HISTORIC SCENES

Hokitika Guardian, 29 July 1930, Page 8

HISTORIC SCENES

H . AT ALDERSHOT TATTOO \ ; old-time pageantry. ! , w LONDON, June 19. , That peerless pageant known as the Aldershot Tattoo, fashioned from flame and colour (si\vs the “Daily Mail”), k now not only- , 'the most impressive sight of the season; it is also an illuminated chapter in the romance of history. ■ Out of the darkness of the June woods conies the Golden Age, the splendid days of Elizabeth, when genius was ours and the glory of England was, great on land and water and in the souds of men. We had a daylight glimpse of an epic of the night, and though we missed the glamour and the mystery of moonbeams and shadows, and the illusion of stagecraft stolen from the stars, we saw that this year’s Tattoo is the most artistic of a wonderful scries. Twenty thousand school children drawn from an area extending over 60 miles saw '4OOO soldiers as the heroes of their dreams. FAIRY TALES COME TRUE. . How they cheered, these children, whose history books were changed into fairy tales come true! Aud we children of larger-growth thrilled as we looked upon an enchanted glade and saw undying romance ride into otir lives. Bravely they came, bringing glowing memories, these visions of the Golden Age. Queen Elizabeth, on her white horse, wearing a golden robe and a violet cloak, reviewing her troops at Tilbury; we refused to believe that the regal figure was a subaltern in a Tudor robe: for here indeed was the Qrieen who said, “I have the body of a weak and feeble woman, hut I haye the heart of a’ king.” 'We saw Drake playing bowls and heard him say, as the ships of the Armada were seen beyond the trees, '‘Play out the game, and then go and; beat the Spaniards” Thrills from the history book I , ' BATTLE OF DETTINGEN. We saw Trooper John Brown at the Bnttle of Dettingen gallop through the French cavalry and regain a standard taken by' a French officer. Trooipei Brown, covered with wounds, was knighted by George 11. on the field oi battle. What a combat of colour was this same field of Dettingen, with uniforms of blue and silver, of white arid bloodred. The elegance of the slow-march mg infantry, the menace of the swif ; cavalry charges made with draw] swords looked dangerously like the real thing. The shock of horse meeting, horse, and clang of steel meeting steel, and mad galloping, the swift whirling set the nerves tingling with fearful excitement. Apart from the realism of the cavalry charges the Tattoo is a pageant of grace and elegance and sweet harmony. When the massed troops are on the march the arena, seen from the stands, is like a moving garden of flowers lit with fairy lamps, a thing of beauty and sweet harmony. Stirring is the “A Roving” of the sailors, and moving the silver voice in the hymn “0 Valiant Hearts.” POEM IN PAGEANTRY. The triumph of the tattoo is the finale where the 2nd Battalion Grenadier Guards form a fiery Victoria Cross, and in letters of light is the fine phrase coined by the Prince of Wales at the Victoria Cross dinner: “That most enviable Order.” Formed before the living, glittering cross are the soldiers of two centuries:—4ooo Alderstot recruits whose intelligence and enthusiasm, directed by the genius of Captain Oakes-Jones. have once again given us a poem in pageantry. The Tattoo begins next Tuesday and ends. on the following Saturday. There has been a record booking of seats, and there is now accommodation for 85,000 fortunate people.