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Feasts and festivals
Do you know on which night of the year the Wild Hunt rushes through the forests? Or how to secure a good crop of apples? Or when the Horn dance is performed? Or when and why children build grottoes of oyster shells? These questions and many others are answered in this book. Jenny Rhodes' exquisite full colour illustrations of traditional British customs follow a calender of the year's seasons, each with its flowers and fruit, and each custom set in a different period of history
48 pages, Hardcover
Published January 1, 1983
6 people want to read
About the author
Catherine Storr
165 books30 followersAuthor Catherine Storr was educated at St. Paul's Girls' School and went on to study English at Newnham College, Cambridge. She then went to medical school and worked part-time as a Senior Medical Officer in the Department of Psychological Medicine of the Middlesex Hospital from 1950 to 1963.
Her first book was published in 1940, but was not successful. It was not until the 1950s that her books became popular. She wrote mostly children's books as well as books for adults, plays, short stories, and adapted one of her novels into an opera libretto. She published more than 30 children's books, but is best known for Clever Polly and the Stupid Wolf and Marianne Dreams, which was made into a television series and a film.
Her first book was published in 1940, but was not successful. It was not until the 1950s that her books became popular. She wrote mostly children's books as well as books for adults, plays, short stories, and adapted one of her novels into an opera libretto. She published more than 30 children's books, but is best known for Clever Polly and the Stupid Wolf and Marianne Dreams, which was made into a television series and a film.
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Displaying 1 of 1 review
July 20, 2022
I was extremely excited to read this - it had everything which currently captures my imagination: The Wild Hunt, May Day celebrations, and even the Horn Dance of Abbots Bromley. I couldn't believe my luck that it only cost a few francs.
I would have also liked a few staves of music, or even just disembodied notes, to indicate the snatches of 'songs sung'. I have no idea what Oranges and Lemons sounds like (though many will, and I'll probably immediately recognise it once I call it up on YouTube), and there's no chance I'll even vaguely recognise the song that accompanies wassailing the apple orchard. How does one perform "ducking for money" at Hallowe'en, anyway?
I honestly can't decide if this was marketed for children or not - I'm guessing it must have been, as it's quite light on text and doesn't go into much detail at all. I really wanted to know why the The Wild Hunt is said to ride at Midsummer (in the German traditions, January 2 is considered a likely candidate, on Berchtold's Day). And is this different from "The Fairy Court" who allegedly 'rides' at Hallowe'en? (Not included here is The Ceremony of Lating, which I always wanted to know more about. My only reference has been The Very Scary Almanac - would be nice to have something a little more mature to read from. I am most interested in recommendations, if anyone has any!).
All in all, very pretty and recommended as an aesthetically agreeable reference book (particularly to newcomers to Britain*, or to Anglophiles in general), or as a jumping-off point for deeper research. No Morris dancing, either, which I was hoping to learn more about. I think. I want it explained, anyway. Alas.
(*wouldn't that be nice?! A little bundle of reference books for immigrant families to the UK, and some typical British children's stories for the youngsters! I might do this for my incoming Ukrainian neighbours, though here it would have to be Swiss books..hmm).
Some locations, listed as inspirations or settings for the calendar:
St. Clement Danes church in London (for Oranges & Lemons)
Coventry Cathedral (Lady Godiva)
Helston (the Furry Dance)
Eyam's plague cottages, church and the Riley graves (Plague Sunday)
St Swithin's Cathedral in Winchester (St Swithin's)
Stonehenge (Midsummer)
Olney, Buckinghamshire (Shrove Tuesday)
Salisbury Cathedral, Merton College, Oxford, Chesterfield Church, York Minster, Llanarmon Dyffry, Ceinog, Wales; The Church of the Holy Sepulchre, Cambridge (The Round Church); the Norman Church at Leuchars, Scotland and Llandderniolen, Wales (Bellringer's Feast)
Icomb in Gloucestershire and the farm from Lower Brockhampton Manor in Great Malvern (Harvest Home)
Sandringham Church and a typical Norfolk cottage (Candlemas)
Literary influences: Lark Rise to Candleford (Harvest Home), The Book of Kells: Selected Plates in Full Color (St. Patrick's Day), A French Book of Hours: J. Paul Getty Museum, Ms. Ludwig IX 5 (St. George's Day), and Wencelas Hollar (Swan-Upping).
