Show GLORY surpassing SOLOMONS r bondono lord mayor la a torreon Gor reon cr tore when arrayed in hla bobai the fountain of municipal honor in england undoubtedly springs from the guildhall london which justly claims to be accounted the most ancient of our municipal halls seeing that the lord mayors of the last eight centuries are with justice assumed to have had prototypes in the koman prefect and the saxon fort reye or port grave g rave for a considerable number of years says the london telegraph the robes of the lord mayor the court of aldermen and the common councillors councilors counci lors have been settled with a precision that none cave the most reckless of innovators would presume to disturb the lord mayor himself has his gold robe or the occasion of the annual guildhall banquet and lor the times when he proceeds in state either to the new law courts or to the houses of parliament the aldermen have their scarlet gowns the sheriffs their distinctive and very handsome robes and chains while the common coun cifors rejoice in gowns called mazar ines it being generally understood that mazarine is a term for a dark blue color although according to some lexicographers mazarine also means a drinking vessel and an old way of dressing fowls then again when the sovereign comes into the city the lord mayor is bound to don a robe of crimson or purple velvet trimmed with ermine at the time of his investiture he wears a massive gold chain but when he is honored by reelection he wears two chains the mace of silver gilt by a royal crown and the imperial arms is carried before the may or by the authority of the charter of edward III while the city possesses no less than four swords one called the pearl presented by queen bess when she opened the first royal exchange and so called from its being richly set with pearls the biord precedes the chief magistrate on all occasions of rejoicing and festivity the sword of state is carried before the lord mayor as an emblem of his sovereignty within the city proper the black sword is used on fast days in lent and at the death of any member of the royal family while the fourth sword is that placed close to the lord mayors chair at the central criminal court |