[MR] BBC: Head Beefeater Retires

[Garth Groff]

Noble friends,

BBC has a brief video piece on the second-longest serving chief 
Beefeater who has recently retired from the Tower of London: 
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-17073943 . It is quite an interesting 
video, and shows him donning his State uniform, his sword, and several 
other clips of daily activities. They even got in one of the Tower 
ravens. The final clip is the Ceremony of the Keys, which has taken 
place every night for over 700 years (the oldest continuing military 
ceremony in the world). I had the pleasure of seeing this ceremony in 
2000. It is free, but you need special tickets well in advance. Here is 
the official web page for the Ceremony of the Keys: 
http://www.hrp.org.uk/TowerOfLondon/WhatsOn/ceremonyofthekeys , and a 
Wikipedia article on the history of the ceremony: 
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ceremony_of_the_Keys .

I'm jealous. These guys get paid to do what we do for free --  fantastic 
costumes, swords, and lots of stomping around for the Queen.

Yours Aye,


Lord Mungo Napier, That Crazy Scot