Cornwall is a county which is relatively obscure and less mentioned. The river Tamar separates it from Plymouth and the rest of England and like its detached location, the life here is fairly isolated too. It has not attracted much attention over the ages from early invaders nor modern developers and farming is a major occupation among people here. Thus Cornwall , today remains beautifully natural with its own Cornish traditions. The Cornish people have their own language and i am told there are people who would prefer an Independent Cornish state!!!
To add a little spice, Cornwall is filled with legends and tales and is reputed to be the most haunted place in the British Isles and is renowned for its smuggling communities and smugglers in the 18th and 19th centuries ..and if you ve been following the news...Prince Charles and Camilla are the Duke and Duchess of Cornwall.
We all know that mayday is celebrated as international Labour Day, but it has another significance here...infact mayday existed far before it was declared as international Labour Day...it is a day signifying the transition of seasons from the winter into the summer..and it was traditionally considered as a festival of fertility.
I was told by karen that there would be a sort of a procession in the village to mark the day, but it was only as the day unfolded that i came to realise the significance and tradition of the spectacle. What i initially thought to be a haphazard procession was much more than that
Mayday here in cornwall is celebrated by a traditional dance called as the Morris dance. Morris dancing is a tradition of dance and music which was part of a ritual designed to shake off the dark and gloom of winter and celebrate the coming of spring. It is a dance done to live music by teams of six who are all dressed in brightly colored kit. The dancers wear dozens of bells on each leg, wield sticks and/or handkerchiefs, and dance to lively folk tunes.
We witnessed a procession that was composed of three or four groups of morris dancers from different parts of cornwall and another group of apprentices which was made up of local school children...the procession was started off by the "Town Crier"..who is something like a master of ceremonies dressed up grandly in traditional attire. ..this is a post which dates back centuries and every town has one..
A significant item in the procession is a model of a ship named the "black prince", bourne by sailormen and carried along.....the procession would carry the model all the way to the coast and send the ship floating into the sea...i asked many people what the significance of the "black prince" was..but nobody seemed to know the answer , other than that it signified gloom....i think i found the answer after a little research....the black prince was the name of a ship commanded by a horribly cruel smuggler became infamous for his cruelty ....perhaps the despatch of the model signifies bidding farewell to the cruel winter times in times past.
The procession moved along from village to village..or more accurately from pub to pub..where the troupes of Morrismen would take turn turns in dancing to music performed by accordions, flutes, recorders, guitars trumpets and drums... although the rains did play spoilsport, it did nothing to damage the spirit as the merry making continued...eventually the sun came out to present the best sunshine i have seen in a while.
The spirit of the morrissmen was unflailing and i am told that the dancing is actually quite tiring in itself. Doing it under (a relatively) hot sunshine must have been really tiring as they were at it the whole day.....but this is what english spirit is all about...making hay while the sun shines.....of course the beer helps a lot too.
Finally after an stopping at numerous pubs around the villages we arrived at Cawsand where there was an extended dancing session...the procession then made itself to the beach..and all attention turned towards the sailormen carrying the "black prince"...all around although a little too softly people began to sing a song..
Now gather all the good people to launch the Cocka Dyka
Summer`s come today, and winters gone away.
Now gather all the good people to launch the Cocka Dyka
Summer`s come today, and winters gone away.....
Bear the black prince shoulder high,
Decked with flow`rs in bright aray,
As we gladly make our way
To the beach at Cawsan`....
The blackprince was then placed upon the ground and slowly tugged away to the sea by a coast guard boat.....
The people were singing
...Good-bye winter!
Sail far away!
Welcome summer!
Come again today!
As we watched the boat drift slowly out of sight , the sun magically disappeared beneath the clouds....as if to say...tommorrow begins a better day!
PS
To view a hundred more photos of my cornish experience click this
Or to watch a few small video clips click thesevideo1
