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The Vicar of Bray is a satirical description of an individual fundamentally changing his principles to remain in ecclesiastical office as external requirements change around him. The religious upheavals in England from 1533 to 1559 (and then from 1633 to 1715) made it impossible for any devout clergyman to comply with all the successive requirements of the established church. The original figure was the vicar Simon Aleyn, although clerics who faced vicissitudes resulted in revised versions of the story.
A satirical 18th-century song, "The Vicar of Bray", recounts the career of a vicar of Bray, Berkshire, towards the end of this period and his contortions of principle in order to retain his ecclesiastic office despite the changes through the course of several monarchs from Charles II to George I. A comic opera covers a later period in 18th-century history, while a film set in Bray, County Wicklow, in Ireland, covers Charles I, the English Civil War, the Commonwealth of England, The Protectorate, and restoration of Charles II.
The Vicar of Bray "personif(ies) the archetypically Anglican knack for tasteful ambiguity that precludes the vulgar dialectic of yes or no. "So, is it both/and or either/or, your Grace?" "Well, surely we must say it's both, mustn't we?" It's a talent developed to an art form in the Anglican tradition." [1]
The parish alluded to in most versions of the song is Bray, Berkshire, which at the time was almost wholly rural and agrarian. An early textual source for the legend of a long-standing, resilient and pliable incumbent of the parish of Bray was provided by Thomas Fuller (d. 1661) in his Worthies of England. [2] Fuller's account of the story runs as follows:
The vivacious vicar [of Bray] living under King Henry VIII, King Edward VI, Queen Mary, and Queen Elizabeth, was first a Papist, then a Protestant, then a Papist, then a Protestant again. He had seen some martyrs burnt (two miles off) at Windsor and found this fire too hot for his tender temper.
This vicar, being taxed [attacked] by one for being a turncoat and an inconstant changeling, said, "Not so, for I always kept my principle, which is this – to live and die the Vicar of Bray." [3]
— Worthies of England, published 1662
However, according to the facts of who held the benefice, the vicar alluded to by Fuller seems actually to have been two or more separate incumbents. Simon Symonds was vicar of Bray in 1522-51 during the reigns of Henry VIII and Edward VI. Simon Aleyn was vicar in 1557–1565 under Mary and Elizabeth.
It seems that Bray's Tudor clerics set a precedent, and the commonest version of the song today[ citation needed ] is based on events in the Stuart period. The incumbent during that period was Francis Carswell, vicar for 42 years, from 1667, who died in Bray in 1709. He was among very few clerics in England to minister to parishioners throughout such a long and fraught historical period, including the years after The Restoration and the Glorious Revolution.
Several other clerics inspired variants of the tradition and song, according to their location and date. They include:
In the song "The Vicar of Bray", the eponymous vicar was the clergyman of St Michael's Church, Bray. The most familiar version of the lyrics recount his adaptability (some would say amorality) over half a century, from the reigns of Charles II to George I. Over this period, he embraced whichever form of liturgy, Protestant or Catholic, was favoured by the monarch of the day in order to retain his position as vicar of Bray.
The Vicar of Bray is an 1882 comic opera by Sydney Grundy and Edward Solomon. The opera is based on the character described in the 18th-century song, as well as on The History of Sandford and Merton , a series of 18th century moral tales.
A film version of the tale was released in 1937 starring Stanley Holloway as the vicar. [4] In the film, the vicar (of Bray, County Wicklow, in Ireland) is given a more positive character and events are placed at a slightly earlier period, during the English Civil War. He successfully protects his parishioners by adopting a diplomatic approach during the turbulent events and secures forgiveness for moderate rebels from the restored Charles II.
The Tower of Bray is also referred to in the song Parlour Songs in the Stephen Sondheim musical Sweeney Todd , although the song has been removed from more recent performances of that musical.
George Orwell wrote an essay called A Good Word for the Vicar of Bray .
A scientific hypothesis is named after the Vicar of Bray that attempts to explain why sexual reproduction might be favoured over asexual reproduction. [5] [6]
Vicar of Bray is the name of the last-known surviving Whitehaven wooden-built ship. It was launched on 22 April 1841 by Robert Hardy. [7]
Recusancy was the state of those who remained loyal to the Catholic Church and refused to attend Church of England services after the English Reformation.
A vicar is a representative, deputy or substitute; anyone acting "in the person of" or agent for a superior. Linguistically, vicar is cognate with the English prefix "vice", similarly meaning "deputy". It also refers to a senior priest in the Church of England. The title appears in a number of Christian ecclesiastical contexts, but also as an administrative title, or title modifier, in the Roman Empire. In addition, in the Holy Roman Empire, a local representative of the emperor, such as an archduke, could be styled "vicar".
The words Popery and Papism are mainly historical pejorative words in the English language for Roman Catholicism, once frequently used by Protestants and Eastern Orthodox Christians to label their Roman Catholic opponents, who differed from them in accepting the authority of the Pope over the Christian Church. The words were popularised during the English Reformation (1532–1559), when the Church of England broke away from the Roman Catholic Church and divisions emerged between those who rejected papal authority and those who continued to follow Rome. The words are recognised as pejorative; they have been in widespread use in Protestant writings until the mid-nineteenth century, including use in some laws that remain in force in the United Kingdom.
