Springtime Celebrations

With so much lush green and brightly coloured flowers everywhere, it’s easy to see why a host of celebrations were held in late spring and early summer in villages up and down the country to give thanks for a fresh season of growth. The customs were observed in Jane Austen’s time, and many have endured to the present day.

One of them is the age-old tradition of morris dancing. Even now, no village fête is complete without it.

Morris dancing at the Museum of English Rural Life, Reading

Morris dancing at the Museum of English Rural Life, Reading

Morris dancing is a ritual folk dance performed in rural England, traditionally on Whit Sunday (the seventh Sunday after Easter). The music varies from group to group, as do the costumes, but bell-pads, sticks, swords or handkerchiefs are some of the things they have in common.

The earliest record of a performance of morris dancing dates from as far back as 19 May 1448. By the time of Elizabeth I, it was already considered an ancient dance. Unavoidably perhaps, the industrial revolution brought a decline, largely due to the migration to the big cities, but the custom was revived from the end of the nineteenth century. The revival began thanks to an entrepreneur from Bidford on Avon in Warwickshire, who recruited a team of morris dancers to perform at pageants in the nearby towns. Not many morris dancers will understand why this tickles me, but you’ll know: the man’s name was D’Arcy Ferris. [1]

And just like that, my thoughts fly to Derbyshire (not that I ever need much prompting 😀 ). If you visit that beautiful corner of the world at this time of year, you must go to one of the towns and villages where another ancient custom is observed: well dressing.

From around mid-May, the local wells are decorated with elaborate pictures made entirely of natural materials (nuts, seeds, dried berries, coffee beans, ferns, mosses, wood, sheep wool, leaves, flower petals, etc.). These are pressed into clay that has been applied over wooden boards. The preparations start weeks in advance. The boards are mounted and soaked in the river or the village pond. Clay is dug up and kneaded, then it’s applied over the wooden boards in an even layer. The design is sketched on paper, then traced on the clay with a pointer or a toothed wheel, and then the picture is painstakingly filled in, seed by seed and petal by petal:

Well dressing (detail)

Well dressing (detail)

The overall result is something to behold:

Well dressing in Derbyshire

Well dressing in Derbyshire

These photos were taken in 2016, but if you’d like to see this year’s display have a look at this photo album that includes all well dressing images from 1975 onwards: https://sinfin.net/welldressing/photo.php?year=2023

The custom dates from time immemorial. It might have derived from the ancient pagan ritual of placing flowers and greenery beside springs and wells to please the water spirits thought to dwell in them. What is known for a fact is that the wells of Tissington near Ashbourne have been decorated from 1349, when the village had escaped an outbreak of the Black Death that had ravaged England at that time. Bar the interruption caused by two World Wars, the practice has continued to this day.

So Mr and Mrs Darcy must have been quite familiar with this tradition, and likewise with Castleton’s unique custom, Garland Day.

In the High Peak village of Castleton, a garland is constructed on a bell-shaped framework, large enough to cover a man from the top of his head to his waist. On 29 May the man who wears the garland, called the King, is seated on a horse and becomes the central figure in a procession that includes musicians, morris dancers, and a Lady (or Queen) also on horseback. Thus, the garland is taken to St Edmund’s church and hoisted to the top of the church tower. Until the start of the twentieth century, the whole ceremony was organised by the bell-ringers. In 1749, the churchwarden had carefully recorded in his accounts book that he had paid 8d. for ‘an iron rod to hang ye ringers’ garland.’ [2]

It’s quite possible that the central figure in the Castleton procession was called the King because 29 May was a date of national significance. On this day in 1661, John Evelyn wrote in his diary that an Act of Parliament was passed to appoint it as ‘a day of general thanksgiving for the miraculous restoration of his Majesty.’ He was referring to the restoration of King Charles II on 29 May 1660, 11 years and 4 months from the day when his father was beheaded.

Henceforth known as Royal Oak Day, 29 May was widely celebrated with bonfires, village fêtes, the ringing of bells, a special church service, and the welcome return of revelries that had been curtailed or banned over the last couple of decades. Throughout the 18^th and early 19^th centuries, the main feature of the day was the wearing of sprays of oak leaves in lapels and hats, to symbolise the story of the 21-year-old Charles hiding in an oak tree after the royalist defeat at the Battle of Worcester.

That particular tree is also the reason why so many pubs are still called The Royal Oak. In case you’re wondering why there is an even greater number of Red Lions, apparently it was King Charles II’s grandfather who was responsible for that. A few years ago I found this plaque on the façade of a Red Lion in Central London. In case the inscription is hard to make out, it reads:

‘The Red Lion is the most common name for a public house, with 630 at the last count. The name originates from the reign of James I, who was already James VI of Scotland when he ascended to the throne of England in 1603. The son of Mary Queen of Scots and Lord Darnley, James was crowned on 25 July 1603 in Westminster Abbey. James’ coat of arms contained the heraldic Red Lion of Scotland. On his arrival in London, he insisted that this sign be displayed on all buildings of public importance, including taverns. This explains why there are so many of them.’

I don’t know about all the other 629 or however many there may be these days, but there’s one Red Lion I haven’t visited in a really long time (4 years, I think, or maybe more), and I miss it. If you’re making plans to visit it too, maybe we’ll meet up on the streets of Meryton this summer.

Bye for now, have a lovely day and thanks for reading.

 (Photos J Starnes)

Sources

[1] https://themorrisring.org/publications/morris-tradition

[2] https://www.amazon.com/English-Year-Steve-Roud/dp/0141021063/

More information:

https://sinfin.net/welldressing/photo.php?year=2023

https://letsgopeakdistrict.co.uk/astounding-peak-district-well-dressings/

https://www.historic-uk.com/CultureUK/Well-Dressing/

https://www.tissingtonhall.co.uk/tissington-hall-village-well-dressing.html

https://www.youlgravewelldressers.co.uk/