The British Boy Scouts Pledge and Law an historical survey.

THE BRITISH BOY SCOUTS

The BBS Oath/Pledge and Law. Reproduced below are;

1) Baden-Powell's Scout Oath and 9 part Law of 1908.
2) Baden-Powell's Scout Promise and 10 part Law of 1911.
3) Baden-Powell's Scout Promise and 10 part Law of 1938.
4) The BBS Oath and 10 part Law of 1909.
5) Vane's 9 part National Peace Scout Oath of 1910.
6) The Ragazzi Esploratori Italiani Scout Oaths 1910 and 1911.
7) Vane's Pledge and 6 part Law of 1911.
8) The 1914 BBS Pledge and 7 part Law.
9) The 1983 BBS Pledge and 10 part Law.
10) The 1993 BBS Pledge and 10 part Law.

1) B-P's Oath and Law 1908.
Oath Law
On my honour I promise that:- 1. A Scout's honour is to be trusted.
1. I will do my duty to God and the King. 2. A Scout is Loyal to the King and to his officers, and to his country, and to his employers.
2. I will do my best to help others whatever it may cost me. 3. A Scout's duty is to be useful and to help others.
3. I know the scout law and will obey it. 4. A Scout is a friend to all and a brother to every other Scout, no matter to what social class the other belongs.
5. A Scout is Courteous.
6. A Scout is a friend to animals.
7. A Scout obeys orders of his patrol leader or scout master without question.
8. A Scout smiles and whistles under all circumstances.
9. A Scout is thrifty.

2) B-P's Promise and Law 1911.
Promise Law
On my honour I promise that I will do my best:- 1. A Scout's honour is to be trusted.
1. To do my duty to God and the King. 2. A Scout is Loyal to the King, andto his officers, and to his country, and to his employers.
2. To help other people at all times. 3. A Scout's duty is to be useful and to help others.
3. To obey the Scout Law. 4. A Scout is a friend to all and a brother to every other scout no matter to what social class the other belongs.
5. A Scout is Courteous.
6. A Scout is a friend to animals.
7. A Scout obeys orders of his patrol leader or scoutmaster without question.
8. A Scout smiles and whistles under all difficulties.
9. A Scout is thrifty.
10. A Scout is clean in thought, word and deed.

3) B-P's Promise and Law 1938.
Promise Law
On my honour I promise that I will do my best:- 1. A Scout's honour is to be trusted.
1. To do my duty to God and the King. 2. A Scout is Loyal to the King, his country, his Scouters, #1 his parents, #2 his employers and to those under him #3.
2. To help other people at all times. 3. A Scout's duty is to be useful and to help others.
3. To obey the Scout Law. 4. A Scout is a friend to all and a brother to every other scout no matter what country, class or creed, the other may belong #4.
5. A Scout is Courteous.
6. A Scout is a friend to animals.
7. A Scout obeys orders of his parents, #5 patrol leader or scoutmaster without question.
8. A Scout smiles and whistles under all difficulties.
9. A Scout is thrifty.
10. A Scout is clean in thought, word and deed.

4) BBS Oath and Law 1909.
Oath Law
1. I will do my duty as a Scout, to my God, my King and Country. 1. A scout must be honourable, truthful and reliable.
2. I will be loyal to the B.B.S., and will keep its laws. 2. A scout must not use bad or indecent language.
3. A scout must not smoke until he is over eighteen years of age.
4. A scout must not quarrel nor give offence.
5. A scout must help others freely whenever he can and be a brother to all other scouts.
6. A scout must be polite and obliging to all.
7. A scout must be a friend to animals.
8. A scout must obey all orders from his officers at once.
9. A scout must always be cheerful and never grumble.
10. A scout must be self-reliant and thrifty.

