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58-478: The Abbots Bromley Horn Dance is a folk dance which takes place each September in the village of Abbots Bromley in Staffordshire , England. It is performed by ten dancers, accompanied by a musician playing an accordion and a youth with a triangle. Six of the dancers carry reindeer horns; the remaining four take the roles of a hobby horse , Maid Marian , a fool, and a youth with a bow and arrow. On Wakes Monday

116-472: A Twelfth-night cake ; the "man who finds the bean in his slice of cake becomes King for the night while the lady who finds a pea in her slice of cake becomes Queen for the night." Following this selection, Twelfth Night parties would continue and would include the singing of Christmas carols , as well as feasting. Food and drink are the centre of the celebrations in modern times. All of the most traditional ones go back many centuries. The punch called wassail

174-661: A feature that few other countries' dances have. Folk dances sometimes evolved long before current political boundaries, so that certain dances are shared by several countries. For example, some Serbian , Bulgarian , and Croatian dances share the same or similar dances, and sometimes even use the same name and music for those dances. International folk dance groups exist in cities and college campuses in many countries, in which dancers learn folk dances from many cultures for recreation. Balfolk events are social dance events with live music in Western and Central Europe, originating in

232-445: A man wearing women's clothes), a hobby horse, a child with a bow and arrow, a musician, and a child with a triangle. The triangle player is a relatively recent addition to the side, only having been introduced at the beginning of the twentieth century. Of these, the two musicians do not dance; their role is only to accompany the dancers. The dancers use the hobby horse's jaw and the bow and arrow as percussion instruments to keep time with

290-400: A number of modern dances, such as hip hop dance, that evolve spontaneously, but the term "folk dance" is generally not applied to them, and the terms "street dance" or "vernacular dance" are used instead. The term "folk dance" is reserved for dances which are to a significant degree bound by tradition and originated in the times when the distinction existed between the dances of "common folk" and

348-478: A plough decked with ribands brought into the barn by a dozen mummers together with a grotesque "Old Bessie" (played by a man), and a Fool dressed in animal skins with a fool's hat. The mummers carry wooden swords and perform revelries. The scene in the novel is illustrated by Hablot Knight Browne ("Phiz"). In the course of the evening, the fool's antics cause a fight to break out, but Mervyn restores order. Three bowls of gin punch are disposed of. At eleven o'clock,

406-464: A plum cake, and the homage done to them by the draining of wassail bowls of " lamb's-wool ", a drink of sugar, nutmeg, ginger, and ale. Charles Dickens ' 1843 A Christmas Carol briefly mentions Scrooge and the Ghost of Christmas Present visiting a children's Twelfth Night party. In chapter 6 of Harrison Ainsworth 's 1858 novel Mervyn Clitheroe , the eponymous hero is elected King of festivities at

464-463: Is consumed especially on Twelfth Night and throughout Christmas time, especially in the UK. Door-to-door wassailing (similar to singing Christmas carols ) as well as orchard wassailing were both historically common in the UK and are still practiced to a certain extent today. Around the world, special pastries, such as the tortell and king cake , are baked on Twelfth Night, and eaten the following day for

522-552: Is eaten all month long. The cakes vary depending on the region; in northern France, it is called a galette and is filled with frangipane , fruit, or chocolate. In the south, it is more of a brioche with candied fruit. Twelfth Night in the Netherlands became so secularised, rowdy, and boisterous that public celebrations were banned by the Church. In some places, particularly South West England , Old Twelfth Night (or "Old Twelvey")

580-467: Is no governing body or dancing for which there are no competitive or professional institutions. The term "folk dance" is sometimes applied to dances of historical importance in European culture and history; typically originating before the 20th century. For other cultures the terms "ethnic dance" or "traditional dance" are sometimes used, although the latter terms may encompass ceremonial dances . There are

638-440: Is required to emphasize the cultural roots of the dance. In this sense, nearly all folk dances are ethnic ones. If some dances, such as polka , cross ethnic boundaries and even cross the boundary between "folk" and "ballroom dance", ethnic differences are often considerable enough to mention. Folk dances share some or all of the following attributes: More controversially, some people define folk dancing as dancing for which there

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696-440: Is some dispute as to whether the tune did in fact accompany the dance. Other tunes associated with the dance have been collected from William Adey, a dancer who in 1924 recalled a tune which he remembered being used in the 1870s and 1880s, and Edie Sammons, whose brother played for the dance. When Sharp collected the dance, "any country-dance air" was used; more recently modern tunes are also played. Shortly after Sharp recorded

