The above picture is the ceremonial carriage of the Lord Mayor of London. The other picture is the cerromonial golf cart of The Honorable Mayor of Round Lake.
The history of the position of mayor is quite interesting. In spite of its etymology, "mayor" was not a Roman office. It came into use in the large entourages that followed the barbarian leaders who succeeded to the power of the Emperor of the West. The male officer who governed a king or duke's peripatetic household was the major domus, the "major domo". In the households of the Merovingian Frankish kings, the major domus, or praefectus palatii ("prefect of the palace"), gained such power that, in the person of Pippin of Herstal, he ended by evicting his master. He was the "mayor of the palace".
The French form of the word is maire. In Germany and the Low Countries the chief town magistrate is called "burgomaster" (German Burgermeister, Dutch. burgemeester; French-speaking parts of Belgium use bourgmestre), in Italy sindaco, in Bohemia starosta and in Spain alcalde, a term derived from a Moorish post.
Closer to home, here in Round Lake, I am the 13th Mayor of Round Lake in the 97 years that Round Lake has been in existance. When you visit the village hall there is a nice framed picture of all the mayors of Round Lake that was put together by one of my predecessors Mayor Rudy Magna who served for many years.
Some of the more exotic things the Mayor of Round Lake can do.
- When you are the mayor you are a justice of the peace, in theory I can deputise, perform oaths, and marry people. I have only availed myself of these services once, when I swore in my successor on the Round Lake Area Library Board.
- We get called "your honor" or "the honorable" at times, we get called other less formal things much more often I have noticed.
- Along with the trustees we get to carry a badge.
- You get to pay for vanity plates specially made for Mayors in the state of Illinois.
No comments:
Post a Comment