shadow of britain

Chapter 736: Scotland Yard's 89th Regiment

From the dishes on the table, it can be seen how much importance the Duchess of Kent attaches to today's family lunch.

Turtle soup, flavored with old sherry, topped with finely sliced ​​eggs and a hint of herbs, made its way to the table. This famous dish, which was once popular in London, was served.

However, the turtle soup at Kensington Palace tastes very different from what Arthur tasted in the street restaurant.

Turtle meat is delicious and very popular among London diners, but if you want to know how famous this dish is in London, you only need to know that even at the London Mayor's inauguration dinner, guests specifically requested turtle soup.

However, due to the origin of the ingredients, most authentic turtle soup is shipped from the Caribbean to London. But since turtles cannot withstand long-distance sea transportation, many of them will die along the way, so its price naturally becomes quite expensive.

Therefore, for most restaurants that want to do turtle soup business, they have to replace turtle meat with meat from other animals, which has led to the proliferation of imitation turtle soup made from cow heads in London.

Arthur didn't dare say that the turtle soup he tasted today was real, but he had to admit that the soup at least tasted different from those authentic fakes on the street.

So is there any dish he can be sure is the real deal?
Of course there is.

After all, as a York gentleman who has eaten pork and seen pigs run, Arthur at least knows that today's bread must come from the Old Chelsea Bakery, a century-old brand in London.

The shop's specialty, the Chelsea bun, is a sweet bread with a cross pattern on the surface, baked with mixed dried fruits and spices, and finally spread with butter.

The reason why this bread is so famous is at least half due to George III. The king and Queen Charlotte would come to the store to buy bread every now and then during their evening walks. According to the king and queen, in addition to bread, the store also makes excellent apple pies and muffins.

In addition, what surprised Arthur the most was the Lancashire specialty 'Cinder Wicks' and the small dessert 'Yorkshire Jelly' from York.

According to local Lancashire legend, Sindre Wicks is actually a French dish that was first introduced to Lancashire by a weaver from Flanders in the 14th century. If translated, the name of this dish is actually "festival chicken". Its method is generally to stuff the chicken's stomach with bread crumbs, prunes, and herbs, and then bake it.

Although Arthur felt that the taste of this dish was not very good, it was indeed a dish that tested the chef's skills. Moreover, after being cut, the chicken was mixed with black flesh and green herbs, which could add a bit of color to the table.

As for Yorkshire Jelly, it is a dessert made from a ginger-flavored oatmeal called Parkin and honey.

The Yorkshire jelly on the Kensington Palace table tastes exactly the same as that made by local York dessert chefs. It has to be said that it is commendable to be able to make these two local dishes so well.

In addition to Yorkshire jelly, desserts include Anglesey black cake and Welsh trifle topped with cream.

This was indeed a very satisfying meal for Arthur, who loved sweets.

If you were to ask Arthur, what was the flaw in today's meal?
That may just be because their staple food today is bread instead of rice.

No matter what others think, Arthur thinks that the best meal in London is the dinner hosted by the Duke of Wellington at No. 1 London.

This most respected veteran in Great Britain had long been accustomed to eating rice due to his long-term battles in India and Spain, and he also had a skilled Indian chef in his house.

In the cold London, it is really hard to find a taste that suits Arthur's appetite better than hot Indian curry with rice.

Arthur was putting a piece of Anglesey black cake covered with black cherry jam into his mouth when he happened to bite the dried currant hidden inside. Immediately, a satisfied smile appeared on the corner of his mouth.

He had just put down his fork when he noticed Victoria, who was sitting opposite him, staring at him and swallowed softly.

Arthur took the napkin and wiped his mouth, looking at the cake on Victoria's plate in surprise: "Your Highness, is this cake not to your liking?"

Victoria looked down at the cake on the plate, pursed her lips and said nothing.

Instead, Mrs. Leizen on the side spoke up to help her out: "Sir, you have to know that ladies are very concerned about their figure. In order to maintain a good appearance, Her Royal Highness has been controlling her food intake recently."

"Control your food intake?"

Arthur looked at the future queen solemnly.

Although she could not be called slim, she was far from being fat. To use the words of gentlemen, she was at most plump.

And based on Arthur's personal experience, he feels that there is no need to deliberately control weight.

In his early years, he patrolled the streets more than ten miles a day and had to fight with East Side hooligans every now and then.

Later, he no longer needed to count steps on the street to get the full attendance award from Scotland Yard, and he gained some weight by sitting in the office reading books and newspapers. But after a trip to Russia, he was almost skin and bones after being starved for a week in a country hotel in Druisk.

However, although Arthur finds it difficult to understand the need to lose weight, he has plenty of ways to do it.

If you want to be active, then exercise more.

If you don't want to move, you will be sent to prison and do hard labor for a while so that you will behave yourself.

Of course, Sir Arthur, who was duplicitous, thought completely different things from what he said.

