By uve Dow bee, Po, bond Gino ora Bae ce be take Cee te eet She ah Oe coe Sole te i ce Ree ar, Meera Baas atte ty ete recs Ar ce eas Soma. ce ese Erte oise ie ase Boa nats Rare eae cine oad Ee Seat ae yates Bose Si onl ing the spirit. of the days when Kings and Queens went in State barges from Greenwich to Westminster, and every City Company had its own gilded barge. It may not be known that the King is owner of a barge built in the reign of William end Mary, Ordinaril." lives in a boathouse on Virgin Water, and there is an Admiral of Virginia Water too—though F believe in the Navy his rank is no higher than that of captain—and. of course, there are Royal Bargemen with a beautiful. ancient livery.
'When I was small, 1 attended a. Fourth of June at Eton, when King] Edward end Queen Alexandra, the present King and Queen and' the resent Prince of Wales and Princess Royal (very small people then) were there. After the festivities they were rowed back to the Castle in the royal barge. "It is a great boat of heavy oak. timbers with high bows and a gilded canopy over the stern: the bargeman must have been sweating by the time they got home. Tshall never forget the sight of King Edward packing himself under the canopy, or the incongruousness of the frock coats and top hats worn, by him and the Prince of Wales with the naval architecture of 200 years ago. But no doubt in the forthcoming pageant everyone will be dressed to suit their boats.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.