5) The National Peace Scout Oath 1910 (Combined Oath and Law).
The Oath of the Scout.
1. To serve God the King and my Country.
2. To help others whatever it may cost me.
3. To trust the word of my brother Scout.
4. To respect my Parents.
5. To be a friend to all and to be a brother to every other Scout.
6. To be courteous to all.
7. To be kind to animals and to save them from pain.
8. To take trouble as pleasure with a [smiling face] (trusting grace) #6.
9. To be thrifty but never mean.

6) The Ragazzi Esploratori Italiani Scout Oaths 1910 and 1911.
1910 Oath 1911 Oath
1. To do his duty to God, King and Country. 1. The honour of a Scout is above every suspicion.
2. To help anyone whatever the cost. 2. A Scout is loyal.
3. To trust the word of a brother Scout and always tell the truth, if he lies he is no longer a Scout. 3. The duty of a Scout is to help others.
4. A Scout is loyal, he supports his friend and especially his comrade on any occasion. 4. A Scout is a friend to all and a brother to every other Scout.
5. A Scout is a friend to all and a brother to every other Scout, rich or poor, fortunate or unfortunate. 5. A Scout is courteous.
6. A Scout is courteous to all, especially to the weak, women, children, invalids and the crippled. A Scout is a gentleman, strong and must show his strength helping the weak. 6. A Scout obeys orders.
7. A Scout is a friend of every living creature and will never allow an animal to suffer needlessly. He, like St Francis, feels himself brother to all living things, because he loves them and in exploring the hills has come to know them. 7. A Scout loves and protects animals.
8. A Scout follows orders with intellegence, that is he reflects on the meaning of the order given and attempts to execute it. He is a soldier of the world and thinks before he obeys. 8. A Scout is always cheerful and smiling.
9. A Scout does not burden himself with sorrows, he smiles even when he suffers, because his pain will pass faster if he accepts it with a smile. 9. A Scout is thifty.
10. A Scout is thifty but never mean. He saves not for himslef but to have the means to help others.

7) The BBS Pledge and Law 1911.
Pledge Law
1. On my honour I will do my duty to God my King and Country. 1. A Scout's word is to be trusted and he trusts and assists his brother Scout.
2. On my honour I will without fear or reward protect the weak defend the helpless and assist my neighbours. 2. A Scout is a friend to every living creature man or beast and he is a brother to every other Scout fortunate or unfortunate rich or poor.
3. On my honour I will keep the Scout Law. 3. A Scout is loyal to his parents to his officers and to his comrades high or low. He obeys orders promptly and with intelligence;this is not mechanical obedience but that which comes through sympathy and a sense of responsibility.
4. A Scout is polite to all because he is strong and secure in his position and therefore respects that of others.
5. A Scout is cheerful and takes pain and trouble with a smiling face.
6. A Scout is thrifty but never mean.

8) The BBS Pledge and Law 1914.
Pledge Law
1. On my honour I will "Fear God; Honour the King; Love the Brotherhood". 1. Scouts are loyal to Parents to Officers to Comrades high and low and obey orders promptly.
2. On my honour I will without fear or reward protect theweak defend the helpless and assist my neighbour. 2. A Scout is to be trusted and trusts and assists other Scouts.
3. On my honour I will keep the Scout Law. 3. A Scout is a friend to every living creature especially to every other Scout, fortunate or unfortunate.
4. A Scout is cheerful and should take pain and trouble with a smiling face.
5. A Scout is thrifty but never mean.
6. A Scout is wise to abstain from all intoxicating liquors as a beverage.
7. A scout must not use bad or indecent language.

9) BBS Pledge and Law 1983.
Pledge Law
1. On my honour I will "Fear God; Honour the Queen; Love the Brotherhood". 1. A Scout is honourable truthful and reliable.
2. On my honour I will without fear or reward protect the weak defend the helpless and assist my neighbour. 2. A Scout is loyal to the Queen and his Country his Parents his Officers and to comrades high and low.
3. On my honour I will keep the Scout Law. 3. A Scout helps others whatever it may cost him.
4. A Scout is a friend to all and a brother to all other Scouts.
5. A Scout is courteous to all.
6. A Scout is kind to animals.
7. A Scout obeys all orders from his Parents and Officers promptly.
8. A Scout is cheerful and takes trouble with a trusting grace.
9. A Scout must be self-reliant and a good steward of his possessions.
10. A Scout is upright in his conduct.

