Dr. David Harrison

Category: Freemasonry

  • Lord Byron, Ali Pasha and Albania

    Koka në Stamboll Trupi ne Janine
    Traditional Albanian song

    When Lord Byron visited Albania in 1809 while he was on his Grand Tour with his friend John Hobhouse, he found much inspiration, writing his epic poem Childe Harold’s Pilgrimage based in part, on his experiences there, and finding himself accepted in a wild land on the fringes of Europe. Byron also acquired a traditional Albanian costume, which he wore in the famous portrait, the costume capturing the romantic splendour of the Romantic poet. Once in Albania, Byron met with Ali Pasha (1740-1822), an Albanian warlord who is now celebrated for fighting the Turks. Ali Pasha found his way into Byron’s epic poem:

    ‘I talk not of mercy, I talk not of fear;
    He neither must know who would serve the Vizier;
    Since the days of our prophet, the crescent ne’er saw
    A chief ever glorious like Ali Pasha.’1

    So who was this great Albanian who had made such an impact on Byron? Ali Pasha of Tepelena rose to prominence as a bandit, and his success brought him to the attention of the Ottomans, the warlord eventually gaining power over a territory that covered parts of southern Albania and northern Greece, and ruling from Ioannina, which is now situated in north western Greece. Ali Pasha admired Byron, and Ali certainly made a lasting impression on the poet, being referred to in Childe Harold and Don Juan. Indeed, in a letter to his mother, Byron described his meeting with Ali:

    ‘He told me to consider him as a father whilst I was in Turkey, & said he looked on me as his son. – Indeed he treated me like a child, sending me almonds & sugared sherbet, fruit & sweetmeats 20 times a day. – He begged me to visit him often, and at night when he was more at leisure – I then after coffee & pipes retired for the first time.’2

    Ali Pasha had been expecting Byron, though when Byron arrived at Ioannina, Ali was away fighting on a brief campaign, and Byron then travelled to Ali’s home town of Tepelena to meet him. There is a theory, commented on by Byron scholar Peter Cochran, that Byron’s meeting with Ali Pasha may have been ‘encouraged’ to flatter Ali with his visit, with a view of getting Ali Pasha’s support for British interests in the Ionian Islands.3 If this indeed was the case, it would not be the last time that Byron would flirt with political intrigue.4 Byron later revisited memories of his meeting with Ali Pasha in that other epic poem of his, Don Juan, where he referred to the image of a fountain in the room:

    ‘A Marble fountain echoes through the glooms…’5

    And the footnote from the bottom of the page that features the line from Stanza 55 presents the origin of this image:

    ‘A Common furniture. – I recollect being received by Ali Pacha in a room containing a marble bason and fountain &c. &c. &c.’6

    The Canto recounts a tale of Ottoman seduction with a ‘black Eunuch’ leading ‘purchased Infidels’, and as Don Juan enters into the room, there is a hint at the sadness and the soullessness of the large empty room.7

    After Byron left the hospitality of Ali Pasha for the Greek territories, he would meet Andreas Londros, who would later become a leader in the Greek war of independence, and a valued associate for Byron on his return there in 1823. Ali Pasha would meet his end in 1822, fighting the Turks. His head was cut off and presented to the Sultan Mahmud II. His body rests in a mausoleum next to the Fethiye Mosque in Ioannina.

    Many thanks to Mevi Rafuna who inspired this post.

    References

    1. Byron, Childe Harold’s Pilgrimage, (LXXII).
    2. BLJI228, taken from Peter Cochran, ‘Byron and Ali Pasha’, The Newstead Abbey Byron Society, p.10.
    3. See Cochran, ‘Byron and Ali Pasha’, The Newstead Abbey Byron Society, pp.7-12.
    4. See David Harrison, ‘Sex, Seduction, and Secret Societies: Byron, the Carbonari and Freemasonry’, Acta Macionica, Vol.27, (2017), pp.85-95.
    5. Byron, Don Juan V, Stanza 55. See also Cochran, ‘Byron and Ali Pasha’, The Newstead Abbey Byron Society, p.10.
    6. Byron, Don Juan V, Stanza 55.
    7. Byron, Don Juan, V, Stanza 54.

