The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1898-04-07
CEREMONY OF QUEENS KEYS.
A QUAINT CUSTOM AT THE TOWER
OF LONDON.

London Letter in Pittsburg Dispatch.
The ceremony known as Queens Keys"
has been performed so many times during
the long reign of the present ruler that
all records for this quaint and ancient
nightly custom have been broken. Never
before in the reign of any King or Queen
of Britain since the Tower of London was
built have these massive gates been locked
with the same question and answer from
sentry and patrol for 50 many consecutive
nights.
No place in the world is more carefully
guarded than the Tower of London, and
since the date of the dynamite explosion
these precautions have been doubiy strict.
So none of the visitors ever see the quaint
old ceremony known as THE Queens
Keys"
During the day the large gates at the
two entrance towers are kept open. These
are the gates of the first entrance. known
as the Middle Tower, and those of the sec
ond entrance, called the hayward tower.
Just within the gates of this building is
the warders' hall, and here the warder en-
duty for the night remains to open the
wicket for those who are allowed TO re-
main out and enter the tower after Il
o'clock at night. But those VINO do enter
the gates at this time must have the coln-
tersign, which is generally the name OF
a well-known town in the United King
! dom.
The old gates which still exist beneath
the bloody tower, are never closed now,
| but remain open all night But sentry
walks Just in front Of them, under the
walls of st. Thomas tower, and just De
You'd another sentry is posted. Both oil
these sentries charge any one who enters
the tower after u o'clock ana demand
! the countersign.
The interesting ceremony in connection
with these gates takes place at IL O'Clock
at night The following is an accurate de-
! scription: Adult five minutes before the
| hour of locking the gates" that is, just
before II o'clock, the yoeman porter APP
plies to the sergeant of the guard for the
| "Oueen's KEYS" The sergeant acquaints
the officer that the escort is called for,
who furnishes a sergeant and sixty men
for this duty, at the same time placing
| his guard under arms.
The yeoman porter, accompanied by a
guard, bearing an old-fashioned lantern
with a candle in it, locks the outer gate.
and then shuts the gate of the middle
tower He then proceeds with the es-
cort to the Byward tower and locks the
gates there. The yeoman porter then
marches to the Bloody tower with the
escort, and halts under the arch of the
tower. The sentry at the guard room
| challenges, Halt! Who comes there?'
The yeoman porter answers, The Keys.
The sentry Gals, Whose keys?' and
the answer being given, Queen Vic
toria's keys" the yeoman porter places
himself with the escort, in front of and
| facing the guard, and then the officer OF
the guard gives the word, Present
arms" in which the escort joins The
yeoman porter then says in an audible
voice. God preserve Queen Victoria!'
and the whole guard answer Amen"
The keys are then carried by the yeoman
porter to the Queens house.
This quaint old ceremony is a survival
| of bygone days, but 1t must be seen to
be properly understood. The yeoman por-
ter Mr.. Penrose comes to the gates, in
his long red overcoat and he has en-
! brodered on his right arm the keys" as
the emblem of his post. He is the chief
warder, and is the only warder who has
the keys on his uniform. By the Queen
| regulations, he is "ansWerable for the dis
cipline of the warders, and reports any
jor. He has charge of the gates, wlckets,
| drawbridges, and entrance. He has the
| care of the warders' uniforms, accouter-
ments and arms. He inspects the ward
ers' quarters quarterly and examines the
| cisterns, drains, roof and general condition
of their houses, and is responsible that
| none but warders inhabit them"
on these occasions he requires from
each warder return of every person liv-
| 1t vvIi he laws he
fore the major. He makes out all requi-
| sitions for repairs or articles required from
: her maiesty's office of works for the
! Queens house and warders' quarters. All
| apDlications from the warders must come
through his hands. He inspects the boun-
| darv marks of the tower liberties once a
year and reports their condition to the
major. He closes the iron bars in Postern
| row and George street for one hour on The
first working day in August yearly. He
acts as clerk in the constable's office, and
| has charge of the books and papers there
in
The origin of this curious ceremony is
lost in the uists of antiquity. There is
an old record of the Tower, in which the
KEYS are mentioned. and that is in The
| chronicle of Queen Jane" which con-
tains the following:
'aThe xvith daye of July Q553) the lorde
|
London at night, and about vii Of the
clocke the gates of the Tower upon sud
den was shut, and the keys caryed up to
the Queene Jane; but what was the cause
| knoWe not.
1t does not much matter what the cause
was but the incident clearly shows that
! II was the custom at that time to take
the Tower keys TO the person of the high
est rank within the Tower.
There are also other records which men,
ton "the upper porter of the Tower, "
who carried the keys" and saw that the
gates were duly locked.
In the reign of King Edward III there
was zone, John of London Gan handy
| crafts man and an armourer), that had
the custody of the gates. portcullses and
drawbridges of the Tower, with the wages
of ibid. per diem, and lid. for a varlet to
carry his keys after him, and also lid.
a day during the time that he should be
employed in securing the harness in the
| armoury, and had the same clothes and
a rugg gown and a halbert allowed him,
as the rest of the yeomen had He had to
see the main gates of the Tower daily
opened and locked at the usual hours,
and to shake the bars and to search the
locks at the shutting in of the same, and
then, in his own person. to bring up the