In between running errands into town I saw the election of the Mayor of Ock St. This is a day long festival of dancing, drinking and a large supper traditionally held on the day of the Annual Horse Fair.
The horns date from 1700 and were won in a punch-up betwen the Ock St residents and the Vineyard Men. Abingdon Morris men will not dance unless the horns are present.
So that is today's history lesson!
Nothing quite prepares you for the clog-dancing Britannia Coconut men! The blackened faces are both to disguise them from evil spirts and also allude to mining traditions. Historically linked to Cornwall and Moorish pirates the dances were taken to the north by Cornish miners.
At Christmas in Cambridge market I watched the Molly Dancers - accompanied by a drum they arrived and paraded around the market square in complete silence, dressed in dark Victorian costume with ivy wreathed hats, they seemed very sinister - for Molly Dancers their black faces were to disguise them from the gentry who were probably their employers.
I am sure that either Oscar Wilde or Bernard Shaw would have had something succinct to say about morris dancing, but, as a former morris groupie and a fiddler's moll, I love morris dancing. I admire the fierce sense of pride in the rituals and traditions - and the ability to dance awash with gallons of beer and cider without apparent disaster. Nothing quite like it
Since I was clearing up after the picnic the chickens dined on wild rice, crayfish salad and blueberries! Standards seem to be somewhat higher at the bottom of the garden than they do at the top!Post Title
→Nuns and Coconut Men
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→http://guidice-galleries.blogspot.com/2010/06/nuns-and-coconut-men.html
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