The Princeton union. [volume] (Princeton, Minn.) 1876-1976, 1911-02-09
STR|F S1lRRED
BY CORONATION
British Peers ContestIng Eor
Ancient Ceremonial PRIVILEGED,
COURT OF CLAIMS !. CROWDED. l'I

Honorary Positions Being Thras1ed
Out Before King George Is Crowded.
Usher Of White Rod and Give
Bearer Subjected to Scrutiny.
Should King George of England de-
eide to adopt ancient customs at his
coming coronation there will be seme
quaint and medieval ceremonies ion
that occasion. A nobleman Of lie
manor Of Heydon, in Essex, is entitled
TO the honor of bearing a towel for the
King when the monarch washes for the
banquet. The holder Of the manor of
Add1ngton, in Surrey, is charged with
the duty of serving a mess of ger.ut
or dlllegrout to the sovereign bef1re
the immediate formalities of the bin
quet are begun.
The chief butler Of England, post
OF no mean honor in spite of the tile.
has, according to a we'll established
claim, the right to call upon the bird
mayor and twelve citizens of LONDON
for such aid as is necessary on he
great day.
Competition Is Great. =
There were two distinguished clam
ants for the post Of chief butler at he
coronation Of King Edward in 1902.
One was the Duke Of Norfolk and he
other Lord Mowbray and Stourton. In
presenting their claims to the Office
these men quoted the records of pre-
v1ous coronations for several centuries
and produced musty court documents
OF great antiquity, which were ss2bci;,.
ted In proof Of the righteousness q
their contentious. The Duke o. E1r-
folk is the premier duke Of gang!a nd
and the most prominent Roman Ca1h<,.
lie. He is also very wealthy.
The court of claims, which has 10 IL,
with the settlement Of procedure ~
the coronation function, is now IL IS.
sion. 1t is guided in its decisions ~
established precedent. The c1urt d. =es
back to the reign of Richard II, 1877,
when John Gaunt, duke of Lancaster,
the lord high steward, KEEP his c,,urt
In Whitehall. Beginning with ttla ~or.
onation of Henry WILL, con- rl1ss;nI>ers
were appointed to decide the lut.af K Us.
and these commissioners we're later
succeeded by the court of cia nag The
only record Of the court is the core; a.
ton rolls, on which the claims ara set
down in some detail. .'s l.
AZ the cOrOuat1On or Kill x4las:.H
there were three claimants fur the. E2<r.-
or Of carrying the great so1zes. U.s.
court refused to allow the c!r,fxns al
any Of the three, leaving it. op.n for
the present court to restore Ihf. lt.is
to claimant. Carrying the spar;s
meant more in the days when Eng, ST,
kings were fighters than it 1otss n.,r-.
The king has plenty Of spurs, ia: tbev
are without the glamour which, r,sn:cs
with victories in the field.
Many Rival Claimants,
Most of the claims of rigtt were A.
lowed subject to the kings approYa2,
but in some cases there wcre rival
claimants. For instance, both tne
Duke of Newcastle and the Earl ~
Shrewsbury claimed the right of SLY
plying the glove for the kiag'3 tight
hand and supporting his snA j;eStI's
right arm while he is holding tho Scop-
ter, and the first named claim was al
lowed.
Three claims were made to the office
Of hereditary standard bearer Of Scot
land, the petitioners being the Earl Of
Lauderda1e, Henry Scrymgeour We'd
derburn and the Rev. r. G.. Wedder-
burn. Mr.. Wedderburn's claim was al
lowed, and he was commanded to at
tend the coronation and did so. The
Earl of Lauderdale, however, chal-
lenged the decision by bringing an ac-
ton against the successful petitioner
in the court Of session, Scotland. He
succeeded there, but on appeal to the
house of lords the question was decid-
ed against him.
Another interesting claim was that
of the Walker trustees to exercise the
Office Of usher Of the white rod, which
was bequeathed by Sir Patrick Walker,
a former holder, and held by trustees
incorporated by act Of parliament.
They were allowed to- be present by
deputy to be approved by his majesty.
A partial revival of an ancient priv
1lege was seen in the decision by which
the barons of the Cinque Ports were
allowed to carry a canopy over the
king should his majesty be pleased to
have canopy.