Toasts, Speeches, Allocution, Locum Tenens – some notes
Toasts – the detail
Each livery company will have their own customs and procedures regarding toasts,
but this note aims to set out some guidelines on the subject.
Broadly speaking the following are the likely toasts at a formal livery dinner or
banquet:
Loyal Toast – The Queen
Second Loyal Toast – The Other Members of the Royal Family
Civic Toast – The Lord Mayor
The Guests
The Worshipful Company etc, and the Master.
Taking each in turn:
Loyal Toast – The Queen
Always the first of the toasts, and correctly should not be pre-announced by the
Beadle or Toastmaster, who will simply gavel firmly and loudly to achieve silence.
[Should the beadle/toastmaster be briefed to call for silence and ask the company to
stand (which is not the strictly correct procedure), then on no account should he
mention the master – eg Pray silence for the Master. This is likely to then lead to an
entirely inappropriate round of applause for the master!]
Whereupon, without preamble or introduction, the Master will rise and simply say
The Queen.
There then follow three possible scenarios:
Musicians play the National Anthem, and guests sing the words.
Musicians play the National Anthem, and guests remain silent.
No Musicians present
If there are musicians, a decision should be made in advance as to whether the
assembled company should sing the National Anthem. If it is the Company’s
custom/preference to sing, then IMMEDIATELY the words The Queen are
announced, the pianist/musician should strike up with a reasonably lengthy
introductory chord, to allow everyone to stand and clear their throats! (the
pianist/bandmaster will need to be firmly and clearly briefed accordingly).
Toasts, Speeches, Allocution, Locum Tenens – some notes
If it is not the Company practice to sing the National Anthem, then the musicians
should again start playing IMMEDIATELY after the words The Queen, but without
opening bars/chords.
In both these cases, the imperative for the musicians to start the National Anthem
immediately is to prevent the guests toasting and drinking before the Anthem, instead
of after.
On conclusion of the National Anthem, the Master should repeat the words The
Queen, and the toast follows.
If there are no musicians, then after the Master has announced The Queen, everyone
simply stands up and repeats The Queen.
It is City practice that everyone then sits down. However increasingly some
Companies choose to remain standing for the Second Loyal Toast (and this is now
deemed perfectly acceptable by many). If this is the case, then the Beadle should
immediately gavel whilst the company is still standing (and then proceed as below).
Second Loyal Toast – The Other Members of the Royal Family
As soon as everyone has sat down, and before the hubbub of conversation recommences, the Beadle gavels again for silence.
As before the Master then stands, and again without preamble, reads:
The Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, the Prince of Wales, the Duchess of
Cornwall, and The Other Members of the Royal Family.
Musicians (if present) then immediately play the first half of the National Anthem
(never sung), and the toast follows as above – The Royal Family.
Civic Toast – The Lord Mayor, the City of London Corporation and the Sheriffs
Several variations are possible, depending on whether or not the LM (or sheriffs) is
present, and on which order the speeches are to be given. It is customary for the
Master to propose this toast, and if he is not to be the first speaker, it is probably
easiest if the Civic Toast follows immediately after the second loyal toast.
In this scenario, the procedure should follow exactly as for the toast above:
. . . . before the hubbub of conversation re-commences, the Beadle gavels again for
silence.
The Master then stands, and again without preamble, reads:
The Lord Mayor, the City of London Corporation and the Sheriffs
Note: if no sheriffs are present, this last part should be omitted. If the LM is not
present, then the entire Civic Toast may be omitted, if it is not the Company practice
(eg if the main purpose of the dinner is related to your industry or some non civic
theme).
However, if the Master is to be the first to speak, and the LM is present, then he can
sensibly conclude his speech with the Civic toast. Bear in mind that it can be very
Toasts, Speeches, Allocution, Locum Tenens – some notes
helpful to any speaker to be given a toast with which to bring his/her speech to an
end. But if the Master is welcoming the Guests, then he may sensibly wish to end by
proposing the toast to the Guests – see below. Two consecutive toasts at this stage
would be odd.
The Guests
This toast invariably comes at the end of a speech of welcome to the guests, which
will usually have been delivered by a warden or liverymen. In this writer’s view, it is
sensibly the first of the speeches, allowing the introduction of the guest of honour
(who, again in this writer’s view, would go second).
