Abbots Bromley Horn Dance

Last updated

The dance, above Blithfield Reservoir in 2006 Horn Dance, Blithfield Reservoir - 2006-09-11.jpg
The dance, above Blithfield Reservoir in 2006

The Abbots Bromley Horn Dance is a folk dance which takes place each September in the village of Abbots Bromley in Staffordshire, England. It is performed by ten dancers, accompanied by a musician playing an accordion and a youth with a triangle. Six of the dancers carry reindeer horns; the remaining four take the roles of a hobby horse, Maid Marian, a fool, and a youth with a bow and arrow. On Wakes Monday the performers dance around the parish all day, beginning early in the morning at the parish church where the horns are stored.

Contents

The origin of the dance is unknown. The earliest written record of a hobby-horse performance at Abbots Bromley dates to 1532 and the first mention of the reindeer horns is from 1686. Radiocarbon dating has shown that at least one of the horns dates to the eleventh century, though it is unknown how or when they came to Staffordshire or became associated with the dance. Many explanations of the meaning of the dance have been proposed, and it is commonly interpreted as a pagan ritual, but there is no evidence for any of them.

History

The hobby horse, photographed in the mid-1970s. It has since been replaced by a more realistic carving. Abbots Bromley original hobby horse.jpg
The hobby horse, photographed in the mid-1970s. It has since been replaced by a more realistic carving.

The earliest written mention of the Abbots Bromley Horn Dance is in Robert Plot's Natural History of Staffordshire, published in 1686. [1] According to an annotation by Sir Simon Degge in his copy of Plot's book, he had seen the dance being performed before the English Civil War (1642–1651). [1] An earlier mention of the hobby horse at Abbots Bromley from 1532 describes it as an ancient custom, but does not mention the horns. [2] In 1976, one of the reindeer horns was radiocarbon dated to 1065 ± 80 years. It is unknown when the horns were brought to Abbots Bromley and when they began to be used in the dance. [3] Though many sources claim that the dance was first performed at the St Bartholomew's Day fair in 1226, there is no evidence for this supposition. [4]

Many explanations for the origin of the dance have been proposed, though there is no concrete evidence for any of them. [5] It has often been interpreted as the remnant of a pagan ritual. [6] [7] Violet Alford believed that the dance was originally a winter solstice fertility rite. [8] Alternatively it has been suggested that it originally was connected to hunting, either as a ritual to encourage or celebrate a successful hunt, or to celebrate the villagers' hunting rights. [9] Parallels have been drawn to the prehistoric deer skull headdresses from Star Carr in Yorkshire, or the "Sorcerer" cave-painting from Trois-Frères in southern France, [a] as well as references in William Shakespeare's As You Like It to a deer-hunter being awarded the deer's "leather skin and horns to wear", and in Anthony Munday's The Death of Robert Earl of Huntingdon to Friar Tuck "carrying a stag's head dauncing", both from the end of the sixteenth century. [7]

In the seventeenth century, the dance was performed in the Christmas period [12] – according to Robert Plot, "on New Year, and Twelfth-day" [1] – but it now takes place on the Monday following the first Sunday after September 4. [13] Plot reports that the dancers collected money for church repairs and to support the parish poor. [5] In the Tudor period, the use of hobby horses to raise money for the parish at Christmastime seems to have been widespread in the north Midlands. Along with Abbots Bromley, it is attested at Stafford and at Culworth in Northamptonshire; a hobby-horse performance at Holme Pierrepoint in Nottinghamshire also probably took place in the winter. [6]

The horn dance apparently stopped being performed around the time of the English Civil War, before being re-established in the eighteenth century; this is probably when the date of the dance changed from Christmas to September time. [12] According to local tradition, the dance has been led by the same family since the eighteenth century. [14]

Event

Schedule

The Horn Dance takes place on Wakes Monday, the day following the first Sunday after 4 September. [13] It previously took place at the beginning of January, on New Year and Twelfth Night. [1]

The dance starts at 8 a.m. at St Nicholas's Church in Abbots Bromley and travels around the parish before returning to the village at the end of the day. [15] The first dance is outside the vicarage; the dancers subsequently perform in the marketplace and various houses and farms around the parish. About midday they dance at Blithfield Hall and have lunch there. [16] Afterwards, the dancers return to the village, with the final dance around 8 p.m. [17] In the Victorian period, the dancers went out for several days, visiting nearby towns and villages such as Colton and Rugeley. [18]

