Orangemen outside Drumcree railed against the authorities as they prepared for a lengthy standoff. "Thank God our grandfathers aren't alive to see this," said one Orangeman as he surveyed the Drumcree battle-zone. "They fought and died in trenches for freedom and love of their country and now their kith and kin can't even walk the Queen's highway. It's a sad day for Ulster."
The man fought back tears as he looked over the fields with their rows of barbed wire, trenches, and steel and concrete barriers. "You would think they were facing Saddam Hussein, not law-abiding citizens," he said.
The Orangemen assembled early yesterday at the pretty, hilltop church to commemorate the Battle of the Somme. Outside, their "enemies" dug in. British soldiers with blackened faces and machine-guns crouched behind hedges.
A British army helicopter hovered constantly overhead. A spotter plane appeared from time to time. They were the only aircraft to be seen all day. A three-mile air exclusion zone had been declared around Drumcree. "What did they think we would do, fly in reinforcements from Scotland?" said one disgusted Orangeman.
After the service, the Orangemen marched down to police lines but there was no senior RUC officer there to take their letter of protest. That was seen as the biggest insult of all. "It's unbelievable they didn't even extend that courtesy," said Mr Harold Gracey, district master of Portadown.
Mr Gracey and other leading Orangemen then addressed the crowd. There was some trouble with the public address system. They apologised for the delay but what did it matter? Nobody was in a rush.
The first speaker was the Orange Order's Grand Master, the normally mild-mannered Mr Bobby Saulters. But Mr Saulters was an angry man. The Parades Commission, which had banned the march, was "pathetic" and should resign immediately, he said.
The RUC Chief Constable, Mr Ronnie Flanagan, was "a pawn" of the Northern Ireland Office. Orangemen could rely only on themselves. The authorities would try "every dirty trick in the book".
Mr Gracey criticised the Northern Secretary. "Dr Mowlam or Ms Mowlam or whatever she calls herself" should "pack her bags and leave". She had been "a disaster for our country". She had given in to republicans at every opportunity.
After the speeches, the Orangemen settled down in the narrow lane leading up to Drumcree. Some read the newspapers, others just caught up with news from brethren they hadn't seen all year.
A few who had come with their families went into the two fields which were not sealed off. They unfolded blankets and took out flasks of tea. One man asked about the score of the men's final at Wimbledon. "They'll be having strawberries and cream over there but I prefer something more substantial myself," said his friend, tucking into cheese sandwiches.
Three Union flags flew from the church and Ulster flags hung from every lamppost outside. Plastic flags were mounted on many of the Orangemen's cars.
There was a strange atmosphere at Drumcree - good humour mixed with sadness, frustration and anger. Most of the Orangemen sat near the church but from time to time they wandered the 200 yards down to RUC lines and shook their heads at the forces ranged against them.
"There isn't a lot we can do at the moment," confessed an Orangeman. "But our forefathers faced far worse at the Somme. They didn't give up and neither will we."