Do you know on which night of the year the Wild Hunt rushes through the forests? Or how to secure a good crop of apples? Or when the Horn Dance is performed? Or when and why children build grottoes of oyster shells? These questions and many others are answered in this beautiful book.This provides a lovely, coffee-table reference book to those either unfamiliar with local seasonal British customs, or those with an interest in Clipping the Church, or the Furry Dance of Helston, or where to catch a Shrove Tuesday footrace. It does not, however, explain why the Furry Dance is given such a weird name (just the Archangel Michael v. the devil myth behind it), nor why there's a Maypole on May Day or where the tradition of braiding it comes from. There's also no map to show some of the more regional-specific celebrations (such as the Goose fair in Nottingham, or Up-Helly-Aa in Lerwick in the Shetlands, or where Olney is for the pancake-flipping dash), which I felt would have made a nice addition and also another excuse for one of Jenny Rhodes' very detailed and foliate illustrations.
Jenny Rhodes' exquisite full colour illustrations of traditional British customs follow a calendar of the year's seasons, each with its flowers and fruit, and each custom is set in a different period of history.
The text has been researched and written by Catherine Storr.
I would have also liked a few staves of music, or even just disembodied notes, to indicate the snatches of 'songs sung'. I have no idea what Oranges and Lemons sounds like (though many will, and I'll probably immediately recognise it once I call it up on YouTube), and there's no chance I'll even vaguely recognise the song that accompanies wassailing the apple orchard. How does one perform "ducking for money" at Hallowe'en, anyway?
I honestly can't decide if this was marketed for children or not - I'm guessing it must have been, as it's quite light on text and doesn't go into much detail at all. I really wanted to know why the The Wild Hunt is said to ride at Midsummer (in the German traditions, January 2 is considered a likely candidate, on Berchtold's Day). And is this different from "The Fairy Court" who allegedly 'rides' at Hallowe'en? (Not included here is The Ceremony of Lating, which I always wanted to know more about. My only reference has been The Very Scary Almanac - would be nice to have something a little more mature to read from. I am most interested in recommendations, if anyone has any!).
All in all, very pretty and recommended as an aesthetically agreeable reference book (particularly to newcomers to Britain*, or to Anglophiles in general), or as a jumping-off point for deeper research. No Morris dancing, either, which I was hoping to learn more about. I think. I want it explained, anyway. Alas.
(*wouldn't that be nice?! A little bundle of reference books for immigrant families to the UK, and some typical British children's stories for the youngsters! I might do this for my incoming Ukrainian neighbours, though here it would have to be Swiss books..hmm).
Contents
January:
Twelfth Night
Up-Helly-Aa
February:
Candlemas
St. Valentine's Day
Shrove Tuesday
March:
St. Patrick's Day
Oranges and Lemons
April:
April Fool's Day
Palm Sunday
Easter
St. George's Day
May:
May Dawn
May Day
Furry Dance
June:
Lady Godiva
Midsummer's Eve
July:
St. Swithin's Day
St. James' Grotto Day
August:
Clipping the Church
Plague Sunday
September:
Harvest Home
Horn Dance
October:
The Bellringer's Feast
Goose Fair
Souling
Hallowe'en
November:
Bonfire Night
Martinmas
December:
St. Nicholas's Day
Christmas Eve
Christmas Day
New Year's Eve
Epilogue
Picture Sources
Some locations, listed as inspirations or settings for the calendar:
St. Clement Danes church in London (for Oranges & Lemons)
Coventry Cathedral (Lady Godiva)
Helston (the Furry Dance)
Eyam's plague cottages, church and the Riley graves (Plague Sunday)
St Swithin's Cathedral in Winchester (St Swithin's)
Stonehenge (Midsummer)
Olney, Buckinghamshire (Shrove Tuesday)
Salisbury Cathedral, Merton College, Oxford, Chesterfield Church, York Minster, Llanarmon Dyffry, Ceinog, Wales; The Church of the Holy Sepulchre, Cambridge (The Round Church); the Norman Church at Leuchars, Scotland and Llandderniolen, Wales (Bellringer's Feast)
Icomb in Gloucestershire and the farm from Lower Brockhampton Manor in Great Malvern (Harvest Home)
Sandringham Church and a typical Norfolk cottage (Candlemas)
Literary influences: Lark Rise to Candleford (Harvest Home), The Book of Kells: Selected Plates in Full Color (St. Patrick's Day), A French Book of Hours: J. Paul Getty Museum, Ms. Ludwig IX 5 (St. George's Day), and Wencelas Hollar (Swan-Upping).
Displaying 1 of 1 review