The early English peoples gathered in at most small conclaves of self sufficient farms, and few of the old Roman towns survived. But slowly opportunity made way for people creating and expanding places where many people could live and work.
"Canterbury, London, Winchester, and, in the north, York were thriving communities, enabling the English economy to expand and thrive, and for the new found problems of sanitation and the spread of disease in densely populated communities to become part of the familiar urban history of the Middle Ages."
Also in this issue:
St. Vitus and St. Vitus Dance, in And the Saints Go Marching, Denise Donning
I've been trying to find information about a particular marriage in Wessex history -- that's Anglo Saxon history for you Normans. In particular I want to write a chapter on a royal wedding for my upcoming book of stories Alehouse Tales. I was going to get to make it up mostly since they don't actually know when Aethelraed II, he who was called Unready, married Theodir of York's daughter, Aelfgifu. I at least thought he had... and I was planning my two bards to arrive in time to get gigs at the festival and to have the alehouse packed to the thatch and lots of fun stuff going on.
Then Helen Hollick, author of The Forever Queen, who knows all about these things told me it was likely Aelfgifu was not a church sanctified wife, in fact she suggested she might be no more than one of good old Aethie's concubines.. so there went my parté out the unglazed window. Fortunately she relented and said just to keep the Church out of it and, as she put it, I could still have my "knees up bash". Phew!
In the meantime, while I was still pouting, I had started thinking of other reasons my alehouse denizens could kick up their.. um.. heels and celebrate. here are some of the ideas I had.. can you offer some more?
Winchesterama
Sidewalk Sales Day in The Brooks
King Alfred Days
Merry Men Pride Week
The Burned Cakes Festival
Founders Day at the Nunnaminster
Take Your Aetheling to Work Day
Mercian Independence Day
Dia de los Reyes Muertos
St. Swithin's Day... oh wait, that's a real one
Veterans of Viking Wars Day
Winchester to Romsey Fun Run
Monastic Arts Festival
Picnic in the Itchen Meadows Day
Bloðmothfest
And that's not to mention Midsummer, Jul, Mayday and Michaelmas!
So says King Aethelraed, ready or not, it's time to party hearty!
The Abbots Bromley Horn Dance is an English folk dance involving antlers that takes place each year in Abbots Bromley, a small village in Staffordshire, England.
Origins
There are no recorded references to the dance prior to Robert Plot's Natural History of Staffordshire, written in 1686. However, a carbon analysis discovered that the antlers used in the dance date to the 11th century - though these may well have replaced an even older set. According to some, the use of antlers suggests an Anglo-Saxon origin along with other native Anglo-Saxon traditions that have survived into modern times in various forms.[1] It has been speculated, for example, that the dance originated in the pagan period and was connected with the ruling dynasty of Mercia, based some 15 miles away at Tamworth, who owned extensive hunting lands in Needwood Forest and Cannock Chase surrounding Abbots Bromley. On this theory, the royal forester would have organised sympathetic magic rituals to ensure a plentiful catch each year, a tradition that survived into Christian times and gradually came to be seen as affirming the villagers' hunting rights. Even when the lands were granted to Burton Abbey in 1004 a forester would still needed to have been employed, and by the 16th century, when the abbey was dissolved, this hereditary position bore the title "Forester of Bentylee" (Bentylee being the wooded area of the parish). From then until the 19th century the dance remained the traditional prerogative of the Bentley family, eventually passing to the Fowell family in 1914 through a marriage alliance. The Fowells continue to run it to this day.[2]
The dance was, like similar events throughout the country, temporarily discontinued during the Commonwealth years. Prior to this, according to Robert Plot, it was performed on Christmas Day, New Year's Day and Twelfth Day, in addition to the local Wakes Monday - though upon its revival in 1660 it was confined to the latter alone.
Event
The Horn Dance attracts a large number of visitors to the village. As well as the dance itself, Wakes Monday sees a Fair on the village green; Morris dancing; and numerous other attractions. The right to hold this Fair was granted to the village in 1221.
Date and schedule of performance
The Horn Dance takes place on Wakes Monday, the day following Wakes Sunday, which is the first Sunday after September 4. In practice, this means that it is the Monday dated between September 6 and September 12 (inclusive).
The dance starts at 08:00 with a service of blessing in St Nicholas Church, where the horns are housed. The dance begins on the village green, then passes out of the village - but not out of the Parish - to Blithfield Hall, owned by Lady Bagot.
The dancers return to the village in the early afternoon, and make their way around the pubs and houses. Finally, at about 20:00, the horns are returned to the church, and the day is completed with the service of Compline.
Dancers
The dancers, c. 1900There are 12 dancers. Six carry the horns and are accompanied by musician playing an accordion (a violin in former times), Maid Marian (a man in a dress), the Hobby-horse, the Fool (or Jester), a youngster with a bow and arrow, and another youngster with a triangle. Traditionally, the dancers are all male, although in recent years girls have been seen carrying the triangle and bow and arrow.
Until the end of the 19th Century the dancers were all members of the Bentley family. The dance passed to the related Fowell family in the early 20th Century in which it remains to this day, though rising house prices has meant that none of them live in the village any longer, with many residing in nearby towns. They have been known to allow visitors to "dance in" if asked politely, and will often invite musicians and others to take part when necessary.
Antlers
The "horns" are six sets of reindeer antlers, three white and three black. In 1976, a small splinter was radiocarbon dated to around 1065. Since there are not believed to have been any reindeer in England in the 11th Century, the horns must have been imported from Scandinavia.
The antlers are mounted on small heads carved from wood. Since 1981, the horns are legally the property of Abbots Bromley Parish Council. For 364 days a year, they are on display in St Nicholas Church. They were once kept in the main Village Hall, which is now the Goat Inn, beside the Butter Cross. An alternative set of antlers (red deer) are kept to use when the Dancers are asked, as they are, frequently, to perform outside the Parish boundaries.
Dance
The dance, above Blithfield ReservoirThe dance itself is simple, since the antlers themselves have some weight to them and are large and bulky.
As described by Cecil Sharp, there are 6 figures in the dance. He describes the dance as being done with the participants in a single line; however, it is currently performed with the dancers in a double column.
References
1. Campbell, James. The Anglo-Saxons (1991) Page 241, with illustration. ISBN 0140143955 2. Steele, Tony. Water Witches (1998) pp. 114-116. ISBN 1861630492
Note: This is the first of an occasional series which will list feature films only, no television and no documentaries. If you know of films already released or soon to be released, please use Comments to add them. If you wish to list television episodes and documentaries in Comments, by all means, do!
St. Vitus and St. Vitus Dance, in And the Saints Go Marching, Denise Donning
, who knows all about these things told me it was likely Aelfgifu was not a church sanctified wife, in fact she suggested she might be no more than one of good old Aethie's concubines.. so there went my parté out the unglazed window. Fortunately she relented and said just to keep the Church out of it and, as she put it, I could still have my "knees up bash". Phew!
