Welch Regiment colours

**Jerry B** · 05-09-2014, 04:20 PM

Picked up today, a hand embroidered silk sampler of the regimental colours of the Welch Regiment. The pictures do not capture the beauty of this and the skill that went into its making, a real labour of love for whoever made it. I would guess made by a soldiers wife, though many soldiers did make all sorts of crafts during their spare time.

It appears to post date the end of the Great War as it has battle honours from 1918 and earlier including the American wars of independence, the wars of 1812, the Napoleonic wars, the Crimea and the Boer War. It also has the Royal Cypher for George V, so pre mid 1930's.

It is circa 29 inches x 28 inches, 74cm x 74cm. I really am sorry that the pictures do not do it justice. The old Welch regiment were my home town regiment, long since amalgamated out of existence, first with the SWB to form the Royal Regiment of Wales in 1969 and then amalgamated again with the RWF to form the Royal Welsh in 2006.

The Welch regiment was formed by an amalgamation of the 41st and 69th foot in 1881

The 69th Foot, with regards to the lower honour;

1782 – During the Napoleonic Wars in the latter part of the 18th and early part of the 19th centuries Infantry Regiments sometimes served on board ships of the Royal Navy and performed many of the duties carried out by the Royal Marines. In this year the 69th took part in the Battle of the Saintes. For their share in this victory the 69th was included in a Vote of Thanks passed by both Houses of Parliament, and was awarded a Naval Crown, superscribed '12 April 1782' to be carried on the Regimental Colour. This battle honour is unique as are the Battle Honours Detroit and Miami which are unique to The Welch regiment.

Welch Regiment - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

**Steelhead10** · 05-09-2014, 04:31 PM

Nice

**DrPMC** · 05-10-2014, 09:18 AM

That's a beautiful piece of work. I like it that the colours are still so livid, even after so many years. I imagine it hanging for decades on the shady side of someone's front parlour.

Philip

**Jerry B** · 05-10-2014, 10:38 AM

by DrPMC

That's a beautiful piece of work. I like it that the colours are still so livid, even after so many years. I imagine it hanging for decades on the shady side of someone's front parlour.

Philip

Thanks Philip and Matt.

The colours are very bright and it does not appear to have been hung in direct sunlight. The glass makes it hard to photograph and show its true glory, though has no doubt helped protect it.

**DrPMC** · 05-10-2014, 11:22 AM

Having looked more carefully, it looks to me to be a mixture of appliqué (of the sections of the flag etc) and embroidery. Not many people around today with such skills. The roses, thistles and shamrocks on the right hand flag are beautiful - no Welsh leeks though?

Philip

**Jerry B** · 05-10-2014, 11:32 AM

by DrPMC

Having looked more carefully, it looks to me to be a mixture of appliqué (of the sections of the flag etc) and embroidery. Not many people around today with such skills. The roses, thistles and shamrocks on the right hand flag are beautiful - no Welsh leeks though?

Philip

The section you mention on the right hand flag is indeed the finest part of the piece, the workmanship is superb. The iconography of such items do not usually include the Leek and also as that was linked to the Welsh Guards post 1915, and though you did not mention it, the lack of a Dragon is explained by the date of its manufacture (circa 1918-1936), if it had been earlier or later it would have included one, but at this date the Dragon was associated with the RWF and the Monmouthshire regiment and not the Welch.

**DrPMC** · 05-10-2014, 05:12 PM

by Anon

The iconography of such items do not usually include the Leek and also as that was linked to the Welsh Guards post 1915, and though you did not mention it, the lack of a Dragon is explained by the date of its manufacture (circa 1918-1936), if it had been earlier or later it would have included one, but at this date the Dragon was associated with the RWF and the Monmouthshire regiment and not the Welch.

Thank you for your comments Jerry - I'd did wonder about the missing dragon too. Given the inclusion of the national flowers of the other three nations of the kingdom, I was struck by the absence of any analogous Welsh symbol. Would you say this reflects a tendency of that time to subsume Welsh identity within that of England or is there another explanation? National identity in these islands is very complicated!

Philip

**Jerry B** · 05-10-2014, 05:24 PM

by DrPMC

Thank you for your comments Jerry - I'd did wonder about the missing dragon too. Given the inclusion of the national flowers of the other three nations of the kingdom, I was struck by the absence of any analogous Welsh symbol. Would you say this reflects a tendency of that time to subsume Welsh identity within that of England or is there another explanation? National identity in these islands is very complicated!

Philip

Philip,

you have pretty much hit the nail on the head with your comments. Even today Wales is not officially a country but is a principality and back then Welshness was not very big in the national consciousness and was probably even lower on the WD's scale of importance. The UK national flag, even to this day, does not have a part that represents Wales, though it has parts for England, N. Ireland and Scotland. It is only since the 60's that Wales and Welshness has achieved any real political status.

**Dave G** · 05-22-2015, 06:16 PM

Hi everyone,
Stumbled across this site whilst searching for information on an object very similar to the silk sampler described by Jerry B (1st post on this thread). I inherited mine from my parents many years ago and I am now clearing out stuff that is not likely to be of interest to my son.
The sampler(?) I have appears to be much the same design as Jerry B's but is on a Black background about 27 inches square made of two different materials, probably silk on the front and cotton or linen on the back. This is in the form of a large bag which is open on one side. I wondered if perhaps it was meant to be a cushion cover but it seems too grand for that.
Whilst it looks very impressive to look at, the stitching on the inside seems irregular and amateurish and was obviously done by hand. I wonder if soldiers in the Welch Regiment could get these as kits of parts for they or their families to make up as a hobby project.
If anyone knows any more about this kind of object or could make a guess at its value I would be very interested.

**Jerry B** · 05-22-2015, 06:38 PM

Very nice Dave. Such items were made as cushion covers, I have a few, some made in the bazaar in Egypt, others like yours which I assume that was probably made by a soldier, either when wounded or in his spare time in the barracks or perhaps by a spouse. They don't fetch big money, anything from a tenner up to £30 or so for the smaller examples like yours, but with anything if more than one person wants it then it might fetch more. I would obviously be interested, but it might be better if you can get other opinions on value.