by Major D W Pridmore
1st Battalion Welsh Guards
In September 2016 the author suggested to the Commanding Officer (Lieutenant Colonel Bevan MVO) that Welsh Guards officers needed something to distinguish them from others. The intent was to start a new tradition as the Regiment enters its second century. A Regimental walking stick of hawthorn wood was recommended.
The Welsh have an historical link to the hawthorn tree. Henry Tudor at the battle of Bosworth was said to have found his crown in a hawthorn bush. After the battle, the hawthorn was then included in his coat of arms. We also still use the colours of Henry Tudor (white, green, white) to this day as part of the Regimental link to the House of Tudor and his Welsh background. It is also clearly represented on the Welsh Flag.
There is further connection to our Celtic Druidic past. Druids carried hawthorn staffs as a sign of protection. There was even a Welsh Goddess called Olwen (‘the White Goddess of Hawthorn’) and her father, Chief Giant Ysbaddaden Penkawr, (‘Giant Hawthorn’). Both are mentioned in the Mabinogion, the earliest prose literature of Britain, compiled in the 12th–13th centuries from earlier oral traditions by medieval Welsh authors.
On the 27 October 2016, at a Regimental Trustees meeting, the Commanding Officer presented an example stick to the Regimental Lieutenant Colonel (Major General Stanford MBE), the Regimental Adjutant (Colonel Bonas) and the Board of Trustees. They made a unanimous decision that all Officers, serving or retired, would be permitted to carry a hawthorn walking stick, with the option extended to attached arms.
It will be the responsibility of all officers to purchase a stick upon joining the Regiment and it may be carried in all orders of dress except Home Service Clothing.
The stick will be made from a hawthorn shank and will have the outer bark stripped to the red/ brown inner bark. A silver collar will be fitted to the neck of the shank, a Regimental crest and the initials of its owner may be added. A black ‘Prince of Wales’ style knob handle, made of horn, will be fitted to the top of the shank, joined by the silver collar.
The author with stick at the Battalion Christmas church parade 13 December 2016.