Updated 04/08/2003 23:52

An Interview with B-P

Ahoy, Shipmates:

Your roving Sea Scout Action News Reporter here with yet another piece of investigative journalism.

A skeptical reader in Walla Walla, Washington wrote in to say, “Dear Sea Scout Action News:  I’ve heard you say that Lord Robert Baden-Powell, the Founder of Scouting, was a Sea Scout first.  I simply can’t believe this.  You’ve recently reported that the National Supply Division is making plaid Apprentice patches, and anybody knows no organization would be that silly, so you must be making your stuff up.”

Well, dear reader, Action News loves a challenge, so we set out to interview Lord B-P himself and get to the bottom of this issue.  We caught up with his Lordship at the London Army-Navy Club, and after getting past the doorman disguised as a shoe-shine boy, we confronted the Founder himself.

ACTION NEWS:  Your Lordship, our Sea Scout readers would like to know if it’s true you were really a Sea Scout before you were a land Scout.

B-P:  Young man, I see you’re a Sea Scout - just call me B-P.

ACTION NEWS:  Thank you, sir.  Now B-P, were you really a Sea Scout first?

B-P:  Quite true.

ACTION NEWS:  Sir, as the Founder of Scouting, your word is your bond, and a Scout’s honor is to be trusted.  But there’s a skeptical reader in Walla Walla, Washington who I think will want more proof than my just saying you told me so.

B-P:  Is Walla Walla somewhere near Vancouver in the Dominion of Canada?

ACTION NEWS:  I’m really not sure, sir.  In any event, how can I prove you were a Sea Scout first?

B-P:  Is this really a big issue back there in the States?

ACTION NEWS:  Well, sir, we Sea Scouts like to tease the dickens out of the land Scouts, and if we could say you were a Sea Scout first, we could really rub it in to our shore-bound friends.

B-P:  Quite so.  Well tell your reader in Walla Walla, wherever that is, to read my books and he’ll find the answer right there in black and white.

ACTION NEWS:  Thank you, sir.  I’ll tell him.  Is there anything I can do for you before I go?

B-P:  Since you mention it, I was reading on the front page of the London Times today that the American Boy Scout National Supply Division has come up with PLAID Apprentice patches.  I rang my brother Warington on the “telley” just now to see if this was indeed true.  Warington said no organization could be that silly, so this must be a “put on”.  Young man, do you know the truth of the matter?

ACTION NEWS:  Yes, sir, I do, but I doubt you or your brother would believe me.

B-P:  Go ahead young man - give it a go.

ACTION NEWS:  Well, sir (gulp) Yes, it’s true!

At this point the Founder was overcome with a fit of apoplexy, and the remainder of his interview is not fit to print in polite society.  However, on the subject of B-P’s experiences as a Sea Scout, for the skeptic in Walla Walla, and for all other skeptics out there, Sea Scout Action News is pleased to refer you to the words of the Founder himself at http://ship25bsa.org/Sea_Scout_History/bp_was_a_sea_scout_first.html .

This piece of investigative journalism was brought to you by YORKSHIRE Brand Hard Tack Sea Biscuits - they’re one tough cookie!

Now back to the studio ........

VOICE:  Are we off the air now?

ANOTHER VOICE:  You always ask that.  Yes, I’m sure this time.

FIRST VOICE;  Great.  Pass me one of those delicious Sea Scout cookies.

STATIC;  Bzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz..........

 

  Sea Biscuits eaten since 8 April 2003
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