"If you have to control your weight, your Royal Highness may have to miss the Duke of Wellington's dinner."

The Duchess of Kent put down her knife and fork and looked at Arthur: "Is the banquet hosted by the Duke of Wellington a large amount of food?"

"Yes, Your Highness." Arthur looked at her with a smile. "Although the Duke also pays attention to pomp and circumstance, he does not like to display a lot of silverware on the table, nor does he like extra servants hanging around. However, what he hates most is the French style of serving only one spoonful of each dish, leaving the stomach unfilled at the end of the meal."

Mrs. Letzen glanced at Arthur with a look that seemed to disapprove of his glossing over the French meal.

"Does the Duke of Wellington eat simply?" Victoria asked.

"He himself? He's as plain as an old regimental commander in a barracks." Arthur laughed, "He likes Indian curry with basmati rice, a plate of spicy mango sauce, and a glass of port wine. If you don't know him well, you dare not chat with him during the meal, nor do you dare to flatter him. If you rashly go up to praise him and say that he is the Lion of Waterloo, he will only look at you coldly and say: 'I just completed the task assigned to me by His Majesty the King.'"

"I seem to have heard someone say something like this..." The Duchess of Kent recalled: "The Duke of Wellington once angrily scolded a member of parliament, saying: 'How dare you stand here and criticize me? Where were you during Waterloo?' The member of parliament hesitated for a long time and said that he was still a baby at that time. The Duke turned around and scolded: 'Then you'd better go back and drink milk now.'"

"Oh..." Arthur joked, "To be honest, this doesn't sound like the Duke's tone. He is usually not so straightforward. This sounds more like what General Picton said."

The Duchess repeated: "General Picton?"

Conroy, who had many years of military experience, explained: "The 'devil' General Picton who died in Waterloo, His Royal Highness the Duke of Kent also said when he was still alive that General Picton fought bravely, but I'm afraid only God knows what dirty words will suddenly come out of his mouth..."

The Duchess of Kent suddenly realized, "General Picton...was he the commander of the 88th Regiment? We visited the Royal Irish Fusiliers stationed in Devonport last summer, and Delena awarded them a new regimental flag." Conroy corrected her, "Your Highness, the regimental flag was awarded to the 89th Regiment, 'Blayney's Hounds', who used to be Lord Blaney's subordinates. And General Picton once led the 'Devil's Division' 88th Regiment."

Arthur smiled and said, "It's not entirely wrong. Because the 88th and 89th Regiments are both Irish regiments, it is indeed easy to confuse them. If I hadn't served in Scotland Yard, and there were veterans from the 88th and 89th Regiments in Scotland Yard, and they often quarreled over which one was the 'most Irish Irish regiment', I would definitely confuse them often."

When Victoria heard this, she couldn't help but ask.

Since she participated in the flag-raising ceremony of the 89th Regiment last year and personally handed the new regimental flag to the regiment's commander, Viscount Rowland Hill, she has a good impression of this unit. She certainly hopes that her regiment is the strongest Irish regiment.

"So which one do you think is the most Irish of Irish regiments, the 88th or the 89th?"

Arthur smiled and replied, "That depends on who you ask. If you're asking about the veterans of the 89th Regiment, then it must be the 89th Regiment. Conversely, the same is true for the 88th Regiment. Both units have a very glorious history of combat."

"So if I must ask you who is the strongest?"

"Well...if you must ask..."

Arthur thought for a moment: "Let's talk about the 88th Regiment first. In the Battle of Bussaco in 1810, when the battlefield situation was unfavorable, the 88th Regiment stood up to save the situation. It is said that the Duke of Wellington witnessed the battle and shouted: I have never seen a more heroic charge than the 88th Regiment just now. And in the siege of Rodrigo City, the 'Devil' General Picton gave a special speech to his subordinates, the 'Devil's Division': I don't intend to rely on gunpowder tonight, we will use cold weapons to resolve this battle. Next, The 88th Regiment did what it said. They advanced towards the enemy in a horizontal formation. When they were 300 yards away from the French position, the French poured a burst of fire on them from right to left. However, the 88th Regiment did not collapse. Instead, it quickly recovered after the impact and filled the gap. Then it began to advance at twice the speed until it was only 50 yards away from the enemy. It stopped and launched a round of shooting. After the shooting, the 88th Regiment, under the order of General Picton, raised its bayonet without hesitation and launched a charge against the French position on the hillside. "

Victoria couldn't help but ask curiously, "Did they win in the end?"

"Of course." Arthur smiled and replied, "The 88th Regiment has never lost in hand-to-hand combat. Otherwise, Scotland Yard would not have appointed an officer who retired from the 88th Regiment as a swordsmanship instructor."

"What about the 89th Regiment?"

"The 89th Regiment..."

