Images Dated 2005

Scotland for Ever'; the charge of the Scots Greys at Waterloo, 18 June 1815

Scotland for Ever'; the charge of the Scots Greys at Waterloo, 18 June 1815. The attack by the Royal Scots Greys cavalry regiment on the French 45th infantry was immortalised in this famous painting of 1881 by Lady Elizabeth Butler (1846-1933). The wife of a general as well as a popular Victorian painter, she persuaded the commander of the regiment to reconstruct the charge so she could make the painting. Some military historians doubt that the action actually took the form of the spectacular headlong charge depicted in the picture. What is known however is that the Scots Greys overpursued the French infantry, became split into disorganised small groups, and suffered heavy casualties at the hands of French cavalry formations before they were able to regain the British lines

© Ann Ronan Picture Library / Heritage-Images

Page from the Dresden Codex, Maya manuscript

Page from the Dresden Codex, Maya manuscript. Chromolithograph of a page showing a section of a tonalamatl, a sacred season of 260 days. The god Quetalcoatl is depicted several times, including ferrying a woman (centre) and with an axe (bottom left). The original manuscript was probably produced in the first half of the 13th century, and contains tables predicting astronomical occurrences with great accuracy. It was sent to Europe after the Spanish conquest of Central America, and is today one of only four Mayan codices known to have survived

© Ann Ronan Picture Library / Heritage-Images

The Divided Skirt, 1886. Artist: Joseph Swain

The Divided Skirt, 1886. This cartoon shows the Liberal Prime Minister, Gladstone. Now 76 years of age, and in his third term in office, Gladstone was undoubtedly the grandee of the Commons. By now, he had been dubbed the Grand Old Man by Henry Labouchere in 1881, and this had been shorted to GOM by many. He is fitting a decidedly matronly Britannia with her first divided skirt. This relates to one of Gladstone's first Bills on regaining office early 1886. However, the Irish Home Rule Bill was deeply divisive, even though it was apparently designed to settle all outstanding matters once and for all. It did lead to the resignation from the Cabinet of the Radical, Joseph Chamberlain who cited the blow to the security of the Empire as his primary reason. From Punch, or the London Charivari, April 24, 1885

© The Print Collector / Heritage-Images