Dancers

The dancers, before 1906 Abbots Bromley Horn Dance c1900 Stone.jpg
The dancers, before 1906

Twelve people perform in the dance: six dancers carrying reindeer horns, a fool, Maid Marian (played by a man wearing women's clothes), a hobby horse, a child with a bow and arrow, a musician, [b] and a child with a triangle. [13] The triangle player is a relatively recent addition to the side, only having been introduced at the beginning of the twentieth century. [20] Of these, the two musicians do not dance; their role is only to accompany the dancers. [21] The dancers use the hobby horse's jaw and the bow and arrow as percussion instruments to keep time with the music. [21] [22] The Maid Marian carries a ladle used to collect money; the fool has a bladder on a stick. [22] According to Robert Plot's account, in his day the dancer with the hobby horse also held the bow and arrow; Violet Alford doubts that it was possible for one person to do both. [20] Plot does not mention either the fool or the Maid Marian; [23] Ronald Hutton suggests that the Maid Marian was a nineteenth-century addition to the dance. [12]

Costume

Until the 1880s, dancers wore their ordinary clothes decorated with ribbons. [24] At this time, the vicar's wife designed costumes for the dancers in a mock-medieval style, originally made from old curtains and perhaps inspired by the sixteenth-century painted Betley window; these costumes were replaced in 1904 and again in 1951. [17] [21] The dancers wear either green or red jackets, with green breeches with an oak leaf pattern. [c] [21] The 1904 version of the costume introduced jester's motley for the fool. [26] The hobby horse is of the tourney style, in which a horse's head and tail are fixed to the performer's body by a frame, which is then covered by a cloth, giving the appearance of a person riding a horse. [27]

Antlers

The antlers used in the dance, stored in the parish church A selection of antlers for the famed 'Horn Dance' - geograph.org.uk - 5067370.jpg
The antlers used in the dance, stored in the parish church

The antlers used in the dance are from reindeer, [28] and date to the 11th century. [29] As there were no reindeer in Britain at this point, they must have been imported, most likely from Scandinavia. [29] The largest measures 101 cm (40 in) across and weighs 25.5 lb (11.6 kg); the smallest measures 77 cm (30 in) across and the lightest weighs 16.25 lb (7.37 kg). [30] Three of the sets of antlers are painted white and three are painted brown; historically the brown antlers have instead been painted blue and red at different times. [31] In the seventeenth century they had the coats of arms of important local families painted on them, but these are no longer visible. [32] The antlers are set into wooden heads, thought to date from the sixteenth century, which are mounted on wooden poles. [30] The heads are painted brown with features drawn on in red and black. [30]

The eighteenth-century Staffordshire antiquarian Richard Wilkes claimed that the Abbots Bromley horns were brought by William Paget, the ambassador to the Ottoman Empire. However, Paget's return from Turkey postdates the accounts of Plot and Degge which mention the horns. [33]

Wilkes also reports that the antlers were stored in Abbots Bromley's town hall. In 1820 Thomas Harwood was the first to report that they were stored in the church, first in the church tower and subsequently in the Hurst Chapel. [34]

According to tradition, the horns must not leave the parish. [35] A different set of horns, acquired in the 1950s, is used for performances outside Abbots Bromley. [31]

Dance

The Horn Dance outside the Bagot Arms on 11 September 2006 Abbots Bromley Horn Dance - 2006-09-11.jpg
The Horn Dance outside the Bagot Arms on 11 September 2006

In 1911, Cecil Sharp described the dance as being made up of two main figures. In the first, the dancers process around in a circle before turning and circling back. In the second, the dancers face off in two rows, dancing together and apart before crossing over, turning around, and repeating the process to return to their original place. [36] It is performed without any special footwork: Alford describes the dance as a "steady rhythmical plod". [37]

There is no specific tune associated with the dance. [38] In 1898, the vicar of Abbots Bromley recalled that there had previously been a special tune for the dance but that it had been lost. [39] In 1912, Sharp published a tune sent to him by a J. Buckley which Buckley said he had collected in the 1850s from a fiddler from Abbots Bromley. [40] According to Andrew Bullen, "this is the tune most often associated with the horn dance and it is probably the oldest"; [38] however, there is some dispute as to whether the tune did in fact accompany the dance. [38]

