St George’s Day is always celebrated within the Regiment, as far as possible, as a holiday.  There is no set format to the day, but it is an opportunity to remind all ranks that despite the fact that Coldstream is in Scotland, the Regiment is in fact English.  The circumstances under which the Regiment was formed, and its history up to the occupation of Coldstream is explained.  Reference is made to the traditional character of St George illustrating as it does the qualities which Englishmen are proud to possess.

 

In recent years, St George’s Day has been celebrated in the following manner.  The Corps of Drums plays the Long Reveille around the barracks, and the Guardsmen and Lance Corporals are served ‘Gunfire’ (tea with rum).  Later in the morning, the pageant of St George slaying the dragon takes place on The Square.  St George is usually played by the Regimental Sergeant Major, and the Maiden is often played by the Adjutant, however in more recent years Adjutants seem to have shied away from wearing women’s clothes (well on St George’s Day at least!).

 

A fire-breathing dragon kidnaps the lovely maiden and is about to devour her when St George comes dashing onto the scene on his charger (or possibly a pantomime horse!).  After engaging the dragon on horseback, St George dismounts and closes in for the kill.  After slaying the dragon, he sweeps the maiden off her feet, mounts his horse and rides off to ‘happy-ever-after land.’

 

Where possible, local school children are invited to view the pageant and the Regimental Band will be present to play incidental music.

 

At lunch time, the Guardsmen are served with a Roast Beef and Yorkshire Pudding dinner.  The Sergeants’ Mess will often have a families lunch.  There rest of the day is taking up with various festivities across the Battalion.

 

The Legends

The legends surrounding Saint George are very varied. One concerns the famous dragon with which he is invariably portrayed. According to legend, a pagan town in Libya was being terrorised by a dragon. The locals kept throwing sheep to it to placate it, and when it still remained unsatisfied, they started sacrificing their  citizens.   Finally the local Princess was to be sacrificed to the beast, but Saint  George came along, slaughtered the dragon and rescued the fair princess. At this the townsfolk converted to Christianity.

 

The origin of this well-known legend came originally from the way in which the Greek Church honoured George. They venerated him as a soldier-saint and told many stories of his bravery and protection in battle. The western Christians,

joining with the Byzantine Christians in the Crusades, elaborated and misinterpreted the Greek traditions and devised their own version. The story we know today of Saint George and the dragon dates from the Troubadours of the 14th century.

 

The reason for his being adopted as the Saint of Battles was partly because he was a soldier, but also because he is said to have appeared to the Christian army before the Battle of Antioch. It is also said that he appeared to our English King Richard I (Richard the Lionheart) during his Crusade against the Saracens, which served as a great encouragement to the troops.

  

The Meaning of the Symbols

The symbols are explained thus; the Dragon represented satan and the Princess represented the Christian Church. Saint George rescued the pagans from evil by vanquishing it and saved the Church from being devoured by the insatiable forces of darkness.

 

The Real St. George

 

The life of St George in shrouded in so much legend that it is difficult to unravel the facts.  It appears that he was born of noble, Christian parents in Cappadocia.  On the death of his father, he accompanied his mother to Palestine where she and George ran an estate.

 

George joined the Roman Army and rose to the rank of Tribune (similar to the modern-day colonel).

 

In about 302AD, the Emperor Diacletian (245-313AD) began the persecution of Christians, and George complained to him personally about the severity and harshness of his purges against the Christians.  He was thrown into prison, and although he was tortured, he would not recant his faith.  On the 23rd April, 303AD, he was dragged through the streets and then beheaded.  It is said that the Emperor’s wife, Alexandra, was so impressed with George’s courage that she converted to Christianity.  She too was later put to death.

 

Around 1000 years later, St. George became England's patron saint replacing Edward the Confessor. In 1415, April 23 became a national feast day.

 

Patron Saint

St George is also patron saint of soldiers, archers, cavalry and chivalry, farmers and field workers, riders and saddlers, and he helps those suffering from leprosy, plague and syphilis.

 

The Cross of St George

Whilst fighting in the Crusades, the soldiers of Richard I adopted the red cross on a white background, which they wore on their tabbards.  Later on, Richard II adopted it for all his troops to replace the many symbols then in use.  Over time, it then developed into the national flag of England.

 

  

SOURCES - Most of the material for this page was obtained from the webpage of Woodland’s Junior School, Kent www.woodlands-junior.kent.sch.uk

 

 

N.B - Our thanks go to Andy Hoggarth for researching this legend. A true patriot.

Another link for useful information on St George is: http://www.royalsocietyofstgeorge.com


Links to Battalion's Celebrations:

Link to Battalion Celebration of St George 2004

Link to Battalion Celebration of St George 2005