The formal toast to the guests is normally given just by the members of the Company, and
hence the proposer should make this explicitly clear at the end of his speech: I ask all
Tiddlywink Makers to rise (pause) and drink a toast to (flourish), Our Guests!
thus incl freemen, clerk, chaplain etc who may not be simply liverymen.
The Worshipful Company of Tiddlywink Makers, and the Master.
This toast will usually be given by the guest of honour (principal speaker) at the conclusion
of his speech. There will be individual company variations “coupled with the name of the
Master, Mr John Smith”, or “May it flourish root and branch etc”.
Again, the proposer should make clear who is to rise and drink, and the correct answer is
probably everyone, including the host liverymen, but excepting the Master.
I ask you (all) to rise (pause) and drink a toast to (flourish), The Worshipful Company of
Tiddlywink Makers, and the Master!
Occasionally (and time-consumingly) this toast is split in two – company and master. This
may be where there is some company tradition whereby someone stands at the very end to
offer this speechless toast to eg the Master/Company.
Notes:
Of course there may be other toasts on special occasions, or with special guests or interest
groups.
The exact wording for beadles/toastmasters and toasters is best written down by the Clerk.
Those proposing toasts should do so in a way that does not require repetition by the
beadle/toastmaster, and he (the beadle) should be briefed not to do so – and the toast is . . .
No allocution is required before a toast.
Speeches – the basics
As above, each livery company will have its own traditions and practices, and these notes
only offer general guidance.
It has been said that good speeches can make a good livery dinner, whilst bad ones can ruin
the evening.
The most common criticism of a bad speech is that it was too long. This is not helped if
there are too many speeches.
Toasts, Speeches, Allocution, Locum Tenens – some notes
Typically speakers will be invited to speak for about 7-8 minutes, but even if they stick to
their brief, allowing for introductions, applause, laughter etc, 10 minutes may be a better
planning time. Hence three speeches are likely to last half an hour. If they are witty,
interesting or amusing, that’s fine. If they are not (and sadly this may often be the case), at
10 o’clock at night, that can seem a long time!
So a good template for a livery dinner may be to limit the speeches to three, and a logical
progression could be as follows:
Welcome the guests (concluding with a toast to the Guests)
Response by the principal guest (concluding with a toast to the Company)
Reply by the Master
If the Lord Mayor is present, then it would be sensible to consider him/her as the principal
guest (and main speaker), and not to invite another “guest speaker”.
[If the Master wishes to introduce the guests, of course that is his right, but a second speech
by the master is best avoided]
Of course variations to this order are acceptable.
Specifically, at a Civic Dinner, the Master may propose a silent (ie without speech) civic
toast (see above), to which the LM will logically reply. But an alternative could be for the
Civic toast to be proposed by the Master at the end of his speech.
All speakers need to be briefed, in writing. The main points to cover are what you wish
him/her to say (light/serious/industry/topic related), for how long you wish them to speak,
the allocution and toast, and most importantly TASTE! It is most often the high power
“celebratory” speaker who gets this wrong, and one suspects that is because they were
considered so experienced as not to need briefing! Remarks/jokes in doubtful or poor taste
are considered very bad form at City dinners, but it is amazing how many men are unaware
of this. Maybe they assume livery dinners are all male affairs, akin to the rugby club.
This guidance letter may best come to such people from the Master, who has probably
invited them in the first place, rather than from the Clerk.
Details about arrival and departure times, number of guests, running order of speeches etc
may also be helpfully included.
Advice:
Write it down, and then read it (but write words that flow naturally out of your mouth, and
practice to ensure it is not obvious you are reading).
Keep it short (7-8 minutes is quite long enough, less may be better)
If welcoming guests, AVOID reciting lists and CVs at all costs.
There is much other advice on this subject, but this note is intended simply to cover the
basics. The Livery Committee arrange an annual half day course on this each February.