754-560: Is still celebrated on 17 January. This continues the custom of the Apple Wassail on the date that corresponded to 6 January on the Julian calendar at the time of the change in calendars enacted by the Calendar Act of 1750 . It is unknown whether Shakespeare 's play Twelfth Night, or What You Will was written to be performed as a Twelfth Night entertainment, since there is no record of

812-479: Is the first of the twelve days, then Twelfth Night would be on January 5, the eve of Epiphany. If December 26, the day after Christmas, is the first day, then Twelfth Night falls on January 6, the evening of Epiphany itself. The Church of England , Mother Church of the Anglican Communion , celebrates Twelfth Night on the 5th and "refers to the night before Epiphany, the day when the nativity story tells us that

870-595: Is unknown how or when they came to Staffordshire or became associated with the dance. Many explanations of the meaning of the dance have been proposed, and it is commonly interpreted as a pagan ritual, but there is no evidence for any of them. The earliest written mention of the Abbots Bromley Horn Dance is in Robert Plot 's Natural History of Staffordshire , published in 1686. According to an annotation by Sir Simon Degge in his copy of Plot's book, he had seen

928-470: Is unlucky to leave Christmas decorations hanging after Twelfth Night, a tradition also variously attached to Candlemas (which marks the end of Epiphanytide on 2 February), as well as Good Friday , Shrove Tuesday , and Septuagesima . Other popular customs include eating king cake , singing Christmas carols , chalking the door , having one's house blessed , merrymaking, and attending church services . In many Western ecclesiastical traditions such as

986-618: The Feast of the Epiphany celebrations. In parts of Kent, there is a tradition that an edible decoration would be the last part of Christmas to be removed in the Twelfth Night and shared amongst the family. The Theatre Royal, Drury Lane in London has had a tradition since 1795 of providing a Twelfth Night cake. The will of Robert Baddeley made a bequest of £100 to provide cake and punch every year for

1044-516: The eve of the Twelfth Day (in the same way that Christmas Eve comes before Christmas), and thus consider Twelfth Night to be on 5 January . The difficulty may come from the use of the words "eve" which is defined as "the day or evening before an event", however, especially in antiquated usage could be used to simply mean "evening". Bruce Forbes writes: In 567 the Council of Tours proclaimed that

1102-848: The Abbots Bromley horn dance in Sword Dances of Northern England , versions of it began to be performed outside of the village by members of the English Folk Dance Society (now the English Folk Dance and Song Society). Since 1947, a version of the dance has been performed by Thaxted Morris Men at the Thaxted meetings of the Morris Ring . In 1951 they also performed the dance to celebrate the Festival of Britain . Ivon Hitchens ' Mural , in

1160-611: The Abbots Bromley horn dance. The dance was one of three traditional dances which inspired Hanna Tuulikki 's "Deer Dancer". The dance has been featured in exhibitions including Mummers, Maypoles, and Milkmaids: A Journey Through the English Ritual Year at the Horniman Museum in 2012, and Making Michief: Folk Costume in Britain at Compton Verney in 2023. Folk dance The terms "ethnic" and "traditional" are used when it

1218-503: The English language" and "one of the greatest short stories ever written". Its adaptations include a play, a Broadway musical , and two films. The story begins at the bustling and sumptuous annual dance hosted by Kate Morkan and Julia Morkan, aunts to Gabriel Conroy, the main character. Throughout the festivities, a series of minor obligations and awkward encounters leaves Gabriel with a sense of unease, inducing self-doubt, or at least doubt in

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1276-568: The Kennedy Hall of Cecil Sharp House , the headquarters of the English Folk Dance and Song Society, depicts English folk-dances and traditions. The horn dancers shown on the right of the mural are probably based on those at Abbots Bromley. A series of pencil drawings by Dave Pearson , In the Seven Woods , also depict the Abbots Bromley dance. In 2019, Royal Mail issued a set of stamps depicting unusual British customs and festivals which included

1334-512: The Lutheran and Anglican denominations of Christianity, Christmas Day is considered the "First Day of Christmas" and the Twelve Days are 25 December  – 5 January , inclusive, making Twelfth Night on 5 January , which is Epiphany Eve. In some customs, the Twelve Days of Christmas are counted from sundown on the evening of 25 December until the morning of 6 January , meaning that

1392-461: The Twelfth Night celebrations held in Tom Shakeshaft's barn by receiving the slice of plum cake containing the bean; his companion Cissy obtains the pea and becomes queen, and they are seated together in a high corner to view the proceedings. The distribution has been rigged to prevent another person from gaining the role. The festivities include country dances, the introduction of a " Fool Plough ",

