Thomas Thetcher
Encyclopedia
Thomas Thetcher also known simply as The Hampshire Grenadier, was a grenadier
in the North Regiment of the Hants Militia
. He is known to the present day only through his gravestone, which stands in the graveyard of Winchester Cathedral
, Hampshire
, England
.
His grave site was designated as a Hampshire Treasure by the Hampshire County Council
. http://www.hants.gov.uk/hampshiretreasures/vol04/page087.html
Grenadier (soldier)
A grenadier was originally a specialized soldier, first established as a distinct role in the mid-to-late 17th century, for the throwing of grenades and sometimes assault operations. At this time grenadiers were chosen from the strongest and largest soldiers...
in the North Regiment of the Hants Militia
North Hants Militia
The North Hants Militia was a militia regiment in Hampshire, England which existed nominally from 1757 to 1853, as part of the reorganization of the standing armies of the United Kingdom brought in by the Militia Act of 1757...
. He is known to the present day only through his gravestone, which stands in the graveyard of Winchester Cathedral
Winchester Cathedral
Winchester Cathedral at Winchester in Hampshire is one of the largest cathedrals in England, with the longest nave and overall length of any Gothic cathedral in Europe...
, Hampshire
Hampshire
Hampshire is a county on the southern coast of England in the United Kingdom. The county town of Hampshire is Winchester, a historic cathedral city that was once the capital of England. Hampshire is notable for housing the original birthplaces of the Royal Navy, British Army, and Royal Air Force...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
.
His grave site was designated as a Hampshire Treasure by the Hampshire County Council
Hampshire County Council
Hampshire County Council is the county council that governs the majority of the county of Hampshire in England. It provides the upper tier of local government, below which are district councils, and town and parish councils...
. http://www.hants.gov.uk/hampshiretreasures/vol04/page087.html
Inscription text
In Memory of
Thomas Thetcher
a Grenadier in the North Reg. of Hants Militia, who died of
a violent Fever contracted by drinking Small Beer when hot the 12th of May 1764. Aged 26 Years.
In grateful remembrance of whose universal good will towards his Comrades, this Stone is placed here at their expence, as a small testimony of their regard and concern.
Here sleeps in peace a Hampshire Grenadier,
Who caught his death by drinking cold small Beer,
Soldiers be wise from his untimely fall
And when ye're hot drink Strong or none at all.
This memorial being decay'd was restor'd by the Officers of the Garrison A.D. 1781.
An Honest Soldier never is forgot
Whether he die by Musket or by Pot.
The Stone was replaced by the North Hants Militia when disembodied at Winchester, on 26 April 1802, in consequence of the original Stone being destroyed.
And again replaced by The Royal Hampshire Regiment 1966.
Citations
Grenadier Thetcher's gravestone has been quoted and misquoted extensively in the centuries since his death.- Bill W.Bill W.William Griffith Wilson , also known as Bill Wilson or Bill W., was the co-founder of Alcoholics Anonymous , an international mutual aid fellowship with over two million members belonging to 100,800 groups of alcoholics helping other alcoholics achieve and maintain sobriety...
, author of Alcoholics AnonymousAlcoholics AnonymousAlcoholics Anonymous is an international mutual aid movement which says its "primary purpose is to stay sober and help other alcoholics achieve sobriety." Now claiming more than 2 million members, AA was founded in 1935 by Bill Wilson and Dr. Bob Smith in Akron, Ohio...
