English Ritual Songs a Participatory Performance Workshop Mike Ballantyne
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English Ritual Songs A Participatory Performance Workshop Mike Ballantyne The celebrationof the passingseasons in traditional have been found in Romantemples dedicated to pre- folksongs that derive from pre-Christian and traditional folk Christian deities and in other pre-Christian, Romanrites beliefs is no doubt familiar to the majority of readers,and it and possibly the Romansbrought the customwith them to is relatively common for singersof traditional folksongs to Britain. One item of evidencefor this sourceis that hot- put togethera calendarof songs, at sometime in their lives. crossbun ceremoniesare most firmly establishedand have There are somevery familiar and popular songsthat might their longest and strongestsurvival in areasthat were be chosento make up such a calendarand there are quite a previously occupiedby the Romans.However it should also number of songsto choosefrom. Someof the songsI have be noted that there is evidenceto suggestthat the baking of chosenfor the essaythat follows are probably new to many crossedbuns may be an older custom than that of Rome, readers,and it is hoped that the essaywill help to put the and of wider cultural distribution. ancient songsand rituals into perspective.This essayis the Incidentally, folk rhymesrelating to pre-Christian text of a workshop createdto look at folksongs that relate to folklore tend to be rather more commonthan folk songs pre-Christianritual in English folklore. Old rituals still and, with a little diligent research,these can still be found aboundin England, but many of them have been createdin in odd comers of literature. Books containing the lore of relatively recent times and have little to do with ancient children, within whosetraditions folk rhymeshave tended customas viewed from the perspectiveof this workshop. to be more extensivelypreserved, might be an especially One good exampleof theselater and unrelatedcustoms good place to start looking. is the well-dressingof the five wells in the village of Before attemptingto put the English ritual folk songs Tissington, in Derbyshire. During the Black Death, in the given here into a coherentcalendar, it would be useful to middle of the FourteenthCentury, Tissington was spared quote from Marie-Louise Sjoestedt'sGods and Heroes of from the ravagesof the Bubonic Plague. Villagers believed the Celts: this was specifically due to the miraculousproperties of their well waters. Every year since 1530, therefore, on We seethat the Celtic calendaris regulatednot by AscensionDay, the wells have been garlandedand deco- the solar year, by solsticeand equinox, but by the rated with flower petals, buds, and berries set into soft clay, agrarianand pastoralyear, by the beginning and end of making wonderfully intricate and colourful pictures of the tasksof cattle raising and agriculture. So, too, Biblical scenes.Religious servicesare also held before the Celtic mythology is dominatedby goddessesof the wells on this day, the Thursdaybefore Whitsun. Although earth, and one looks in vain for solar deities. (68) the well-dressingat Tissington was begun as a result of local beliefs concerningan episodeat a precisetime within If we break up the songsthat follow into calendar the Christian period, it should be noted that well-dressingis groups, we find that half are aligned with three of the major a widespreadcustom throughout Europe and can be traced Celtic festivals-those of Samhain,Beltaine, and considerablyfurther back than the adventof Christianity. Lughnasadh-and the other half, although being part of the Another tradition that at first looks to be rather European,Celtic tradition, would also appearto havebeen obviously of Christian origin is the hot-crossbun that is influencedby Roman,pre-Christian beliefs. All of them, bakedfor Good Friday. It has been strongly suggested, however, have beenadopted by the Christian church, and however, that hot-crossbuns are, in fact, descendedfrom a Celtic celebrationdays becamesaints' days. Roman, four-section, ceremonialbun. Certainly suchbuns Can Was.vel (Wassail Song) The first song plainly stemsfrom EuropeanCeltic and the practical joking that typically accompaniedthe tradition but is celebratedon a day that falls mid-way revels are reflected still in the plays and songsof mummers betweenthe Kalendsof January, i.e., betweenDecember 26 and, perhapsmore moderately,by wassailers. and January6. Kalendswas a Romanresurrection festival Wassailcomes from the Anglo-Saxonwords wes (be) that celebrateda new beginning with the new year. It was a and hal (whole)-in other words, "Be of good health." time of year when malignant spirits, dead souls, and demons Generally, good luck cameto the householdersimply by rose from the underworld, only to be bani.shed,once more, being visited by the wassailersalthough someceremonies through the festivities, back to the underworld. In order to also involved the wassailersgiving a token of good luck to help banish the spirits, it was