New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1892-06-05
A PAGEANT.

PAGEANT.
In many old English festivals the brewing ana drink
ing OF ale bore so important part that the WORD aie
cot itself fixed upon the of the feast Ihis was
ana OF the cases Of the kind and the Observance OF s
time thus came TO be commonly calico "hi''""'"''
r. s,rnIost celebration and the one most closely con
nectcd with this name consisted IN iiohc "eiu u, a
barn or I'm the Church House, place proV'u'u' ""u
the charge OF the parish. for this and other purposes
Ala uas hrcwed and abundant good cheer PROVIDED
the vounp pcople danced nlrtcd and played games the
o,der ones cossppcd and looked and the parish anu
lis door prohtcd by the sale OF the hluu anu So
provision The feast was presided over ny u hou ""'
lady OF the Ae who bore some relation no do"ot "
the Lord Of Msnie Of certain other leS''aS uo h'''
and Lady OF the May. the Queen OF May the nooo' VI
I-reoson and the Twelfth Night King They had an eA
tensiye refine as fine dresses as they cold a'o'u ~
a. much dignity In general as they could assume
Musicians we're sure to be In their train. ana the l'e.
that constant delight Of oldmc country rcveS' "ouu
not be lacking -. .or,o7,
Tho morris dances which were common nj certain
other festivals reached their greatest glory NJ "h
tide They were an important part OF the oecp'"''o"
~ Nav Day too but May Day had other ana u'o''
distinctive ceremonies. while nj WmiNuni'dc the i''"
dances could have more Of the fed OF mer''H'"' g."
themselves something was said OF this dance III an
article on May Day customs published III th'N oo''"'
n month ago. and no better or nor' 'u'',
pcturc OF the dancers could be gwen thaa ''c 'op'
fbcro presented from the famous painted "Ihuo" !"
the house Of George Toilet, at Bentley III o'""o'"S"0
The dance n. IL, name. which means Mori''o OF
Moorish. implies was probably originally derived non
the Moors and it must have come to ''' f"T''s"
hror tho sponish and the French Later the dancers
bccame invested with the characters o1 "le MUM
Hood legends. Much light is thrown on INC e"p'o''
Of This dance by the items Of cxpens" IN r'saru 10 "
entered in various parish records at ZINES OF "',"
celebrations. The first mention Of II 'A'a'N y !"
ucvcd 70 he tina, In the church varden's and chamber
I,Ins books at KinG,ton-upon Thames where ho'cN
prong the prevalence Of the dance cover the last two
wears OF the reign Of Henry VII and the most OF ha'
OF Henry VIII.
The number Of characters seems TO have been
matter Of growth. A morris dance coud Do ooc oS
one person. and for some time the regular number was
five In this case the five would be Koblh hoe"'
Maid Marian a frinr nater distinguished as Friar
Tuco q ,aborer and a Jester. When NOR" Characters
were added they included Little John. VIII Se"r"''
Much sometimes Moor and Of course the hoooy ho'sc
Of blessed memory. This humorous beast was '''a''u
nv fastening the likeness Of horse about the waist OF
n man IL lad head OF wood or paper, printed Win
such skill ms It's owner could command and tall al
hs other end as II should be- while It's poverty Of feet
was hidden AZ much as possible by long foot cloth
which hung over the bnck Ike gorgeous trapping iof
the steed and ncarl, or quite reached the ero""u'
When the rider who really carried as well ms rode ana
managed the horse. clever at the sport lie co'n
buncsoue the movements Of spirited animal TO the
delight Of all who saw him. and so amusing was the
hobby horse THAT il long figured In every sort I"
fostvity I'm which II rude and merry masquerade was
appropriate When dragon ana ST. George were III
troduce 10 the morris dance II Is obvious that IL was
getting mixed with the munmeries appropriate TO
Christmas time
4 little pamphlet published in 1000 tells Of the
surprising feat Of one william Kemp, morris dancer
had danced all the from
Iondon 10 Norwich For the most Of the way he
dancci nonc. but now and then some one ambitious
OF fame as a dancer In town he passed would oicr
10 accompany him for part Of the way. some OF
these were men and some were women ana Mr.. Kemp
found n fcw Of them good dancers and capable OF
Keeping up with him for considerable distances. HIS
best time was made between Bury and Thetford. where
no covered the distance of ten miles In three hours.
on Wednesday Of the fourth week OF his dance he
reached Norwich. but % great "A crowd came out Of
the city 70 meet him that he decided not Ia dance In
al that time lie accordingly rode into the town and
was warmly received by the Mayor ON saturday he
went out again and danced in thus ending his Journey
Of nincty.c,ght mile, Just four weeks. Of which he
had spent nine days In the actual dancing.
The morris dance must have been most healthiu
exercise for another pamphlet. Of the time Of James
l. says that in lerefordshire there was party Of ten
mCrrsGauccrs whose ages aggregated loo years
OF course no one can be compelled to believe this
]
that somewhat LATER there another party OF eight
dancers Of whom the youngest seventy mine year.
old and the Others from nincy-ivc to 100. the
sum OF all the ages being 500 years This Is much
more reasonable and surely 10 one ought 10 doubt IT,
And besides. the people OF llercord'hirc were noied
for longevity anyway even when they we're not morris
dancers.
One OF the most important Of all the obscrvanccs OF
whtsuntide though a local was the mi acc plays
at Chester In this case the Observance was, Of
course more important than the time which was
merely chosen an appropriate OCCASION for H. These
miracle plays the most notable ana noted ever
given In England. with tie possible exception of those
| al Covcntry. They must have been extremely pop
ular, and besides that II was counted such positive
merit to 60 70 sce them that Pope Clement v a, the
solicitation OF Sir Henry Francis. mon, % Oh, ster
granted 900 days OF pa!1On 10 every who should
do 80 In a reverent AM orderly manner. This must
have been privilege worth having TO those VIII, went
to the plays every year. Everything about the
exhibition orderly, the Old writers say, and tn
must have been stirring days for the queer old clty
| when all it, people were In the streets or on the
balconies before their houses. AMI strangers from all
| tic EcahboIilg county were pouring through the
gates In all hc. hO idny hnery. and all abou. the
principal stree cts the twenty forr bands OF tr. dcsmon
were performing heir pats Of the ser pure t,ry. and
then mp"ine aborl ana changing places that every
| body gat every thing.
Chester was AWAY, >,rinsc pa,c. |: Is 20 n w,
and il viii b. 30 a. long as it is Place all. II
guards rs on walls a. Jcllpu>y "a Il they were still
Guarding Il cvcry old building In IL il sacred. AID 4,
made - hold t)scfher I'll III, las; pos.b,c minute.
| aud when new nous mus; be buii Il Is but in
the picturesque. hat m or sty.c which is seen
In this country onl, on The Stage. Thea t.,crc arc III
| " lows those Ling passages through the fronts OF
| s'cccs i've houses, on, fOOs a,ovc the r. )mni The
rows must have been dnc places for Watching IN,
| be the ,amc /, additional sdcwa,N for people 90
LAND on So stag n'ca was kind Of carl cad
| story Ucns open Oh al sidos for the action Of the