Here's a Health unto His Majesty

                       Here’s a Health unto His Majesty

 

This is an English patriotic song dating from the reign of King Charles II (1630-1685, reign 1660-1685)

 It has been used as the regimental march of the RAMC (Royal Army Medical Corps) since 1948. (Do they parade with stethoscopes at the slope and let fly the stretchers?)

The song gained popularity again when King George V became dangerously ill in 1928. Sometimes it was sung in theatres before the traditional rendering of the National Anthem.

The National Anthem was sung, or at least played, in cinemas until at least 1960 and by television companies at close of broadcasting until the 1980s. The BBC continues to play the anthem at the ‘close down’ of its home service before handing over to the World Service, which broadcasts from 01:00 until 05:20.

Where did the custom of raising a toast originate? Like so many traditions it started in ancient Greece. Sacrificing to the gods, believers would pour out a little wine from a cup in honour, then drink the rest.

 It became known as a toast because pieces of spiced toast were put into cups of wine or ale to make the drink more agreeable. The spices complemented the taste of the alcohol and sometimes helped to disguise its bad smell. The toast would also soak up some of the sediment. Shakespeare in ‘The Merry Wives of Windsor’ has Falstaff demand, ‘Go, fetch me a quart of sack; put a toast in’t.’

When good wishes had been expressed for the guest or guests, the cups would be clinked together and the contents drunk. The toast would be discarded, sometimes thrown to a waiting dog.

‘Toast’ sometimes refers to the person who is being honoured. One source suggests that a beautiful young woman was using the public baths when an admirer filled his cup from the water and drank it in her honour. Distasteful as this sounds, and it may be apocryphal, it gave rise to women and later any person being referred to as ‘toasts’, from which arose the expression, ‘the toast of the town.’ 

There are many different types of toast. Perhaps the most familiar is the toast at wedding celebrations when glasses are raised to the bride and groom to wish them well. Other celebrations can be toasted – birthdays, graduations, birth of babies, new homes or sometimes just the pleasure of being together with friends.

The loyal toast is raised to the monarch or the head of state of a country as a mark of respect. For the monarch it is simply, ‘The Queen’ or ‘The King’, as appropriate.

The well-known Royal Naval toast, ‘To our wives and sweethearts’, to which the traditional response is, ‘May they never meet’, has been abandoned in favour of ‘Our families’ because there are now so many women serving in the Navy.

There are many pleasing toasts. Two of my favourites are, “May we be who our dogs think we are’ and ‘May good fortune precede you, love walk with you, and good friends follow you.’

                        Image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons 

Cheers, dears!        

Mess Games

It is difficult to realise that the serious senior officers being interviewed on radio or television were once skittish young subalterns but I have it on good authority that they probably were, army officers being somewhat slow to mature. Before the Second World War officers could not marry before they were thirty without permission from their commanding officers. Subsequently the age was lowered to twenty-five. An indication of the youthful high spirits common to these trained killers could be observed during any Mess Night in the sixties. Following an excellent meal, with regimental silver gleaming, good wines and the passing of the port several times round the table (always to the left, don’tcha know?) the Loyal Toast would be proposed and after that there would be Mess Games. A common event was Mess Mountaineering, the objective being to travel all the way round the room without touching the floor. Another pastime was jousting. One man would go up into the ceiling cavity with a jousting stick – a billiard cue, perhaps – and those below would use their poles to try and dislodge him.
One evening the mess decided to re-enact ‘The Great Escape’ or more particularly the scene in which Steve McQueen rides his motor cycle around the perimeter fence, gathering momentum and eventually leaping the barbed wire. The challenge was to ride a bicycle at speed along a very long corridor, up a table called into service as a ramp against an open window, plunge through and attempt to clear the 8’ security fence outside. History does not recall if anyone succeeded. Performance was adversely affected by alcoholic intake – coordination was in inverse proportion to bravado - and memory was similarly affected. Most who managed to remain on course ended up straddling the wire.
On another occasion the Mess Night was held in an unfamiliar venue but the customary ‘Night-time parachute jump’ was scheduled to take place as planned. What the participants failed to realise was that they were not on the ground floor as usual and one or two of them suffered broken legs. Some (wives, sisters, girl-friends, mothers) might say they were lucky not to have broken more than legs.
With a change of command came a change in attitude to Mess Games. The particularly dull incoming commanding officer decided that Carpet Bowls would be a more suitable pursuit (was he dull or more mature than most??) He did not think through the many consequences of his decision and so discovered just how very fast bowls can travel and how much damage they can do.
Has the advent of female officers affected the conduct of Mess Nights? I imagine the tempering effect of young women who are generally more mature than their male peers may have changed the nature of any post-prandial entertainment.
Before I start sucking my teeth and claiming that I never did anything foolish/dangerous at any time in my life I need an honesty check and a jog to my memory. Too many years being ‘sensible’ as a parent and teacher of young children have dulled my adventurous nature, if ever I had one.