THE KING'S GROWER.
One of the most curious of Court duties fell to an official known as the King's Grower. It was his duty to crow the hour within the precincts of the Royal Palace during the reason of Lent. "On the first Ash Wednesday after the 1 accession of the House of Hanover," writes an eighteenth century chronicler, "as the Prince of Wales, afterwards George 11., sat down to supper, this officer abruptly entered the apartment, and, according to accustomed usage, proClaimed in a sound resembling the shrill pipe of a Cock, that it was 'past ten. o'clock.' . Taken by surprise, and i m ' perfectly acquainted with the English language, the astonished Prince naturally mistook the tremulation of the assumed crow as some mockery intended to insult him, and instantly rose to resent the affront; nor was it without difficulty that the interpreter explained the nature of the custom."
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Auckland Star, Volume LXI, Issue 305, 26 December 1930, Page 10
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150THE KING'S GROWER. Auckland Star, Volume LXI, Issue 305, 26 December 1930, Page 10
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