  • Skanderbeg and the English Adventurer John Newport

    George Castriot, otherwise known as Skanderbeg, was a legendary Albanian military leader of the fifteenth century, who successfully rallied his countrymen against the onslaught of the Ottoman Empire. So renowned was the reputation of Skanderbeg as a military leader, that he attracted many adventurers from other European countries to be drawn into his service. Adventurers such as Stefan Maramonte, who served as Skanderbeg’s Ambassador in 1457 and the Englishman John Newport, who served Skanderbeg around the same time, testify to this, some becoming close to Skanderbeg. Though little is known of John Newport, it is interesting to see how, despite the cultural divide, an Englishman could be found in Albania, fighting against the Ottomans in the service of such a renowned military leader such as Skanderbeg.

    How did Newport enter into the service of Skanderbeg? Was he a mercenary adventurer or did he believe in the greater cause of the defence of Europe against the expanding Ottoman Empire? Certainly Skanderbeg attracted many foreign volunteers to his service, from France, Italy and of course in Newport’s case, from England, though the city of Newport is actually in Wales. John Newport certainly captivated a number of writers over the recent decades, such as Communist writer William Bland, who travelled to Albania in 1984, in part to research the English adventurer, but found nothing:

    ‘I had been working for some time on a biographical sketch of an Englishman, John Newport, who fought with Skanderbeg, and they arranged a further interview with specialists in this field to help me track down the source of a quotation from him which is cited in the “History of Albania”. As a result it is now clear that the original source is not to be found in Albania and I have to search elsewhere.’ 1

    Documentation is scarce for Newport, but we do know that he was a loyal supporter of Skanderbeg and saw the fight as essential in saving Europe. Indeed John Newport is described as a knight in certain modern works, and in regards to the importance of Skanderbeg in fighting the Ottomans, is recorded as writing that:

    ‘The invasion of Europe will be a fact, for there is no other power capable of resisting the Turks if the Albanian stronghold falls.’ 2

    Indeed, this ‘outside’ view of the situation, supports the situation of Skanderbeg at the time, in being a lone force in fighting the Ottoman expansion. Newport is also referred to in a letter of Cardinal Piccolomini, as an English knight named John of Newport, who commanded a group of archers in the battles of 1457. In the company of an ambassador of Skanderbeg, returning from Naples, he came to Rome to beg help for Skanderbeg, who was still in danger from the Ottomans. 3

    England and Wales was at the time, well-known for its archers, the longbow being famously used by the English in the Battle of Agincourt in 1415, and it was in use throughout the fifteenth century and the Hungarian king Louis the Great used longbow men on his Italian campaigns. Longbows were used up until the early seventeenth century when they were replaced by fire arms. John Newport certainly appears to have led a professional group of archers, and in this sense is reminiscent of the English Mercenary groups that appeared in the twelfth century and the Free Companies that existed up until the end of the fourteenth century, one particular famous leader of these being Sir John Hawkwood (c.1323-1394).

    So despite there being little documentary evidence on the life of John Newport, his service to Skanderbeg certainly gives an insight into how Skanderbeg’s military activities were highly respected in other European military circles, and how he attracted other European commander’s military service. English archers were thus of assistance to Skanderbeg’s campaigns around 1457, and the view of Newport indeed indicates the importance of Skanderbeg’s military campaigns against the Turks as being vital for the survival of Europe.

    Many thanks to author Mevi Rafuna for her help and assistance in this article.

    References

    1. Taken from the blog <http://marxistupdate.blogspot.com/2011/10/journey-to-albania.html?m=1> [accessed 27th March, 2019] A travelogue by William Bland, reprinted from Albanian Life, n. 29, 2/1984.
    2. See Gezim Alpion, Mother Theresa: Saint or Celebrity? (London: Routledge, 2007). Alpion delves into the national character of Albania forged by the resistance of Skanderbeg in the 15th century against the Ottomans. Also see Historia e Shqipërisë I, (Tirana, 1959), p.300.
    3. C. Marinesco, Alphonse V et l’Albanie de Scanderbeg, (Paris, 1923), p.13.

