ANCIENT CUSTOMS
THE LORD CHANCELLOR’S SEAT. In the literal sense there is do “bar” in the House of Commons; it is but a brass rod left in the floor. Yet many people imagine it as a sort of waisthigh barrier. And the “woolsack” in the House of Lords—most people would declare it to be but a figure of speech, and that thorp was “no such thing.’’ Yet there is. It is a square sack filled with pure wool, and on it the Lord Chancellor, as- “ Speaker ’’ of the Upper House, sits quite comfortably. The woolsack was first placed in position in the reign of Edward ITT. In his reign the greht national industries were the weaving of woollens and the export of yarn. Thus, ns a symbol of what wool meant to Britain a sack of wool was placed in the House f Lords as a seat for the most important officer of the State. The custom has been maintained ever since, with the slight variation of making the sack square and covering it with a rod cloth.
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https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/WC19270514.2.79.8.21
Bibliographic details
Wanganui Chronicle, Volume LXXXIII, Issue 19840, 14 May 1927, Page 14 (Supplement)
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178ANCIENT CUSTOMS Wanganui Chronicle, Volume LXXXIII, Issue 19840, 14 May 1927, Page 14 (Supplement)
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