(1939), the book which inspired the modern spiritual alcoholism recovery movement, misquotes the gravestone on the first page, writing:We landed in England. I visited Winchester Cathedral. Much moved, I wandered outside. My attention was caught by a doggerel on an old tombstone: 'Here lies a Hampshire Grenadier / Who caught his death / Drinking cold small beer. / A good soldier is ne'er forgot / Whether he dieth by musket / Or by pot.'" http://www.aa.org/bigbookonline/en_tableofcnt.cfm
- Writer Augustus HareAugustus HareAugustus John Cuthbert Hare was an English writer and raconteur.He was the youngest son of Francis George Hare of Herstmonceux, East Sussex, and Gresford, Flintshire, Wales, and nephew of Augustus William Hare and Julius Hare...
quotes the inscription in the appendix of his Epitaphs for Country Churchyards (1856). http://augustus-hare.tripod.com/eappendix.html - A dialogue of letters in the New England Journal of MedicineNew England Journal of MedicineThe New England Journal of Medicine is an English-language peer-reviewed medical journal published by the Massachusetts Medical Society. It describes itself as the oldest continuously published medical journal in the world.-History:...
(Vol. 341, No. 17, 1999) cites the inscription as a closing to a discussion of "deglutition syncope", the medical term for fainting when swallowing. It is triggered in certain sensitive individuals by cold liquids in the esophagus, especially on hot days. http://lists.b9.com/pipermail/dysphagia/2001-April/051468.html - Strongs of Romsey, a HampshireHampshireHampshire is a county on the southern coast of England in the United Kingdom. The county town of Hampshire is Winchester, a historic cathedral city that was once the capital of England. Hampshire is notable for housing the original birthplaces of the Royal Navy, British Army, and Royal Air Force...
brewingBrewingBrewing is the production of beer through steeping a starch source in water and then fermenting with yeast. Brewing has taken place since around the 6th millennium BCE, and archeological evidence suggests that this technique was used in ancient Egypt...
company, used the slogan "drink Strong or none at all" until the 1970s. http://www.pepysdiary.com/p/308.php - A reader of Littell's Living Age, a weekly periodical distributed in AmericaUnited StatesThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
from 1844–1941, sent in the full inscription for inclusion in the 8 November 1866 issue, along with a commentary. The unnamed reader wonders "that it has not hitherto appeared". He or she was very resourceful:I copied it from an inscription on a tombstone in the churchyard of Winchester Cathedral, and a military friend then quartered there informed me that a statement once appeared in Fraser's Magazine
Fraser's MagazineFraser's Magazine for Town and Country was a general and literary journal published in London from 1830 to 1882, which initially took a strong Tory line in politics. It was founded by Hugh Fraser and William Maginn in 1830 and loosely directed by Maginn under the name Oliver Yorke until about 1840...
to the effect that the quatrain commencing "Here sleeps in peace," was written by Dr. Benjamin Hoadley, sometime Bishop of WinchesterBishop of WinchesterThe Bishop of Winchester is the head of the Church of England diocese of Winchester, with his cathedra at Winchester Cathedral in Hampshire.The bishop is one of five Church of England bishops to be among the Lords Spiritual regardless of their length of service. His diocese is one of the oldest and...
. Now, as Bishop Hoadley died April 17, 1761, it is plain that he could not have written an epitaph on a person who survived him more than three years.
I have divided the lines exactly as they appear on the tombstone, and beg to direct your attention to the ambiguity of "when hot," which might apply to the "beer" or to its victim ; also to the disembodiment of the North Hants Militia in April, 1802, being assignable (owing to the "obscure language)[sic] to the destruction of "the original stone," and not to the peace of AmiensTreaty of AmiensThe Treaty of Amiens temporarily ended hostilities between the French Republic and the United Kingdom during the French Revolutionary Wars. It was signed in the city of Amiens on 25 March 1802 , by Joseph Bonaparte and the Marquess Cornwallis as a "Definitive Treaty of Peace"...
, which was ratified in March, 1802. The inference drawn by the poet that the grenadier was killed by the smallness of the beer, and not by its want of caloric, is, as original as it is, doubtless correct. http://cdl.library.cornell.edu/cgi-bin/moa/pageviewer?ammem/coll=moa&root=/moa/livn/livn0051/&tif=00375.TIF&view=50&frames=1
Links and further references
- A picture of the gravestone
- Small beer