common to representthem by the householder.This is especiallynotable in regard to the dressingup in disguise, or to mask oneself, and to behave housevisit that, in the old days, went with the song with licentious and drunken abandon.Both the disguising "Hunting the Wren" (q.v.), when the householderplucked a 6 feather from the tiny bird to keep as a charm. In return for bowl-quite apart from the obvious fact that woodenbowls their visit the wassailersreceived good luck offerings of are a relic of the days when householdvessels were cider, ale, food or coin. commonly madeof wood-reflects the ancientecclesiastical Evidenceof the extent of old Europeanwassailling edict againstthe use of wooden vesselsfor Christian church traditions are not too difficult to find. For example,a verse ceremonials. in the "StaffordshireWassail Song," collectedby Bishop Three of the songsthat follow are from Cornwall, in ThomasPercy about 1760, goes: England's West Country, although folk traditions there are We'll hang a silver knapkin upon a golden spear, not necessarilyany strongerthan in other parts of England. And come no more a wassailling until anotheryear. Nevertheless,it should be noted that Devon and Cornwall In Roumania,the Calusari dancerscarry with them a pole did not begin to exchangetheir Celtic ceremoniesand decoratedat the end with silver or silken napkins tied practicesfor thoseof Rome until the IOdlCentury, togetherwith the potently magic vegetable,garlic. following Athelstan'sconquest of Cornwall, or West Wales, Most wassail songsmention a woodenbowl to receive as the Devonshire-Cornishpeninsula was sometimesreferred the offering from the householder.Variously, the bowl was to about that time (925-940). madeof ash, elder, maple or mulberry; rosemarywas also Versionsof the first song, "Can Wassel," and the mentionedin someversions, although it is questionable fourth song, " Hal-An-Tow," both of which are from whether rosemarycan grow to the size required to make a Cornwall, are to be found in other parts of England as a bowl of its wood. Cecil Sharpcontends that the maintenance direct result of the migration of Cornish miners. in modern times of the tradition of the woodenwassail '~~~jBlbj~ ci j-'I~~ -.:.."'"1 .-,No... ~,.js~--sjs O~"'~a..Jfl.e tJe...y'e..,.~e.-8ik6.T~ o-peKt\..e door- a ,L ~( ,,",-d ~II )"; If-E f j-lfj" ~'bi g ~~i~~~~J)let lAoSc.o...~ i",~ ...;fl. ~~~~I~~~~~~~~~~t:0 ~o.s -~' ,,0...:1 I..JQ.S- SQ.;( . c.Jas - SQ.;I , was- "1 --.r =::E- ~'= ~~~~- - r~ sa.il , o...cL jOj co",e. fo OlL'- 1ol-'~ WQ.S- SO-I---~ IT 1. Now Christmasis over and the New Year begins Pray open the door and let us come in. Refrain: With our wassail, wassail, wassail, wassail And joy come to our jolly wassail. 2. Good mistressand mastersitting down by the fire, Whilst we poor wassailersare tmvelling the mire. 3 This ancientold housewe will kindly salute, It is the old custom, you neednot dispute. 4. We are here in this place, we orderly stand, We're jolly wassailerswith a bowl in our hand 5. Good mistressand master,how can you forbear, Come fill up our bowl with cider and beer. 6 We hope that your apple trees will prosper and bear, That we may have cider when we come next year. 7. We hope that your barley will prosperand grow .That you may have plenty and more to bestow. 8. And may you have com and plenty of grain, That we may have cake, too, when we come again. ~ 7 9. Good mistressand mastersitting down at your ease, Put your hand in your pocket and give what you please. 10. We wish you a blessingand a long time to live, Sinceyou've been so free and so willing to give. Pace-Egging Song March-April Easteris a Lunar festival that occurs on the first Sunday also concernedwith rebirth (albeit a rebirth in nature), it is following the full moon of the vernal equinox. It can, relatively easyto seehow conven-ientit was for the Roman therefore, fall anywherebetween March 22 and April 25. In church to adopt existing, pre-Christianfestivals. Teutonic myth, the Easterhare-the sacredand sacrificial There are three main customsthat still exist relating animal of astra (or Eostre-the Teutonic goddessof dawn specifically to pace-egging.These are the singing of songs and the Spring)-laid the eggswhich in our times she is from door to door (which might properly be called Easter only said to deliver. In the term "paceegg," "pace" is, carolling or wassailling), egg rolling, and the stagingof ultimately, derived from the Hebrew word for Passover. Pace-Eggingplays. The majority of thesecustoms are held This has now evolved, through Greek and Latin, into asso- in the northern half of England. ciation with the Resurrection.As the Celtic festival was Well, the first to come in is Lord Nelson, you see, With a bunch of blue ribbon tied under his knee, And a star on his breastthat like silver do shine, And I hope he remembersit's pace-eggingtime. Refrain: Here's one, two, three jolly lads all in one mind, We are come a-pace-egging,and I hope you'll prove kind, And I hope you'll prove kind, with your eggsand strong beer, For we'll come no more nigh you until the next year.