THE GLORIOUS FOURTH

Evening Star, Issue 20862, 4 August 1931, Page 8

THE GLORIOUS FOURTH

Eton in the summer is, at its best, divine; at its worst it is purgatory (writes an Etonian, in the ‘ Daily Telegraph’). Torrents of rain pour down on the High street; College grass looks as if a herd of elephants had trampled over it, and the trees and long grass at the edges of Upper Club.—reputed in line weather to be the most beautiful cricket ground in England—drench unwary visitors to the skin. Still, the weather, fortu-nately,-has a reputation for clemency, and when it lives up to this reputation the Fourth of June is a day which it is worth cancelling many engagements for—-perhaps an occasional Derby. Even the epidemic of colour and fashion produced by the old Montem can hardly have surpassed the brightness_ and diversity which cover the playing fields, and compared to it both Henley and Lord's, though perhaps more interesting to their particular supporters, arc certainly less universal and not so essentially Etonian.

The Fourth began more or less as an accident. It was usual to celebrate the King’s birthday in a fairly riotous manner, and George the Third often used to attend these celebrations. Ho was, as ’Thackeray and many other writers have set on record, almost general godparent to Etonians, and used'’ to talk to them in the street until ho ’ knew nearly all ’’by sight. But when he died, and when it was found that George JV.’s birthday fell in the holidays, it was decided to go on celebrating that of George 111., ' for whom the top hats and black coats worn by Etonians are really mourning. This, of course, was a good thing, especially as our present King’s birthday falls the day before. Incidentally it means that we have two whole holidays in succession. William the Fourth, the Sailor King, was also very fond of Eton, and came more than once to the Fourth’of June celebrations. On one occasion lie sat next to the Provost at Speeches, and listened with some attention to a member of Sixth Form who was struggling with “To he or not to be.” At length the boy ended: Nymph in thy orisons Be all my sins remembered. ’William the Fourth leaned over to the Provost and remarked genially, “ You know, in my .time, in the Navy, we .used to call it ’orizons.” The old Montem, described with all its colour in the pages of * Coningsby,’ came to an end in 1847, when it was stopped by Provost Hawtrey. This curious custom had been of late years’ _only a. triennial "affair, bub its abolition naturally added to the popularity of the Fourth of June. Gradually the ceremonies became more and more defined. Speeches in Upper School no longer shai-ed their dignity with speeches of Election Saturday; the names of the present boats,. Monarch, Alexandria, St. George, begin to appear; and fireworks arc held on the evot opposite the Brocas, whence they were removed to Fellows’ Evot in more recent years.