10) BBS Pledge and Law 1993.
Pledge Law
1. On my honour I will Love God; Honour the Queen; Respect all. 1. A Scout is honourable, truthful and reliable.
2. On my honour I will without fear or reward, protect the weak, defend the helpless and assist my neighbour. 2. A Scout is loyal to the Queen, his/her Country, his/her Parents, his/her Officers and to comrades high and low.
3. On my honour I will keep the Scout Law. 3. A Scout is helpful to others, whatever it may cost him/her.
4. A Scout is a friend to all and a brother/sister to all other Scouts.
5. A Scout is courteous to all.
6. A Scout is kind to animals.
7. A Scout is obedient and follows orders from his/her Parents and Officers promptly.
8. A Scout is cheerful and takes trouble with a trusting grace.
9. A Scout is self-reliant and a good steward of his/her possessions.
10. A Scout is upright in his/her conduct.

Baden-Powell's Scout Oath and Law 1908 and the BBS Oath and Law 1909.
The original version of B-P's 3 part Oath and 9 part Law was published in 'Scouting for Boys' in 1908. The BBS 2 part Oath and and 10 part Law of 1909 whilst mimicking B-P's, was entirely redrafted in terms of the wording and phrases.
By 1911 B-P's 9 Laws were expanded to 10. With his rounding up to 10, there may well have been either a sub-conscious, or even deliberate equation with Moses' Decalogue, especially as the 10th Law was added at the suggestion of a clergyman #7. The same, may have been true of the BBS with its own 10 Laws, and not to be denied is any possible influence of the BBS's 10 Laws upon the rounding up of B-P's Laws.

National Peace Scout Oath.
Vane's Peace Scout Oath was advertised in the booklet 'The Boy Knight' as "The Oath of the Scout". Vane's framing of the Oath recognised Baden-Powell's anomaly in a two piece Oath and Law where the first two parts of the Oath duplicated two of the Laws (2 and 3). The third part of the Oath was that of obeying the Scout Law.
Combining Oath and Law, Vane created a 9 part Scout Oath, dependent upon B-P's original 9 Laws of 1908. Obedience to the patrol leader and scoutmaster had been replaced by respect for parents. The swap is understandable in what is an oath of a pacifist organisation. Vane would also understand that obedience would be a natural part of serving God, King and Country in part 2 of his Scout Oath.
Vane's inclusion of respecting parents in his Scout Law was evidence of a debate about Baden-Powell's omission of parents in the laws he framed. Succumbing to pressure Baden-Powell included 'parents' in the text of his Scout Laws in 1912 #8.

The Scout Oath of the Ragazzi Esploratori Italiani.
The leaders of the BBS did not adopt Vane's model of "The Oath of a Scout" issued in 1910 but kept to the BBS original. However Vane was able to use his Scout Oath as a basis for the Ragazzi Esploratori Italiani Scout Oath but as a decalogue with a much expanded and almost unwieldy text.
This new version would be almost certainly due to local consultation at Bagni di Lucca where the REI was launched. The authors of the first REI version will also have had access either, to B-P's original, or more likely, to the BBS 1909 version, due to the fact that obedience to orders as an injuction was included. However this was counterbalanced with a long explanation qualifying the obedience.
This text was not well received in an expanded REI and was replaced by a simplified version within Vane's model of a Scout Oath but following Baden-Powell's original 9 Scout Laws.

