Lord Robert Stephenson Baden-Powell
-- 2007 - Centenary of the Scouting Movement
-- Promotional films for Scouts
-- Scouting For Boys
-- 25 Second silent film, (with added soundtrack), of the 1929 Jamboree
-- Ralph Reader, CBE - Gang Show Song
Prayer for the Centenary of Scouting - Bethlehem Peace light Centenary Prayer - by Father John Seddon
In 1907 Robert Stephenson Baden-Powell, later and more formally, Lord Baden Powell, started a movement which was to mushroom, and become established world wide, Scouting for Boys; - if you'll pardon the synonymity with his famous book on same. We must not leave out the fairer sex either; - girls were indeed catered for and from very early on after inception of the Scouting organisation allowing them to also play their part in the same movement; but times being what they were, they were kept separate from the boys' troops and were guided from the top, initially, by female relatives of Baden-Powell and their friends. Although we seem to have contradictory explanations of/for its inception, ( many think of Scouting's roots as being an extension of the playing fields of Eton analogy, ie, training Johnny English ( and Tommy Atkins ) up, to die with honour on the battlefield ), but the great man's own words in 1917 bely this, unless of course it was a personal sea-change, and nothing wrong with that if it was, but I like to think he had visions of his backwoodsman crafting to be a means for peace if possible, even before the Great War, here is part of what he said on this : - 'The roots of Scouting have grown among young people of all civilised countries and are developing more each day. It might be thought that if in years to come, a considerable proportion of the future citizens of each nation forms part of this brotherhood, they will be joined by a bond of personal friendship and mutual understanding such as has never existed before, which will help to find a solution to terrible international conflicts.' I'll second, third and fourth that - will you? He may not have achieved everlasting global peace in his lifetime, nor since he left us, but I am sure he prevented even worse carnage than there has been and still exists today, to some degree, through the international bonds formed through this great movement.
As many of you will know anyway, this year, 2007, was the Centenary of the Scouting movement, and great celebrations were held in the summer with the main event being the World Scout Jamboree in August at Hylands Park in Chelmsford. Leading up to this, the World Scouting bodies produced an 8 minutes or so film, promoting the movement; in retrospect, they may feel it may have been better to leave this until after the celebrations this year so they could include the Jamboree and associated events, but, easy with hindsight, aint it? Still, I am sure there is more promos to follow; I cannot see the centenary in 2008 of the publication of the first edition of 'Scouting for Boys' in 1908, passing quietly. Now, you may be asking as you read my tribute - 'Is he / was he a scout?' - the answer is no, but I have always had great respect for the movement, but circumstances decreed I was off in another direction; ( I got on the Southport bus instead of Liverpool so I missed the new starter meeting. ) although I had 2 friends in the Scouts and one is still on the books as a member of the UK Commission, and travels all over the country and all over the world.
Although most sites which still have their pages posted from the Jamboree were set up to be more a real-time affair, ie, 'Hello, Mum, wait till you see the mud on me kecks when I get home' type thing, as long as they do stay posted and available for at least a little longer, then these will provide very real insight into what is was like, as well as provide happy memories for those who were there, so without further ado, read on Macduff, as Shakespeare almost said. ( Aaar, one site down from Oct 08, but four still extant as it were. )
Five Go Camping
Some Beeb Coverage ( National )
Finally, a blogger's collection of pics from various sources
W.O.S.M. 2007 - Centenary of Scouting - Promotional Video - French / Centenaire du Scoutisme - Video de Promotion - Francais
W.O.S.M. 2007 - Centenary of Scouting - Promotional Video - Spanish / 2007 - Centenario de la Exploraci�n - V�deo Promocional - Espa�ol
W.O.S.M. 2007 - Centenary of Scouting - Promotional Video - Arabic / 2007 -- الذكرى المئوية للحركة الكشفيةالترويجية فيديو -- العربية
W.O.S.M. 2007 - Centenary of Scouting - Promotional Video - Russian / 2007 - Столетие Scouting - выдвиженческое видео - русского
Scouting for Boys
Scouting for Boys
Ralph Reader, CBE, 1903 TO 1982,
- Instigator of the renowned Gang Shows
The Scout Movement lost one of its most dedicated and distinguished Members on May 13 1982 with the death of Ralph Reader, CBE, in his 79th year. Over the years, Scouting has benefited from the service of some notable personalities but few, if any, made a greater impact or contribution than the man known to countless thousands as Ralph.
He had a remarkable life. Born at Crewkerne in Somerset on May 25, 1903, Ralph was orphaned at the age of nine. He spent the next three years with a maternal grandmother and then went to live with an uncle and aunt at Denton in Sussex. It was during this period that two experiences shaped the rest of his life; he became a Scout in the Denton Troop and, thanks to a relative, paid frequent visits to the Brighton Hippodrome with the result that he decided the theatre was to be his way of making a livelihood.
Ralph's professional career and Scouting vocation became delightfully fuzzy for the latter part of his lfe, starting in 1932 with the instigating of the Gang Show, which soon became de rigeur for the movement and thankfully is something which is still going strong today. Although the first outing for this new form of show started off rather disappointingly, with the theatre not being full on any of the 3 nights, it was enough to persevere - and how. I am sure Ralph is up there now with Lord Baden-Powell, no doubt with both of them still with big wide grins on their faces, after looking down on the 2007 World Jamboree.
And here is a rendition of 'We're Riding Along On the Crest of a Wave' by an unknown troop, recorded as part of a 1957 Gang Show LP. As usual, the second verse is missing from the rendition, but hardly surprising as it strangely does not seem to fit the melody, but, no matter. Also, there is possibly an intro by Ralph Reader, but not sure if it's him - anyone care to verify?
We're Riding Along on the Crest of a Wave
We're riding along on a crest of a wave
And the sun is in the sky
All our eyes on the distant horizon
look out for passers-by
We'll do the hailing
When all the ships are round us sailing
We're riding along on the crest of a wave
And the world is ours
All Hands aboard boys, all hands aboard boys
The ship is calling for more
We're getting ready, now for the steady
Pull away from the home sure.
We're off to find adventure anyhow,
Because we know that now...
We're riding along on a crest of a wave
And the sun is in the sky
All our eyes on the distant horizon
look out for passers-by
We'll do the hailing
When all the ships are round us sailing
We're riding along on the crest of a wave
And the world is ours
In this Centenary of Scouting we come before you as your children.
We come to thank you;
To thank you for our founder Baden-Powell, For his vision and for his faith;
To thank you for the many leaders and volunteers who have given their time,
their energy, and their commitment,to the great game that is scouting;
To thank you for all the children and young people who have enjoyed and
benefited so much from scouting through this past one hundred years.
And,loving God, We pray that you may be with us To help us and to guide
us through the next century.
(Written by Fr John Seddon)
Bethlehem Peace light Centenary Prayer
By Father John Seddon on behalf of the International Catholic Conference of Scouting (ICCS) Euro/Med region
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