British empire terminology
Printed From: History Community ~ All Empires
Category: General History
Forum Name: Military History
Forum Discription: Discussions related to military history: generals, battles, campaigns, etc.
URL: http://www.allempires.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=33960
Printed Date: 23-Apr-2024 at 18:28
Software Version: Web Wiz Forums 9.56a - http://www.webwizforums.com
Topic: British empire terminology
Posted By: bobby79
Subject: British empire terminology
Date Posted: 25-Sep-2013 at 15:53
Hi, this is my first post. Good to meet y'all  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"?  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 |
Replies:
Posted By: red clay
Date Posted: 25-Sep-2013 at 17:27
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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. ------------- "Arguing with someone who hates you or your ideas, is like playing chess with a pigeon. No matter what move you make, your opponent will walk all over the board and scramble the pieces". Unknown. |
Posted By: bobby79
Date Posted: 25-Sep-2013 at 17:35
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Great, thanks. I'm sure an expert will come along sooner or later and reveal the mystery  bobby |
Posted By: medenaywe
Date Posted: 25-Sep-2013 at 23:46
| Letter-man is postman i suppose bobby 79!They gave civil job to soldier after service. |
Posted By: Mountain Man
Date Posted: 26-Sep-2013 at 11:45
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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. ------------- Quis custodiet ipsos custodes? |
Posted By: bobby79
Date Posted: 26-Sep-2013 at 12:05
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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 |
Posted By: Sidney
Date 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. |
Posted By: bobby79
Date 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. |
Posted By: medenaywe
Date Posted: 26-Sep-2013 at 16:25
| No civil service job after army?!?And they took it peacefully? |
Posted By: bobby79
Date Posted: 26-Sep-2013 at 18:03
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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. |
Posted By: medenaywe
Date Posted: 27-Sep-2013 at 00:41
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Try here Bobby79:
http://wiki.answers.com/Q/How_much_was_a_schilling_worth_in_1842 - http://wiki.answers.com/Q/How_much_was_a_schilling_worth_in_1842
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Posted By: bobby79
Date 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 
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Posted By: medenaywe
Date Posted: 27-Sep-2013 at 14:59
There are still people in the world that live slogan "Another day,another dollar"!
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Posted By: toyomotor
Date Posted: 24-Jan-2014 at 00:23
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. ------------- |
Posted By: TeacherShaun
Date Posted: 02-Dec-2016 at 07:38
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Posted By: medenaywe
Date Posted: 02-Dec-2016 at 08:21
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Kilarney is town in Northern Ireland: http://https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Killarney - http://https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Killarney
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Posted By: Centrix Vigilis
Date Posted: 02-Dec-2016 at 09:03
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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. http://www.coldbacon.com/movies/barrylyndon-review.html - http://www.coldbacon.com/movies/barrylyndon-review.html see:
http://www.coldbacon.com/movies/barrylyndon-review.html
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