239th anniversary of Shutting of The Gates celebrated in Maiden City (1927)

In city itself the day was ushered in with the discharge of cannon from the walls, and in the early hours of the morning the huge effigy, at a height of 16 feet in length and weighing 17cwt, of Lundy was suspended from the top of the Governor Walker Memorial.

There was a good turnout of the members of the Parent clubs, and representatives from Belfast, Omagh, Coleraine, Donemana, and other branch clubs were also in attendance.

The procession was headed by the Governor Brother Matthew Kerr, Grand Master of the City of Londonderry Orangemen, Lieutenant-Governor Brother Alexander Birney, Brother S J Taylor , the general treasurer, and Brother A White, MC, MM, and immediately behind them were Brother Marshall McKay, a former Governor, and Brother the Honourable Cecil L Corry, a member of the Browning Club, and Brother Alderman M S Moore, HML for Londonderry City.

Then came the Maiden City Flute Band followed by the Apprentice Boys of Derry and other clubs and a large number of bands.

The brethren marched to the Cathedral, where a special service was held, and from which Mitchelburne's bloody flag floated.

The special preacher was the Reverend James Kelly, MA, incumbent of St Augustine's Church, Londonderry, who said they were “now standing another siege in the form of trade depression”, but that it “would be overcome by optimism and tenacity”.

He declared: “But there are other enemies hammering at our gates. The gambling habit is going apace. Unless it can be restricted or banished altogether it will eat the moral fibre of our people. The old foe alcohol is with us still. There are more than 200 public houses in this city, one for about every hundred of the adult population. What are the Apprentice Boys going to do? In the near future you will be compelled to take some line of action. Your policy must be sane and progressive. Perhaps along the line of reduced facilities for drinking will be found a true British solution for our greatest social evil.”