For Berkshire and St George!
Scouts, Cubs and Beavers gather to celebrate their patron saint
APRIL 23 is St George’s Day, when we celebrate England’s patron saint.
He may be patron saint of all England, but we have a special connection to dear old George here in Berkshire.
There are churches dedicated to St George the Martyr all over the Royal County – at Wash Common in Newbury, in Reading and in the east of the county at Sandhurst.
Most famous of all there is St George’s Chapel, Windsor Castle.
This year there will be a special St George’s Day event in Newbury on the afternoon of April 21, the nearest Saturday to St George’s Day.
Scouts, Cubs and Beavers from all over the Kennet District and beyond will be descending on Victoria Park for their annual parade.
St George is not just England’s saint, but also the patron saint of the Scouting movement – he was designated as such by the Scouts’ founder, Colonel Robert Baden-Powell, more than 100 years ago, as “an example of faith, courage and perseverance”.
And on or about April 23 each year the Scouts, Cubs and Beavers of Newbury and surrounding areas gather to renew their promises and remind themselves of what it means to be a Scout.
So, who was St George and what are his links to our Royal County?
According to The Royal Society of St George, founded in 1894 to promote “England and Englishness” and to keep alive “the spirit of St George”, this Christian martyr was born in Cappadocia, in what is now Turkey, in about the year AD280, became a soldier, rising to the rank of colonel, but fell foul of the authorities was tortured and put to death on April 23, AD303, by order of the pagan Emperor Diocletian, for steadfastly refusing to renounce his Christian beliefs. By the Middle Ages he had become the Patron Saint of England, stories of his martyrdom and his courage in the face of brutal persecution gradually transforming into the legend of dragon-slaying that has endured to this day. And, in English tradition, where was St George supposed to have slain that firebreathing dragon?
Why, on Dragon Hill, near Uffington, of course, on the Berkshire Downs (just inside present-day Oxfordshire but within the ancient county of Berkshire).
The bare patch of chalk is supposed to be where the dragon’s blood was spilled. The Berkshire connection does not end with the legend of the dragon-slayer.
In 1348 King Edward III established the Knights of the Garter, here in Berkshire, at Windsor Castle.
It is the oldest order of Chivalry in Europe, dedicated to the Blessed Virgin Mary, Edward the Confessor and St George.
The insignia of the Order includes a badge known as “the lesser George” which is a gold and richly enamelled representation of St George on horseback slaying the dragon. A similar representation of St George can be seen in the Armorial Bearings (coat of arms) of The Royal Society of St George.
In addition to establishing the rededicated the royal chapel at Windsor to St George, Edward III also established, in 1352, the College of St George within the castle precincts, with six chorister boys.
Since then, the choir has played an important role in daily worship and on state occasions at St George’s Chapel.
So, St George is inextricably linked to our county.
Please, if you can, get yourself along to Victoria Park, Newbury, on the afternoon of Saturday, April 21, for the Scouts’ St George’s Day parade, to be part of this great tradition.
The bare patch of chalk is supposed to be where the dragon’s blood was spilled