GARTER, ORDER of TFIE. The order of tlie garter was instituted by king Edward III., and though not the most ancient, is one of the most famous of the military orders of Europe. Selden says that it "exceeds in majesty, honor, and fame all chivalrous orders in the world." It is said to have been devised for the purpose of attracting to the king's party such soldiers of fortune as might be likely to aid in asserting the claim which he was then making to the crown of France, and intended as an imitation of king Arthur's round table. The round table was erected at Windsor, and the knights and nobles who were invited from all parts of the world were xxercised at tilts and tourna ments as a preparation for the magnificent feasts that were spread before them. That general "jousts and tournaments " of this description were held at Windsor, is known from the letters summoning them bearing date Jan. 1, 1344, and quoted by sir Harris Nicolas in his Orders of Knighthood, i. p. 6; and from the narrative who connects them with the institution of the order. The original number of the knights of the garter was twenty-five, his majesty himself making the twenty:sixth. The story that the countess of Salisbury let fall her garter when dancing with the -king, and that the king picked it up and tied it round own leg; but that, observing the jealous glances of the queen, he restored it to its air owner with the exclamation: _Ma soft qui rnaly pease, is about as well authenticated as most tales of the kind, and has, moreover, in its favor that it accounts for the otherwise unaccountable emblem and motto of tile order. Sir Harris Nicolas, whose error does not usually lie in the direction of credu lity, says, that though the writers on the order have treated it with contempt, they have ' neither succeeded in showing its absurdity, nor suggested a more prbbable theory. Various dates are assigned to'the order of the garter. Froissart, as above mentioned, gives 1344, and fixes on St. George's day (April 23), 1344; but Stow, and, it is said, the statutes of the order, fix it Aix years later—viz., 1350. The original statutes have long
since perished, and little reliance can be placed on the modern copies of them, and nothing is known on the subject with precision till the compilation of the Black Book in the latter part of the reign of Henry VIII. In these circumstances, sir Harris Nicolas (is of opinion, that, though founded at the former period, it was not till the latter that the order was finally organized, and the companions chosen. It was founded in honor ' of the holy Trinity, the virgin Mary, St. Edward the confessor, and St. George; but the last, who had become the tutelary saint of England, was considered its special patron; and for this reason it has always borne the title of " The Order of St. George," as well as of "The Garter." A list of the original knights, or knights-founders, is given by sir Harris Nicolas.
The well-known emblem of the order is a dark-blue ribbon edged with gold, bearing the motto Honi sat qui mal y pease, in gold letters, with a buckle and pendent of gold richly chased. It is worn on the left leg below the knee. The mantle is of blue velvet, lined with white taffeta, and on the left breast a star is embroidered. The hood and surcoat are of crimson velvet, lined with white taffeta. The hat is of black velvet, with a plume of white ostrich feathers, in the center of which there is a tuft of black herons' feathers, all fastened to the hat by a band of diamonds. The collar is of gold, and consists of 26t pieces, each in the form of a garter. The " George" is the figure of St. George on horseback encountering the Dragon, and is worn hanging from the col lar; there is a "lesser George" pendent to a dark-blue ribbon over the left shoulder. The star, which is of eight points, is silver, and has upon the center the cross of St. George, gules, encircled with the garter. The officers of the order are—the prelate (the bishop of Winchester), the chancellor (the bishop of Oxford), time registrar (the dean of Windsor), the garter king of arms (q.v.), and the usher of the black rod.