  • Masonic Bibles

    Masonic Bibles

    The Renaissance led to a revolution in Bible publishing; by the mid-1400s, Gutenberg’s movable type press and the aims of the 16th century Protestant Reformation made the Bible accessible to ordinary people in their own language. The 1560 Geneva Bible, which had been put together by a small group of Scottish and English Calvinists in Geneva, became treasured by English speaking Protestants, and surviving copies display well-used pages. The notes in the margins of the Geneva Bible displayed anti-Royal sentiments and it was loved by the Puritans, the Geneva Bible being preferred over the King James version and remaining popular throughout the 17th century. One reason for this, as we shall see, was the many serious errors that appeared in editions of the King James version.

    Lodge of Lights 1599 Bible
    The Geneva Bible dating from 1599, used by the Lodge of Lights No. 148, is reputed to be the very Bible that Elias Ashmole took his Masonic oath on when he was made a Freemason in Warrington in October 1646, though there is no supporting evidence for this. The Lodge of Lights was founded in 1765 and there was an Antient’s lodge based in Warrington for a short period in 1756, and a lodge Bible must have been used. We do know that the ‘Ashmole’ Bible was rebound in the later nineteenth century and has had a number of pages repaired professionally, probably at the same time it had been rebound. Later repairs to the pages were made with Sellotape, pointing to the Bible’s use in up until the mid twentieth century. However, the Bible has not been used in the lodge within living memory, and does not have the Lodge of Lights written on the front of the leather binding, but that of ‘Warrington Lodge’, which was the original name of the lodge before it took on its present name in 1806. The Bible has recently been repaired and its historical importance has been revaluated.

    The Washington Bible
    Certain older lodges use Bibles that have an important historical value, such as the King James Bible that the first President of the United States George Washington, took his oath of office on in 1789, which is from a lodge based in Manhattan, New York called St John’s Lodge. The Bible was supplied from the lodge as there was no other Bible to hand. Other Presidents that have took their oath of office on the Bible include President George H. W. Bush in 1989, and his son George W. Bush, who had hoped to take his oath of office on the same Bible in 2001, but due to the heavy rain, a decision was made not to use it outside.

    The Bible was originally bound in London in 1767 and was brought over to the American colonies and was presented by Jonathan Hampton to the St. John’s Lodge in Lower Manhattan three years later. Washington took his oath of office on the steps of Federal Hall in New York on the 30th April 1789, and with no Bible to hand, the New York Governor, Robert Livingston, who was also a Mason, borrowed it from the lodge which met a short distance away. The Bible, bound in leather with silver clasps, would have been rare and expensive in those days, probably being close to a year’s wages for the average working man. The Bible is kept by St. John’s Lodge.

    The Breeches Bible of the Lodge of Edinburgh
    Another historical Bible is used in the Lodge of Edinburgh (Mary’s Chapel) No. 1, called the Breeches Bible – which was printed in 1587. The minutes of the lodge date back to 1599 and the Bible has witnessed the oath and obligation of many famous members of that lodge, such as King Edward VII and King Edward VIII. Printed in Geneva, it is called the Breeches Bible due to a misprint. In Genesis iii, 7, in which it reads ‘And they sewed fig tre leaves together, and made them selves breeches’, the word ‘breeches’ used instead of ‘aprons’. Other Bibles that have become famous and are now much sought after by collectors due to misprints include the ‘Wicked’ Bible, published in 1631, which omitted the word ‘not’ in the rendering of the Seventh Commandment. For this mistake the printer was fined £300 by Archbishop Laud.