Other tunes associated with the dance have been collected from William Adey, a dancer who in 1924 recalled a tune which he remembered being used in the 1870s and 1880s, and Edie Sammons, whose brother played for the dance. [19] When Sharp collected the dance, "any country-dance air" was used; [22] more recently modern tunes are also played. [38]

In culture

Shortly after Sharp recorded the Abbots Bromley horn dance in Sword Dances of Northern England, versions of it began to be performed outside of the village by members of the English Folk Dance Society (now the English Folk Dance and Song Society). [41] Since 1947, a version of the dance has been performed by Thaxted Morris Men at the Thaxted meetings of the Morris Ring. In 1951 they also performed the dance to celebrate the Festival of Britain. [42] Ivon Hitchens' Mural, in the Kennedy Hall of Cecil Sharp House, the headquarters of the English Folk Dance and Song Society, depicts English folk-dances and traditions. The horn dancers shown on the right of the mural are probably based on those at Abbots Bromley. [43] A series of pencil drawings by Dave Pearson, In the Seven Woods, also depict the Abbots Bromley dance. [44]

In 2019, Royal Mail issued a set of stamps depicting unusual British customs and festivals which included the Abbots Bromley horn dance. [45] The dance was one of three traditional dances which inspired Hanna Tuulikki's "Deer Dancer". [46] The dance has been featured in exhibitions including Mummers, Maypoles, and Milkmaids: A Journey Through the English Ritual Year at the Horniman Museum in 2012, [47] and Making Michief: Folk Costume in Britain at Compton Verney in 2023. [48]

Notes

  1. ↑ The Star Carr frontlets are from the mesolithic period, and have been dated to the 10th millennium Before Present; [10] the "Sorcerer" cave painting is paleolithic, dating to about 13,000 BC. [11]
  2. ↑ The music was reportedly played by a fiddler in the 1870s; from the 1880s the musician has played a concertina, accordion, or melodeon. [19] [13]
  3. ↑ Cecil Sharp says that the replacement costumes made in 1904 were "more or less exact" copies of the originals. However, Marcia Rice describes the original costumes as green tunics and blue trousers, both with brown spots or flowers; she quotes a Mrs. Simpson, one of the contributors to the 1904 replacement, as saying that the new costumes were "the same in general effect ... we followed our own fancy, and were not bothered by any antiquarian scruples". [25]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Deer</span> Family of mammals

A deer or true deer is a hoofed ruminant ungulate of the family Cervidae. Cervidae is divided into subfamilies Cervinae and Capreolinae. Male deer of almost all species, as well as female reindeer, grow and shed new antlers each year. These antlers are bony extensions of the skull and are often used for combat between males.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Morris dance</span> English performance folk dance

Morris dancing is a form of English folk dance. It is based on rhythmic stepping and the execution of choreographed figures by a group of dancers in costume, usually wearing bell pads on their shins and/or shoes. A band or single musician, also costumed, will accompany them. Sticks, swords, handkerchiefs, and a variety of other implements may be wielded by the dancers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Antler</span> Extensions of the skull found in animals of the family Cervidae (deer)

Antlers are extensions of an animal's skull found in members of the Cervidae (deer) family. Antlers are a single structure composed of bone, cartilage, fibrous tissue, skin, nerves, and blood vessels. They are generally found only on males, with the exception of reindeer/caribou. Antlers are shed and regrown each year and function primarily as objects of sexual attraction and as weapons.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Abbots Bromley</span> Village in Staffordshire, England

Abbots Bromley is a village and civil parish in the East Staffordshire district of Staffordshire and lies approximately 9.8 miles (15.8 km) east of Stafford, England. According to the University of Nottingham English Place-names project, the settlement name Abbots Bromley could mean 'clearing/wood frequented by broom'. The prefix 'abbots' was added because the village was held by Burton Abbey. The population of the civil parish at the 2011 census was 1,779.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Deer in mythology</span> Deer

Deer have significant roles in the mythology of various peoples located all over the world, such as object of worship, the incarnation of deities, the object of heroic quests and deeds, or as magical disguise or enchantment/curse for princesses and princes in many folk and fairy tales.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Holly and the Ivy</span> Traditional British folk Christmas carol

"The Holly and the Ivy" is a traditional British folk Christmas carol, listed as number 514 in the Roud Folk Song Index. The song can be traced only as far as the early nineteenth century, but the lyrics reflect an association between holly and Christmas dating at least as far as medieval times. The lyrics and melody varied significantly in traditional communities, but the song has since become standardised. The version which is now popular was collected in 1909 by the English folk song collector Cecil Sharp in the market town of Chipping Campden in Gloucestershire, England, from a woman named Mary Clayton.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mari Lwyd</span> South Wales Christmas folk custom

The Mari Lwyd is a wassailing folk custom found in South Wales. The tradition entails the use of an eponymous hobby horse which is made from a horse's skull mounted on a pole and carried by an individual hidden under a sheet.

