54 I JANUARY 6, 2019 THE SUNDAY TIMES-OF ~TA THE SUNDAY TIMES OF MALTA JANUARY 6j 2019 I 55 HISTORY

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A water carnival float of a lion from HMS Caesar. A water carnival float of a replica of the Hibernia from HMS Hoivernia. A water carnival float of a swan from HM's Dockyard. Water carnival floats of a whale from HM's Drydocks, and of an elephant from HMS Canopus. The 1901 royal pageant in Grand Harbour

can be read in printed facsimile form. I have Harbour were the awe-inspiring warships flukes, there were crocodiles with moving, View of Grand Harbour with the liner Ophir, March a number of images related to that event, HMS Renown, Ramillies, Andromeda, Diana, flaming jaws, ready to devour, thei·e were 1901, by the court painter Edoardo de Martino. which, I believe, have never been published Caesar, Canopus, Emperor.of India and many swans of the mammoth age and of antedilu­ again since 1901. others, as the main actors. Spectacular fire­ vian size, tl1ere were huge and innocent-look ­ GIOVANNI The royal visit to Malta marked the second works, music, waltzing searchlights con­ ing sheep, sea serpents, colossal elephants, BONELLO stop in a long-tour of the empire undertaken tributed, but an original water carnival owls, camels, dromedaries, Noah's arks, lions, by the son of Edward VII, his Royal Highness added the most strikingly memorable note miniature Hibernias, dragons and whales and the Duke of Cornwall and York and his wife, in to the evening. we know not what else. What a scene of the 10 years' time to be crowned King George v Vice-Admiral John Fischer (who many con­ real and the unreal, the serious and the ludi­ At least one person in Malta was hoping that and Queen Mary. This grand royal tour evi­ sider the greatest British admiral since Nel­ crous, the serene and the imperious and the the forthcoming royal visit of the Duke and denced a political thank you from London for son), on appointing the organising committee simple and submissive! End of quote. Duchess of Cornwall and York would turn pro­ the support the empire had lavished on Great on March 12, had invited the ships and the pub­ Novel and striking for Malta in this water pitious. Vincent Farrugia of Strada Saluto, Val­ Britain in the Boer War. lic in Malta to contribute water floats to the carnival was the use of floats. Over a metal or letta, lately an assistant engineer at'the Dock­ The royals stopped at Gibraltar, Malta, Port plmmed carnival, offering lavish prices for tl1e wooden armature shaping the desired ani­ yard, had been asked by the crew to of HMS Said, Aden, Ceylon, Singapore, Australia, New best-decorated. The British Mediterranean mal, the carpenters stretched translucent Monkey to write to the Admiralty to request Zealand, Mauritius, South Africa, Canada and fleet, the Dockyard and the British-owned cloth. Strong electric lights were placed inside payment for overtime work. Newfoundland. Everywhere they met spectac­ yacht White Ladye took 'Up the invitation enthu­ the armature. When, at a signal, the other He wrote the letter, he said, because he was ular welcomes, in an empire--building propa­ siastically, but not a single Maltese chipped in. illuminations dimmed, the lightsinside the the only one around who could write. The ganda exercise that cost millions in entertain­ Passive resistance by boycott. floats switched on, turning them into bright Dockyard instantly fired him from his job, the ment, decorations, pageants, security, presents The committee set a general theme for the fluorescent creatures gliding in the darkness punishment such impudence deserved. He -at a time when many native colonials were water carnival- Noah's Ark. Two 'arks' took around them. was now begging their Royal Highnesses per­ suffering severe hardships. part, the proper Ark from HMS IUustrious, and Special effects enhanced the drama: the sonally to solicit his re-employment, signing an imperial baton. Artillery and gymnastics window, roof or balcony facing the harbour that a smaller replica of the Hibernia, from the mouths of dragons spewed flames and croco­ his petition "their obedient and humble and displays held sway at Corradino. was not crammed with people corning from all depot-ship herself, on which a military band diles devoured lesser animals. These effects do loyal servant", cringe de la cringe. The Admi­ "Lights inside the floats Curiously, one minor cultural event organ­ over the island to admire and enjoy the beauti· played martial music while it glided around not show in the photographs taken in daytime, organisers an expensive lesson. Maltese proceeded out of the harbour, showers of ralty snottily returned his petition, refusing to switched turning ised for the delectation of the royals left far ful Venetian festival organised by Vice-Adriliral the harbour. The other floats, built around but Harry Price's watercolour of the event cap­ craftsmen had offered to provide an unfor­ bright light ascended, the