Lord Baden Powell 

(Act in Harmony for Harmony )

Lord Baden Powell’s foray to begin a movement for boys is well known. It is part of Scouting history that when serving as a British military officer who saw service in England, Afghanistan, Ghana, India, Malta, South Africa and Zimbabwe, Lord Baden Powell received much recognition and fame. Of special significance is the never-tiring lore of the Siege of Mafeking in South Africa. While serving as Garrison Commander of Mafeking during the South African War, the town was besieged by the Boer Army for about seven months. It was lifted only when a British relief column came to their aid in the summer of May 1900.

It was at this moment of tiresome agony, that Lord Edward Cecil – the son of the incumbent British Prime Minister, Lord Salisbury – began to assemble a ‘troop’ of youngsters aged 12-15. This was to make sure that those adults, who could be allocated soldierly duties, would be able to take up arms in case of necessity. These boys handpicked to be messengers, errand-runners, lookouts, sentries, orderlies, scouts impressed Lord Baden Powell, that he would later on in his handbook Scouting for Boys [1908, p.10] recollect them as an efficient troop full of pluck and resilience, jolly, smart and a useful lot.

A study published on Baden Powell’s life [Sharma 2003, p.90 and Jones 2004, pp.59-60] states that it was that war of 1900-01 that had taught Baden Powell to further respect the worth of self-reliance, independence of judgment, ability to live with nature, and using of one’s own strengths to help one another. For Baden Powell, fitness was of prime importance, but not the only characteristic needed. He believed firmly, thanks to his experience with the young lads in the Boer War, that the exemplary resourcefulness of the ‘natural’ youths of South Africa could be promulgated for every young lad/youth. He was convinced that the inherent virtues of a youth could be developed through wise leadership and not through the imposition of blind discipline. In effect, he is said to have exclaimed: “we teach not so much by precept any instruction as by personal leadership and example.”

 When one considers Lord Baden Powell’s life, one cannot but ponder his zest to be able to equip the young so as to create a better world. In his Scouting for Boys, Baden Powell included the sub-title: A Handbook for Instruction in Good Citizenship. Further on, in his Scoutmastership Baden Powell would describe Scouting as “a game in which elder brothers [sisters] can give their younger brothers [sisters] a healthy environment and encourage then to healthy activities such as will help them to develop citizenship.” In the same book, Baden Powell describes Scouting as an answer to newness, renewal and a building up of physical selfdiscipline. He lists the national inefficiencies, stating that irreligion, indiscipline, irresponsibility, want of patriotism, selfishness, corruption, disregard of others, cruelty, crimes of violence, lunacy, thriftlessness, loafing, showing off, shirking, low moral standards, gambling, illegitimacy, and disease are remedied through physical health education [Scoutmastership 1920, p.23] This when read with his “our effort is not so much to discipline the boys, as to teach them to discipline themselves,” is such an eye-opener for any scout, guide or leader/trainer.

For Baden Powell, Scouting had immense possibilities, especially in the field of international cooperation. He writes that Scouting makes possible: “(a) The making of the individual into an efficient and happy citizen, (b) The harnessing of the individual to work for the community, (c) The promotion of International goodwill [...] as a practical step towards permanent peace.” Of course, he was also concerned that the strengthening of the bond of the British Commonwealth would happen through this movement of brotherhood. (Scoutmastership 1920, pp.21-22)