History of Scouting and Guiding
Birth of Scouting
History of scouting commences with a British
Army officer, Robert Stephenson Smyth Baden-Powell.
It is not merely one act or initiative of Baden-Powell
that led to formation of Scouting but a number of
events, prevailing
Conditions in England at that point of time, and
Influences which attracted the attentions of Baden-
Powell to draw up a plan to be of service to society,
particularly the young boys.
We shall explore them one by one. These influences are not presented
In a sequential order.
Influence 1: while stationed in Lucknow, India as an Army Officer in 1876,
Baden-Powell (B.P) found that his men did not know basic first aid
Or outdoor survival skills. They were not able to follow the
trial, tell directions, read danger signs, or find food and water.
Hoping to teach his men resourcefulness, adaptability and the
leadership qualities demanded by frontier conditions, in 1896,
Baden-Powell began to write a small handbook Aids to
scouting.
Influence 2: In 1896 a rebellion broke out in Matabeleland or Rhodesia as
we call it. On 19th May 1896 B.P.
Arrived at Cape Town on a new assignment which he
afterwards called “the best adventure of my life”. He
was the chief of staff of Sir Frederick Carrington in
the operations against the rebelling tribes of
Rhodesia’s Matabeleland. On 11th April, 1900 the Boers bombarded
Mafeking for four hours. On 16th May, an advance party of relieving force
rode into Mafeking. Amongst them was Major Baden-Powell.Baden-Powell became world famous during this South African
Boer War, He left the small town of Mafeking during a 217-days siege.
The relief was hailed with delight throughout the empire. As soon as the news of
the Relief was brought to Queen Victoria, she had the
Following telegram sent to B.P.:
‘i and my whole Empire greatly rejoice at the relief of Mafeking
after the splendid defence made by you through all these months. I
heartily congratulate you and all under you, military and civil,
British and native, for the heroism and devotion you have shown.’
Influence 3: The boys of Mafeking from nine years up were organised into the
Mafeking Cadet Crops, which was eventually recognized as an official part of
Mafeking defences. They took over all manner of duties such as message-carrying,
orderly work in the field kitchens, anything that could free a trained man for
combat duties. B.P. had noticed how useful these boys were and how they
responded to responsibility being put to them. The courage and resourcefulness
shown by the boys in the corps of messengers at Mafeking made a lasting
impression on him.
Influence 4: when B.P... Returned to London as a national hero, he was promoted
to Lieutenant General. In England, he found that his little handbook written for
soldiers was being used to teach observation and wood craft to members of Boys’
clubs and boys’ Brigade. It had captured the imagination of English boys and was
widely read. B.P. felt the need to rewrite the book especially for boys.
Influence 5: on the 30th April 1904, Baden-Powell inspected the
Annual Drill Inspection and Review of the boys’ Brigade on the
occ asion of the organisations
Coming-of-age. The Drill Inspection and Review was an
impressive affair, with seven thousand youngsters performing
before eleven thousand ‘ticket-holder onlookers’. As the boys
marched off the field, Baden-Powell turned to congratulate the
Boys’ Brigade founder William Alexander Smith. He also added
that the brigade to his way of thinking should have many
more members than it had-and would have ten times the
number with more variety and attraction in the training.
Without a moment’s hesitation, Smyth agreed and
instantly challenged Baden-Powell to develop a
programme that would provide that added ‘variety
and attraction’. He specifically suggested that it
might be done through a boys’ version of B.P. small
book, “Aids to Scouting”.
Influence 6: At the end of July 1906, Baden-Powell received
a small book by mail titled: The Birch-bark Roll of the
woodcraft Indians written by Ernest Thompson Seton, a
British citizen living in the United States. He was very much
impressed with the content of the book. On
30th October,
the 46-year-old naturalist-writer and the 49-year old general
launched together. The day after their meeting, Baden-
Powell sent Seton his Aids to Scouting and a copy of the
material he had prepared earlier that year regarding his
ideas on ‘Scouting For Boys’. Seton Secured B.P’s promise of
assistance in revising the Campcraft section of The Brichbark
Roll for sixth printing and Baden-Powell got Seton’s
permission to use some of the games of the woodcraft
Indians in his programme.