Toasts, Speeches, Allocution, Locum Tenens – some notes
Allocution (or Preamble)
Ladies & Gentlemen covers most people, and Debretts Correct Form advises to keep it as
short as possible, without causing unnecessary offence. Paradoxically, the more you list, the
more likely you are to leave someone out. Host always comes first, and the Clerk will give
detailed wording. But Master, Wardens, My Lord Mayor, Your Excellencies [ambassadors
and high commissioners], (Your Grace), My Lord(s), Mr Alderman or Aldermen, Mr Sheriff
or Sheriffs, Ladies & Gentlemen should cover most.
If the guest of honour is not included in the list above, then he/she should be included by
their title (eg Mr President) immediately prior to Ladies & Gentlemen. This also applies to
eg the host master if you are using their hall (and he/she is present).
Thus, if for example there is no civic party (ie no Lord Mayor or Sheriffs), no dukes,
duchesses, or archbishops, and your principal guest is the Vice Chancellor of xx university,
an ambassador is amongst the guests, and the dinner is at Goldsmiths’ Hall, and their prime
warden is present, the allocution would be:
Master, Wardens, Your Excellency, My Lord(s), Mr Alderman or Aldermen, Vice
Chancellor, Prime Warden, Ladies & Gentlemen.
The allocution need not be slavishly repeated again and again (in general no one speaker
should find himself saying it more than once, including the beadle, who may revert simply
to Ladies & Gentlemen when appropriate (which it usually is).
If royalty are attending, seek advice.
Lord Mayors Locum Tenens (LMLT)
The rules about when an LMLT is made available to stand in for the LM are
occasionally obscure, but in essence when the LM is abroad, but has earlier accepted
an invitation elsewhere, an LMLT may be substituted, on the instigation of the
Mansion House. The LMLT will always be a senior alderman who has already served
as LM. Livery company hosts should not choose their own LMLT.
An alternative is a Representative Lord Mayor (RLM) – here the rules are less
proscriptive, and the person nominated does not have quite the same status. Broadly,
the LMLT has the same legal and protocol standing as the LM.
This note is principally concerned with how to refer to an LMLT in the allocution
(also relevant to Beadles and MC’s)
Debretts Correct Form, p183 explains that all LM's are Worshipful, except,
explicitly, London, Westminster and York who are styled the Right Honourable
"since time immemorial". (more recently also Cardiff and Belfast by grant of the
Sovereign).
So far so good. Turning to p184, the heading is Deputy Lord Mayor.
Toasts, Speeches, Allocution, Locum Tenens – some notes
"The rules for addressing a Lord Mayor apply, except that he or she is styled neither
Right Honourable nor Right Worshipful, and the verbal address is [simply] Deputy
Lord Mayor"
It goes on:
"There is no Deputy Lord Mayor of (the City of) London. An alderman deputising for
the Lord Mayor of London is styled Lord Mayor locum tenens." [guidance on
pronunciation below]
Para ends.
Whilst Debretts does not explicitly repeat that thus LMLT are styled neither Right
Honourable nor Right Worshipful it would seem a very logical deduction, and has
the happy added benefit of neatly ducking the argument Honourable or Worshipful?
And a further attraction of reducing or maintaining the word count: either "The Right
Honourable the Lord Mayor" (when LM present), OR The Lord Mayor Locum
Tenens" (when an aldermen LMLT substitutes).
The logical verbal deduction would then be Lord Mayor locum tenens, but it is
suggested only a minimum usage.
Debretts also offers some brief guidance on LM consorts: "A lady Lord Mayor's
husband is so styled [Lord Mayor's Consort] but is addressed by his name."
Locum Tenens – pronunciation. (this guidance results from advice from a Latin
teacher and Cambridge classics scholar)
Locum (low) tenens (10). (long O in first word and short first E in tenens)
When quizzed about the first word, locum, the classicist explained that the word had
effectively passed into the English language (think temporary doctors and the like)
and the accepted pronunciation was low cum, regardless of Latin derivation.
As to tenens, he (and a Latin dictionary), simply say Tea Nens is just plain wrong.
14th March 2014
Nigel R Pullman
Livery Committee
36 Ladbroke Grove, London W11 2PA
020 7792 3410 (Home)
07769 656556 (Mobile)
nrpullman@btinternet.com
http://www.cityoflondon.gov.uk/livery
http://nigelpullman.info
http://www.liverycommitteecourses.org