The Poraj is in heraldry a white rose with five leaves on a field gules, Polish heraldry is comparatively simple beside that of other countries. The use of family names was unknown till the fifteenth century; before that the different branches of one stock were only recognised by one common escutcheon. One might belong to the stock of the arrow, the two daggers, the horseshoe, the double or triple cross, etc. There were only 540 of these escutcheons for the whole of Poland. A great number of families were grouped together under each one of these signs; we shall often find a man described as being of such and such a crest. This would tend to prove that the escutcheon originally designated a whole clan, rather than a mere family.
[It may be added that a wealthy and powerful nobleman often rewarded his retainers and famuli by “admitting them to his escutcheon,” i.e., obtaining for them a diploma of honour from the king, ratifying the knightly adoption. Hence it is common to hear of the greatest and most ancient Polish families having the same armorial bearings with some very obscure ones. —E. S. N.] ↩
Matthias Stryjkowski, an historical writer of the sixteenth century, published in 1582 a history, partly in prose, partly in verse, entitled, “What beforehand the World never saw, a Chronicle of Poland, Lithuania, Samogitia, and; all the Russias.” It is the chief authority for ancient Lithuanian history. ↩
Dantzig was taken by the French and their Polish allies in 1807. It had belonged from 1310 till 1454 to the Teutonic Order; then became a free port under the protection of Poland, and an important member of the Hanseatic league. It was seized by Prussia in the second partition. ↩
See note to Book I. ↩
The taratatka is a species of capote; the czamara a long frock-coat, braided on the back and chest like a hussar’s uniform, and with tight sleeves. The sukmana is a sort of peasant’s coat made of cloth, the wearing of which by Kosciuszko indicated his strong democratic tendencies, and sympathy with the lower classes.
To some of these observations upon splendour of dress, and its reference to worldly position or moral worth, we may compare Artemus Ward’s remark: “You may always notice how high up a man is in the world by the least good harness he puts on.” ↩
The battle of Austerlitz was fought on the 2nd December 1805. The allied Russian and Austrian armies were there signally defeated by Napoleon. ↩
Quite untrue in 1811. ↩
In an English translation it is hardly to be expected that an implied slur on England should be passed without comment. Our chiefwarlike operations being for so long almost entirely confined to our proper dominion of the ocean, and this being insurmountable to Napoleon’s ambition, it may have for some time appeared to Continentals that we were of necessity driven from the Continent. But it is somewhat singular that in 1811, three years after the beginning of the Peninsular war, it could ever have been thought that English forces had obtained no advantage over the French by land. ↩
Choronzy, another purely honorific title. See note 8 to Book I. ↩
The original is koltunowate, i.e., afflicted with plica polonica; a forcible image, but at the same time one not to be literally translated. ↩
In reality there is no instance of the skeleton of a dead animal being found. [Because when a carcase in a state of nature does not immediately become the prey of the carnivora, it is speedily destroyed by the action of the elements. This is the reason of the comparative rarity of fossils, considering the infinite number of individuals of extinct species, that must have lived and died in geologic ages. Such remains as have been preserved, have either been washed down in rivers, or embedded in morasses, for they are invariably found in sedimentary strata, or consolidated peat. —M. A. B.] ↩
In reality there is no instance of the skeleton of a dead animal being found. [Because when a carcase in a state of nature does not immediately become the prey of the carnivora, it is speedily destroyed by the action of the elements. This is the reason of the comparative rarity of fossils, considering the infinite number of individuals of extinct species, that must have lived and died in geologic ages. Such remains as have been preserved, have either been washed down in rivers, or embedded in morasses, for they are invariably found in sedimentary strata, or consolidated peat. —M. A. B.] ↩
The literal translation. ↩
“It seemed to go right up to heaven,
And die among the stars.”
Guns of small calibre, which are loaded with small shot, are called ptaszynki (small birds). Good shots can hit birds on the wing with such guns. [Compare our own word musket, also the earlier names for different sorts of cannon, falcon, culverin, etc.] ↩
It may be interesting to know that
