Rounders

“ A roundle of more than one colour is described as a roundle "per pale," for example of gules and azure, or whatever it may be. The plates and bezants are naturally flat, and must be so represented. They should never be shaded up into a globular form. The torteau is sometimes found shaded, but is more correctly flat, but probably the pellet or ogress and the pomeis are intended to be globular. Roundles of fur are always flat. One curious roundle is a very common charge in British armory, that is, the "fountain," which is a roundle barry wavy argent and azure (Fig. 242) . ”

“ The red flags wave, their horsemen gallop up and down; the arms of eighteen thousand men [15,000] , barrel and bayonet, gleam in the sun, a sloping forest of flashing steel. Right on they move, as with one soul, in perfect order, without impediment of ditch or wall or stream, over ridge and slope, through orchard and meadow and cornfield, magnificent, grim, irresistible. ”

“ An early example shows that this shield began as a plain field with a gobony border.
With the Ordinaries we may take the Roundels or Pellets, disks or balls of various colours. Ancient custom gives the name of a bezant to the golden roundel, and the folly of the heraldic writers has found names for all the others, names which may be disregarded together with the belief that, while bezants and silver roundels, as representing coins, must be pictured with a flat surface, roundels of other hues must needs be shaded by the painter to represent rounded balls. ”

“ The Middle Ages are dead and dust.
We will proceed with that congenial paradox which states that the seat of learning lies in the [Pg 179] head, and so discuss the most distinctive costumery of this time, the roundlet.
Now, the roundlet is one of those things which delight the clothes-hunter or the costume expert. It is the natural result of a long series of fashions for the head, and its pedigree is free from any impediment or hindrance; it is the great-grandson of the hood, which is derived from a fold in a cloak, which is the beginning of all things. ”

“ In officers’ rounds the officer guarding is preceded by a drummer carrying a lantern, and followed by a sergeant and a file of men. Ordinary rounds consist of a sergeant and a file of men. Both ordinary and officers’ rounds are termed visiting rounds. The design of rounds is not only to visit the guards, and keep the sentinels alert, but likewise to discover what passes in the outworks, and beyond them.
Rout. The confusion created in an army or body of troops when defeated or dispersed. To put to the rout, is to defeat and throw into confusion. ”

“ It was a great event in the lives of the citizens, and the whole town was present. Every sort of vehicle used on the frontier came out, filled to overflowing, and many persons walked. The music of the band, the sun lighting up the polished steel of the arms and equipments, the hundreds of spirited horses going through the variety of evolutions which belong to a mounted regiment, made a memorable scene for these isolated people. ”

“ The ridge that marked the collar-bone, and laughed when fell the foe.
There comes a pause within the fight—we see some horsemen group,
And on the breastwork ridge take line, a dark and threatening troop—
Compact they form, with sabres drawn, upon our force to swoop. [Pg 88]
Oh, now we smile a grimly smile, and wrath our bosom stirs;
We newly load and careful prime our firelocks for the curs—
For well we know their uniform, those Brunswicker chasseurs! ”

“ Round′ing, in bookbinding, the shaping the folded and sewed sheets into a convex form at the back; Round′ing-machine′, various machines for producing round forms, as a machine for sawing out circular heads for casks; Round′ing-plane, a woodworking tool for rounding the handles of rakes, &c.; Round′ing-tool, an instrument used in forging for rounding a rod: a kind of draw-plate in saddlery for shaping round leather straps ”

“ The labourers here, who are in need of parochial relief, are formed into what are called roundsmen; that is to say, they are sent round from one farmer to another, each maintaining a certain number for a certain length of time ”

“ A square peg forced into a round hole, he had felt like a daily outrage that long established smooth roundness into which a man of less sharply angular shape would have fitted himself, with voluptuous acquiescence, after a shrug or two. ”

“ The column of platoons under rapid motion were broken into fours to avoid a fence, and man after man scrambled over a sunken road, and then stopping only for half a moment, rapidly to reform, hot of foot and shouting, they rode with drawn sabres upon the hitherto invincible Southerners, who, seated on their horses, had been waiting the order to advance themselves. ”

