 Baden-Powell's drawing of a Boy Scout with his staff, from the front cover of Scouting for Boys: Part III, published in 1908 | |
| Other names | Scout stave |
|---|---|
| Classification | Pole |
| Related | Quarterstaff |
A Scout staff (or Scout stave) is a shoulder-high wooden pole or quarterstaff, traditionally carried by Boy Scouts as part of their accoutrements. Its main purpose was as a walking stick or Trekking pole, but it had a number of other uses in emergency situations and can be used for Scout pioneering.
When Robert Baden-Powell devised his scheme of Scout citizenship training for boys, published in 1908 in Scouting for Boys , he recommended that Scouts should carry "a strong stick, about as high as your nose, marked in feet and inches for measuring". After listing the various uses to which the staff could be put, he added "If you get the chance, cut your own staff, but remember to get permission first". [1] It was said to have been based on a staff used by a Royal Engineers officer during the Fourth Anglo-Ashanti War. [2] In August 1917, Baden-Powell wrote a critical article in the Headquarters Gazette about "the matter of Scouts being allowed to parade without their staffs, which for several reasons is regrettable". In the same article, he lists the cultural roots of the Scout staff which he claimed were "the scouts of Cuhulain armed with staffs, the pilgrims... with their cockle-shells and staffs, the 'prentice bands of London with their cloth yards and their staffs, the merry men of Robin Hood with bows and quarter staffs, down to the present-day mountaineers, war-scouts, and explorers". [3]
At the 3rd World Scout Jamboree in 1929, French Scouts constructed an 80-foot (24-metre) replica of the Eiffel Tower constructed entirely of lashed Scout staves. [4]
In the United Kingdom, the cost and awkwardness of the staff meant that it became common for Scout Troops to hold a stock of staves in their meeting place, rather than have Scouts carry them about. The final blow came with the 1966 Advance Party Report, which recommended that "With the exception of a knife, no present optional items of uniform (e.g. staff, thumbstick, haversack.... ) may in future be worn". [5]
The official Policy, Organization and Rules of the Boy Scouts Association (UK) stipulated that the staff must be "Marked in feet and inches, five feet six inches (1.68 metres) in length". [6] Patrol Leaders carried a white pennant on their staves, showing a silhouette of their Patrol animal (each Patrol was named after an animal or bird). [7] Modern commercially produced Scout staves are still available in the United Kingdom, generally made from coppice grown ash. [8]
Some uses of the Scout staff that have been recommended by various Scouting publications:
Scouting, also known as the Scout Movement, is a worldwide youth social movement employing the Scout method, a program of informal education with an emphasis on practical outdoor activities, including camping, woodcraft, aquatics, hiking, backpacking, and sports. Another widely recognized movement characteristic is the Scout uniform, by intent hiding all differences of social standing in a country and encouraging equality, with neckerchief and campaign hat or comparable headwear. Distinctive uniform insignia include the fleur-de-lis and the trefoil, as well as merit badges and other patches.
A neckerchief, sometimes called a necker, kerchief or scarf, is a type of neckwear associated with those working or living outdoors, including farm labourers, cowboys and sailors. It is most commonly still seen today in the Scouts, Girl Guides and other similar youth movements. A neckerchief consists of a triangular piece of cloth or a rectangular piece folded into a triangle. The long edge is rolled towards the point, leaving a portion unrolled. The neckerchief is then fastened around the neck with the ends either tied or clasped with a slide or woggle.
The Baden-Powell Scouts' Association (B-PSA) is a worldwide youth organisation originating in the United Kingdom, with friendly relationships with similar traditional scouting organisations in various countries. Baden-Powell Scouting focuses on the importance of tradition in the scout movement.
Cub Scouts, Cubs or Wolf Cubs are programs associated with Scouting for young children usually between 7 and 12, depending on the organization to which they belong. A participant in the program is called a Cub. A group of Cubs is called a "Pack".
Scouts UK (also known as The Scout Association) is the largest Scout organisation in the United Kingdom. It's the World Organization of the Scout Movement's recognised member for the United Kingdom.
The Scout Motto of the Scout movement is, in English, "Be Prepared", with most international branches of the group using a close translation of that phrase. These mottoes have been used by millions of Scouts around the world since 1907. Most of the member organizations of the World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts (WAGGGS) share the same mottoes.