"Geordie" is an English language folk song concerning the trial of the eponymous hero whose lover pleads for his life. It is listed as Child ballad 209 and Number 90 in the Roud Folk Song Index. The ballad was traditionally sung across the English speaking world, particularly in England, Scotland and North America, and was performed with many different melodies and lyrics. In recent times, popular versions have been performed and recorded by numerous artists and groups in different languages, mostly inspired by Joan Baez's 1962 recording based on a traditional version from Somerset, England.

Dives and Lazarus is traditional English folk song listed as Child ballad 56 and number 477 in the Roud Folk Song Index. It is considered a Christmas carol and based on the parable of the rich man and Lazarus. The song traditionally used a variety of tunes, but one particular tune, published by Lucy Broadwood in 1893 and used in other traditional songs, inspired many notable works and appeared in several pieces composed by Ralph Vaughan Williams.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Soul cake</span> Religious cake to commemorate the dead

A soul cake, also known as a soulmass-cake, is a small round cake with sweet spices, which resembles a shortbread biscuit. It is traditionally made for Halloween, All Saints' Day, and All Souls' Day to commemorate the dead in many Christian traditions. The cakes, often simply referred to as souls, are given out to soulers who go from door to door during the days of Allhallowtide, singing and saying prayers "for the souls of the givers and their friends", especially the souls of deceased relatives, thought to be in the intermediate state between Earth and Heaven. In England, the practice dates to the medieval period, and it continued there until the 1930s by both Protestant and Catholic Christians. In Sheffield and Cheshire, the custom has continued into modern times. In Lancashire and in the North-east of England, soul cakes were known as Harcakes, a kind of thin parkin.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Derby Ram</span> Traditional song

"The Derby Ram" or "As I was Going to Derby" is a traditional tall tale English folk song that tells the story of a ram of gargantuan proportions and the difficulties involved in butchering, tanning, and otherwise processing its carcass.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dorset Ooser</span> Wooden head from Melbury Osmond folklore

The Dorset Ooser is a wooden head that featured in the 19th-century folk culture of Melbury Osmond, a village in the southwestern English county of Dorset. The head was hollow, thus perhaps serving as a mask, and included a humanoid face with horns, a beard, and a hinged jaw which allowed the mouth to open and close. Although sometimes used to scare people during practical jokes, its main recorded purpose was as part of a local variant of the charivari custom known as "skimity riding" or "rough music", in which it was used to humiliate those who were deemed to have behaved in an immoral manner.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hobby horse</span> Costumed character

In folklore, a hobby horse is a costumed character that features in some traditional seasonal customs, processions and similar observances around the world. In England, they are particularly associated with May Day celebrations, mummers' plays and the Morris dance.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mexican folk dance</span> Folk dance

Folk dance of Mexico, commonly known as baile folklorico or Mexican ballet folk dance, is a term used to collectively describe traditional Mexican folk dances. Ballet folklórico is not just one type of dance; it encompasses each region's traditional dance that has been influenced by their local folklore and has been entwined with ballet characteristics to be made into a theatrical production. Each dance represents a different region in Mexico illustrated through their different zapateado, footwork, having differing stomps or heel toe points, and choreography that imitates animals from their region such as horses, iguanas, and vultures.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Deer dance (folk dance)</span> Type of folk dance

A deer dance is any of the world's folk dances performed by people dressed as deer.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rain and Snow</span> American folksong

"Rain and Snow", also known as "Cold Rain and Snow", is an American folksong and in some variants a murder ballad. The song first appeared in print in Olive Dame Campbell and Cecil Sharp's 1917 compilation English Folk Songs from the Southern Appalachians, which relates that it was collected from Mrs. Tom Rice in Big Laurel, North Carolina in 1916. The melody is pentatonic.

