Royal Navy
Why does the Royal Navy do a Colours and Sunset routine?
I need to do a presentation on the origins and routine of the Colours and Sunset Routine of the UK Royal Navy.
The Ceremony of Beating Retreat
The origin of this Ceremony is very obscure, but there is no doubt that it was one of the earliest to be instituted in the Army. One of the first references appears to have been made to such a ceremony, which was then called “Watch Setting”, in the “Rules and Ordynaunces for the Warre”, dated 1554, and also by Robert Barrett in his “Theorike and Practice of Moderne Warres”, dated 1598.
It appears that the original “call” was beaten by drums alone, and that it was some years before the fifes were introduced. The bugle came at a later date still, and the present ceremony of having a band paraded is a modern innovation, which is purely used as a spectacle.
In olden times, when the hours of darkness meant a cessation of hostilities until the following day, the object of the call was to collect and post the necessary guards for the camp, garrison, etc., for the night. It was also a warning for those outside the camp or garrison to retire or they would be kept outside the night. We thus find that there is some confusion arising between “Retreat” and “Tattoo”. This confusion may, in part, have been caused owing to the French using the word “Retraite” for the familiar call to our “Tattoo”. From the following extracts from old orders, it would appear conclusive that Retreat was meant to be separate from Tattoo and to be beaten at sunset.
The earliest reference to Retreat itself is to be found in an order dated 18th June, 1690, from an officer in the Army of James II, which states: “The generalle to be beate att 3 clock in ye morning…. Ye retreate to beate att 9 att night and take it from ye gards”. A further seventeenth century reference is contained in an order of William III, dated 1694, which reads: “The Drum Major and Drummers of the Regiment which gives a Captain of the Main Guard are to beat the Retreat through the large street, or as may be ordered. They are to be answered by all the Drummers of the guards, and by four Drummers of each Regiment in their respective Quarters”. These two references would, however, appear to refer more to what we now call “Tattoo”, as they were carried out at night and not at dusk.
In the General Orders of the Duke of Cumberland, a distinction is made between the two ceremonies: “The Retreat is to beat at Sunset”, whereas “Tattoo (is) to beat at (Ten, nine or eight) o’clock at night”.
Whilst the Army were serving in Flanders, the Duke’s Orders have these references to Retreat:
1745. Aug 17. “Soldiers who take their arms out of the bell tents after Retreat to suffer Death”.
1746. May 5. “No Drummers to practice…. After the Retreat”.
1747. May 26. “If any officers meet soldiers strolling from Camp after Retreat beating….”
In “An Universal Military Dictionary” dated 1779, by Captain George Smith, Inspector of the Royal Military Academy, Woolwich, Retreat and Tattoo are definitely separated, and Retreat is defined as follows:
“Retreat is also a beat of drum, at the firing of the evening gun; at which the Drum Major, with all the drums of the battalion, except such as are upon duty, beats from the camp colours, on the right to those on the left, on the parade of encampment; the drums of all the guards beat also; the trumpets at the same time sounding at the head of their respective troops. This is to warn the soldiers to forbear firing, and the sentinels to challenge ’till break of day’, that the reveille is beat. The Retreat is likewise called setting the watch”.
The 1799 “General Regulations and Orders for the Conduct of the HM Armed Forces in Great Britain” lay down that it shall be “beat at Sunset”, and this is repeated in all editions of King’s (and Queen’s) Regulations down to the present day.
The Royal Navy (Part 1/5)
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