The ceremonial perambulations in the sceptred sector of our isle could be said to have their roots in meteorology. Were it not for a "Protestant wind" the colour orange might have been of no denominational significance.
In 1688, after three years on the throne of England, the Catholic James II was not, to put it mildly, very popular. Protestant William, Prince of Orange, was therefore offered the English throne and all the other lordships that went with it, and plans were laid for what was euphemistically referred to as the new king's "descent" on England.
William, however, lived in Holland. He needed an easterly wind to sail to take possession of this windfall, and for many weeks the weather was singularly unobliging. According to Macauley, "The gales which blew obstinately from the west prevented the Prince's armament from sailing. The weather, it was said `is Popish'. Crowds stood in Cheapside gazing intently at the weather-cock on the graceful steeple of Bow Church, praying for `a Protestant wind'."
The Popish wind blew stiff and strong for many weeks. It was November 11th, 1688 before the Protestant wind finally arrived, and William of Orange was able to fulfil his destiny by setting sail for England, a journey which was to culminate in the Battle of the Boyne on July 1st, 1690.
July 1st? But, surely not! Was it not the ever pious, glorious and immortal twelfth? And therein lies another Popish plot.
By the middle of the 16th century, the Julian calendar was seriously in error. When Pope Gregory XIII ascended the papal throne he found at his disposal a number of constructive suggestions to correct it, and he decreed by Papal Bull, inter alia, that the day following the feast of St Francis on October 5th, 1582, was to become October 15th. Ten superfluous days were thus eliminated.
The Pope, of course, was head of the Catholic Church - so in Catholic Europe the new calendar was adopted quickly. In Protestant countries, however, it became almost a matter of principle to resist the change. It was therefore not until 1752 that the "New Style" calendar was adopted in Britain, by which time it was necessary to add 11 days to correct the error.
No doubt when it came to celebrating the Battle of the Boyne in the year 1753, it seemed proper to those involved to hold the celebration 12 months to the day after the previous commemoration, rather than allow some Papal whim to dictate the date of the festivities. The battle was celebrated on what had then become July 12th - and so it has continued to this very day.