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Ever lengthening days
Burst swollen buds, and Insects gently teased By sudden sun, dance Blithely on the air. From a Sonnet (to an absent love).Tony Sewell.
Ancient medieval pastoral customs welcoming the smiling return of Summer in the Shires of rural England are still alive and well. Through the green summer months beribboned troupes of Morris Dancers will be seen in Market Towns and on Village Greens up and down the Shires of England, dancing to the sound of bell, pipe and drum.
In Cornwall, down in the far West of England, half forgotten memories of ancient celtic festivals of the rural cycle of the year stir and heat the blood. Padstow, is a quiet and picturesque fishing village. Its whitewashed granite built cottages with dark Delabole slate roofs cluster round a small fishing boat harbour on the ruggedly beautiful Atlantic coast of North Cornwall. On Mayday this normally sleepy settlement goes wild! It is the Day of the Padstow 'Obby 'Oss Carnival Parade. From morning light until dusk two fearsome looking black clothed hobby horses, with glaring red eyes and snapping teeth, dance their way through the narrow winding streets that are crammed to capacity with local Cornishmen and visiting "furriners" from England" who are drawn to Padstow to enjoy the noisy and at times frenzied revelry. Taking different routes through the village, each 'Obby 'Oss is led by a cavorting, club bearing, "Teaser" dressed in white and followed in lively dancing procession by a similarly white dressed retinue of singers, musicians and drummers. On this day local Cornishmen wear white as a statement of their Cornishness much as Irish expatriates "wear the Green" on St.Patrick's Day. This is the wildest and liveliest folklore event to be seen in Britain today; a day-long Mayday eruption of explosive energy in an otherwise sleepy village community. The Cornish are not averse to downing a copious quantity of Hicks Draught Bitter or Scrumpy, when they are in festive mood and voice. In Padstow on Mayday they vent their capacity for song, dance, and liquor with an uninhibited abandon that must bring tears of joy to the local St.Austell Brewery and the Padstow taverns they supply. |
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