Westward Ho! Musing on Mathematics and Mechanics Westward Ho!Alan Musing Champneys onCMath Mathematics FIMA, University of Bristol and Mechanics Alan Champneys CMath FIMA, University of Bristol Inspired by the village pageants that take dancing from 7.30 in the morning until the Inspiredplace across by the the villagecounty ofpageants Cornwall that to takeher- dancingearly evening. from 7.30 Led in bythe the morning Helston until town the placeald the across coming the of county spring, of this Cornwall issue consid- to her- earlyband, evening. revellers Led dance by along the Helston the streets, town alders the comingdynamics of ofspring, mass this synchronous issue consid- ac- band,through revellers gardens dance and in along out of the houses streets, in erstivity. the New dynamics theories of havemass emerged synchronous overac- the throughvarious costumes gardens and at different in out of times houses of the in tivity.last few New decades theories of have how globalemerged order over can the variousday. Traditional costumes at ‘Helston-born’ different times dancers of the lastemerge few from decades networks of how of global coupled order (near) can day.wear lilies Traditional of the valley; ‘Helston-born’ gentlemen dancers on the emergeidentical from agents. networks Simulations of coupled using (near) such wearleft, flowers lilies of pointing the valley; upwards, gentlemen ladies on the on identicalrules can agents. replicate Simulations the remarkable using obser- such left,the right flowers and pointing upside down. upwards, The ladies town on is rulesvations can of replicate swarms of the fish remarkable or starlings. obser- Yet, thedecorated right and with upside sycamore down. branches The town and, in is vationsa more of recent swarms question of fish isor howstarlings. do lead- Yet, decorateda special dance with sycamoreat 10.00 am, branches local children and, in aers more or influencers recent question emerge is within how do a group lead- adress special in white dance – atthe 10.00 girls wearingam, local flowers children in ersof human or influencers participants emerge carrying within out a agroup syn- dresstheir hair in white to match – the theirgirls wearing school’s flowers colours. in ofchronous human activity. participants This carrying theory not out only a syn- has theirThe hair origins to match of Flora theirDay school’s and the colours. Furry chronousobvious implications activity. This in theory seeking not to only under- has DanceThe are origins not ofclear. Flora A Day play and performed the Furry obviousstand the implications prescient phenomenon in seeking of to manip- under- Dancein the morning are not clear. is called A theplay Hal-an-Tow performed standulation the of prescient opinion, phenomenonbut also surprising of manip- po- in(with the the morning last syllable is called rhyming the Hal-an-Tow with now, ulationtential application of opinion,but in therapy also surprising for extreme po- (withrather the than lasttoe syllable), the name rhyming probably with now de-, tentialpsychological application conditions. in therapy for extreme ratherriving than fromtoe the), Cornish the name for probably ‘eve of de-the psychological conditions.features riving from the Cornish for ‘eve of the Westward Ho! Musing on Mathematics and Mechanics Alan Champneys CMath FIMA, University of Bristol Inspired by the village pageants that take dancing from 7.30 in the morning until the place across the county of Cornwall to her- early evening. Led by the Helston town ald the coming of spring, this issue consid- band, revellers dance along the streets, ers the dynamics of mass synchronous ac- through gardens and in out of houses in tivity. New theories have emerged over the various costumes at different times of the last few decades of how global order can day. Traditional ‘Helston-born’ dancers emerge from networks of coupled (near) wear lilies of the valley; gentlemen on the identical agents. Simulations using such left, flowers pointing upwards, ladies on rules can replicate the remarkable obser- the right and upside down. The town is vations of swarms of fish or starlings. Yet, decorated with sycamore branches and, in a more recent question is how do lead- a special dance at 10.00 am, local children ers or influencers emerge within a group dress in white – the girls wearing flowers in of human participants carrying out a syn- their hair to match their school’s colours. chronous activity. This theory not only has The origins of Flora Day and the Furry obvious implications in seeking to under- Dance are not clear. A play performed stand the prescient phenomenon of manip- in the morning is called the Hal-an-Tow ulation of opinion, but also surprising po- (with the last syllable rhyming with now, tential application in therapy for extreme | Dreamstime.com © Elliottphotos rather than toe), the name probably de- psychological conditions. riving from the Cornish for ‘eve of the Follow the Leader fattening time’. It is similar in spirit to a Mummers play as fea- Follow the Leader fatteningtured in a time’. previous It is Westward similar in Ho! spirit Important to a Mummers characters play include as fea- turedSt George, in a previous Robin Hood Westward and his Ho! Merry Important men, and characters the local include Saint, he small Cornish town of Helston, at the north-western StMichael. George, Reference Robin Hood is made and his in Merry the script men, to and the the raid local on nearby Saint, edgehe small of the Cornish Lizard Peninsula, town of Helston, is synonymousat the north-western with its most Michael.Newlyn by Reference the Spanish is madein 1595. in the script to the raid on nearby T edgefamous of theactivity, Lizard the Peninsula, Furry Dance is synonymous (or Floral Dance). with its Heldmost NewlynThe byword the Furry Spanish itself in 1595. has no direct meaning in the Cornish on Florafamous Day, activity,8 May each the Furry year (unlessDance (or that Floral falls Dance). on a Sunday Held languageThe word but is Furry thought itself to has have no similar direct origins meaning to in ‘feur’ theCornish in other Tor Monday, in which case the pageant is moved to the preced- Celtic languages which literally means grass, but is also used to on Flora Day, 8 May each year (unless that falls on a Sunday language but is thought to have similar origins to ‘feur’ in other oring Monday, Saturday), in whichthe traditional case the festival pageant involves is moved near to the continuous preced- Celticsignify languages a festival. which literally means grass, but is also used to ing Saturday), the traditional festival involves near continuous signify a festival. © David Hastilow | Alamy Stock Photo © CountryCollection – Homer Sykes | Alamy Stock Photo © parkerphotography | Alamy Stock Photo Follow the Leader fattening time’. It is similar in spirit to a Mummers play as fea- tured in a previous Westward Ho! Important characters include St George, Robin Hood and his Merry men, and the local Saint, he small Cornish town of Helston, at the north-western Michael. Reference is made in the script to the raid on nearby edge of the Lizard Peninsula, is synonymous with its most Newlyn by the Spanish in 1595. T famous activity, the Furry Dance (or Floral Dance). Held The word Furry itself has no direct meaning in the Cornish on Flora Day, 8 May each year (unless that falls on a Sunday language but is thought to have similar origins to ‘feur’ in other or Monday, in which case the pageant is moved to the preced- Celtic languages which literally means grass, but is also used to ing Saturday), the traditional festival involves near continuous signify a festival. Mathematics TODAY JUNE 2018 98 Similar traditions once occurred in the nearby towns of Lizard and Penryn, but have since died out. There also appear to be con- nections with other May-time festivals in the south-west penin- sula, including the ’Obby ’Oss festival in Padstow and the Hunt- ing of the Earl of Rone in Combe Martin. The chief reason for the fame of the Furry Dance is the distinc- tive tune played throughout the day by the town band. In 1911, a London-based composer, Katie Moss, visited Helston, and joined in the Furry Dance. Inspired, on the train home she wrote words to (a modified version of) the tune in order to describe her expe- © Thomas Langlands | Dreamstime.com rience. She published her composition as ‘The Floral Dance’, an extract from which goes: Figure 1: Starling murmuration at dusk. As I walked home on a Summer night they could. A wave of human motion would ensue, from front to When stars in Heav’n were shining bright back, rather like the Mexican wave in sports stadia, where succes- Far away from the footlight’s glare sive sections of the crowd momentarily stand and lift both hands Into the sweet and scented air in the air. Of a quaint old Cornish town Following a musical beat is different, though, as this requires I thought I could hear the curious tone synchronous rather than progressive behaviour; all the left feet at Of the cornet, clarinet and big trombone once, then all the right feet, and so on. Suppose you were part Fiddle, ’cello, big bass drum of the merry throng in Helston on Flora Day, weaving in and out Bassoon, flute and euphonium of houses, up and down the streets. You hear the music, but the Far away, as in a trance band is out of sight. How do you decide whether to put your left I heard the sound of the Floral Dance or right foot down on the next beat? As you look around at the mass of revellers you want to conform, not to be the lone dancer The song soon became a popular classic and today is thought who is (half a period) out of step.