A campaign hat, sometimes called campaign cover, is a broad-brimmed felt or straw hat, with a high crown, pinched symmetrically at the four corners. The campaign hat is occasionally referred to as a Stetson, derived from its origin in the company's Boss of the Plains model in the late 19th century.
Traditional Scouting is "old-fashioned" or "back to basics" Scouting in some form, often with an emphasis on woodcraft and scoutcraft activities. As a pluralist movement, there is no one set definition for the term, but most traditionalists share a common set of values and procedures. Traditionalists aim to return the Scout Movement to something approximating its original style and activities; rejecting the trend of modernizing the program in an attempt to widen its appeal and/or use the name "Scouts" for new programs for ever-younger children.
The Scout method is the informal educational system used in the Scouting Movement. The aim of Scouting is character training with the goal of helping participants become independent and helpful, and thereby become "healthy, happy, helpful citizens".
Lone Scouts are members of the Scout movement who undertake scout activities on their own or by distance communication, usually because they live in isolated areas or otherwise do not participate in scout activities with other scouts. A Lone Scout May have an adult Scout leader or counselor who may instruct and supervise them. They can follow the same program as other Scouts and may advance in the same way as all other Scouts.
Scouts, often referred to as the Scout section to differentiate itself from the wider movement and its parent organisation, is a section of Scouting run by The Scout Association for ten and a half to fourteen year old young people. The section follows on from Cub Scouts and precedes Explorer Scouts. Since 1991, the section has been coeducational and today the Scout section accepts young people from all backgrounds, faiths and genders.
The Wolf Cub's Handbook is an instructional handbook on Wolf Cubs training, published in various editions since December 1916. Early editions were written and illustrated by Robert Baden-Powell with later editions being extensively rewritten by others. The book has a theme based on Rudyard Kipling's The Jungle Book jungle setting and characters.
The Brownsea Island Scout camp was the site of a boys' camping event on Brownsea Island in Poole Harbour, southern England, organised by Lieutenant-General Baden-Powell to test his ideas for the book Scouting for Boys. Boys from different social backgrounds participated from 1 to 8 August 1907 in activities around camping, observation, woodcraft, chivalry, lifesaving and patriotism. The event is regarded as the origin of the worldwide Scout movement.
The 3rd World Scout Jamboree was held in 1929 at Arrowe Park in Upton, near Birkenhead, Wirral, United Kingdom. As it was commemorating the 21st birthday of Scouting for Boys and the Scouting movement, it is also known as the Coming of Age Jamboree. With about 30,000 Scouts and over 300,000 visitors attending, this jamboree was the largest jamboree so far.
Scouting for Boys: A handbook for instruction in good citizenship is a book on Boy Scout training, published in various editions since 1908. Early editions were written and illustrated by Robert Baden-Powell with later editions being extensively rewritten by others. The book was originally a manual for self-instruction in observation, tracking and woodcraft skills as well as self-discipline and self-improvement, about the British Empire and duty as citizens with an eclectic mix of anecdotes and unabashed personal observations and recollections. It is pervaded by a degree of moral proselytizing and references to the author's own exploits. It is based on his boyhood experiences, his experience with the Mafeking Cadet Corps during the Second Boer War at the siege of Mafeking, and on his experimental camp on Brownsea Island, England.
The British Boy Scouts and British Girl Scouts Association is an early scouting organisation, having begun as the Battersea Boy Scouts in 1908. The organisation was renamed as the British Boy Scouts and launched as a national organisation on 24 May 1909. In association with other Scout organisations, the BBS formed the National Peace Scouts in 1910. The BBS instigated the first international Scouting organisation, the Order of World Scouts in 1911.
The BPSA in Canada was established in Victoria, British Columbia in 1996 as The Baden-Powell Scouts' Association of Canada (B-PSAC), rejecting the perceived modernization of the Scout method by Scouts Canada and sharing its aims with the other branches of the B-PSA. It is affiliated with the World Federation of Independent Scouts. The association was incorporated in British Columbia in 2000.
Girl Guides is a worldwide movement, originally and largely still designed for girls and women only. The movement began in 1909, when girls requested to join the then-grassroots Boy Scout Movement.
Baden-Powell's Scout training scheme was a progressive series of tests for Boy Scouts, in skills which the founder of the Scout Movement believed would be useful in building character and good citizenship.
Marguerite de Beaumont was a Girl Guide leader, horse breeder, author and poet. She published biographies of Lord and Lady Baden-Powell, and was a recipient of the Silver Fish Award, Girl Guiding’s highest adult honour.