London Guards uniform
Gray
Palace Guard uniform has an actual name?
Thanks.
A Gray.
Nige K
Sometimes called a Busby
--
Nige K
Arte et Marte
"Gray" <gr...@globe.net.enz> wrote in message
news:3e6d...@news.nz.asiaonline.net...
f.woodhead
north amercan bear skin . Animial rights actvists want them to use fake fur
as its cruel but so far trials have been disappointing
"Nige K" <njk...@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:b4juup$9pb$03$1...@news.t-online.com...
John Hill
<f.woo...@ntlworld.com> wrote:
>bearskin also known busby but not by the guards them selves made from
>north amercan bear skin . Animial rights actvists want them to use fake fur
>as its cruel but so far trials have been disappointing
Busby is a hat worn by some cavalry - particularly hussar regts and
nowadays by some bands IIRC.
JH
Mad for the tar
> Busby is a hat worn by some cavalry - particularly hussar regts and
> nowadays by some bands IIRC.
>
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Andrew Chaplin
news:3e6d...@news.nz.asiaonline.net...
> Palace Guard uniform has an actual name?
Properly, a "bearskin cap", colloquially known just as a "bearskin", a style
of headdress that orginates in the grenadier regiments of the French army.
They are made from the pelt of the American black bear (Ursus americanus)
from Canada -- by no means an endangered species. Artificial furs were tried
by a sort of van der Graaf effect occured whenever they passed under a power
line.
The bearskin cap is incorrectly called a "busby" by some. The busby is made
of either sable or rabbit, "coney", and worn in various forms by horse
artillery, hussars, field artillery, engineers, signals, fusiliers, rifles
and Lord knows how many odds and sods (let's not bring up the TA and its
ideas of uniform).
[Your subject line gives me the impression that you're not clear on the
organizations that you're enquiring about. You might have a look at
http://www.army.mod.uk/ceremonialandheritage/house_index.htm.]
--
Andrew Chaplin
SIT MIHI GLADIUS SICUT SANCTO MARTINO
(If you're going to e-mail me, you'll have to get "yourfinger." out.)
Andrew Chaplin
"Andrew Chaplin" <abch...@yourfinger.rogers.com> wrote in message
news:3b7d3$9a8...@parl5.parl.gc.ca...
> Artificial furs were tried
> [but] a sort of van der Graaf effect occured whenever they passed under a
power
> line.
It seems I spoke too soon.
From today's _National Post_:
QUOTE
Queen's Guards reconsider use of bearskin helmets: Anti-fur lobby pressure
Joseph Brean
The Buckingham Palace Foot Guards plan to replace their traditional bearskin
helmets with a synthetic alternative, largely in response to complaints from
animal rights activists, including Yana Booth, Miss Great Britain.
Introduced in 1815 as a symbol of victory over Napoleon's fur-clad soldiers,
the foot-high "busbies" are made by stretching Canadian black bear fur over
a bamboo frame.
One busby requires the fur of one bear, and each year the Foot Guards buy
the pelts of roughly 100 bears culled by Canadian wildlife officials.
Ms. Booth petitioned the Queen and posed nude with a teddy bear to protest
the hats, calling them "the world's cruellest crowns."
Her complaints, promoted by People for the Ethical Treatment of animals, led
the British military to declare yesterday that the use of fur is "socially
unacceptable."
"Socially, it's become unacceptable to use fur for dressing human beings,
and we've reflected that in our quest for alternatives [to busbies], but
frankly we haven't come up with a suitable variant yet," said Simon
Saunders, spokesman for the British Army Headquarters, London District.
The military has tried for years to develop a new busby, he said, but every
version made with nylon or dyed sheep wool either lost its shape, retained
water, became spiky when wet or developed a reddish sheen in the sunlight.
In certain weather conditions, static electricity would cause the fur to
stand "awkwardly" on end, Mr. Saunders said. "They don't do the job as well
as real fur."
For the guards, who are regularly inspected by the Queen and perform the
famous changing of the guards ceremony before millions of tourists each
year, these defects were unacceptable.
Dawn Carr, the European director of PETA, called complaints about such
difficulties "quite silly," and said they make light of the bears' deaths.
Now, a northern England company has developed a busby made with hair shorn
from cows, and is to deliver the first set for official inspection within
four weeks. Mr. Saunders said the natural fibres help to repel water and
reduce static, and the version is the best of any tried so far.
He would not reveal the company's name for fear it would be targeted by
animal rights activists, specifically PETA.
A wildlife expert said the effort to use synthetic fur is laudable, but will
have no effect on black bears in the wild. Also, culls of black bears by
wildlife management officials will go on regardless of whether there is a
market for the pelts.
"Overall, it's going to have nothing more than a symbolic impact on any
black bear population anywhere ... The biggest threat to black bears, or
bears in general around the world, doesn't have much to do with their fur.
It has to do with illegal poaching and illegal trade in wildlife parts like
gall bladders, mainly in Asiatic markets for medicinal purposes," said Mark
Hebblewhite, a University of Alberta wildlife ecologist. "It would be nice
to see efforts like this coupled with increased efforts to reduce illegal
trade in wildlife."
The 2,000 busbies in current rotation for the Buckingham Palace Foot Guards
last about 20 years, and the bamboo frames usually wear out before the fur,
Mr. Saunders said.
According to the database of the Convention on International Trade in
Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora, the black bear is present in
every Canadian province and territory except Prince Edward Island, where it
has been extirpated by humans. "The habitat is generally secure and there is
no clear indication of overall population decline," the entry reads.
UNQUOTE
This is only part of the story on the Left Side of the Pond. Black bears are
a frequent nuisance, turning up on people's doorsteps -- even in the suburbs
of Ottawa -- rummaging through the trash. There aren't enough Guards to wear
the pelts of all the bears that have to be killed. If you ever go on an
exercise in Gagetown, New Brunswick, such as WATER LEAP, look out, they're
everywhere.
Canadian regiments (The Governor General's Foot Guards, the Canadian
Grenadier Guards and the Royal Regiment of Canada) will almost certainly
continue to wear bearskins for some time.
Nige K
'Buckingham Palace Foot Guards' nor is there such a unit as 'British Army
Headquarters, London District'. They are the Foot Guards (Grenadier,
Coldstream, Scots, Irish and Welsh Guards - is that the correct order?) and
HQ London District respactively.
Picky or what :)
--
Nige K
Arte et Marte
"Andrew Chaplin" <abch...@yourfinger.rogers.com> wrote in message
news:3c7d3$dc7...@parl5.parl.gc.ca...
Andrew Chaplin
> The 'National Post' should note that there is no such unit as the
> 'Buckingham Palace Foot Guards' nor is there such a unit as 'British Army
> Headquarters, London District'. They are the Foot Guards (Grenadier,
> Coldstream, Scots, Irish and Welsh Guards - is that the correct order?)
and
> HQ London District respactively.
> Picky or what :)
Yes, consiencious editors would do the research to get it right, but what do
you expect of the staff of a paper formerly owned by Tubby, alias Baron
Black of Crossharbour, a Canadian now ensconced in the House of Peers? I
think you can see why I put "QUOTE" and "UNQUOTE" in upper case letters. I
wouldn't expect the National Pest's staff to get birthday greetings to their
fathers -- assuming they knew who they are -- right. If it's any comfort,
they are equally indifferent to the correct names of Canadian regiments.
Madscanner
it) an apparent priviledge relating to the senior NCO, of wearing a white
bearskin.
Is there anything behind this, or is this just another "rural" myth?
Paul
"Andrew Chaplin" <abch...@yourfinger.rogers.com> wrote in message
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