The Pledge and Law of the BBS 1911.
When the Pledge and Law were introduced in 1911 the original leaders had left the BBS. The change from 'Oath' to 'Pledge' would have been influenced by the Quakers and other free Church members, and reflects common usage for societies that did not wish to transgress the Dominical commandment of not swearing oaths.
The 1911 version shows a reluctance by the BBS to forsake the two piece formulae of an Oath (Pledge) and Law, but avoided duplicating the themes of the Pledge in the Law. Combining the laws on friend to animals with brother to other Scouts, and loyalty with obedience further reduced the number.
The remnants of the 1909 BBS Laws were the injunction to be polite (replacing courteous) and prompt obedience of orders. The explanation on obedience not being mechanical would demonstrate Vane's reticence to include such a Law. Law number 2 'friend to every living creature, man or beast' may have been influenced by a similar pledge as used by the Bands of Mercy where the injunction 'to be kind to all harmless living creatures....' was intended to include human as well as dumb creatures #9.
The Pledge was a copy of the 1909 BBS Oath, but made up to a three part Pledge. The text of the 1911 Pledge and Law drew evenly upon the 1909 version, the Peace Scout, and the 1910 REI Scout Oaths.

The BBS Pledge and Law 1914.
The 1914 version of the Pledge and Law was in current use in the early 1920s. Although no literature or manuals have survived from this period, this version can be dated from an undated letter, with a letterhead which is a copy of a December 1913 letterhead #10. The 1913 letterhead nominates Jones-Knighton as Acting Grand Scoutmaster. The undated letterhead nominates Jones Knighton as Grand Scoutmaster and invites its reader to contact Pooley the London Commissioner. Between 1915 and 1919, Pooley was serving in the Army, therefore ruling out any date in that 4 year period. A post war date is dismissed as the post war letterheads were of a different font style. This leaves a date of 1914 for the 'undated' letter.
The new literature with the Constitution, Law, Pledge and Motto would have either been drafted in the post war reconstruction of the BBS in 1919, or in the rationalisation of the BBS after Vane's departure. The same letter which is dated to 1914 provides quotations from two of the resolutions from the Constitution current in the early 1920s. The letter provides the first use of the current BBS motto 'Always Ready'. Thus the changes Jones Knighton and Pooley initiated can be dated to 1914. Jones Knighton and Pooley were probably influenced by the BLB Scouts in the production of their version of the Scout Pledge, as the first part follows closely the Scout Law proposed for BLB Scouts which was "Fear God, Honour the King, Esteem all Men, Love the Brotherhood" #11. This also would provide a pre-war dating for the changes. The Pledge remains unchanged from that of 1911.
The 1914 version of the Law is a rationalised version of the 1911 Law, with two additions. Law 6 reveals the drift of the BBS under Percy Pooley and Jones Knighton to become part of the Temperance movement. Law number 7 is an exact copy of law number 2 of the 1909 laws and shows that at least Jones Knighton had access to the original handbook of the BBS #12.

1983 & 1993 BBS Pledge and Law.
The 1983 Pledge is that as adopted in 1914. With the change of badge designs in 1932, this gave to the BBS an additional corporate motto 'Fear, Honour, Love' which was displayed on the hat badge and formed an aid-memoir to the pledge.
In 1993 the Pledge was amended by using inclusive language and phrases bringing about a new additional corporate motto of 'Love, Honour, Respect'. The 1983 Law reflects the wording of the National Peace Scouts Oath and the 1909 and 1911 BBS versions of the Law, but follows the enumeration and themes of Baden-Powell's 1911 version. The 1993 version adopted inclusive language and standardised the beginning of all the laws to 'A Scout is'. The sentiment of 'helping others whatever the cost' cast by Baden-Powell in his Oath of 1908 was dropped from all subsequent revisions. However Vane preserved it in the Peace Scout and REI Scout Oaths. The sentiment was resurrected in the 1983 and 1993 BBS Scout Law.

