Talk:Yeomen Warders
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[edit] Moved from Talk:Beefeater
Anyone have firm evidence either way on the "look a bit fat" vs "food taster" derivation? I thought the latter, but the page has been changed to the former. I find the former unlikely however that editor seems to know what they are doing. Any clues? Mat-C 21:40, 2 Jul 2004 (UTC)
- According to Historic Royal Palaces, the organization that runs the Tower,
- No one is exactly sure where the name 'Beefeater' came from. [1]
- The most we can say is that there is lots of historical evidence for the 'well-fed' meaning, and none at all for the 'food-taster' meaning.
- The OED2 says that the original sense was
- An eater of beef; contemptuously, a well-fed menial.,
- and that
- the conjecture that sense 2 [i.e. Yeoman Warder] may have had some different origin, e.g. from buffet 'sideboard,' is historically baseless.
- I think it is this folk etymology from buffet that leads to the food-tasting claim. Many people claim a link with the "French word" *buffetier, which the OED says does not exist. Brewer's Names (ISBN 0304340774) agrees with the OED, and there are plenty of historical quotes to illustrate the "beef-eater = servant" meaning.
- Some writers (e.g. [2]) mention that the Yeomen were well fed by the Crown even when the Londoners around them were starving, which may have led to the nickname being used in less than good humour.
- The quote from the Grand Duke of Tuscany that I mentioned was:
- A very large ration of beef is given to them daily at court...that they might be called Beef-eaters. --Grand Duke of Tuscany, 1669.
- I'm afraid I don't know the authority of the quote. It has just found its way on to the Web [3] from somewhere. The Duke didn't invent the word (the OED has earlier quotes), but his use may have legitimised what was previously only local slang.
- -- Heron 13:36, 3 Jul 2004 (UTC)
[edit] eater/taster
I think that the beef-tester-for-the-king theory/idea is well known enough to be mentioned in the article, as an alternative explanation or at least as an urban myth? Mat-C 18:06, 11 July 2005 (UTC)
[edit] name
why are they called "Yeomen Warders"? Are there any relations between them and yeomen?--202.113.12.191 06:30, 13 September 2005 (UTC)
[edit] Photos
Is there a photo available of Beefeaters in dress uniform? The Beefeater Gin article links here, but the uniforms are clearly different from the bottle and the black EIIR ones here.
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- In addition the photo labelled Yeoman of the Guard is in fact a Beefeater.
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