Roundhead Values, Cavalier Tastes

The Edge of England’s Sword nails it. Unfortunately I can't link to Ian Murray's blog anymore as the domain no longer exists, but suffice it to say that he coined the phrase nicely to capture the essence of his personal philosophy. As anyone who knows the history of the English Civil War, Cavalier is the word that preceded the term Tory, which was used to describe the Royalists who supported King Charles I in the war against Parliament. The bad connotation of that word (in uncapitalised form) still survives as something denoting arrogance and haughtiness, a self-important inconsiderate who cares more for his personal glory and vanity than for the welfare of his fellow man.

But Cavaliers didn’t see themselves as swaggering gallants, and in the main, weren't: The chaplain to King Charles, Edward Simmons, described a Cavalier (from the French word, chevallier, meaning knight) as a “Child of Honour, a Gentleman well borne and bred, that loves his king for conscience sake, of a clearer countenance, and bolder look than other men, because of a more loyal Heart.” It was meant as a derogatory and vulgar term, but the flamboyantly dressed, well-groomed and long-haired Royalists quickly adopted the title as a badge of honour.

“Roundhead”, on the other hand, was the pejorative and contemptuous term the Cavaliers gave to the plainly clothed and hair cropped Puritan, who backed Parliament against the undivided powers of the Catholic-minded king. Their efforts, as we all know, led to the beheading of Charles, and eventually to the adoption of a mixed constitution and a more limited monarchy. For better or worse, in the titanic struggle between King and Country, the country prevailed, and Sir Robert Filmer's defense of one-man rule in The Natural Power of Kings, forever received its death knell.

And so I like the phrase. Roundhead values means we celebrate freedom and true progress, and recognize the inate dignity of every human being. Cavalier tastes implies that we continue to hold reverence for our traditions, heritage and institutions, while showing our disdain for those who attack these. In the old meaning of the word it also implies that we reserve our contempt for the tasteless: the ill mannered, insufferable gasbags of this world, and take on those who offend our sense of self-respect and personal dignity. There is no contradiction here. We hold that society, for all its egalitarian and proletariat rhetoric, could still use a little class.