Breaking a 650-Year-Old Glass Ceiling with a Slim Black Rod
February 13, 2018 10:01 PM Subscribe
Sarah Clarke, the first Lady Usher of the Black Rod, today was given by Queen Elizabeth II her ceremonial black rod.
Black Rod's most prominent duty comes in the State Opening of Parliament, where the Queen reads a speech outlining the goals of the current government from her throne in the House of Lords. Since 1642, no monarch has been welcome in the House of Commons; the Queen, instead, sends Black Rod to summon the Commons to the House of Lords to hear the speech. As Black Rod approaches the Commons, members slam the door in her face, symbolizing the Commons' independence from the monarch. Black Rod then bangs upon the door three times with her rod, is admitted, and commands the attendance of the Commons upon the Queen, often to rude commentary from certain members.
Black Rod's most prominent duty comes in the State Opening of Parliament, where the Queen reads a speech outlining the goals of the current government from her throne in the House of Lords. Since 1642, no monarch has been welcome in the House of Commons; the Queen, instead, sends Black Rod to summon the Commons to the House of Lords to hear the speech. As Black Rod approaches the Commons, members slam the door in her face, symbolizing the Commons' independence from the monarch. Black Rod then bangs upon the door three times with her rod, is admitted, and commands the attendance of the Commons upon the Queen, often to rude commentary from certain members.
It all raises questions about how far the preservation of traditions, even somewhat absurd ones, adds a valuable sense of continuity and legitimacy, or whether the sillier ones do more harm than good.
In the case of not letting the monarch into the Commons (she’s more than welcome in the Lords) it’s evidently a traumatic memory of the Civil War we’re preserving, which may be a useful reminder that England is never to be an absolute monarchy. In the Oath of Allegiance the monarch stands for the state, so it’s loyalty to that that one is primarily expressing; but it is indeed awkward for patriotic republicans who are disloyal only to the principle of monarchy and it’s surprising that has not been properly addressed.
There would presumably be a residual awkwardness for Sinn Fein anyway, as I suppose they could not consistently swear loyalty to a state whose legitimacy within Ireland they don’t recognise.
posted by Segundus at 11:43 PM on February 13, 2018 [6 favorites]
In the case of not letting the monarch into the Commons (she’s more than welcome in the Lords) it’s evidently a traumatic memory of the Civil War we’re preserving, which may be a useful reminder that England is never to be an absolute monarchy. In the Oath of Allegiance the monarch stands for the state, so it’s loyalty to that that one is primarily expressing; but it is indeed awkward for patriotic republicans who are disloyal only to the principle of monarchy and it’s surprising that has not been properly addressed.
There would presumably be a residual awkwardness for Sinn Fein anyway, as I suppose they could not consistently swear loyalty to a state whose legitimacy within Ireland they don’t recognise.
posted by Segundus at 11:43 PM on February 13, 2018 [6 favorites]
Land where Harry Potter was invented, you say.
posted by Ogre Lawless at 12:10 AM on February 14, 2018 [3 favorites]
posted by Ogre Lawless at 12:10 AM on February 14, 2018 [3 favorites]
The more you know about Britain, the fewer original ideas you think there are in Harry Potter.
posted by Dysk at 12:47 AM on February 14, 2018 [12 favorites]
posted by Dysk at 12:47 AM on February 14, 2018 [12 favorites]
but it is indeed awkward for patriotic republicans who are disloyal only to the principle of monarchy and it’s surprising that has not been properly addressed
OTOH we're developing some very rich traditions on how to fudge it.
I'd very vaguely bet that in a hundred years or so, the process will have been broadened in the same way that it was to include religious diversity and there will be some formalised way to take it as a republican without crossing your fingers behind your back. But this is Parliament so ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
posted by Catseye at 4:20 AM on February 14, 2018 [1 favorite]
OTOH we're developing some very rich traditions on how to fudge it.
