What is the ‘Last Post’ and where did it come from?

Canadians will soon gather across the country to remember and honour those who have paid the ultimate sacrifice in the military service of this country. Commemorative services will be held in venues large and small, and as the clock strikes eleven, the mournful strains of “Last Post” will be played.

The tune is evocative and instantly recognizable, certainly to anyone who has grown up in this country, or any Commonwealth country, and has likely heard it from childhood. Its association is immediate. What is this tune and where does it come from?

Gregory Kennedy is a professor and dean of arts at Brandon University. He is a published historian with a specialty in the history of early Canada, especially New France and the French Atlantic World. His most current book is “Lost in the Crowd: Acadian Soldiers of Canada’s First World War” (McGill-Queen’s University Press, 2024). He shares some insights.

“Music is a fundamental part of military culture. It has been for a long time,” Kennedy said.

“I served, myself, for 26 years in the army reserve. I attended many ceremonies, and I certainly had friends and comrades who passed away in service. You know, it’s a deeply meaningful thing.”

He said that, originally, the playing of “Last Post” was a British tradition, dating back to the late 18th century. The Last Post is a bugle (or trumpet) call, sounded to signal the end of the watch for the day for military forces in the field or in garrison.

Even after the First World War, Canada fought largely as a British force. As a British tradition, “Last Post” would have been observed by British troops throughout the 19th century in what is now Canada. Kennedy said it would have been observed at the Halifax Citadel, Fort Henry in Kingston, or anywhere that British garrisons were contributing to colonial defence.

Its more commemorative use dates to the aftermath of the First World War, when in 1919, King George V proposed the marking of Armistice Day in a message sent across Great Britain and the British world, the various dominions, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa.

“Today, the ‘Last Post’ has come to have a greater symbolic meaning as something that is played during memorial services and at Remembrance Day as a more figurative end of watch or end of service for soldiers who have been killed in service,” Kennedy said.

The composer of the tune is not known, although Kennedy said it probably went through different iterations before being “established.” What we do know for sure is the name of the man who composed the words that today follow the playing of Last Post: Laurence Binyon, an English poet. During commemoration, listeners will stand to attention for “Last Post,” which is followed by the reading of this stanza:

“They shall grow not old as we that are left to grow old;

Age shall not weary them nor the years condemn.

At the going down of the sun and in the morning,

We will remember them.”

These lines come from the poem “For the Fallen.” The stanza is known as the “Ode of Remembrance.”

“It was composed in 1914, in the early days of the First World War. Binyon was writing for British journalism and writing war poetry in the early months of that conflict. And of course, ‘the going down of the sun’ and the ‘Last Post,’ with its original intention of marking the end of the day makes sense,” he said.

The reading of Binyon’s exhortation is followed by two minutes of silence.

These are the requirements as specified by The Canadian Armed Forces Manual of Drill and Ceremonial, Chapter 11, Sec. 1, paragraph 9:

“During the silence, no musical instrument shall be played, including bagpipes, as this detracts from the purpose of the event which is the quiet reflection on the service and sacrifice of the dead. Following the two-minute period of silence, ‘Rouse’ shall be sounded, after which the official wreaths shall be laid. During the laying of wreaths, the parade shall be in the stand at ease position.”

Once the silence has been observed, a new tune is heard.

“The other thing that has become standard in modern ceremonies is the playing of the ‘Reveille’ (‘Rouse’). That is the tune traditionally played at the beginning of the day. And as the exhortation said: we remember them at the going down of the sun, but also in the morning. It’s an affirmation of how, not just that life goes on, but that the memory and the spirit of those comrades carries on as well,” said Kennedy.

While Remembrance Day was always taken very seriously, Kennedy said it is interesting to note that in 1921 a Canadian Act of Parliament was passed to formalize its observance; however, that same act also established Thanksgiving as a holiday.

“From 1921 until 1931, it’s the same day. They put those two things together. And then it’s only in 1931 that there’s a separation of a Thanksgiving Day in October and Remembrance Day is set as November 11th going forward,” he said.

Kennedy points to the deep cultural importance in “creating these spaces for commemoration.”

“We reaffirm our commitment to remember the fallen, and to continue to serve our country. This is a profound thing for us, the cycle of the ‘Last Post’ and then also the ‘Reveille.’ The watch continues.”

» wendyjbking@gmail.com