“ I have said that the hunters were very unequally mounted, and so, at the end of a few miles, instead of being one body of men, like a charging regiment, they were scattered over a considerable space, the better riders well up to the dogs and the others trailing away behind. Now, I was as good a rider as any, and my horse was the best of them all, and so you can imagine that it was not long before he carried me to the front. ”

“ The ridge was not, perhaps, more than a hundred feet or so above the general plain, but in this flat region it sufficed to give the effect of extensive view. Away on the north side of the ridge, little and far, were the camps, the ordered wagons, all the gear of a big army; with officers galloping about and men doing aimless things. Here and there men were falling in, however and the cavalry was forming up on the plain beyond the tents. The bulk of men who had been in the trenches were still on the move to the rear, scattered like sheep without a shepherd over the farther slopes. ”

“ And just as truly as every bend in that high-tide mark turns out around a promontory, or in around a bay, so will every bend in a contour stand for a hill or a valley, pointing to the lowlands if it be a hill, and to the height if it mark a valley. ”

“ Round, because one can walk round it. In some trading vessels the round-house is built on the deck, generally abaft the main-mast.
ROUND-IN, To. To haul in on a fall; the act of pulling upon any slack rope which passes through one or more blocks in a direction nearly horizontal, and is particularly applied to the braces, as "Round-in the weather-braces." It is apparently derived from the circular motion of the rope about the sheave or pulley, through which it passes. ”

“ Resuming our march, we emerged from the woods about one mile South of the ford, and came upon a beautiful open valley about one and a quarter miles square, bounded on the right or West by a wooded ridge, on the Fast by the rough spurs or bluffs of Bull Run, on the North by an open plain and ridge, on which our troops began to form, and on the South by another ridge, on which the Enemy was strongly posted, with woods behind their backs. The Enemy was also in possession of the bluffs of Bull Run on our left. ”

“ What ghastly gaps are left in the British ranks, and the Rangers are still rushing on like demons, loading as they run! It is too much for those fighting machines accustomed to fight, as they march, with mathematical precision; they turn and run. ”

“ There were in camp three regiments of British cavalry and six of infantry, and as they were far from the seat of war, there was for the present nothing to do but to drill, and prepare for the coming campaign. Rupert was delighted with the life, for although the work for the recruits was hard, the weather was splendid, supplies abundant--for the Dutch farm wives and their daughters brought ducks, and geese, and eggs into the camp--and all were in high spirits at the thought of the approaching campaign. ”

“ After they have thus vibrated to and fro long enough, like a pendulum coming to rest, they will alight in the open field on the ridge behind. There in drilled ranks, well closed together, all facing the same way, they will stand for hours. ”

“ They preserve their ranks for at least two miles from the wood; and then gradually first one and then another company falls out, and wheeling round, descends upon some favourite field, till by degrees, spreading out like a fan, the army melts away. ”

“ Manner of going the Rounds. When the town major goes his round, he comes to the main-guard, and demands a serjeant and four or six men to escort him to the next guard; and when it is dark, one of the men is to carry a light.
As soon as the sentry at the guard perceives the round coming, he shall give notice to the guard, that they may be ready to turn out when ordered; and when the round is advanced within about 20 or 30 paces of the guard, he is to challenge briskly; and when he is answered by the serjeant who attends the round, town major’s round, he is to say, stand, round! ”

“ Around the base of frowning, tall, uprising hills the raiders swept in a swift gallop, now through gloomy rock-bound ways, past quiet farm-houses, by fallow fields, following the winding courses of the road that trailed under the dim starlight like a ribbon of mist between the silent, opaque hills. ”

“ One minute you would be watching the crest of a ridge and see a few men sauntering over the top in twos and threes, and two minutes later you would find the face of the ridge swarming with men, and more and more pushing on behind. ”

“ A non-commissioned officer in the British cavalry regiments, whose business it is to break in refractory horses, and assist the riding-master when required.
Rouleaux. Are round bundles of fascines, which are tied together. They serve to cover men when the works are pushed close to a besieged town, or to mask the head of a work.
Round. A general discharge of fire-arms by a body of troops, in which each soldier fires once. Round of cartridges, one cartridge to each man; as, to supply a regiment with a single round, or with twelve rounds. ”