    Other such Bibles include the ‘Pagan’ Bible, which printed in 1572, contains illustrations of pagan God’s such as Apollo at Mount Olympus, and the ‘Vinegar’ Bible printed by John Baskett in 1717, which has the page heading of Luke 20:9 as ‘The Parable of the Vinegar’ instead of ‘The Parable of the Vineyard’. This Bible had so many mistakes in it that it was also referred to as the ‘Baskett-ful or errors’ after its hapless printer. Another such Bible is the ‘Servant’ Bible, published in 1640, which used the word ‘servant’ instead of ‘serpent’ in the first verse of the third chapter of Genesis. As Paul Tronson comments in his article in Masonic magazine MQ, many of these Bibles came to be used in various lodges and he referred to how Mother Kilwinning Lodge No. 0 in Scotland has two 16th century Geneva Bibles that had been stuck together with duct tape.

    References

    Paul Tronson, ‘Masonic Bibles: Lodges and their Bibles’, MQ Magazine, Issue 17, April, 2006, pp.44-45.

    http://www.lodgelordbruce.co.uk/masonic-beliefs.html

    https://www.felixrarebooks.com/the-vinegar-bible-1716—1717.html

  • God, Geometry and Gematria

    As Freemasons, we perceive God within geometry, we even see God represented as a geometrical image, as mathematical perfection. For example, the equilateral triangle becomes an image of the Trinity, which is a perception of a Christian form of God, and thus the common image of the all-seeing eye of God placed within the triangle, becomes apparent, three bringing completeness and stability. Geometry and the perfection it creates enabled the great Temples of antiquity to be constructed, and can be seen being practiced in ancient cultures, especially with the existence of the Egyptian Rhind Papyrus for example (BM 10057 and BM 10058) dated c.2000-1800 BC, and of course, by Pythagoras c.570-c.495 BC.

    Geometry was seen as a language of God. Indeed, the seventeenth century English philosopher Thomas Hobbes once said that ‘Geometry is the only science that it hath pleased God hitherto to bestow on mankind’. Even Plato said ‘God ever geometrizes’. The dimensions of Solomon’s Temple were given by God, as were the dimensions of the Ark. This sacred geometry became the essence of God, and this geometry was used by the medieval stone masons to construct the beautiful cathedrals of Europe; houses of God built for his worship. To understand this Divine measurement became a focus of natural philosophers such as Sir Isaac Newton, who saw it somewhat as a code to crack.

    Divine codes within geometry and mathematics have somewhat of a parallel to the practice of Gematria, a method of assigning numerical values to Hebrew words, based on the letters. The use of Gematria can be seen with certain stories within Biblical narrative, such as in John 21:11, where 153 fishes were caught, the number 153 being a reference for ‘the children of God’.1 Another example can be found with the number 318 in Genesis 14:14, where 318 is the number given of Abram’s men, which has the same numerical value to Eliezer’s name in Genesis 15.2 This ‘Kabbalistic art of Gematria’ may have also filtered into the 1674 edition of Milton’s Paradise Lost.3

    To conclude, we bring ourselves back to perceptions of God, and in particular the interesting art of Gematria; in Gematria the number 15 spells the word ‘YH’, (Y=10, H=5) the syncopated form of the Tetragrammon (the word of God), the number assigned to Tetragrammon being 26:

    Y H W H
    10+5+6+5=26

    References
    1. Neil J. McEleney, ‘153 Great Fishes (John 21,11) — Gematriacal Atbash’, Biblica, Vol. 58, No. 3 (1977), pp.411-417.
    2. Michael Moore, ‘THREE HUNDRED EIGHTEEN’, ETC: A Review of General Semantics, Vol. 68, No. 2 (April 2011), pp.199-204.
    3. Eve Keller, ‘Tetragrammic Numbers: Gematria and the Line Total of the 1674 “Paradise Lost”’, Milton Quarterly, Vol. 20, No. 1 (MARCH 1986), pp.23-25.