Influence 7: A report of conditions in the British capital, just published after
exhaustive study, revealed the shocking fact that 30% of the population of
London –a city that prided itself on being the richest in the world –were
suffering from malnutrition. Another report showed that of more than two
million school boys, only about a quarter of a million were under any kind of
‘good’ influence after school hours. Poverty, squalor, overcrowding,
marginalization, exploitation, crime, etc., were prevalent in the poor areas of
London. This bothered many especially Baden-Powell who returned to
London in 1903 after spending several years abroad as part of his military
career. He could not believe that nearly a third of London’s population was
under-nourished.
He was shocked with the fact that alcoholism, vandalism and crime rate
were becoming increasingly rampant.
B.P. termed these as “failing”. He believed that such
“failing” sap the very foundation of society, thus
placing it in danger and compromising its future. Such
harsh realities prompted B.P. to offer something
concrete to such dehumanizing situation and
particularly to young boys of country.
B.P. believed that is was necessary to “develop character” to tackle such
problems. The educational institutions failed to do this
transmitted knowledge. He basically believed that “education exclusion of
bad”. He therefore proposed a twin plan – a purpose
by improving the individuals of which it is composed, and a method
intended to “draw out” rather than “impress upon”.
Baden-Powell was determined to give his Boy Scout Scheme a thoro
test before he developed the final details. Since one of its main
characteristics was to be adventuring outdoors the only way of doing this
testing was by camping with a group of boys. This, in itself, reserved almost
exclusively for the military at home and abroad, and for explorers and
sportsmen overseas. Now, for the first time, it would be made generally
available to British boys on their home grounds.
The result crystallised in the form of an experimental camp in Brownsea
Island, in Pool Harbour, Dorset, England in
August 1907 organised by Baden
wanted to see how far his scheme would
interest boys of different upbringing and
education and therefore recruited his 20
campers from various walks of life. Some
were from the slums, shops or farms.
To the boys, the Brownsea camp became a thrilling adventure. They were
having fun and excitement. They were not aware of the significance of
what was happening – that their working and playing together would
eventually result in millions of other boys sharing in the game.
and the scout craft skill they learned. They were organised into patrols.
They played games, took hikes, cooked without utensils, learned stalking
and pioneering skills. In the evenings, around the magic of a campfire,
they were spellbound by B.P.’s stories of his army adventures. Scouting
had begun in earnest and was destined to spread around the world
B.P. himself considered the camp a success. It had shown him the
soundness of patrol system. It had demonstrated the appeal of camping
and outdoor activities to boys of all classes. It had established that the
most effective way of learning scout craft was through practices and
games. It had proved that, when put ‘on their honour,’ boys would do
Within a few days of his return B.P. began to receive letters from the boys
and their parents. The boys expressed themselves enthusiastically the
marvellous time they had experienced. The reactions of the parents were
of greatest importance to Baden-Powell. They had trusted their boys to
his care for an experiment. The parents felt that their boys had not only
picked up useful knowledge but had become more resourceful and more
independent.
After the Brownsea camp, B.P. rewrote his earlier handbook and called it
“Scouting for Boys”. He incorporated many ideas from two American
programmes for boys: the woodcraft Indians, and the sons of Daniel
Boone. Scouting for Boys was published as a six – part series of magazine
articles. People liked the series so well that it was published as a book
in1908.
Spurred by Baden-Powell’s enthusiasm and personal magnetism, Boy
Scout patrols started to appear in each community in which the
General had stopped on his countrywide tour to describe his Boys Scout
Scheme. By the time the sixth and final part of the book made its
appearance at the end of March, Boy Scouting had swept like a tidal
wave across the length and breadth of United Kingdom.
The General doubt that is likely to arise is as to when exactly scouting
was born. The conduct of the first experimental camp by Baden-Powell
at Brownsea Island in 1907 is considered to be the birth of Scouting.
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