Page:Notes and Queries - Series 10 - Volume 1.djvu/444

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NOTES AND QUERIES. [io* s. i. MAY 7, loo*.

minsters, that corps being rightly considere as the successors, after an interval of som forty-five years, of the old Volunteer Infantrj It is noteworthy that at the time of the findin of the old colours the honorary colonel of th Queen's Westminster Volunteer Corps wa the late Duke of Westminster, who wa originally the colonel commandant of th regiment, as his ancestor had been the firs colonel commandant of the old corps. Th colours had been renovated, repaired, an< relined, as they were in a very dilapidatec condition, and all being ready, it was decidec that they should once more be placed ir St. Margaret's Church, in the keeping of th( rector and churchwardens for the time being This was carried out on the afternoon o 'Sunday, 27 March, 1887, when, at 3 15 P.M., th regiment, to the number of 562 of all ranks assembled at the new Drill Hall, in Jame. "Street (now Buckingham Gate), not far from St. James's Park Railway Station, among tin officers present being Colonel Commandan (now Sir) C. E. Howard Vincent, C.B., M.P. Col. Lynch, and Lieut.-Col. Commerford. I was noted at the time that the " men were remarkable for the fine physique, steadiness and the creditable manner in which they turned out." After the companies had been inspected and proved, the regiment marchec off, headed by their excellent band and the newly formed bugle band, which playec alternately. Immediately followed the colours, with an armed escort of forty men, selected half from the St. Margaret's and half from the St. John's companies, which in 1798 furnished the bulk of the regiment. The officer commanding the colour escort was Capt. De Castro, the colours being carried by Lieuts. Rose and Dalton. The occasion was thought much of in Westminster, there being a large concourse of people assembled in the streets to see the regi- ment pass, and when the church was reached it was found that every seat not .required by the Volunteers was occupied, even standing-room being utilized to the -full. The colours escort formed up on each side of the nave, where it remained throughput the service, the band playing the regiment in to the strains of a slow march called 'Flowers of Beauty.' Among those present were the Speaker (who sat in a state chair in the chancel, which had -not been so occupied by any of his pre- decessors for a period of 130 years), the Duke of Bedford, Baroness Burdett-Coutts and Mr Burdett-Coutts, M.P., Mr. Talbot, M.P., Col. Stracey, and two former commandants of the regiment, Cols. Bushby and Scrivener. The

churchwardens of St. John's, Messrs. Holman- Bishop and Holder, were also present. The Dean of Westminster (Dr. Bradley) and Arch- deacon Farrar, rector of the parish, conducted the service, assisted by the Revs. R. Ashingtou Bullen and F. G. L. Lucas. The office of evensong was somewhat shortened, and on its conclusion the Dean, the Archdeacon, and the rest of the clergy and the choir, pro- ceeded down the nave to the west end, then returned with the bearers of the silver staves of the parish in front, immediately followed by the churchwardens, Messrs. H. A. Hunt and Charles Wright, behind whom were Cols. C. E. Howard Vincent and Lynch. Next followed the colours, with Capt. Probyn, the adjutant, between, the rear of this little pro- cession being brought up by an escort of four colour-sergeants, with fixed bayonets. As the procession marched the choir sang "Onward, Christian soldiers." The colours halted at the chancel steps, when the two colonels took each a colour from its bearer, and handed them over to the churchwardens, Col. Howard Vincent saying, in a voice distinctly audible all over the church, that he handed them over to the rector "to be kept in the church for ever." The colours were then carried to the Archdeaconry the churchwardens, who placed them against the screen by the Communion table. While this part of the ceremony was taking place, a verse of the National Anthem was sung by the choir, the congregation joining in. Handel's " The Lord is a Man of War " was 5nely rendered by Messrs. F. Pownall and Devonshire, and then Archdeacon Farrar delivered an appropriate and eloquent sermon, taking for his text the words from Exodus xvii. 15, "And Moses built an altar, and called the name of it Jehovah-nissi " the Lord my banner. At the conclusion of this nemorable service the regiment filed out of church and marched back to the Drill ilall, the crowd being even larger than )efore.

Within the next few weeks the colours were placed in various positions, to see what arranged one on each side of the great east window against the wall. A small brass ablet was, at the expense of the Queen's iVestminster Volunteers and with the con- urrence of the rector, affixed at the foot of he third pillar from the Communion table n the south side of the chancel, bearing the ollowing inscription :
 * he effect would be, and finally they were

The ancient Colours | of | the Queen's | West- ninster Volunteers, | presented by George III. in
 * on the threatened invasion of | England by