...missile. 9.The scent of the rose rang like a bell through the garden, 10.Scepter and Crown Must tumble down, And in the dust be equal made With the poor crooked Scythe and Spade. (James Shirley) 11.Constant dropping wears the stone, (proverb) 12.They had to bear the pitiless wind...

...evolved into a shrewd and cynical ruler whose memories reminded him that "Sceptre and crown must tumble down / And in the dust be equal made / With the poor crooked scythe and spade." Two-and-a-half years after the 1649 execution of his father, Charles I, in 1651 Charles II lost the...

...things. There is no armour against fate, Death lays his icy hand on kings, Sceptre and crown Must tumble down, And in the dust be equal made, With the poor crooked scythe and spade. Shortly before James Shirley wrote that, death had laid its icy hand on Charles I on a scaffold in...

...hide something unpleasant; but it is familiar mark of identification. Sceptre and Crown Must tumble down And in the dust be equal made With the poor crooked scythe and spade. Here 'sceptre and crown' stand for kings and emperors, scythe and spade for common workers and labourers....