PICTURESQUE PAGEANT.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXVI, Issue 20306, 13 July 1929, Page 2 (Supplement)

PICTURESQUE PAGEANT.

TROOPING THE COLOUR.

LONDON'S SPECTACLE. UNIQUE MILITARY DISPLAY. Althouglri it is never performed in England outbido London, and is, therefore, cxclusivo to Londoners and visitors to the Metropolis on Juno 3 each year—rtliQ King's Bfcrthday—tho picturesquo ceremony of the trooping of tho colour, with all its colourful pageantry grips tho imagination of thousands throughout, (ho count rv.

This year the.King was, of course, not ablo to witraoss tho coremony on tho Horse Guards' Parade, and his place was taken by tJio IXdco of Connaught, the only other member of tho Royal Family, who is a Field Marshal—a position which qualities him at a inilitary function to tako tho salutes of any Princes who may bo present with different military rank. Tho colour troiyped this year was that of the Grenadier:*—a tribute, no doubt, to the Duke. This rjhoice does not mean that men of tho selected regiment took ar outstanding part in tho pageant—tho other rcimcnlal colours .'ire also trooped in rotation—but that tho Grenadier Guardsmen took tho position of honour and their colour pride of placu as tho centre of tho proceedings for tho day. Doubtful Origin of Custom.

Although nowadays the trooping is performed each year on tho King's Birthday, says Mr. W. T. Cmnfield in an English paper, it was not originally connected in anv way with that dato. There are many anil divided opinions as to how tho ceremony actually camo into being. Tt is known that many years ago a guardmounting ceremony, in which (ho battalion finding tho guards for tho day trooped its colour, was a usual procedure. This old military custom was performed whilo drums beat out a tattoo and muskets wero fired in unison. It was customary for the guards to form lino without officers, who wero positioned on a saluting base, where they drew lots for their commands and received tho parolo for tho dav.

Tlio colours, carried on the flank of tho parade, was in charge of two sergeants, and on tlio Found of the " assembly" flio whole lino moved forward at slow march toward its officers. The colour was then handed by the SergeantMajor to the right guard, who returned at slow tiino to his position on the right of the line. Whether this was the forerunner of the present ceremony is a matter of debate. Tlio only connecting link is an 18th century pageant, which is known to bo more like tho modern troc/ping than anything else, in which it was customary to find the public guard for tJio King's Birthday from tho Hank companies of the Brigade of Guards. Back to George 11. Others maintain, however, that tho Duke of Cumberland, a commanding officer in Georgo ll.'s army, was responsible for tho first genuino colour trooping. It is said that when he, by acaident, encountered u disregard for tho routine drill, ho promptly inaugurated a parade which demanded as its fundamentals exhausting rehearsals, particular attention to detail, and disciplinary precision. Whatever tho original, however, tho present spectacle can safely bo said to bo without parallel in tho world. It is performed each year on the most historic parade ground ground known—tho site of tho old tillyard of tho Palace of Whitehall—bounded on tho one side by the Abmiralty building, and on tho other by the gardens of Downing Street.