POMP?
I watched the formal opening of the English House of Lords on C-Span this week.
I was most impressed.
Others, I found, were not so moved. They were of the opinion that it was all a mess of pomp and circumstance which was meaningless to anyone in touch with the modern world. One harked all the way back to early Red Skelton days without realizing how old it sounded, saying “That's about as interesting as watching paint dry, isn't it?”
There is quite a bit of ceremony included in the observation, but if one considers it in an historical sense, each little thing has special meaning. Even the heavy robes some were wearing. If you have ever been in cathedral type building for hours you know how cold it can get. Nature's caverns maintain a steady temperature-what is is? -fifty-seven degrees, but man's architectural “caverns” call for robes, long johns or coats of some sort. I have never heard it mentioned, but it is logical that the wearing of wigs and headgear may have stemmed from the same natural condition. A bare pate is uncomfortable and a wig covering or a head gear unlike a crown would be appreciated.
In context,you will find that the majority of the people parading are wearing modern business suits. A tradition is apparent there because all the men wore fore-in-hand ties of blue. I saw one exception, a rather rotund man wearing a blue suit and a blue suit covering much of his front but with a tie of faded fire-engine red with some brown decorations. Who knows? That one man may well have - in expressing his individualism - started a whole new tradition for the ceremony which opens the House of Lords.
C-Span does a commendable job in bringing us programs of this nature. Another outstanding example was recent address by Tom Brokaw at a Press Club gathering honoring him. One would think that public radio and public television might lead the way in such programming, but they seem to be set in favor of re-running of old U.S. and British shows with commercial positions filled with emotional pleas for funds.
This heritage thing, for another moment....
British traditions are very much a part of our own. It may be because I have always lived in Virginia which was very much Royal Colony and part of the British Empire at one time, that I am more aware of our English heritage than many may be. I have lived and visited in England, as well, which make it my logical home away from home.
A.L.M. December 5, 2003 [c447wds]
