Mad Dogs and the Noon Day Gun
Every day at noon, a distinctive custom in the energetic city of Hong Kong takes place — a loud gunshot reverberates throughout Causeway Bay. The Noonday Gun tradition is one that has a special place in Hong Kong’s history.
Jardines Lookout
The practice of firing the noonday gun had its origins back in the early history of Hong Kong as a trading port. Although known locally as the noonday gun today, the gun is more formally named after its owner, the Jardine Matheson Company. The Jardine, Matheson & Co. was founded in 1832 by Scotsmen Jardine and Matheson and although initially trading in opium and various goods in Asia, it grew, establishing its headquarters in Hong Kong in 1844 taking on a range of enterprises to become the largest foreign trading company in the Far East.
The gun’s history dates back to this British colonial era when it was fired to mark the entry or exit of the head of Jardine Matheson from their building. Locally this practice was associated with the taipan, the non-Chinese head of a China-based company from a building. The piece of land, once called the East Point, that the gun still stands on (although its position has shifted as land has been reclaimed) was the first piece of land to be sold to a Western company in Hong Kong.
Over time the canon salute was noted by a British Navy officer who had newly arrived in the City. He was annoyed by the custom as a canon salute was something traditionally reserved for saluting government officials and members of the armed services. As punishment for this perceived transgression, Jardines were ordered to fire the gun daily, in perpetuity. So it is today that the gun is still fired punctually at noon (that is 12PM for those who are wondering) every day as a result.
WW2
Or almost every day. The noonday gun in Hong Kong was lost during the Japanese occupation in 1941 when it was dismantled and removed by the Japanese. The Imperial Japanese occupation of Hong Kong began on 25 December 1941, following Governor Sir Mark Young’s surrender after 18 days of fighting. The occupation lasted for three years and eight months until Japan surrendered at the end of WWII.
After the Japanese surrendered, in 1947, the Noon Day gun was replaced, ironically, by the British Navy who donated a new six-pound gun. However, the new gun was seen as too noisy by the local residents whose complaints were heard. In 1961 the noonday gun was again replaced, this time by a Hotchkiss three-pounder donated by the Marine Police. This gun itself was something of a war veteran having seen service at the famous Battle of Jutland in World War 1.
Noël Coward’s “Mad Dogs and Englishmen,”
Over time the noonday gun has become a tourist attraction. Perhaps the most famous visitor was Noël Coward who is one of the lucky few to have fired the gun. Noël Coward immortalized the gun in writing the song “Mad Dogs and Englishmen” first performed in The Third Little Show in 1931. It became a signature feature in Coward’s cabaret act and was used in Words and Music. The song’s title refers to its refrain, “Mad dogs and Englishmen go out in the midday sun” but the phrase itself was likely written originally by Rudyard Kipling. Of particular improtance for the Noon Day Gun is the line:
In Hong Kong, they strike a gong, and fire off a noonday gun To reprimand each inmate who’s in late
Coward wrote the song while driving from Hanoi to Saigon without any pen, paper, or piano. The song is considered a patter song, a point that was the basis for a strong argument between Winston Churchill and President Franklin D. Roosevelt.
Tourism — the Modern Tradition
The noonday gun tradition in Hong Kong, which began after British rule ended in 1997, is still practiced by Jardine Matheson. A small crowd gathers for this daily event, which is also fired at midnight on New Year’s Day.
A Jardines guard arrives in uniform, rings a bell to signal the end of the fore-noon watch, and fires the gun. Until recently when the hotel was destroyed, access to the gun was via a tunnel from the Excelsior hotel, operated by Mandarin Oriental Hotel Group. A donation of HK$33,000 can be made to the Community Chest charity by any group or individual who wish to fire the gun.
