Great in courage! Great in glory!
Dear to Freedom's tongue and pen!
If the world combine to brave thee,
English hearts will dare the fight,
English hands will glow to save thee,
Strong for England and the right!"[[44]]
The Red Ensign, represented in Fig. [97], is the special flag of the ordinary merchantman. "The Red Ensign"—lays down the "Merchant Shipping (Colours) Act"—"usually worn by merchant ships, without any defacement or modification whatsoever, is hereby declared to be the proper national colour of all ships and boats belonging to any subject of Her Majesty, except in the case of Her Majesty's ships or boats, or in the case of any other ship or boat for the time being allowed to wear any other national colours, in pursuant of a Warrant from Her Majesty or from the Admiralty."
This Act goes on to say that any ship belonging to any subject of the Queen shall, on a signal being made to her by one of Her Majesty's ships, or on entering or leaving any foreign port, hoist the red ensign, and if of fifty tons gross tonnage or upwards, on entering or leaving any British port also, or incur a penalty not exceeding one hundred pounds. A merchantman may also fly the Union Jack from the bowsprit, but if so the flag, as in Fig. [104], must have a broad white border.
The earliest form of red ensign is seen in Fig. [66]. In a picture at Hampton Court, representing the embarkation of William of Orange for England, in the year 1688, his ship is shown as wearing two flags, one a red one with St. George's Cross in the canton, as in Fig. [66], while the other, also red, has the Union Flag in the canton. We get, therefore, a regular sequence of red ensigns: that with St. George's Cross alone in the corner next the masthead; that with the Union of St. George and St. Andrew—this picture at Hampton Court being the earliest example known of its use; and, thirdly, that of to-day with the crosses of St. George, St. Andrew, and St. Patrick.
Some little degree of flag-lore is valuable not only to the soldier, the seaman, or the traveller, but to everyone. For want of this knowledge, ludicrous and serious mistakes are often made. Discussing these matters with a man of good general knowledge, we found that he had a notion that there were two kinds of "Union Jack," one, that had most red in it, being the Army flag; while the other, in which blue preponderated, was the flag of the Navy! Outside a large provincial theatre we saw a conspicuous notice indicating that the piece then running was entitled "The Old Flag." To emphasise this was a picture of a square of British linesmen surrounded by