I'd very vaguely bet that in a hundred years or so, the process will have been broadened in the same way that it was to include religious diversity and there will be some formalised way to take it as a republican without crossing your fingers behind your back. But this is Parliament so ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
posted by Catseye at 4:20 AM on February 14, 2018 [1 favorite]
t seems like an uncomfortable fence to sit on for 300 or so years
Papering over fundamental philosophical differences with slightly absurd traditions is the essence of the English character. It's how you got a troupe of panto Germans occupying Buckingham in the first place.
posted by Diablevert at 4:44 AM on February 14, 2018 [9 favorites]
Papering over fundamental philosophical differences with slightly absurd traditions is the essence of the English character. It's how you got a troupe of panto Germans occupying Buckingham in the first place.
posted by Diablevert at 4:44 AM on February 14, 2018 [9 favorites]
I know, the monarchy is evil and all that, but many Americans can't help but be enamored by 300+ year-old traditions that involve whacking doors with sticks. I mean, we've got the candy desk, but it's just not the same.
posted by xyzzy at 5:04 AM on February 14, 2018 [3 favorites]
posted by xyzzy at 5:04 AM on February 14, 2018 [3 favorites]
We got to take the tour of the Palace of Westminster when we went to London a couple of years ago, and one of the things the tour guides point out is the damaged spot on the door to the House of Commons where the Black Rod raps it with the baton. (I also got to sit in the Prime Minister's spot on the front bench) It's an excellent tour.
posted by briank at 5:10 AM on February 14, 2018 [2 favorites]
posted by briank at 5:10 AM on February 14, 2018 [2 favorites]
From Yes Minister, series 2, Episode Two: Doing the Honours
Hacker: Well, what has Sir Arnold to fear, anyway? He's got all the honours he could want, surely?
Bernard: Well, naturally he has his G.
Hacker: G?
Bernard: Yes; you get your G after your K.
Hacker: You speak in riddles, Bernard.
Bernard: Well, take the Foreign Office. First you get the CMG, then the KCMG, then the GCMG; the Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George, Knight Commander of St Michael and St George, Knight Grand Cross of St Michael and St George. Of course, in the Service, CMG stands for "Call Me God," and KCMG for "Kindly Call Me God."
Hacker: [chuckles] What does GCMG stand for?
Bernard: "God Calls Me God."
Hacker: But why should Sir Arnold worry? He has got his full array of honours, hasn't he?
Bernard: Certainly not, nowhere near! There's the peerage, the CH, the Order of the Garter, the Knight of the Thistle...
Hacker: Knight of the Thistle? Who gets that, Scotsmen and donkeys?
Bernard: There's a distinction, Minister
Hacker: You can't have met the Scottish nationalists. How do they award the Thistle?
Bernard: A committee sits on it.
posted by DreamerFi at 6:39 AM on February 14, 2018 [4 favorites]
Hacker: Well, what has Sir Arnold to fear, anyway? He's got all the honours he could want, surely?
Bernard: Well, naturally he has his G.
Hacker: G?
Bernard: Yes; you get your G after your K.
Hacker: You speak in riddles, Bernard.
Bernard: Well, take the Foreign Office. First you get the CMG, then the KCMG, then the GCMG; the Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George, Knight Commander of St Michael and St George, Knight Grand Cross of St Michael and St George. Of course, in the Service, CMG stands for "Call Me God," and KCMG for "Kindly Call Me God."
Hacker: [chuckles] What does GCMG stand for?
Bernard: "God Calls Me God."
Hacker: But why should Sir Arnold worry? He has got his full array of honours, hasn't he?
Bernard: Certainly not, nowhere near! There's the peerage, the CH, the Order of the Garter, the Knight of the Thistle...
Hacker: Knight of the Thistle? Who gets that, Scotsmen and donkeys?
Bernard: There's a distinction, Minister
Hacker: You can't have met the Scottish nationalists. How do they award the Thistle?
Bernard: A committee sits on it.
posted by DreamerFi at 6:39 AM on February 14, 2018 [4 favorites]
"I know, the monarchy is evil and all that, but many Americans can't help but be enamored by 300+ year-old traditions that involve whacking doors with sticks. "
Look, the whole glory of the British monarchy is that it's the whole pomp-and-circumstance-and-regalia in English, so Americans can both revel in the traditions and feel smugly superior* that our tax dollars aren't paying for it because we overthrew that specific monarchy and have no time for aristocratic nonsense!
I would be much, much more annoyed about the monarchy if I were British, but as an American I feel free to enjoy every little bit of it.