whole effect being forward it to the Duke. on, more lasting consequences: the Malta Society Fisher". The Chronicle stated that "practically very large boats or barges, represented ani­ turesthe dramaticcontrastbebweenthefloating gettable display for £100, but the authorities too beautiful and brilliant to describe, guns · An event described by hardened contempo­ them into bright of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce put all Malta assembled... the walls, bastions, cur­ mals from the Ark - a swan and a whale from transparencies and the surrounding darkness. had spurned their offer and awarded the con­ thundered forth a parting salute and their raries as "undoubtedly the finest sight ever together a 'Maltese Antiquity' exhibition in the tains, Baraccas, forts and approaches were 'sin1· the Dockyards, a camel from the Royal Oak, the The use of huge public transparencies tract to the old London firm Messrs James God speed, the enthusiastic onlookers seen in the Grand Harbour'' deserves to be rec­ fluorescent creatures grand hall of Palazzo Xara, opposite StJohn Co­ ply crowded with happy sightseers". extinct dodo from the Victorious, the British dated from the times of the Knights: large Pain for five times that cost. cheered themselves hoarse, whilst the boys ollected. "Never," echoed an Italian-language Cathedral, in honour of the royals. That exhi­ And Malta added "notwithstanding the dan­ heraldic lion from the Caesar, the Welsh allegorical paintings in transparent colours A fiddle and a disappointment. What Pain in blue on the forecastles, on the riggings, on paper, "have we seen a more splendid festival". gliding in the darkness bition turned into the germ of the flrst national gerous overcrowding on the bastions, no acci­ Dragon from the Gladiator, an elephant from on translucent cloth, at night illuminated delivered was "a veritable mockery, all the the sides, in every place like ants; and the Even making allowance for some hard-sell museum in Malta, inaugurated four years later dents were reported and public order was not the Canopus. And a crocodile, an owl, an animal from the back. What the 1901 pageant added more bitter because it cost the trifle of 500 gentlemen in khaki cheered and cheered extravagance of the press, what we know of around them" on May 24,1905, with TemiZammit as found­ minimally disturbed". But then some critiCism that started as a bulldog but then grew into a to the concept was the newly discovered gold sovereigns. The country was fooled." while the sirens of the merchant vessels in the night of Wednesday, March 27, 1901, would ing curator. Enemy action destroyed Palazzo of the police: why didn't they ban vehicles! om rhino, a sea-serpent, a kangaroo, sheep and wonder of electric light, only introduced in The matter ended in court. Had lessons the harbour effectively assisted in a farewell truly qualify as over-the-top grandiose. Even In Malta it had an added message. The Xara in World War II, and its footprint has now passing through the crowds squeezed o the more from other ships. Malta in December 1896, and the fact that been learnt? such as was never accorded to anyone leaving the anti-colonialist, nationalist Malta failed to island was then in the throes of the distress­ been taken over by post-war StJohn's Square. harbour waterfront? It was miracle th t no The owners of the White Ladye decorated the tableaux were moveable. At 11pm the regiments, with their respective Malta's shores before". ' disguise its admiration entirely. ing 'language question', with the British press­ The highlight of the royal visit was to be a one was hurt by the vehicles (not cars) that and illuminated her 'splendidly'. The boat had The mini-Hibernia carried off the coveted bands, marched to prearranged points on the And, to round off, a maudlin bout of impe­ One difference. The anti-Italian press ing to suffocate Italian, the language tradi­ naval spectacle in Grand Harbom~ to coincide arrogantly forced their w1y through the previously belonged to Lillie Langtry, the most Admiral's award. Second prize went to the bastions to witness the Ophir leave - 350 of the rialist sentimentality: "all experi¢nced the described the pageant as a 'water carnival' while tionally used for centuries, to introduce with the departure of the Ophir at midnight. crowds, to the indignant protests of the p lblic. talked- about actress of her times, mistress of Malta Dockyard's huge swan. 1st Lancashire Fusiliers, 250 of the 3rd, 300 of peculiar sensation, naturalto us, when we are the pro-Italian paper referred to it, understand­ English instead. They spared no effort and The organisers spared no efforts, pared no What follows comes from the newspapers Edward VII when he was Prince of Wales, and The festival proper started at Spm with the the Royal Malta Artillery, 500 of the 5th about to part from those we love and rever­ ably, as a 'Venetian carnival'. Whatever the issue, expense to dazzle the natives with the unchal­ costs. Massive promotion ensured that "all and periodicals mentionedl above. I must later of Prince Louis of Battenberg. Her boat simultaneous firing of 500 'star rockets' from Northumberland Fusiliers, 350 of the Royal ence". Did "all" include the Maltesie popula­ the political lines were always drawn. lenged power, wealth and munificence of the Malta" turned out to watch it. For once, the remark on the standard of Maltese journalism eventually went to Lawson Johnston, the mil­ various points surrounding the harbour, but Garrison Artillery (Central) and 300 of the tion? If it did, the feeling must liave been The event also earned major resonance in British empire'. government levied a fee on spectators who of the times. The reporters, both in English lionaire inventor of Bovril. It was only fair that mainly from Corradino Hill. Hundreds of same artillery (Oriental). Another 100 of the entirely one-sided. the international press. The British Navy and The Duke arrived in Malta on the Ophir, a wanted a good viewpoint and guaranteed seat­ and Italian, wrote almost im;Peccable PGOSe, Langtry, who for years had amused the Prince other fireworks later "soared to a not insignif­ RMA were deployed on StAngelo's point. On leaving Grand Harbour the royal couple Army Illustrated featured it over twq issues, refurbished liner, on March 25, three months ing. At the Upper Barakka, admission cost ls. with unconcealed literary ampitions. Nothing of Wales, should now see her former boat icant height and then exploded noisily, return­ Every.man had a Bengal flare which he was sent a telegram of thanks: "We appreciate pro­ _, once with a two-page spread, and so did the after his grandmother, Queen Victoria, died 6d, at the Lower Barakka the entrance ticket routine or let's get it over with; on the contrary, amuse his son. If it was any comfort to him, ing to earth in a dazzling rain of fire and stars... to ignite at a prearranged signal-a blue rocket foundly the splendid welcome accorded to us French Armee et Marine, both picture journals and his father became King Edward VII. set you back one third of that. Other vantage a good command of idiomatic turns of phtase. the Duke of Cornwall's father had not cheated to these were added the bangs of the petards fired from HMS Renown, where the royal cou­ by the Mediterranean Fleet". No mention of that targeted the armed forces- interestingly, Numerous public and private engagements points were free, first-come, first-served. It's as if the reporters were entering an essay on his mother on that boat. that sounded like cannon fire and the hurrahs ple were dining with high dignitaries from the Malta and of the Maltese. Those did hot count, in the French paper, the army comes before the crowded the royals' stay in Malta, among oth­ Immense crowds turned out, lining all th2 competition, daunted by the tmeat of fastidi­ Get a taste of the Chronicle's prose: the of the soldiers who lined the bastions". services and from Malta, before returning to n-:lw, ~id they? navy, while in hearts-of-oak Britain, the navy ers, an official visit to the naval dockyard, a bastions overlooking Grand Harbour, medal­ ous judges. Of. course, the prose may today strange glowing monsters, aquatic and terres­ By all accounts, the fireworks for this occa­ the Ophir. Another 500 rockets were let off ! takes precedence. grand children's rally at the Floriana granaries, weary overlords and natives elbowing for the seem emphatic or rhetorical. J3etter empfiasis trial and amphibious which glided noiselessly, sion proved impressive and extravagant. The from Corradino Hill, concurrently with the Petty Officer Harry Price, present through­ to which boys and girls were carted from all frontline. According to the Malta "from 8pm, than sloppiness, methinks. 1 in and out, through the great ships, seeming press does not disclose who supplied them: personal Bengal flares which each of the over- Acknowledgements I out, described and even recorded the event in over Malta (from Mellieha, on ambulances) to huge crowds overflowed to the bastions over­ The organisers planned the whole pageant to gaze at them with wonder and to sail away Maltese artisans or· British factories? A pre­ 2,000 soldiers ignited. Thanks to Maroma Camilleri! of the water colour,_in his chronicle of The Royal ensure that 6,000 young colonial throats war­ looking the harbour, the Upper and Lower around the British fleet, the mightiest war from them in astonishment. There were great vious royal visit to Malta, that of the Prince What was the moment of departure like?' National Library and Leonard Callus at the Tour, 1901, which remained manuscript but bled God Save The King in unison at the dip of Barakkas, on the waterfront, and there was no machine the world had ever seen. In Grand leviathans with up cast, gleaming, threatening of Wales in 1867, should have taught the "As the Ophir, still in a state of brilliance, National Archives.

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