Knights and Retainers

While historians have recently begun to find in the ideology and workings of the Boy Scout movement in England a rich source of material for early twentieth-century British social history, our detailed knowledge of the origins of Scouting has come totally from the ranks of the Scout Association itself. Without exception, the authorized version of the evolution of the Scouting idea, which has by now more or less hardened into sacred dogma, has been written by those intimately connected with the movement.' Although affiliation with an organization does not necessarily distort any attempt to produce an account of its development, in this case all the established sources omit a vital piece of evidence which sheds new light, not only on Baden-Powell's own view of the meaning and importance of the Scouts, but also the way his vision of Scouting progressed from rough impulse to finished form. The licensed accounts of the immediate beginnings of Scouting, accepted without reservation as complete, generally start with the date of 30 April 1904, when Baden-Powell attended, as inspecting officer, the Annual Drill Inspection and Review of the Boys' Brigade in Glasgow. It was here, amidst the legions of welldisciplined marching boys, that the classical moment of inspiration occurred. As Baden-Powell notes in his diary, William A. Smith, founder of the Brigade, told him with pleasure of the Brigade's healthy membership, over

Archaeology · Art history · Banquet · Ideology · Officer · Political science · Politics · Canadian Identity and History · Historical Education Studies Worldwide · Historical Studies on Reproduction, Gender, Health, and Societal Changes · History · Law

• The foundation and development of Na Fianna Éireann, 1909–16

  Open Access•M Hay•Irish Historical Studies•2008

  Add to list

• Organizing Youth for Partisan Politicsin Britain, 1918–c.1932

  Open Access•Stephen Heathorn, David Greenspoon•Historian•2006

  Add to list