"The Vicar of Bray" is an eighteenth century satirical song recounting the career of The Vicar of Bray and his contortions of principle in order to retain his ecclesiastic office despite the changes in the Established Church through the course of several English monarchs. The song is particularly interesting because of the number of allusions to English religious and political doctrines and events crammed into it, justifying the close reading and annotation given here.
Bray, occasionally Bray on Thames, is a suburban village and civil parish in the Windsor and Maidenhead district, in the ceremonial county of Berkshire. It sits on the banks of the River Thames, to the southeast of Maidenhead of which it is a suburb. The village is mentioned in the comedic song "The Vicar of Bray". Bray contains two of the nine three-Michelin-starred restaurants in the United Kingdom and has several large business premises including Bray Studios at Water Oakley, where the first series of Hammer Horror films were produced.
The ballad opera is a genre of English comic opera stage play that originated in the early 18th century, and continued to develop over the following century and later. Like the earlier comédie en vaudeville and the later Singspiel, its distinguishing characteristic is the use of tunes in a popular style with spoken dialogue. These English plays were 'operas' mainly insofar as they satirized the conventions of the imported opera seria. Music critic Peter Gammond describes the ballad opera as "an important step in the emancipation of both the musical stage and the popular song."
Lesbury is a small rural village in Northumberland in the north of England. It is built on the main coastal road 3.5 miles (5.6 km) southeast of Alnwick, on the north bank of the River Aln. Alnmouth railway station is about half a mile away.
Perpetual curate was a class of resident parish priest or incumbent curate within the United Church of England and Ireland. The term is found in common use mainly during the first half of the 19th century. The legal status of perpetual curate originated as an administrative anomaly in the 16th century. Unlike ancient rectories and vicarages, perpetual curacies were supported by a cash stipend, usually maintained by an endowment fund, and had no ancient right to income from tithe or glebe.
Simon Aleyn was a Canon of Windsor from 1559–63
The Vicar of Bray is a comic opera by Edward Solomon with a libretto by Sydney Grundy which opened at the Globe Theatre, in London, on 22 July 1882, for a run of only 69 performances. The public was not amused at a clergyman's being made the subject of ridicule, and the opera was regarded by some as scandalous. An 1892 revival at the Savoy Theatre was more successful, lasting for 143 performances, after public perceptions had changed.
William Marsh (1775–1864) was a British priest in the Church of England and a writer of theological publications, in the 19th century. He was the vicar in St Peters, Colchester where his daughter, Catherine Marsh, the writer was born.
Scenes of Clerical Life is George Eliot's first published work of fiction, a collection of three short stories, published in book form; it was the first of her works to be released under her famous pseudonym. The stories were first published in Blackwood's Magazine over the course of the year 1857, initially anonymously, before being released as a two-volume set by Blackwood and Sons in January 1858. The three stories are set during the last twenty years of the eighteenth century and the first half of the nineteenth century over a fifty-year period. The stories take place in and around the fictional town of Milby in the English Midlands. Each of the Scenes concerns a different Anglican clergyman, but is not necessarily centred upon him. Eliot examines, among other things, the effects of religious reform and the tension between the Established and the Dissenting Churches on the clergymen and their congregations, and draws attention to various social issues, such as poverty, alcoholism and domestic violence.
The "Vicar of Bray" hypothesis attempts to explain why sexual reproduction might have advantages over asexual reproduction. Reproduction is the process by which organisms give rise to offspring. Asexual reproduction involves a single parent and results in offspring that are genetically identical to each other and to the parent.
St Mary the Virgin is a 13th-century Anglican parish church in Northolt, London Borough of Ealing. It is on a slope shared with Belvue Park, the site of a 15th-century manor house — both overlooked the old village of Northolt. It is one of London's smallest churches, its nave measuring 15 yards (14 m) by 8 yards (7.3 m). The church was built around 1290 and was expanded over the centuries, with the chancel being added in 1521, the spired bell tower in the 16th century, and a gallery at the west end of the church in 1703. Twin buttresses were erected against the west wall around 1718 to alleviate concerns that the church could slip down the hill. The internal beams are original and the bells date from the 17th century. The church was constructed from a variety of materials; the nave incorporates clunch, flint and ironstone, and the mouldings of the doors and windows are made from Reigate Stone.
Vicar is a title given to certain parish priests in the Church of England and other Anglican churches. It has played a significant role in Anglican church organisation in ways that are different from other Christian denominations. The title is very old and arises from the medieval arrangement where priests were appointed either by a secular lord, by a bishop or by a religious foundation. Historically, but no longer, vicars share a benefice with a rector to whom the great tithes were paid. Vicar derives from the Latin vicarius meaning a substitute.
The Vicar of Bray is a 1937 British historical film with songs, directed by Henry Edwards, and starring Stanley Holloway, Hugh Miller, Felix Aylmer and Margaret Vines. These songs include the melody and first verse of the traditional English song which gives the film its title, along with a new verse on Cromwell's rule.
Vicar of Bray may refer to:
Edward Atkyns Bray (1778–1857) was a British poet, vicar, and miscellaneous writer.
Vicar typically refers to a clergy position in various Christian traditions or to an administrative political post (Vicarius) in Roman history.
St Michael's Church, Bray, is a Grade II* listed parish church in the Church of England in Bray, Berkshire.