Violet Alford was an internationally recognised authority on folk dancing and its related music, costume, and folk customs. She believed that a common prehistoric root explained the similarities found across much of Europe.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Old Tup</span> English folk custom

Old Tup, sometimes termed the Derby Tup or the Derby Ram, is a folk custom found in an area of the East Midlands of England. Geographically, the custom was found on the borders of Derbyshire and Yorkshire and stretched into part of Nottinghamshire. The tradition entails the use of a hobby horse with a goat's head that is mounted on a pole and carried by an individual hidden under a sackcloth. It represents a regional variation of a "hooded animal" tradition that appears in various forms throughout the British Isles. In geographical location and style it displays strong similarities with the Old Horse custom, but in the latter the hobby horse was presented as a horse rather than a ram.

Old Ball is a folk custom that existed in the Forest of Rossendale in Lancashire, north-western England during the nineteenth century. The tradition entailed the use of a hobby horse that is mounted on a pole and carried by an individual hidden under a sackcloth. It represents a regional variation of a "hooded animal" tradition that appears in various forms throughout the UK.

The Wooing Play was a form of performance found in the folk culture of parts of east-central England.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 Buckland 1980, p. 1.
  2. ↑ Heaney 1987, p. 359.
  3. ↑ Buckland 1980, pp. 5–6.
  4. ↑ Roud 2006, p. 397.
  5. 1 2 Roud 2006, p. 396.
  6. 1 2 Hutton 1996, p. 91.
  7. 1 2 Buckland 1980, p. 6.
  8. ↑ Lyon 1981, p. 136.
  9. ↑ Bayless 2017, p. 208.
  10. ↑ Conneller 2004, p. 37.
  11. ↑ Maryanski 2018, p. 213.
  12. 1 2 3 Hutton 1996, p. 90.
  13. 1 2 3 4 Buckland 2001, p. 2.
  14. ↑ Buckland 2001, p. 3.
  15. ↑ Roud 2006, pp. 394–395.
  16. ↑ Kightly 1986, p. 41.
  17. 1 2 Roud 2006, p. 395.
  18. ↑ Rice 1939, p. 77.
  19. 1 2 Bullen 1987, p. 10.
  20. 1 2 Alford 1933, p. 206.
  21. 1 2 3 4 Bullen 1987, p. 6.
  22. 1 2 3 Sharp 1911, p. 105.
  23. ↑ Rice 1939, p. 83.
  24. ↑ Buckland 2001, p. 5.
  25. ↑ Rice 1939, pp. 73–74.
  26. ↑ Rice 1939, p. 74.
  27. ↑ Roud 2006, pp. 226–227.
  28. ↑ Buckland 1980, p. 2.
  29. 1 2 Buckland 1980, p. 5.
  30. 1 2 3 Buckland 1980, p. 3.
  31. 1 2 Buckland 1980, p. 4.
  32. ↑ Buckland 1980, pp. 3–4.
  33. ↑ Buckland 1980, pp. 1–2.
  34. ↑ Buckland 1980, pp. 2–3.
  35. ↑ Bullen 1987, pp. 4–5.
  36. ↑ Sharp 1911, pp. 108–111.
  37. ↑ Alford 1933, p. 205.
  38. 1 2 3 4 Bullen 1987, p. 9.
  39. ↑ Sharp 1911, p. 106.
  40. ↑ Sharp 1912, p. 1.
  41. ↑ Kennedy 1939, p. 281.
  42. ↑ Simons 2019, pp. 162, 164.
  43. ↑ Ellis, Lucy (15 February 2012). "Ivon Hitchens' 'Mural'". ArtUK. Retrieved 2 February 2024.
  44. ↑ "Six works from the series 'Under the Seven Trees'". Art Fund. Retrieved 7 February 2024.
  45. ↑ "Stamps: Cheese rolling, gurning and bog snorkelling on new UK stamps". BBC. 9 July 2019.
  46. ↑ Durrant, Nancy (17 August 2019). "Hanna Tuulikki: Deer Dancer — absurd, hyper-masculine stag do". The Times.
  47. ↑ White, Ethan Doyle (2012). "Mummers, Maypoles, and Milkmaids: A Journey Through the English Ritual Year". The Pomegranate. 14 (2).
  48. ↑ Howse, Christopher (25 February 2023). "The Mysterious World of British Folk Costume". Spectator.

Works cited

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.