OLD DOMINION
How did Virginia come to be called "The Old Dominion?"
It came about because of our loyalty to our king. The designation has been attributed to remarks made by Charles II, but we must to back to the reign of James I who ruled over four dominions - Scotland, England, Ireland and France.
Virginia, at that time, had no official heraldic seal, since it was a colony. Nor, did the king recognize Virginia on his royal Coat of Arms. He did, on several occasions, refer to the colony of Virginia as being his "Fifth Dominion".
His reference became more official when, years later, a Coat of Arms was designed for Virginia. That seal ,in the later part of the 17th Century, had a Latin inscription along it's base which translates: "And Virginia makes the fifth." When England and Scotland were united in 1707 the motto was changed to call Virginia "the Fourth Dominion" rather than the fifth.
Then , to add to the complications, along came Oliver Cromwell - about 1645 to 1660 - when such talk about kings and royal domains were put on the back burner. They were set aside but not forgotten.
Many of the leading citizens of Virginia remained quietly loyal to the King, whom they called "The Prince Over the Waters".Charles II had been exiled to the continent during the Cromwellian era and he became well aware of the loyalty of Virginians.
When Cromwell's power came to an an end, a former Governor of Virginia, Sir William Berkeley was quick to send a Special Mission to France to proclaim Charles as King, even before he might be crowned as such in London. The young King Charles II was so pleased that he blessed his "Old Dominion" which had stood so firmly by him in his years of loss and crisis.
Many Shenandoah Valley of Virginia residents were hunted down, hounded and accused of aiding the British during the Revolutionary War. Such groups were found in each of the colonies . In Southwest Virginia even such pioneering stalwarts such as William Ingles were suspected of being Tories ready to hand over the lead mines near Fort Chiswell to the British. Lord Fairfax lived at his estate near Winchester and George Washington issued special orders that Fairfax must remain unharmed. Fairfax's lawyer, Gabriel Jones, one of the first attorneys in both Augusta and Frederick Counties since 1745, remained a professed Tory all through the war years. Many of those who loyalty to the King simply lived out their troubled lives during the years of conflict or went back to England or Nova Scotia. Eastern Virginia , having been longer under royal rule, must have had many Tories, but, they, having dealt with such problems before, were more adept a presenting a neutral front.
We tend to think that everyone was a dedicated rebel. The idea of kingship was not dead. Many citizens ,for instance, thought that President George Washington should have been titled "George, the First”.
Our form of "democracy" did not spring forth in full-bloom. Many individuals,and entire families, have had "to work at it" to become Americans.
A.L. M. April 25, 2003 [c590wds]