1450-465: The Twelfth Night falls on the evening 5 January and the Twelfth Day falls on 6 January . However, in some church traditions only full days are counted, so that 5 January is counted as the Eleventh Day, 6 January as the Twelfth Day, and the evening of 6 January is counted as the Twelfth Night. In these traditions, Twelfth Night is the same as Epiphany. However, some consider Twelfth Night to be

1508-505: The antlers were stored in Abbots Bromley's town hall. In 1820 Thomas Harwood was the first to report that they were stored in the church, first in the church tower and subsequently in the Hurst Chapel. According to tradition, the horns must not leave the parish. A different set of horns, acquired in the 1950s, is used for performances outside Abbots Bromley. In 1911, Cecil Sharp described the dance as being made up of two main figures. In

1566-451: The circumstances of its composition. The earliest known performance took place at Middle Temple Hall , one of the Inns of Court , on Candlemas night, 2 February 1602. The play has many elements that are reversed, in the tradition of Twelfth Night, such as a woman Viola dressing as a man, and a servant Malvolio imagining that he can become a nobleman. Ben Jonson 's The Masque of Blackness

1624-558: The company in residence at the theatre on 6 January. The tradition continues. In Ireland, it is still the tradition to place the statues of the Three Kings in the crib on the Twelfth Night or, at the latest, the following day, Little Christmas . In colonial America, a Christmas wreath was always left up on the front door of each home. When taken down at the end of the Twelve Days of Christmas , any edible portions would be consumed with

1682-549: The costume introduced jester's motley for the fool. The hobby horse is of the tourney style, in which a horse's head and tail are fixed to the performer's body by a frame, which is then covered by a cloth, giving the appearance of a person riding a horse. The antlers used in the dance are from reindeer , and date to the 11th century. As there were no reindeer in Britain at this point, they must have been imported, most likely from Scandinavia. The largest measures 101 cm (40 in) across and weighs 25.5 lb (11.6 kg);

1740-479: The dance being performed before the English Civil War (1642–1651). An earlier mention of the hobby horse at Abbots Bromley from 1532 describes it as an ancient custom, but does not mention the horns. In 1976, one of the reindeer horns was radiocarbon dated to 1065 ± 80 years. It is unknown when the horns were brought to Abbots Bromley and when they began to be used in the dance. Though many sources claim that

1798-506: The dance was first performed at the St Bartholomew's Day fair in 1226, there is no evidence for this supposition. Many explanations for the origin of the dance have been proposed, though there is no concrete evidence for any of them. It has often been interpreted as the remnant of a pagan ritual. Violet Alford believed that the dance was originally a winter solstice fertility rite. Alternatively it has been suggested that it originally

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1856-452: The dance. Until the 1880s, dancers wore their ordinary clothes decorated with ribbons. At this time, the vicar's wife designed costumes for the dancers in a mock-medieval style, originally made from old curtains and perhaps inspired by the sixteenth-century painted Betley window; these costumes were replaced in 1904 and again in 1951. The dancers wear either green or red jackets, with green breeches with an oak leaf pattern. The 1904 version of

1914-425: The dance. In 1898, the vicar of Abbots Bromley recalled that there had previously been a special tune for the dance but that it had been lost. In 1912, Sharp published a tune sent to him by a J. Buckley which Buckley said he had collected in the 1850s from a fiddler from Abbots Bromley. According to Andrew Bullen, "this is the tune most often associated with the horn dance and it is probably the oldest"; however, there

1972-563: The dances of the modern ballroom dances originated from folk ones. Varieties of European folk dances include: Sword dances include long sword dances and rapper dancing . Some choreographed dances such as contra dance , Scottish highland dance , Scottish country dance , and modern western square dance , are called folk dances, though this is not true in the strictest sense. Country dance overlaps with contemporary folk dance and ballroom dance. Most country dances and ballroom dances originated from folk dances, with gradual refinement over

2030-425: The day following the first Sunday after 4 September. It previously took place at the beginning of January, on New Year and Twelfth Night . The dance starts at 8 a.m. at St Nicholas's Church in Abbots Bromley and travels around the parish before returning to the village at the end of the day. The first dance is outside the vicarage; the dancers subsequently perform in the marketplace and various houses and farms around

2088-563: The deer's "leather skin and horns to wear", and in Anthony Munday 's The Death of Robert Earl of Huntingdon to Friar Tuck "carrying a stag's head dauncing", both from the end of the sixteenth century. In the seventeenth century, the dance was performed in the Christmas period – according to Robert Plot, "on New Year, and Twelfth-day" – but it now takes place on the Monday following

