The Gentleman Usher of the Black Rod, generally shortened to just Black Rod, is an official in the parliaments of several Commonwealth countries. The position originates in the House of Lords of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. His equivalent in the House of Commons is the Serjeant at Arms.
Read more about Black Rod: Origin, Gentlemen Ushers of The Black Rod in Ireland, Other UK Ushers, Black Rod in Other Commonwealth Countries
Famous quotes containing the words black and/or rod:
“Some burn damp faggots, others may consume
The entire combustible world in one small room
As though dried straw, and if we turn about
The bare chimney is gone black out
Because the work had finished in that flare.”
—William Butler Yeats (1865–1939)
“The tracks of moose, more or less recent, to speak literally, covered every square rod on the sides of the mountain; and these animals are probably more numerous there now than ever before, being driven into this wilderness, from all sides, by the settlements.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)