THE VIRTUAL ORANGE PARADE PART THE SECOND
A GRAND BANNER:

The Band Plays that
olde favorite Portadown

followed in quick succession
by the "Auld Orange Flute"
AN OLDE CROWD
PLEASER: COME ON
SING ALONG! Sing Along!

Click below for music!
Music!-Join in!
Rule Britannia

A GRAND BANNER:

The Corby Parade
Just thought I share my thoughts and experiences of the Corby District parade yesterday.
One of the unexpected joys of being an Orangemen in England is going on parades and seeing different parts of the country where Orangemen are present. Corby was a fascinating example - it is really not part of England at all, but a "Glasgow in the Midlands", populated by ex-steelworkers who came to work in the town. The atmosphere was entirely different from parading say, in Essex or Portsmouth, where the public reaction is one of bewilderment. Here we had cheerers waving Ulster flags (as, well, it must be said, at one point being confronted by the scowling hate-filled countenances of rough- looking men outside a pub where eggs had been disgracefully thrown at a ladies Lodge parade the day before.)
Perhaps the most gladdening sight was the inaugural parade by the just newly- reopened Bedford lodge no. 71 Bible and Crown Defenders, complete with a truly splendid Orange banner - the best I have seen - which for many years had been in storage "across the water". The lodge appeared to have several entirely English brethren (always encouraging) and a potential new English recruit was at the parade. The parade ended - fittingly enough - at the Glasgow Rangers supporters club, where the usual beverages were on offer and the atmosphere was one of family and community - this I was indeed envious of, because in England - where the atomization and moral decline of society has proceeded furthest - it would not be possible to create such an atmosphere in most places.
As always on Orange parades the main spirit is one of fraternity and goodwill, but I left the parade in thoughtful and sorrowful mood. During the speech at the end of the parade, a member of Grand Lodge spoke of the travails ahead. The mood was not aggressive but of quiet determination - the Protestant people has been pushed thus far, and would go no further. A reckoning was approaching. Since the majority on parade were Scottish exiles in England, this and the rather aggressive style of the Scottish Edelwood Flute Band brought home to me just how strong the bonds are....and that the bitterness is not confined to Ulster soil.
Many news reports (e.g. in this weeks Economist, for once reporting accurately) said that militancy was now becoming entrenched on sides, and I am forced to agree with their conclusion that extreme violence may be approaching. However, i think that most commentators have not yet - dare not - realized that not only may we may be descending into civil war in Ulster, but if violence flares then the probable forthcoming conflict will not be confined to Irish soil, but will suck in Scotland, England (to a much lesser degree) and possibly the Irish and Ulster-Scots diaspora in the Americas as well to greater or lesser degrees.
Andy.

ANNOUNCER: And here comes the

Corbe Parade

Its the annual parade of the Corby District...Corby is really a part of Scotland in middle England, and has two lodges.
The parade starts off, lead by the Corby Purple Star flute band, resplendent in their blue uniforms and berets, they set off leading the parade followed by the ladies and junior lodges...behind are the men lodges, consisting first of all of the first Corby lodge...the banner carriers have an eccentric way of hoping and skipping from side to side along the parade route. They are followed by the newly reformed Bedford lodge - No 71 Bible Crown and Defenders. This is Bedford's first parade since reforming and their splendid banner entitled the "the secret of England's greatness" looks like a galleon sail - and takes four men to carry against the wind!
Behind Bedford comes the black-suited Endlewood Band, boisterously singing the sash and plying at alternate intervals. They are followed by the second Corby lodge. In total around 300 brethren make up the procession.

ANNOUNCER: NOW THAT THERE IS A
GAP IN THE PARADE---SIR, SIR....PLEASE YES!...
YOU! THANK YOU COULD YOU TELL ME WHAT
DOES THE 12TH MEAN TO YOU?

Image Source-Canadian Orange List
click to visit them!

What the Twelfth Means to Me
When I was four years old, my Father brought me on my first Twelfth Parade up the Main Street of our home village of Castlecaulfield in County Tyrone. I remember the day well, the earliest memory which I can actually date. Orange and purple and black, umbrellas and the smoke from Gallagher's Blue cigarettes, cheap hamburgers with tomato sauce that tasted of vinegar, strawberries and cream. The broadest of Tyrone accents; the damp sweaty smell of pipes; the beat of the Lambegs and my extended family come down from the hills. Old men and young men, laughing girls and family fall-out's. Canon Williams complementing me from the top table at having walked the whole mile and a half there and back, roast beef and dried potato. Childhood memories of a folk festival anywhere.

