Atereth Meluchah - The King’s Crown [poetic acrostic of 1902 Hebrew words]. Composed by Simon Mallinick for a Memorial of the Coronation of our Beloved King, Edward VII, in the year 1902

A MOST ECCENTRIC EXAMPLE OF SOUTH AFRICAN JEWISH FOLK-ART. WITH UNUSUAL VIEWS OF ENGLISH HISTORY. A highly idiosyncratic piece of South African Judaica prepared by Simon Mallinick, “possessor of a letter of gratification from our late beloved Queen Victoria” in honor of the coronation of King Edward VII. In his prologue, Mallineck explains he has utilized the Kabbalistic doctrine of acrostic in the Hebrew language to prove that the English and Scots are descendants of the Ten Lost Tribes. ”Many people have considered, and it is a popular tale both among English and Scotch that they are descendants of Israel and if look at the English physiognomy we find a convincing likeness- their high brows with the long deep wrinkles, cheeks with the elliptica shape of the nose, their finely cut mouths, with their white teeth glistering like pearls their soft and brilliant voices and all their general countenances. When we compare these physiognomical peculariaties with the old pictures of Israelites which may be found in many galleries we immediately trace the likenesses....After my unsuccessful investigation of the Bible in Hebrew for about 22 years to find a fast point as to the whereabouts of the ten lost tribes, I was compelled to search for information in an indirect way and to find a solution to this indecisive puzzle I had to appeal to the acrostic and I am surprised that I discovered a wonderful thing; an acrostic of 1902 words agreeing with the date of the coronation of our beloved King Edward VII in this acrostic I discover a good part of the British and Israelite history.” King Edward VII (1841-1910), succeeded his mother, Queen Victoria to the throne on August 9th, 1902. “Immensely popular...his reign did much to restore lustre to a monarchy that had shone somewhat dimly during Victoria’s long seclusion as a widow.” (Encyclopedia Britannica). Oudtshoorn, a town in the Cape midlands of South Africa, was for many years the center of the ostrich-feather industry of which Jews (mostly from Lithuania) played an outstanding part in its development. At its height, Oudtshoorn had the largest Jewish population in rural South Africa, numbering 1,500 in 1913. It was sometimes called the Jerusalem of Africa. See EJ, XII col.1526