  • George Canning, Freemason

    George Canning (1770-1827) has gone down in history as having served the shortest period as Prime Minister in Great Britain, but he also had another side to his life; he was a Freemason, he fought a duel, and was a critic of Britain’s slave trade. Indeed, Canning had been against slavery, stating in 1795 that:

    ‘I shall content myself, with giving my vote, without any arguments, for the immediate and unqualified abolition’.1

    According to Thomas Fenn, Canning joined the Prince of Wales Lodge No.259 from the Somerset House Lodge on 13th April, 1810.2 However, A.W. Oxford, he states that Canning was initiated and passed in No. 4 Lodge on 30th April 1810, having been proposed on 12th February 1810.3 Either way, Canning seemed to have been a Freemason that was attached to a rather distinguished lodge.

    A charismatic and promising figure, Canning excelled at Eton and at Oxford and entered politics with ease. He was an associate of Liverpool businessman John Gladstone, the father of the future Prime Minister William Ewart Gladstone and Freemason Robertson Gladstone, and he was also a close friend of Prime Minister Lord Liverpool. Canning served in many offices before becoming Prime Minister, serving as Leader of the House of Commons and Chancellor of the Exchequer, but his career in politics also made him enemies. Canning famously fell out with Lord Castlereagh, threatening to resign from his post as Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs unless the then Prime Minister, the Duke of Portland, removed Castlereagh. Portland agreed to this demand, but Castlereagh found out and challenged Canning to a duel, which took place on Putney Heath on 21st September 1809. Canning was a poor shot and missed, but Castlereagh was renowned with a pistol and wounded Canning in the thigh.

    Canning became Prime Minister on the 12th of April 1827, and died on the 8th of August the same year, serving 119 days in office, the shortest of any Prime Minister. He can also be remembered as a Freemason and as a forward thinking politician who questioned slavery and served in many offices in government.

    References:

    1. P. Jupp, (ed.), The Letter-Journal of George Canning, 1793-1795, Royal Historical Society, Camden Fourth Series, Volume 41, (London, 1991), p.202.
    2. Thomas Fenn, who wrote The Prince of Wales’s Lodge No. 259: list of members from the time of its constitution, (London: Jarrold & Sons Ltd., Revised ed. 1938), p.33.
    3. A.W. Oxford, No. 4 an introduction to the History of the Royal Somerset House and Inverness Lodge, (London: Bernard Quaritch Ltd., 1928), p.189.
  • New Book out in September: Lost Rituals of English Freemasonry Rediscovered

    New Book out in September: Lost Rituals of English Freemasonry Rediscovered

    The new book is in the final stages. It follows on with the themes of my previous book The Lost Rites and Rituals of Freemasonry, by examining the evolution of rituals, this time concentrating in England during the early nineteenth century. Here’s the revised blurb for the back of the cover, which will give an insight into what the book is about:

    This in-depth work examines a compendium of Masonic rituals found in Richard Carlile’s once popular Manual of Freemasonry, some of the exotic high degrees displayed in his exposé being regularly practiced in England during the early nineteenth century. For the first time, Carlile’s work is fully discussed, degree by degree, to not only reveal the full Masonic story, but to examine the eclectic sources of these degrees and the writers who influenced his work. Indeed, these writers, such as Thomas Paine, William Finch and Godfrey Higgins will also be observed, along with an examination of the radical, free thinking ideas that Carlile projected in his exposé. We will see how a rich array of Masonic high grades were practiced at a time of much development and profound change for English Freemasonry, the idea of the complete Masonic story being revealed via these high grades was, to certain English Freemasons, deeply attractive, especially to those who were found wanting after the union of 1813. Carlile’s exposé, as we shall see, served these needs, his work revealing a rich fusion of radicalism along with an opulent collection of Masonic rituals from a variety of sources, such as Peter Lambert de Lintot’s Rite of Seven Degrees. In short, Carlile’s work is a highly valued piece of Masonic literature and gives an important insight into what can be seen as a very English practice of high degree Masonry during the time. This new examination of The Manual of Freemasonry is a much overdue rediscovery of the significance of his work on English Masonry and published in 2019, commemorates the Peterloo Massacre of 1819, an event that was witnessed by Carlile.

    There will be more details to follow. The book will be published by Lewis Masonic in September.