There are three elements which make up a country twelfth: the social, the communal and the commemorative. As a child I was mainly aware of the first and last elements; that our relations descended upon us like a swarm of locusts; that old friendships were renewed, new ones cemented, deals struck and - occasionally - matches made. I was also ttaught that very long ago, a great man called King Billy had come to Ulster and saved us from being killed or forced to go back to Scotland from where we came. It was in his memory that we marched. King Billy himself along with the Marshall Duke of Schomburg and even George Walker, a Governor of 'derry who was Rector of St Michael's, a local Church, were displayed in all their glory on gorgeous banners. This is the most obvious significance of the twelfth, and the one which any un-biased observer can see. It is a carnival complete with fancy dress bands and festive food. It is the commemoration of a 17th century victory by the re-creation of a 17th century army, complete with banners, fifes and drums. As I grew older and was taken into the confidence of my elders, I became aware of the deeper significance of the celebration - its symbolic representation of community solidarity. The village where I was raised lies just by the foothills of the Cappagh mountains. For all the joy of the occasion; the carnival atmosphere; the hamburgers and the games, there were always whispered and half-remembered conversations about the shootings; the burned barns; the bullets pushed through the letter boxes; the intimidation that Protestants in Coalisland, Pomeroy, Cappagh, in fact all along the mountains, have had to bear for the past thirty years. The knowledge that we are on our own made, and makes, the significance of the occasion much more than simply social. The saying 'Where Orangemen cannot walk, Protestants cannot live' has been ridiculed many times. In spite of the ridicule no one has explained why, where Orangemen cannot walk, the Protestant population disappears like snow off a sheugh. The twelfth also represents continuity in our community, values and ideals passed from old to young and held in common by those of all ages. Freedom to worship and think and say what we like; our Protestant religion; the Union; our support for the British State and our independence from its corruption and secularism. Most of all, the twelfth is about our survival as a culturally and religiously distinct people.

The twelfth is therefore a triumphant occasion. It is not a celebration of our neighbors subjugation - for thirty years Orangemen ourselves have been the subjugated. It is rather the triumph of the underdog, an entire community celebrating our own survival in the face of midnight assassination, of economic war and of the state sponsored anti-Protestant discrimination which encourages so many of our young people to emigrate\ to England and Scotland in search of work. It is a celebration of our community, our shared heritage, our place in the world. It is also a statement: 'we are not defeated, we will not be defeated, we are the people .. we go on.'
Mark Wilson

ANNOUNCER; YOU KNOW THE ORANGE ORDER IS NOT JUST FOR OLDER FOLKS IT IS FOR ALL AGES AND ALL WALKS OF LIFE. HERE ARE A GROUP OF JUNIOR ORANGEMEN WE WELCOME THE JUNIOR GRAND LODGE AS THE BAND PLAYS

Visit the Junior Grand Lodge click here

THE CROWD IS DRAWN TO SONG

Join In! God Save the Queen!

Next comes Port Perry Centennial Lodge

Visit them click here

The Crowd is once again moved to song

"Lillieburlero".
A SONG ACTUALLY SUNG AT THE BOYNE!
THE CROWD JOINS ALONG Sing Along!

ANNOUNCER: DON'T YOU JUST LOVE THE PAGEANTRY OF IT ALL? THE COLORS OF THE BANNERS THE SMILES ON THE CHILDREN'S FACES THE FLAGS WAVING IN HANDS! AND WHAT WOULD THE PARADE BE WITHOUT A SONG OR TWO! WHAT DO YOU SAY SIR? YOU HAVE A SONG? WELL STEP RIGHT UP!
ANOTHER VOICE: NOW YOU'VE DONE IT IT WILL BE HIS PARTY PIECE!
ANNOUNCER: GO RIGHT AHEAD SIR RIGHT INTO THE MIKE DON'T BE SHY!
ANOTHER VOICE: DON'T WORRY HE WON'T!

Click here to Sing Out Along!

I KNOW THAT ONE ITS KING BILLY AT THE BOYNE! THANK YOU SIR...NO WE DON'T HAVE TIME FOR THE DANCE JUST NOW THANKS ANYWAY!
ANOTHER VOICE: THANK GOD FOR THAT!

Corbe Parade

ERAIS !