*smug superiority slightly deprecated during Republican administrations
posted by Eyebrows McGee at 7:23 AM on February 14, 2018 [3 favorites]
Look, the whole glory of the British monarchy is that it's the whole pomp-and-circumstance-and-regalia in English, so Americans can both revel in the traditions and feel smugly superior* that our tax dollars aren't paying for it because we overthrew that specific monarchy and have no time for aristocratic nonsense!
I would be much, much more annoyed about the monarchy if I were British, but as an American I feel free to enjoy every little bit of it.
*smug superiority slightly deprecated during Republican administrations
posted by Eyebrows McGee at 7:23 AM on February 14, 2018 [3 favorites]
What does it pay? The monarchy probably pays for itself in tourism, but wacky roles like this, while they have a weird charm, must cost something.
posted by theora55 at 7:35 AM on February 14, 2018 [1 favorite]
posted by theora55 at 7:35 AM on February 14, 2018 [1 favorite]
I love the storytelling of Harry Potter, with the exception of the wizardly bloodline. It's incredibly English to have an inherited class system, and the idea that one's blood gives one special powers. It crept into Star Wars, as well with midichlorians.
posted by theora55 at 7:38 AM on February 14, 2018
posted by theora55 at 7:38 AM on February 14, 2018
"What does it pay? The monarchy probably pays for itself in tourism, but wacky roles like this, while they have a weird charm, must cost something."
Black Rod is an actual job, overseeing [parts of] the building itself and various parts of its operations, organizing the logistics of big ceremonial events like the State Opening, and performing certain duties for the House of Lords when they're in session (arranging access for visitors who are giving testimony, etc.). The door-banging is just one day a year out of a full-time job.
(They used to also oversee security for Lords, but my understanding is that's now under a much more professionalized Parliamentary Security Department after threats escalated after 9/11, with officers mostly provided by the Met.)
posted by Eyebrows McGee at 8:00 AM on February 14, 2018 [2 favorites]
Black Rod is an actual job, overseeing [parts of] the building itself and various parts of its operations, organizing the logistics of big ceremonial events like the State Opening, and performing certain duties for the House of Lords when they're in session (arranging access for visitors who are giving testimony, etc.). The door-banging is just one day a year out of a full-time job.
(They used to also oversee security for Lords, but my understanding is that's now under a much more professionalized Parliamentary Security Department after threats escalated after 9/11, with officers mostly provided by the Met.)
posted by Eyebrows McGee at 8:00 AM on February 14, 2018 [2 favorites]
wacky roles like this, while they have a weird charm, must cost something
Black Rod does have a proper role, so I don't mind paying for that! I'm also okay with ceremonial weirdnesses that serve as reminders of important things, like that sovereignty lies with Parliament and we once had a whole brutal civil war to establish this (AHEM, tabloid press complaining about mutineers and saboteurs).
Personally I'm okay with 300-year-old traditions and bizarre rituals in general though. As a species we like to put rituals around important things, so if we get rid of one set of rituals we'll just replace them with something else and in another 300 years we'll have an Honorary Dennis Skinner who gets paid an honorarium to heckle from the benches.
posted by Catseye at 8:01 AM on February 14, 2018 [3 favorites]
Black Rod does have a proper role, so I don't mind paying for that! I'm also okay with ceremonial weirdnesses that serve as reminders of important things, like that sovereignty lies with Parliament and we once had a whole brutal civil war to establish this (AHEM, tabloid press complaining about mutineers and saboteurs).
Personally I'm okay with 300-year-old traditions and bizarre rituals in general though. As a species we like to put rituals around important things, so if we get rid of one set of rituals we'll just replace them with something else and in another 300 years we'll have an Honorary Dennis Skinner who gets paid an honorarium to heckle from the benches.
posted by Catseye at 8:01 AM on February 14, 2018 [3 favorites]
sovereignty lies with Parliament and we once had a whole brutal civil war to establish this
Well, no, you had a civil war that ended up with a religious fanatic who achieved the judicial murder of the legitimate head of state by literally physically preventing members of Parliament from attending it. And then tried to arrange to have his own son on the effective throne after his death.