  • The Sun and the Moon

     

    In alchemy there is no creation without the union of opposites….
    The moon (silver) represents fertility, resurrection and immortality, and is a feminine property – the White Queen that alchemists would integrate with the sun to create sublime balance. There would thus be marriage between the sun and the moon, creating sexual union and rebirth, and they can both sometimes be seen on Christian iconography situated at either side of the cross, indicating resurrection of the Divine.

    The sun (gold) is masculine, is associated with the imagery of the Red King, and signifies the Divine spark of man. It is this union between the sun and the moon that is so vital to understanding the life, death and rebirth of nature; the sun rising in the east enlightening and ruling the day, setting in the west, and after the darkness, rising again. The moon however can take away the darkness of the night, guiding people home through the uneasy dark night. It was said to change people’s characters when full, and in folklore, was to govern the spells of witches and magicians. Together in sexual union, the sun and moon create the Rebis, sometimes referred to as a Divine being that has both male and female qualities, a reconciliation of spirit and matter.

    Alchemical references in Freemasonry

    In Freemasonry, the sun and the moon are still prominent symbols within the lodge, both giving light. Some lodges in the eighteenth and nineteenth century were known as full moon lodges, as they met on the night of the full moon, or on the nearest particular night to a full moon, as to light the way home in an age where there were no street lighting.

    The stages of purification are reached in the alchemical process, the transmutation of a base metal (lead) into a noble metal (gold) being similar to the perfection of a Mason, the new Master Mason being reborn during the third degree after the symbolic death of the old Master, in a symbolic never-ending cycle of life, death and rebirth. The education of a Mason as he completes the lessons of the degrees, perfecting him and making him a better man.

    This union of the sun and the moon can be seen in the alchemical masterpiece Splendor Solis, (1582), London BL, Harley 3469 fol-10, King & queen with sun & moon. The White Queen can be seen standing on the moon, the Red King standing on the fire of the sun, both moon and sun hang above them. The colours are also important in the alchemical process.

    The rich symbolism of the sun and the moon is as powerful as ever, and for those who learn from this symbolism within Freemasonry, a deeper understanding can be achieved of the Master Masons degree, that of the death of the old Master, and his rebirth as the new Master Mason, a symbolic resurrection.

  • Robert Burns; Poet, Scotsman, Freemason

    As many lodges will be celebrating Burns Night soon, I thought I would write a brief biopic of one of my favourite poets. Robert Burns, poet, Scotsman, and Freemason, was born on 25th January, 1759, in Alloway near Ayr in the south-west of Scotland. The eldest of seven children, Robert Burns (born Burness) became a bard that captured Scottish history and legend alike, using Scottish dialect and humour in his poetry, Burns combining elements of his Jacobite sympathies with Jacobin politics of his time. It was Alloway that he set one of his most famous poems Tam o’ Shanter, the poem displaying themes of the occult, having a drunken Tan watching a group of witches and warlocks dancing with the Devil.

    Burns became a Freemason after joining St David’s Lodge No. 174 in Tarbolton in 1781, the poet taking his Freemasonry very seriously, joining a total of six lodges during his short life. By 1784 Burns was ‘Depute Master’ of St. James’ Lodge No. 178 (now No. 135), which also met in Tarbolton. He entered into the Royal Arch in 1787, became a member of St. Andrew’s Lodge No. 179 in Dumfries, and also became poet laureate of Lodge Canongate Kilwinning No. 2.

    It was only natural that the philosophy of Freemasonry filtered into his poetry, and this can be seen in several of his poems, such as Libel Summons, which tells the story of two brothers in court, one for hypocrisy and lying, the other for neglecting his duties, the poem having deep moral overtones that hint at Masonic values. Burns’ The Masonic Song was presented to Lodge Canongate Kilwinning and many brethren were subscribers to his poetry collections, his most famous work Auld Lang Syne conveying the love and cemented bond of brotherhood around the world. Burns died on the 21st July, 1796, caused by a rheumatic heart condition.

