FOLK CUSTOMS OF BRITAIN

Ale: a great deal of traction within the counterculture
Anglesey: a huge secret society
Bells: commemorate the saint
Beelzebub: fear runs both ways
Boars: not without an element of risk
Bonfires: a firework through the letterbox
Carnival: fire dancing and drumming
Costumes: alarming figures
Dancing: a genuine form of personal expression
Devils: I hope I never see that again
Disguises: the diminutive zombie on your front doorstep
Drums: make as much noise as possible
Effigies: to mock and mimic
Fairies: the supernatural element
Fertility: surprising that it didn’t happen more
Fiddles: an excess of enthusiasm
Ghosts: a reminder of how things changed
Green Man: anyone can channel the relevant energy
Guizer: Operation Moonbeam
Heart of Oak: left behind with other property
Horns: symbols of resistance
Horses: strangers in their very own strange land
Masks: an opportunity to speak out
May Day: village green entertainment
Morris: volunteers and enthusiasts
Nymphs: the sight of the lady’s face
Obby Oss: relatively impressionistic
Orchards: mainly a village pastime
Pagans: speculation rather than evidence
Parades: a publicity stunt
Poachers: the granting of hunting rights
Pumpkins: welcomed with open arms
Puritan: a mean miserly inhabitant
Rhymes: village green entertainment
Satyrs: they might have been aliens
Shrines: a goddess or spirit of the land
Skulls: poetic truth
Singing: the first sound system
Wakes: knocked out during the chase itself
Wassails: drunkenness and excess revelry
Witches: their longevity is remarkable

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   © Rupert M Loydell

(From Rough Music, Liz Williams)

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