Editing Last Post (section)

==Origin==

The "First Post" call signals the start of the duty officer's inspection of a [[British Army]] camp's [[Guardhouse|sentry posts]], sounding a call at each one. First published in the 1790s,<ref name="BBC_2015">{{cite web |title=The story of the Last Post |date=11 November 2015 |website=BBC News |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-34768398 |accessdate=24 February 2022}}</ref> the "Last Post" call originally signalled merely that the final sentry post had been inspected, and the camp was secure for the night.<ref>{{cite web|title=The Last Post - Australian War Memorial|url=https://www.awm.gov.au/commemoration/customs/last-post/|website=www.awm.gov.au}}</ref>

Its use in [[Remembrance Day]] ceremonies in [[Commonwealth of Nations|Commonwealth]] nations has two generally unexpressed purposes: the first is an implied summoning of the spirits of the Fallen to the [[cenotaph]], the second is to symbolically end the day, so that the period of silence before the [[The Rouse|"Rouse"]] is blown becomes in effect a ritualised night vigil. The "Last Post" as sounded at the end of inspection typically lasted for about 45 seconds; when sounded ceremonially with notes held for longer, pauses extended, and the expression mournful, typical duration could be 75 seconds or more.<ref name="BBC_2015"/>

From the 17th century, the British infantry had used [[Military drums|drums]] to make signals in camp or on the battlefield, while the cavalry used [[trumpet]]s. The first infantry drumbeat of the day was [[Reveille]], while the last was [[Tattoo (bugle call)|Tattoo]]. This originated with British troops stationed in the [[Netherlands]], after the Dutch call at the end of the day, ''Doe den tap toe'', meaning "Close the tap", a signal that [[beer tap]]s had to be shut and that soldiers drinking outside the camp should return.<ref name="Turner2014_Ch.1">{{cite book |last=Turner |first=Alwyn W. |date=2014 |title=The Last Post: Music, Remembrance and the Great War |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qhbvBAAAQBAJ |location=London |publisher=Aurum |chapter=Chapter one: Rouse |isbn=978-1781312858}}</ref>

The difficulty of hearing drumbeat signals over the noise of gunfire led to the gradual introduction of the [[bugle]], an instrument used by the [[Hanoverian Army]], during the reign of King [[George III]]. The bugle was found especially useful for the mobile tactics of the [[History of British light infantry|light infantry]] and the newly formed [[King's Royal Rifle Corps]] in the [[American War of Independence]]. A number of different systems were introduced across various parts of the army, and in 1798, James Hyde, a trumpeter in the [[Royal Opera House]] and a trumpet-major in the local [[British Volunteer Corps|Volunteer Corps]], was asked to "revise the trumpet and bugle soundings, and to reduce them to uniformity, which is hereafter to be strictly observed in all regiments and corps of cavalry in His Majesty's service".<ref name="Turner2014_Ch.1"/> 

The result was published in the same year as ''The Sounds for Duty and Exercise''. Hyde was dissatisfied with this edition and in 1799, produced another version with an additional chapter entitled "The Bugle Horn Duty for the Light Infantry as used by the [[Foot guards#United Kingdom|Foot Guards]]"; this included the first known score for the Last Post, under the title of "Setting the Watch". It is likely that Hyde used an amalgamation of existing calls; suggestions that the melody was inspired by [[Joseph Haydn]] lack any direct evidence.<ref name="Turner2014_Ch.1"/>