Crossword clues for woolsack
The Collaborative International Dictionary
Woolsack \Wool"sack`\, n. A sack or bag of wool; specifically, the seat of the lord chancellor of England in the House of Lords, being a large, square sack of wool resembling a divan in form.
Wiktionary
n. A wool bale or cushion, the traditional seat of the (w: Lord Speaker) in the British House of Lords.
Wikipedia
The Woolsack is the seat of the Lord Speaker in the House of Lords, the Upper House of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. In the 14th century King Edward III (1327–1377) commanded that his Lord Chancellor whilst in council should sit on a wool bale, now known as "The Woolsack", in order to symbolise the central nature and huge importance of the wool trade to the economy of England in the Middle Ages. Indeed, it was largely to protect the vital English wool trade routes with continental Europe that the Battle of Crécy was fought with the French in 1346. From the Middle Ages until 2006, the presiding officer in the House of Lords was the Lord Chancellor and the Woolsack was usually mentioned in association with the office of Lord Chancellor. In July 2006, the function of Lord Speaker was split from that of Lord Chancellor pursuant to the Constitutional Reform Act 2005.
The Woolsack is a large, wool-stuffed cushion or seat covered with red cloth; it has neither a back nor arms, though in the centre of the Woolsack there is a back-rest. The Lords' Mace is placed on the rear part of the Woolsack.
In 1938, it was discovered that the Woolsack was, in fact, stuffed with horsehair. When the Woolsack was remade it was re-stuffed with wool from all over the Commonwealth as a symbol of unity.
The Lord Speaker may speak from the Woolsack when speaking in his or her capacity as Speaker of the House, but must, if he or she seeks to debate, deliver his or her remarks either from the left side of the Woolsack, or from the normal seats of the Lords.
If a Deputy Speaker presides in the absence of the Lord Speaker, then that individual uses the Woolsack. However, when the House meets in the " Committee of the Whole", the Woolsack remains unoccupied, and the presiding officer, the Chairman or Deputy Chairman, occupies a Chair at the front of the table of the House.
In front of the Woolsack is an even larger cushion known as the Judges' Woolsack. During the State Opening of Parliament, the Judges' Woolsack was historically occupied by the Law Lords. Now the Attorney General, the Solicitor General, the Lord Chief Justice, the Master of the Rolls, the President of the Family Division, the Vice-Chancellor, Justices of the Supreme Court, the Lords Justices of Appeal and the Justices of the High Court only attend Parliament for the State Opening.
Usage examples of "woolsack".
Sir Gregory Grogram, who was a rich, energetic man, determined to have a peerage, and convinced that, should the Coalition fall to pieces, the Liberal element would be in the ascendant,--so that the woolsack would then be opened to him,--declined to occupy the place.
With Grey it was a dukedom, with Wade the woolsack, with Buyse the plunder of Cheapside.
Do you not see a woolsack in store for you as you look upon these brave fellows?
Her grace would have you eat no more Woolsack pies, Nor Dagger frumety.
When the woolsack has been reached there comes an end of doubt, and a beginning of ease.
It had been materially altered in the other House under the auspices of his noble friend on the woolsack, but from those alterations he was obliged to dissent.
Old Saturn of the Woolsack sits there mute, we will say, a relic of other days, as seated in this divan.
On entering the House, he is described to have appeared abashed and pale: he passed the woolsack without looking round, and advanced to the table where the proper officer was attending to administer the oaths.
At the moment the betting was evens whether Macdermott would die of high blood-pressure before he was sixty or grace the Woolsack when he was seventy.
Macdermott would die of high blood-pressure before he was sixty or grace the Woolsack when he was seventy.
The marchers are coming up Woolsack Road in a thick snake, ten, twenty abreast, then turning north on to the motorway.
On the 6th of June a message was read from the woolsack, communicating certain papers relative to the conduct of her majesty since her departure from England, which the king recommended to the immediate and serious attention of their lordships.
We could not avoid contrasting the intellectual features of the old ex-chancellor with the contracted expression of the occupant of the woolsack, and wondering what the latter would be like at the age of eighty-four, to which Lord Lyndhurst had arrived.
I could see by the strings and woolsacks on the floor that she had had it unwrapped.
The presence chamber was about forty feet square, showy and handsome: round the walls were placed sofas, which, from being covered with scarlet, reminded me of the woolsacks in the House of Lords.