  • Dr John Theophilus Desaguliers and ‘The Newtonian System of the World’

    Recently, I had a short paper published in the summer (2018) issue of Philalethes: The Journal of Masonic Research & Letters, the paper examining Dr John Theophilus Desaguliers’ poem ‘The Newtonian System of the World’. The poem was published in 1728, it celebrated Newtonian Natural Experimental Philosophy, and commenting on it in my first book ‘The Genesis of Freemasonry‘, I noted references that reflected Masonic themes. The poem is also printed in its entirety after my paper. This short paper appeared in Volume 71, No.3 of the Philalethes Journal, and can be accessed for free via my academia.com profile here.

    Taken from the poem ‘The Newtonian System of the World…’ by J.T. Desaguliers.
    Taken from the poem ‘The Newtonian System of the World…’ by J.T. Desaguliers.

    Taken from the poem ‘The Newtonian System of the World…’ by J.T. Desaguliers.

  • Horn Dancers, Mummers and Morris Men

     

    The Abbots Bromley Horn Dancers, taken from The Countryman, (Autumn 1983).

    Being a fan of the classic Edward Woodward film The Wicker Man, I’ve always had a soft spot for the Morris Dancing that goes on outside village pubs in the summer months, and recently I was handed an old copy The Countryman Quarterly from Autumn 1983, which had a great article concerning the Abbots Bromley Horn Dancers, a local folk tradition which takes place on Wakes Monday in the Staffordshire village. The dancers consist of twelve men; six dancers with reindeer antlers, a hobby horse, Maid Marion, a Fool, a musician playing an accordion, a youngster carrying a bow and arrow and another youngster carrying a triangle. They congregate at St. Nicholas’ Church in the morning, then dance around the village, the festivities ending in the evening. Unlike the Wicker Man however, there is no sacrifice at the end, but the folk dance itself certainly gives us a glimpse of the past. It is indeed a centuries old tradition, being mentioned in Robert Plot’s Natural History of Staffordshire in 1686, and like most village folk dances it was discontinued during the Commonwealth years under Oliver Cromwell. Debate continues on the origins of the Horn Dance; a pagan folk festival performing sympathetic magic before the hunting season or a fertility rite are two theories. One of the horns was carbon dated to the 11th century.

    The Abbots Bromley Horn Dancers with Hobby Horse, The Countryman (Autumn 1983).

    The Mummers folk plays occur up and down the country; some Mummers have disguises, masks or blackened faces, others dress up in various costumes and perform plays that normally entail a fight, whereby the fallen participant gets revived or resurrected by a Doctor, such as with St. George and the Dragon. Some perform a play on Bonfire Night, mid-winter or around Christmas, and Pace-Egging around Easter. Sometimes the Mummers pay house-to-house visits, other Mummers perform their plays outside Pubs. Different variations can be found around the UK, the Mummers dating back to the medieval period when they appeared in the court of various monarchs during festivities, though in its current format of the ‘Doctor’ play, it can be traced to the 18th century.

    Morris Dancers are a common site in various villages in England, the folk-dance appearing in England around the 15th century, with the working peasantry recorded as taking part in the dances by the 17th century, especially at Whitsun. The style of dancing varies from village to village, but is always choreographed, commonly the dancers having bells on their shins, and using sticks, handkerchiefs, or even swords. An example of the tradition today is the Leominster Morris Dancers, who celebrate the ancient custom of Wassailing, and at Christmas they parade into the orchards near Tenbury Wells, Worcestershire, to bless the trees by placing a cider-soaked piece of Christmas cake on the branches and sprinkling cider around the roots, dancing and singing the Wassail song. This it is believed will ensure a bumper apple crop in the coming year. The communal wassail cup was filled with mulled ale and passed around as part of the celebrations.

    ‘Only a Fool would be King for a day…’ The Abbots Bromley Horn Dance Fool. The Countryman (Autumn 1983).

    It is always satisfying to see these traditional folk events still taking place, and many of these events can still be seen throughout the year and welcome visitors. Below are various links for further information:

    The Abbots Bromley Horn Dance

    Some Morris Dancers perform Mummers plays, and information on this can be found here on theMorrisring.org

    The Leominster Morris