first day in Parliament.

Particularly when he puts his foot -- or leg -- in it by turning up in Bermuda shorts! Ex-Transport Minister the Hon. Ralph Marshall must be blushing at the memory.

For the day he came up short has been given exposure in `The Parliamentarian', an English magazine on the Parliaments in the Commonwealth.

And it reveals how the Deputy Speaker discreetly tore a strip off him.

The whistle-blower is Mr. James Smith, clerk to Bermuda's Legislature.

In an article on Bermuda's party politics, he described Mr. Marshall's choice of dress as a "sartorial faux pas of mammoth proportions''.

"On that occasion he was delicately admonished by the Deputy Speaker in the strictest confidence, and told that he should remain seated for the duration and defer from making any speeches until the next sitting of the House, when it was hoped he would be more suitably attired.'' Mr. Marshall, who did not run at the October 5 election, is quoted as saying: "I did not want to speak, anyway!'' Elsewhere, Mr. Smith describes a meeting between Mr. Marshall and three other seasoned campaigners. Ex-Premier the Hon. Sir John Sharpe, and Opposition warhorses Mr. Walter Roberts and Mrs. Lois Browne Evans joined him to celebrate 30 years as Parliamentarians.

"Like old friends at a class reunion, they traded jokes and gibes in a spirit of conviviality,'' Mr. Smith wrote.

It proved intense rivalries produced opponents -- not enemies. The four veterans commented on a new boldness among today's crop of MPs.

"The earlier meetings of Parliament had a lot of what you might call establishment figures,'' Sir John observed in the piece.

"These characters probably appreciated the nuances of conduct rather more than many subsequent Members have.

"But I would not criticise my colleagues by saying that the debate is any less useful that it was at the time of our early years.'' Elsewhere in the magazine, Sir John writes on the relationship between Parliament and the civil service.