“ Ranger desolately, giving up work and subsiding into a chair, "oh! that it should have come to this. To have a 'usband who sets himself amongst your enemies, who snaps your head off directly you open your mouth, who hates the very ground you walk on!" ”

“ This is accounted for partly by the rounds falling out of the pouches when they are opened and the men are lying down; but there is also another reason—the men have a habit, a natural one too, of drawing out a handful of rounds and laying them on the ground to be handy for use ”

“ Two riders, known as point men, rode out and well back from the lead cattle, and by riding forward and closing in as occasion required, directed the course of the herd. The main body of the herd trailed along behind the leaders like an army in loose marching order, guarded by outriders, known as swing men, who rode well out from the advancing column, warding off range cattle and seeing that none of the herd wandered away or dropped out. ”

“ We are glad you find The Great Round World interesting.
Editor.
Dear Mr. Editor:
I have had only two of your papers. I like them very much. I am going to save them and have them bound. It is so muddy here, and it was muddier last week; the mud was half a foot deep. There is a man that runs a dray-wagon here, and he has two little mules. He whips them almost to death.
A little while ago a poor dog went by with a tin can tied to his tail; the boys that did this filled it full of dirt, and the poor dog was half scared to death. ”

“ Men-at-Arms, Fourteenth Century.
Next, round plates of metal, called placates or roundels, were applied to shield the armpits from a thrust; and sometimes they were used also at the elbow to protect the inner side of the joint where, for the convenience of motion, it was destitute of armour. An example of a roundel at the shoulder will be seen in one of the men-at-arms in the woodcut on p. 339. Another curious fashion which very generally prevailed at this time—that is, at the close of the thirteenth and beginning of the fourteenth century—was the ailette. ”

“ We have so far been drilling in close order formation, so called because we always maintain our front and rear ranks together as such. This order has two purposes, one for parade and review, the other for quickest marching to any given place. But for fighting, which after all is our real purpose, the close order must be discarded in favor of extended order, which you will understand better if I call it skirmish line formation. Here front and rear rank form in one long line, in order not to do damage to each other in firing.
Our drill field at the camp distinctly has its drawbacks. ”

“ The company streets were laid out in rows on a hillside, and there was a big stable for the cavalry horses at the bottom of the hill. We weighs up our comrades in arms as we sees them at the mess-shack, and they're mostly kids. ”

“ Rounde, adv. roundly, i.e. easily, with an easy (not jerky) motion, B 2076; Round (for Rounde before a vowel) , round, A. 589; fully, melodiously, C 331.
Rounded, pt. s. stood out in a rounded form, A 263.
Roundel, s. roundel, roundelay, a kind of poem, 5. 675 (see note) ; A 1529; a small circle, HF. 791, 798; Roundels, pl. roundels, L. 423 (see note) ; F 948.
Roundnesse, s. roundness, B 5. p 4. 101; Roundnesses, pl. orbs, orbits, B 4. m 6. 33.
Roune, v. whisper, T. iv. 587; B 2025; ger. D 1572; Rouned, pt. s. HF. 2044; D 1021, 1550; Rowned, pt. s. F 216; Rouned, pp. HF. 722, 1030 ”

“ At this command, every man in our outfit whipped out his six-shooter, the Rangers leveled their carbines on the rustlers, and in less than a minute’s time they were disarmed and as crestfallen a group of men as ever walked into a trap of their own setting. ”

“ The braided lovelock of many a cavalier who rode so exultingly down the hill in the afternoon sunlight had a stain of a far deeper colour ’ere sunset, and with the phase of the fight following the straggling return of Rupert’s Horse, the events of the day seem to have ended. ”

“ Remember, in making Ridges of all Sorts, and of whatsoever Figure the Piece is, that no Ridge ought to have any more Furrows at one End, than at the other End; for if there be, the Plough must be turned in the Middle of the Piece, which will cause the Land to be trodden by the Horses; but if each End have an equal Number of Furrows, the Horses in turning will tread only upon the Head lands, which may be plowed afterwards; or if design’d to be Horse-ho’d, the Head-lands should be narrow, and not plowed at all. ”