The official Coronation Proclamation which will be read by town criers across the country at varying times over the Coronation weekend has been released.
The proclamation was written by Peter White and was selected from a competition for Criers that was entered by Whitehaven's town crier Marc Goodwin.
Town Criers were for want of a better description the ancient version of social media, newspapers, and TV, and their numbers have dwindled over the years. Whitehaven's crier is the only one in Cumberland.
Marc took over the red robes and bell from Rob Romano in 2021 and according to Louise Savage one of the committee members who look after the ancient office he has been fantastic.
She said: "Marc has taken on the ancient role and moulded it to fit his unique and fabulous character and we were lucky to find him."
The crier is a Civic post but it's an independently run office based in Richardson's of Whitehaven and the rest of the committee are Marc himself, Marlene Jewell the clerk of Whitehaven Town Council, and former crier, Rob Romano.
Apart from a loud voice, the tools of a town criers trade are the bell and scroll.
The bell is an obvious means of gaining the attention of a crowd, although occasionally a drum or a horn may have been used.
The scroll was a convenient way of ensuring that it was easy to read straight along the lines of a text, by rolling the scroll as it is read.
After the proclamation had been read, the scroll was often nailed to a post for the more literate members of the populace to read at their leisure, hence the expression 'to post a notice'.
The town crier's trademark call of 'Oyez! Oyez! Oyez!' is derived from the old French expression for "Listen!" or "Hear Ye!". Traditionally, town criers finish their proclamations with "God Save The Queen! (or King)”.
The role was once so important for communicating news and it was a treasonable offence to interfere with their duties.
If anyone would like to hear the proclamation being read, Marc will be doing the shout at St Nicholas Gardens at 5.30 pm on Thursday, May 4, and on King Street Whitehaven on Coronation day itself.
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