The military band played When Irish Eyes Are Smiling. Fifty members of the Scots Guards presented arms in 80 degrees of stifling London heat. And a little bit of military history was made as an Irish Chief of Staff reviewed a guard of honour of a British regiment accompanied by Her Majesty's Chief of the General Staff, wearing the beret of the Irish Guards in honour of his guest.
Earlier, as Lieut Gen Gerard McMahon waited to carry out his inspection of the two perfectly straight lines of unblinking soldiers in black bearskin caps and formal red tunics, a man in a bowler hat and pinstripe suit approached the company and doffed his hat to the men. This was the Brigade Major of the Household Division, Lieut Col Andrew Ford, acknowledging the display of the colour of F Company Scots Guards.
With the guard of honour in place, Gen McMahon came forward and stood on the saluting dais while the Scots Guardsmen presented arms.
Yesterday's ceremony, at the beginning of a three-day visit to London and Edinburgh, was the first time a head of the Defence Forces had been invited to review a guard of honour in Britain - and F Company's display was hard to beat for style and presentation.
Inviting Gen McMahon in Irish to inspect the guard of honour, the Captain of the Guard, Capt Christopher Bell, saluted and then turned on his heel and marched back to his men. As Gen McMahon began his inspection he was joined by the British Chief of the General Staff, Gen Sir Roger Wheeler, a former GOC in Northern Ireland.
Despite the formality of the occasion, Gen McMahon paused briefly to speak to one of the men, which did not go unnoticed by a member of staff of the London district headquarters of the Horse Guards.
"Oh, that was unusual," he commented. "They usually walk past very quickly and don't say anything."
After the ceremony, Gen McMahon and Gen Wheeler left for a round of military consultations at the Ministry of Defence, where they discussed general peacekeeping missions and UN affairs and the programme of exchanging students studying at the School of Infantry in London and the Curragh.
After a formal lunch hosted by Gen Wheeler at the Army and Navy Club in London, Gen McMahon visited the Edinburgh Tattoo, a military display, which opened in Edin burgh last night.