31
They were sergeants of good character who, after a long service, were awarded the King's Letter, which meant they were entitled to receive one shilling a day in pension (previously to setting this up the pensioned off would be sent to the Chelsea Hospital and were given five pence a day). They were known as the 'King's Letter Men'. They were limited to a number of 200, but were doubled to 400 in 1783.
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  Quote bobby79 Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 26-Sep-2013 at 12:53
Awesome, yeah, I just read the Wikipedia article about Chelsea...very interesting stuff here. Only 200 originally? Seems pretty low considering the number of soldiers serving at the time...but I suppose 200 was better than none.
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  Quote medenaywe Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 26-Sep-2013 at 16:25
No civil service job after army?!?And they took it peacefully?
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  Quote bobby79 Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 26-Sep-2013 at 18:03
From what I'm reading, it seems like pensioners were given Royal Chelsea Hospital as a sort of vacation destination--they called it a "retreat". I'm assuming that was their post-service compensation (as well as Sidney's mentioning of earning a shilling per day).  Doesn't seem like much, does it? I'm not exactly sure what "a shilling per day" amounts to in present-day USD or pounds, but it seems like little more than a stipend.


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  Quote medenaywe Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 27-Sep-2013 at 00:41
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  Quote bobby79 Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 27-Sep-2013 at 10:52
Yep, just as I suspected...not a whole lot. Definitely not even minimum wage by today's standards  Wacko
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  Quote medenaywe Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 27-Sep-2013 at 14:59
There are still people in the world that live slogan "Another day,another dollar"!Big smile
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  Quote toyomotor Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 24-Jan-2014 at 00:23
Originally posted by bobby79

From what I'm reading, it seems like pensioners were given Royal Chelsea Hospital as a sort of vacation destination--they called it a "retreat". I'm assuming that was their post-service compensation (as well as Sidney's mentioning of earning a shilling per day).  Doesn't seem like much, does it? I'm not exactly sure what "a shilling per day" amounts to in present-day USD or pounds, but it seems like little more than a stipend.


A Shilling was one twentieth of a Pound. In those days it was a reasonable sum. In terminological terms, it was equivalent to modern day 10cents, which is almost valueless.
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  Quote TeacherShaun Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 02-Dec-2016 at 07:38
Hi all, I've just stumbled upon this website and post by chance and I'm hoping someone can help! 

P.S.Now post here name of the game without link inside or evaporate.Smile


Edited by medenaywe - 02-Dec-2016 at 08:19
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  Quote medenaywe Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 02-Dec-2016 at 08:21
Kilarney is town in Northern Ireland:
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  Quote Centrix Vigilis Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 02-Dec-2016 at 09:03
I've looked high.. low and in between for that alleged card game..never found it. could be a phantom of Kubrick's mind..dunno..he was a tad strange after all. otoh I did find this again reference BL.
see: http://www.coldbacon.com/movies/barrylyndon-review.html


Edited by medenaywe - 03-Dec-2016 at 01:03
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