Hawaii Holomua, Volume I, Number 44, 8 November 1893 — FIRING THE ROYAL SILUTE AT WINDSOR. [ARTICLE]

FIRING THE ROYAL SILUTE AT WINDSOR.

The onliuarv ielea with regani to the tiriug of the Royal salute is that it is performetl bv means of a heavy gun or gun?!. That is true in respect to na$al an»l militarv stations, and some other places where big guns abouml; but it is not correct as to indsot. It raight be sopposed that at Her Majesty’s principal home, as one of our oldest castles was in past times intimately associated with large weapona of warfare, the salute wouhl be fired' from at least a great mozzleloader, if not one of the moderu breech-loaders. with soldiers in attendance. It might seem. too, that here, above all, the ceremony wookl be accompanied by some show of dignity worthy of a closely observeil and mueh respected function. But, alas! for suppositiou and exalted associations of Royalty, this not the case. Readers who have not witnessed the performance may be interested in a brief description of it, as carrietl ont in Windsor Park. The pnneipal oocasions on whieh the Ro\al salute of twenty one gnns is fired are on the aeniversary' of Her Majesty s birthdav, accession, and coronation, and of tbe birtbdays of tbe Prince of Wales, the Empress Frederiek (Princess Royal of

England), tbe Dnke of Edinburgh, the Dnte of Connaught, Princess Christian. Princess Louise (Marchioness of Lorne<. aud Princess Beatrice i Prineess Henry of Battenberg). The salute also extemLs to tte eldc son of tbe Heir-Appareut, and was accordingly fired on June 3nl for the Duke of York. Formerlv the salute wa> made also On April '25th and April 7th. in honour of the late Princess Aliee (Duchess of Hesse) and the Duke of Albany (Prince Leopold). but it, of course, ceased with their death. On the morning of eaeh of these ajuniversaries, an officer, called the Queen s Bombardier, has oonvey- ; ed to the Park. not in Royal van, bnt iu a ‘'eommon or gardeu' T wheelbarrow. twenty-one small guns, whieh are somewhat profanely ‘,pop guns. f Eaeh of these “formidable” weapons is abont 14in. long and weighs abont 61b. Takeu frora the barrow, they are placed iu a row in % the Long Walk. facing tho Queen’s entrauce to tbe Castle, and eaeh haviug beeu dnlv charged \jith a blauk charge, the/eu de joie takes plaee. The Bombardier has a long rod with a slit at one end, iuto whieh lie inserts a fuse, and then lightiug it with a raatch discharges the gnns one by one, refitting the wand eaeh tirae with a fresh fuse. The perforraanee occupies about teu minutes, coraraencing at half-past twelve, aud isusoally witnessed by a sinall crowd, largely composed of idle little boys, who, at eaeh discharge, roll over in simulatiou of having been shot. At tbe conclusion the officer walks oti’, leaving his henehman to collect and stow away the miniature eannon for the next celebration. Such is this importaut ceremony at Windsor, and altllough the guns are powerful enough, and e\(eryone respects their significance, the function lacks impressivenoss and dignity to a degree almost of incongruity. Tho “pop-guus ’ are of a speeial niake, aml have to be renewed everv few years, but the old ones are carefnllv preserved. There is thus a large collection of them, and it is a very cnrious fact that among them are sorae actually 200 and even 300 years ohl. Such is tho respect paid to sorao ohl and worn-out servant.s of the Crown. The dnties of the Bombardier do not appear to be too arduous (ouly that he is a bit of a pluralist), and ono wonders j what wouhl happeu if he shonld | on any of these anniversaries for- ( get the date. Ono ean iimigine what wouhl have been tho resnlt of such au oversight iu the days of Henrv VIII . but things have changed since then. Besides the annivesaries, there are sj>ecial occasious when the gans are fired, the latest of tl*ese Jnly 6th, when the salute was made in tho marriage of fhe Duke of York and Pnncess May. The counection between the Royal salate aml the tiag tbat floats over the Roaud Tower of Wimlsor Castle may not apj>ear verv close, bnt it is |>erliaps near enough for a brief refereuce. While the Queen is residing at the Castle tbe Royal Stamlui\l is boisted io the summit of a loftv statf upon the high tower; bnt while Her Majesty is absent, if

only for a Jav or a few bours, tbe Standanl b replac(H> by the l'uion Jack. Prior to Iast winter no riag was down rinring the Qaeen's ahsence, ahhough the costom now aJopted was in vogne eaily in the centnry:bnt through the exertions. it is believetl. of the Mannis of Lorne. Governor aiul Constable of the Castle. the custom has uow been revived, so that the tiagstari‘ is never left baro ilnring the hours of ilaylight. Hoisting the l'uion Jack there, however, is not a tuere arbitnuy Jesire of the Queen, for every fortress iu ihe kingdom. i> entitleil to riy the “Jack. and Windsor Castie ranks as a fortress. The Standanl is lowered immediate)y the Queeu leaves Wiudsor. and i- run up on her returu directly she crosses the Thanies and comes within the limitsof the borough. Hitherto the Royal tlag whs displayed only for Her Majestj*. but a new departure wasmadeon Noveiu1 er 9th last when, bv the Queen’s eoiuman»!, the Standanl wus hoisted iu honoui’ of the Priuce of aie s birthday. The fair-weather tbg is of immense size, but the stonuy weather Standard is somewhat smaller and of slouter material. Tbe eame may be said ol the“Jack. Tbe raising and lowenngand changing of these tlags is in tue chargeof the Queen’s master gunner, ami a very busy time he hasof it occasionally. The flogstaff, by the way, is at ieast 3ft. thick at the base, tapering away slightly to the aptx. and it is 170ft. high, rising from the Kound Tower, whieh itself attains a great altitude above the Home Park. These Staudards last about five years, and when discarded are sent to the Tower of London, where great care is tiken oi them. Here, again, used-up servants are provided with an idleandacomfortabIe future of imlefinite length. — Tit Dits.