Naming
Robert Baden-Powell was a famous soldier who fought in the Boer War in South Africa at the beginning of the 20th century. During the Siege of Mafeking, when the town and British soldiers were besieged by Boer soldiers, B-P noticed how the young boys made themselves useful by carrying messages for the soldiers. When he came home, he decided to put some of his Scouting ideas into practice to see if they would be any good for young boys and took 21 boys camping on Brownsea Island, near Poole in Dorset. The camp was a success, and B-P wrote his book Scouting for Boys, covering tracking, signaling, cooking etc. Soon boys began to organize themselves into Patrols and Troops and called themselves "Boy Scouts". Girls bought the book as well and formed themselves into Patrols of Girl Scouts.
In 1909 there was a Boy Scout Rally at Crystal Palace in London. Among all the thousands of Boy Scouts there was also a group of girls from Pinkneys Green, in Berkshire, who spoke to B-P and asked him to let girls be Scouts. B-P decided to take action.
In those days, for girls to camp and hike was not common, as this extract from the Scout newspaper shows: "If a girl is not allowed to run, or even hurry, to swim, ride a bike, or raise her arms above her head, how can she become a Scout?"
B-P's career had been in the British Army. There was an Indian regiment called the Khyber Guides who served on the north-west frontier of India. B-P persuaded the girl "Scouts" that Guides was a very special name of which they could be proud. So, in 1910 the first Girl Guides began.
Since 1910 Guides have spread and there are now millions of Guides worldwide. The World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts (WAGGGS) was formed to link together Guides. In some countries the girls preferred to call themselves ‘Girl Scouts’.
(Reference: 'The Guide Handbook', London: The Guide Association, 1996)
The first Guide Company was 1st Pinkneys Green Guides (Miss Baden Powell's Own), who still exist in Pinkneys Green, Maidenhead in the English county of Berkshire.
Read more about this topic: Girl Guiding And Girl Scouting
Famous quotes containing the word naming:
“Husband,
who am I to reject the naming of foods
in a time of famine?”
—Anne Sexton (1928–1974)
“The night is itself sleep
And what goes on in it, the naming of the wind,
Our notes to each other, always repeated, always the same.”
—John Ashbery (b. 1927)
“See, see where Christ’s blood streams in the firmament!
One drop would save my soul—half a drop! ah, my Christ!—
Ah, rend not my heart for naming of my Christ!—
Yet will I call on him!—O, spare me, Lucifer!—
Where is it now? ‘T is gone; and see where God
Stretcheth out his arm, and bends his ireful brows!—
Mountains and hills, come, come and fall on me,
And hide me from the heavy wrath of God!”
—Christopher Marlowe (1564–1593)