The statue of Oliver Cromwell outside Parliament always makes me laugh and laugh.
posted by praemunire at 8:50 AM on February 14, 2018 [3 favorites]
Well, no, you had a civil war that ended up with a religious fanatic who achieved the judicial murder of the legitimate head of state by literally physically preventing members of Parliament from attending it. And then tried to arrange to have his own son on the effective throne after his death.
The statue of Oliver Cromwell outside Parliament always makes me laugh and laugh.
posted by praemunire at 8:50 AM on February 14, 2018 [3 favorites]
The Economist had an interesting op-ed last year: The pragmatic case for moving Britain’s capital to Manchester. It's about 3/4 serious and 1/4 trolling, but I particularly liked this bit:
posted by Nelson at 9:20 AM on February 14, 2018
Perhaps moving Britain’s cockpit from the pompous, forbidding, Oxbridge-college air of Westminster to these airy Victorian temples of manufacturing and entrepreneurial ingenuity would improve politics: making it more optimistic, accessible and ambitious. Meanwhile the creaking Houses of Parliament could be turned into a museum or cultural venue, maybe with philanthropic funding.These old traditions are fun, but the conservative symbolism can be stultifying. Remember how hard it's been to reform the House of Lords?
posted by Nelson at 9:20 AM on February 14, 2018
Diablevert: "Papering over fundamental philosophical differences with slightly absurd traditions is the essence of the English character. It's how you got a troupe of panto Germans occupying Buckingham in the first place."
I know I'm never going to win this, but the last British monarch not to be born in the UK was George II. Born in 1683.
posted by Chrysostom at 9:21 AM on February 14, 2018 [2 favorites]
I know I'm never going to win this, but the last British monarch not to be born in the UK was George II. Born in 1683.
posted by Chrysostom at 9:21 AM on February 14, 2018 [2 favorites]
I consider that George I constitutes the back half of the horse, metaphorically.
posted by Diablevert at 9:41 AM on February 14, 2018 [3 favorites]
posted by Diablevert at 9:41 AM on February 14, 2018 [3 favorites]
Ah, while I’d be the last person to defend Cromwell on almost everything, you can’t really blame him for the civil war. The outcome being dead king rather than different settlement with king, mayyyybe. But honestly Charles didn’t help himself there either, he was a stubborn idiot with the political savvy of an ox who should have taken some lessons from his much smarter father on how to spin “divine right of kings means I’ll do what I like, shut it” without actually saying so.
My favourite weird Parliament tradition is the ceremonial searching of the cellars at the opening of parliament, by candlelight in guards in 16th century uniforms, in case Guy Fawkes tries anything shifty again. You can’t be too careful!
posted by Catseye at 12:16 PM on February 14, 2018 [5 favorites]
My favourite weird Parliament tradition is the ceremonial searching of the cellars at the opening of parliament, by candlelight in guards in 16th century uniforms, in case Guy Fawkes tries anything shifty again. You can’t be too careful!
posted by Catseye at 12:16 PM on February 14, 2018 [5 favorites]
I love the storytelling of Harry Potter, with the exception of the wizardly bloodline. It's incredibly English to have an inherited class system, and the idea that one's blood gives one special powers. It crept into Star Wars, as well with midichlorians.
Do they, though? I’m currently listening to Chamber of Secrets on audiobook (very entertaining, btw) and that’s the one where Draco calls Hermione a mudblood. And they make a point of saying that a) blood relation is no indicator of talent, as evidenced by Hermione herself, and b) that the wizard population is hardly more than half-Blood anyway and would have died out if they hadn’t married Muggles (book version). They make a major point of how bloodline doesn’t make better wizards, and that most of the people who thought it did were shitty people, if not actual dark wizards.
posted by Autumnheart at 1:29 PM on February 14, 2018 [2 favorites]
Do they, though? I’m currently listening to Chamber of Secrets on audiobook (very entertaining, btw) and that’s the one where Draco calls Hermione a mudblood. And they make a point of saying that a) blood relation is no indicator of talent, as evidenced by Hermione herself, and b) that the wizard population is hardly more than half-Blood anyway and would have died out if they hadn’t married Muggles (book version). They make a major point of how bloodline doesn’t make better wizards, and that most of the people who thought it did were shitty people, if not actual dark wizards.