Arthur got a headache when he thought of the collective ridicule that the 89th Regiment had suffered at Scotland Yard.

Compared with the 88th Regiment, which fought bloody battles with bayonets, the performance of the 89th Regiment in the Napoleonic Wars can only be described as dismal.

The first battle of the regiment after its formation in 1793 was the Dutch expedition organized by the Duke of York. After the defeat in Flanders, Britain's idea of ​​defending the Netherlands from France was completely declared bankrupt.

Subsequently, the regiment was transferred to Ireland, where, under the command of Lord Blaney, it suppressed the Irish rebellion and defeated the rebels in the Battle of Grapevine Hill. The regiment's nickname "Blairney's Hounds" was derived from its tenacious pursuit of the rebels.

After this, they were ordered to set out to defend Hanover, but they encountered a storm on the way and lost their regimental flag in the Dutch waters.

During the Peninsular War, they launched a bayonet charge in the Battle of Fuengirola under the command of Lord Blaney, but ultimately the battle failed, with most of the soldiers defeated and captured. The regiment commander, Lord Blaney, was even imprisoned by the French for four years.

Of course, the 89th Regiment did not always lose battles, but their most brilliant achievements were not in Europe, but in North America and Asia.

During the Anglo-American War of 1812, they performed well in a series of battles including the Battle of Chrysler Farm and the Battle of Buffalo. In the First Anglo-Burmese War of 1824, they were the first force to march into Ava along the Irrawaddy River.

But no matter what, if the battle history of the two regiments is laid out in public, everyone will know which regiment has stronger combat effectiveness.

"If I have to choose the strongest one between these two regiments..." Arthur put down the teacup steadily: "Then I can only say that the 88th Regiment has the sharpest bayonets on the battlefield, and the 89th Regiment has the most durable old rifles."

Victoria blinked. "A durable old rifle?"

"That's right." Arthur smiled and said, "A bayonet may be able to kill with one blow, but it must be close to the enemy, while a rifle does not. A bayonet wins the honor of a charge, while a rifle defends a position that has been fought over a long period of time. Moreover, Your Highness..."

His tone changed and became more serious: "Although the 89th Regiment did not have a dazzling record of military exploits like the 88th Regiment, they experienced the most unglorious, least romantic, and most difficult war - the expedition failed, the flag was lost on the way, the chief officer was captured, but they were never disbanded, and the military discipline was not shaken. They survived the longest captivity and won the most insignificant victories, such as in places like Chrysler Farm, Buffalo, and Longwoods. There was no glory, but there were sacrifices..."

Victoria listened very carefully. She was silent for a moment and understood the subtext of Arthur's words: "They... never gave up."

Arthur nodded slightly: "Never."

The Duchess of Kent beside her also smiled: "Hearing you say that, I like the 89th Regiment even more. As a mother, I admire those children who know they are not the best but still persevere to the end. Fight again and again, and never give up. Sir, you are also the 89th Regiment of Scotland Yard."

Arthur originally just wanted to use the term "old rifle" to evade Victoria's questions, in order to calm the little girl's emotions without saying anything against his will.

Unexpectedly, the Duchess of Kent took advantage of the situation and described it as "the 89th Regiment of Scotland Yard".

Arthur choked and was unable to respond for a moment. In the end, he could only smile and said, "If I really am the 89th Regiment of Scotland Yard, then I have to be thankful that I was not killed by the rioters at the Tower of London."

"Making dumplings?" Victoria was confused.

"It's soldier slang," Mrs. Letzen put in calmly, "for being completely surrounded by the enemy in battle."

Victoria suddenly realized: "Then Lord Blaney...was he also trapped in Fuengirola?"

Conroy nodded slightly and said, "But he didn't run away. He knew that the charge was doomed to fail, but he still led his men to charge forward. Because that was an order and a duty."

At this moment, Victoria suddenly straightened up, as if she remembered something.

"Loisa!" she called softly, and a young maid quickly stepped forward.

"Your Highness, what are your orders?"

"Go to the storeroom and fetch my little turquoise writing box. The one I took with me to Devonport last year, with the 89th Regimental emblem sticker on it."

Loisa was stunned for a moment, then saluted: "Yes, sir."

Victoria turned to her mother and explained in a low voice: "Mom, do you remember the booklet I wrote when I came back at night when the flag was awarded last year? I wrote down the uniforms, badges, regimental songs and even their marching pace of the 89th Regiment, but I didn't finish it... After listening to what Sir Arthur said today, I want to write this down as well."

The Duchess of Kent did not stop him. She just glanced at Arthur and smiled gratefully, "It seems that you told us a good story today, and even aroused Delina's curiosity."

"It is an honor, Your Highness."

Arthur smiled sincerely, but when he heard the word "writing box", his brows furrowed.

There must be a lot of writing boxes in a place like Kensington Palace, but could the one Victoria was talking about be the ivory one?
(End of this chapter)