Re: Founder's View of Uniforms
Andrew Heath (HEATHA@YVAX.BYU.EDU)
Tue, 18 Jul 1995 19:10:16 -0600
<Majority of quote on Uniforms Deleted>
>... You are the model to your boys and your smartness will reflect
>itself in them."
>Quoted from: AIDS TO SCOUTMASTERSHIP ...
This quote also can be found in "B-P's Outlook" under the title UNIFORM FOR
SCOUT OFFICIALS it is dated Aug. 1913
her further went on to say:
STANDARD CLOTHING No Need of it for Scoutmasters
I am writing this in the train, crowded up with eleven others in the carriage;
no room for luggage, no porters, or taxis at the station to carry it if I had;
and I am starting off on a trip of at least a week.
I take with me my "grip," as the Americans call it, holding a few small
necessaries but no other clothes. The Standard suit tthat I am wearing will
suffice for all the different occasions of my trip. Besides travelling by train
I expect to go into camp for a day or two. I have to attend a conference and
also a rally. I hope to stay with friends for a couple of nights and possibly
to get a few hours' fishing. Before the war I should have wanted a lot of
luggage with me to provide the necessary mufti-evening clothes, fishing kit,
and uniform.
As it is I go in my Standard suit, which does equally well for every
one of these functions - the Scout uniform.
As our uniform has passed muster at Buckingham Palace when one of our
Commissioners appeared in it recently to be decorated by the King for his work
with the Scouts, it is surely good enough to be accepted anywhere else.
But - well, I had to comment in 'The Scout' the other day on the
slovenly get-up of some Scouts I had seen, and I am perfectly certain in my own
mind that their Scoutmaster (though I had not seen him) does not dress himself
correctly or well.
Smartness in uniform and correctness in detail seems a small matter to
fuss about, but has its value in the development of self-respect, and means an
immense deal to the reputation of the Movement amoung outsiders who judge by
what they see.
It is largely a matter of example. Show me a slackly-dressed Troop and
I can "Sherlock" a slckly-dressed Scoutmaster. Think of it, Scoutmasters, when
you are fitting on your uniform or putting that final saucy cock to your hat.
You are the model to your boys and your smartness will reflect itself in them.
September, 1918.
[Qouted from B-P's Out-Look, some selections from his contributions to 'The
Scouter' from 1909 to 1940. By the Founder of the Scouting Movement.]
(My copy was printed by National Council, Scouts Canada, 1990 - the quote here
appears on pages 74-75)
YiS, Andrew J. Heath (Heatha@yvax.byu.edu)
Terry Howerton Sakima Group, Inc. SCOUTER Magazine Kansas City |