posted by Autumnheart at 1:29 PM on February 14, 2018 [2 favorites]
Quick reminder that it was the goofy gold mace guy who thwarted the shooting at the Canadian House of Commons a few years ago. And that was because, fancy stick aside, that is the job of the Sergeant-at-Arms. We have a Black Rod too: The senatorial equivalent. The pomp may be completely silly, but the job is absolutely necessary.
posted by Sys Rq at 3:06 PM on February 14, 2018 [4 favorites]
posted by Sys Rq at 3:06 PM on February 14, 2018 [4 favorites]
Ah, while I’d be the last person to defend Cromwell on almost everything, you can’t really blame him for the civil war. The outcome being dead king rather than different settlement with king, mayyyybe.
Friend. Please. Read about Pride's Purge. History is full of contingencies, but this is less of a maybe than most.
posted by praemunire at 10:10 PM on February 14, 2018
Friend. Please. Read about Pride's Purge. History is full of contingencies, but this is less of a maybe than most.
posted by praemunire at 10:10 PM on February 14, 2018
in another 300 years we'll have an Honorary Dennis Skinner who gets paid an honorarium to heckle from the benches.
Or an honorary Boris Johnson, who dangles from a flagpole clutching a tiny Union Jack...
posted by 43rdAnd9th at 5:24 AM on February 15, 2018
Or an honorary Boris Johnson, who dangles from a flagpole clutching a tiny Union Jack...
posted by 43rdAnd9th at 5:24 AM on February 15, 2018
Pride’s Purge was 1648, six years after the war broke out and 20 after the Petition of Right, after which point war was probably inevitable sooner or later anyway because Charles was just terrible at handling all politically sensitive situations. Cromwell was a tyrannical monster but you can’t pin the whole war on him. This was a huge time of upheaval around governance and law and the divine right of kings across the country as a whole, where e.g. during Charles’s Personal Rule playwrights were doing so much heavily allegorical “let’s discuss the foundations of the law and who has the right to rule” stuff that they were increasingly heavily censored and eventually all got closed (partly b/c Puritans, partly b/c increasingly seditious content). It wasn’t just one man converting to Puritanism and going batshit.
Weird thing on Charles’s trial: I grew up in the town where John Bradshaw, trial judge and signatory #1 on the death warrant, made his career (he was the mayor and also MP for a time), and we did the Civil War about three times at primary school, and yet nobody told us this. Why? Why would you not mention this? The trial! The swearing on his deathbed that he’d have condemned the King all over again if he’d had the chance! The posthumous trial where they literally dig him up to try him after Charles II was on the throne! Schoolchildren love that stuff! Beats the hell out of drawing cavalier hats. Four hundred years later and there’s still this weird sheepishness about it, like we’re happy to take the credit for the singer from Slade but the man who executed the king, oh well mumble mumble different times moving swiftly on.
posted by Catseye at 12:08 PM on February 16, 2018 [1 favorite]
Weird thing on Charles’s trial: I grew up in the town where John Bradshaw, trial judge and signatory #1 on the death warrant, made his career (he was the mayor and also MP for a time), and we did the Civil War about three times at primary school, and yet nobody told us this. Why? Why would you not mention this? The trial! The swearing on his deathbed that he’d have condemned the King all over again if he’d had the chance! The posthumous trial where they literally dig him up to try him after Charles II was on the throne! Schoolchildren love that stuff! Beats the hell out of drawing cavalier hats. Four hundred years later and there’s still this weird sheepishness about it, like we’re happy to take the credit for the singer from Slade but the man who executed the king, oh well mumble mumble different times moving swiftly on.
posted by Catseye at 12:08 PM on February 16, 2018 [1 favorite]
I think it's possible to have strong criticisms of Oliver Cromwell and still not sympathize with Charles I.
posted by Chrysostom at 2:45 PM on February 16, 2018 [3 favorites]
posted by Chrysostom at 2:45 PM on February 16, 2018 [3 favorites]
England is fucking weird.
posted by runcibleshaw at 7:49 PM on February 16, 2018 [1 favorite]
posted by runcibleshaw at 7:49 PM on February 16, 2018 [1 favorite]
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