The Three Swords of Justice and Mercy.
The Gold Spurs of St. George.
The Bracelets.
The Coronation Ring.
The Ampulla or Golden Eagle.
The Anointing Spoon.
These are all borne in procession to the altar, and there, with the exception of the Swords, each article is handed to the Archbishop of Canterbury, who in his turn hands them to the Dean of Westminster, and by that prelate they are each in due order placed upon the altar. When the ceremony of coronation commences, the first emblems used are the Ampulla and Spoon.
THE KING’S ROYAL SCEPTRE AND THE JEWELLED STATE SWORD
The Dean of Westminster pours a little of the oil from the Ampulla into the Anointing Spoon and takes it to the Archbishop. The Archbishop dips his first two fingers into the oil, and with the oil that adheres to them anoints the King, first on the head, then on the breast bared for the occasion, and thirdly on the palms of both hands. In each case the anointing is made in the form of a cross. This ceremony of the anointing of Kings is of very ancient origin, as may be gathered from Bible history. Thousands of years ago it was the custom to pour oil on the King’s head and thus anoint him King over his people. What the origin of the custom was is not quite clear, but in the course of centuries it has become a recognized and indispensable part of the ceremony. Indeed, so indispensable, that there is on record a case where a Queen who had always been obliged to wear a wig was so impressed with the importance of the oil actually reaching the skin of her head that she had a small trap-door cut in the top of her wig so that the holy oil might assuredly reach its destination. In olden days the oil was literally poured on to the King’s head, so that it ran down his beard and must have considerably damaged his clothes. In another place[[8]] is mentioned the old horn comb, used to rearrange the King’s hair, perchance disordered by a too enthusiastic archbishop, which was thrown away by the Commonwealth.