Monday, September 10, 2018

Military Goats In Canada

Long time readers will know, and we hope, support, this blog’s devout belief that no beast of creature is more endowed with nobility, martial spirit, intelligence and good looks than the military goat.

Last month, while travelling on holiday with my son, we stopped at Old Fort Henry in Kingston, Ontario, and I was delighted to find not one but two goats.  Each goat was provided with staff, two smartly uniformed reenactors, who answered questions from the tourists.  The goats were too busy cropping the sward to reply to questions.

 

The day before, in Ottawa, my son John and I also saw the final changing of the guard on Parliament Hill for the summer of 2018, and while no goats were on display, there were plenty of red coats.   

One doesn’t wish to be overly jingoistic, but in a year where President Trump has been ratcheting up the pressure on us with his trade and tariff threats, and threatening the ruination of Canada, it was very reassuring to see Canadian pageantry - civil, orderly and just a tad understated - on display.

 

3 comments:

tradgardmastare said...

Enjoyed the pictures and accompanying explanations. What regiment are those engaged in the Changing of the Guard?
Alan

Mad Padre said...

Hello Alan! The Ceremonial Guard in Ottawa is actually an ad-hoc unit of the Canadian Armed Forces. The uniforms represent two reserve regiments, the Governor General's Foot Guards, based in Ottawa, and the Canadian Grenadier Guards, based in Montreal, though the uniforms are filled by reservists from all other the armed forces. It is a summer job, and I suspect that most of them are back in school by now. There is a little more info here:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ceremonial_Guard_(Canada)

Rob Willis said...

Love this post and your (newly discovered by me) blog, Mike. And I always appreciate a good Goat story. Blessings old friend.

Mad Padre

Mad Padre
Opinions expressed within are in no way the responsibility of anyone's employers or facilitating agencies and should by rights be taken as nothing more than one person's notional musings, attempted witticisms, and prayerful posturings.

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