THE BBS MOTTO.
When the BBS was founded in 1909 the motto chosen was 'Be Britons'. Although the BBS Leadership sought to avoid the autocracy of the B-P organisation they chose Empire Day, to launch the BBS as a patriotic organisation and as such reflected this in their motto. Such a motto would have ill-suited Vane who was an internationalist. In seeking to introduce a Peace Scout Lily as a BBS Badge early 1910, Vane also sought to introduce 'Be Prepared' as a motto but this was rejected by the BBS Executive Committee. Even when the original Executive members left mid 1911 Vane made no further attempt to introduce 'Be Prepared' which suggests the B-P motto was not received well by BBS Troops.
Vane's BBS letterheads bear an absence of a motto by name, although above the British Boy Scout title on 1911 letterheads is the following phrase; 'Hard Bodies, Strong Minds, Tender Hearts'. Vane's designs for introducing this motto were not new, and almost the identical phrase is found on the title page to the booklet 'The Boy Knight' of 1910 - 'Hard Bodies, Strong Minds, and Tender Hearts'.
A real alternative to 'Be Britions' and 'Be Prepared' did not emerge within the BBS until 1914 when 'Always Ready' appears as the BBS motto. This motto, may have been influenced by the Lovat Scout motto 'Je Suis Prest', (I am ready), in the same way that the Scout Hat, turned up on the left-hand side imitates the headgear of the Lovat Scouts, or it may have been influenced by the motto of Carter's Boy Guides Brigade which was a part of the BBS 1911 - 1912, 'In omnia paratus', (In all things ready) #13.
On a BBS letterhead of 1926 'British Boy Scouts Association' a sub-title is found 'Boyhood League of Nations', with a motto beneath 'Amicus humani generis' (friend of mankind, or friend of the human race). After 1926 no further use is made of the sub-title or of the additional motto.
After 1932, the hat badge bore the phrase 'Fear, Honour, Love' taken from the BBS Pledge. This has acted as a secondary motto, as well as an aid for remembering part of the BBS Pledge.

REFERENCES.
#1 The change from 'Officer' to 'Scouter' was introduced in 1938.
#2 The words "his parents" were added in 1912.
#3 The phrase "and to those under him" was added in 1917 after criticisms from socialists and trade unions.
#4 The revised text of Law number 4 was put in place in 1938.
#5 The word "parents" was added in 1912 see #1 above.
#6 Variants.
#7 The tenth law was added at the suggestion of the Reverend Dr A T Scholfield (see Woodcraft and World Service, I. O. Evans, Noel Douglas London 1930, Page 43.). It appears as part of the Scout Law from 1911 onwards, after being announced in the Headquarters Gazette April 1911, page 4. In a letter from the Chairman of the Baden-Powell Scouts Association, the neo-traditionalists formed in 1970, to Glyn Snow of the St Stephen's House Rover Crew, February 8th 1978 an equation of the 10 Commandments with the 10 Scout Laws is given. Although the letter is of a late date, the sentiments would reflect a view held by some Boy Scout members before the schism. Copy of letter in BBS Archives. Official literature stated that the two five pointed stars in the leaves of the Boy Scouts Association Fleur-de-lys, making ten points "serve to remind us of the Scout Law". The Scout's How to-do-it Book, C Arthur Pearson Ltd, London circa 1950, Page 3.
#8 See Rosenthal, Character Factory Pages 115 & 116.
#9 Adolescence its Psychology and its relations to Physiology, Anthropology, Sociology, Sex, Crime, Religion and Education Volume 2, G Stanley Hall, D Appleton and Company New York 1907, Page 419.
#10 Copies of the letterhead held in the BBS Archives.
#11 Intelligence Sections, BLB Chronicle March 1909 cf 1 Peter 2.17.
#12 or copies of 'Chums' which reproduce the Oath and Law; 28th July 1909 Volume 17 Issue 881 Page 921. 18th August 1909 Volume 17 Issue 884 Page 982. 22nd September 1909 Volume 18 Issue 889 Page 42.
#13 Copies of BBS letterheads held in BBS Archives. For Carter's movement see Chapter 2, The South African Connection and Appendix 2.

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