2146-425: The early morning hours. This destination for Gabriel kindles both erotic possibility and deep love. However, at the hotel, Gretta, moved by a song they had just heard sung at the party, offers a tearful, long-withheld revelation that momentarily shatters Gabriel's feelings of warmth, leaving him shaken and bewildered. After Gretta drifts off to sleep, Gabriel, still rapt in the emotional wake of her revelation, gazes out

2204-410: The entire period between Christmas and Epiphany should be considered part of the celebration, creating what became known as the twelve days of Christmas, or what the English called Christmastide . On the last of the twelve days, called Twelfth Night, various cultures developed a wide range of additional special festivities. The variation extends even to the issue of how to count the days. If Christmas Day

2262-637: The first Sunday after September 4. Plot reports that the dancers collected money for church repairs and to support the parish poor. In the Tudor period, the use of hobby horses to raise money for the parish at Christmastime seems to have been widespread in the north Midlands . Along with Abbots Bromley, it is attested at Stafford and at Culworth in Northamptonshire; a hobby-horse performance at Holme Pierrepoint in Nottinghamshire also probably took place in

2320-406: The first, the dancers process around in a circle before turning and circling back. In the second, the dancers face off in two rows, dancing together and apart before crossing over, turning around, and repeating the process to return to their original place. It is performed without any special footwork: Alford describes the dance as a "steady rhythmical plod". There is no specific tune associated with

2378-487: The folk revival of the 1970s and becoming more popular since about 2000, where popular European partner dances from the end of the 19th century such as the schottische , polka , mazurka and waltz are danced, with additionally other European folk dances, mainly from France , but also from Sweden , Spain and other countries. various dances such as tamang selo and many others Twelfth Night (holiday) Twelfth Night (also known as Epiphany Eve depending upon

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2436-510: The mid-twentieth century, friends gathered for weekly king cake parties. Whoever got the slice with the "king", usually in the form of a miniature baby doll (symbolic of the Christ Child , "Christ the King"), hosted the next week's party. Traditionally, this was a bean for the king and a pea for the queen. Parties centred around king cakes are no longer common and king cake today is usually brought to

2494-474: The music. The Maid Marian carries a ladle used to collect money; the fool has a bladder on a stick. According to Robert Plot's account, in his day the dancer with the hobby horse also held the bow and arrow; Violet Alford doubts that it was possible for one person to do both. Plot does not mention either the fool or the Maid Marian; Ronald Hutton suggests that the Maid Marian was a nineteenth-century addition to

2552-579: The other foods of the feast. The same held true in the 19th–20th centuries with fruits adorning Christmas trees . Fresh fruits were hard to come by and were therefore considered fine and proper gifts and decorations for the tree, wreaths, and home. Again, the tree would be taken down on the Twelfth Night, and such fruits, along with nuts and other local produce used, would then be consumed. Modern American Carnival traditions are seen across former French colonies , most notably in New Orleans and Mobile . In

2610-453: The parish. About midday they dance at Blithfield Hall and have lunch there. Afterwards, the dancers return to the village, with the final dance around 8 p.m. In the Victorian period, the dancers went out for several days, visiting nearby towns and villages such as Colton and Rugeley . Twelve people perform in the dance: six dancers carrying reindeer horns, a fool, Maid Marian (played by

2668-417: The performers dance around the parish all day, beginning early in the morning at the parish church where the horns are stored. The origin of the dance is unknown. The earliest written record of a hobby-horse performance at Abbots Bromley dates to 1532 and the first mention of the reindeer horns is from 1686. Radiocarbon dating has shown that at least one of the horns dates to the eleventh century, though it

2726-526: The person he presents himself as. This unease sharpens during a dinner speech in which Gabriel grandiosely ponders whether because "...we are living in a skeptical and, if I may use the phrase, a thought-tormented age", the generation currently coming of age in Ireland will begin to "lack those qualities of humanity, of hospitality, of kindly humor which belonged to an older day." High spirits and singing soon resume. Gabriel and his wife Gretta depart for their hotel in

2784-491: The sixteenth century, which are mounted on wooden poles. The heads are painted brown with features drawn on in red and black. The eighteenth-century Staffordshire antiquarian Richard Wilkes claimed that the Abbots Bromley horns were brought by William Paget , the ambassador to the Ottoman Empire . However, Paget's return from Turkey postdates the accounts of Plot and Degge which mention the horns. Wilkes also reports that

2842-465: The smallest measures 77 cm (30 in) across and the lightest weighs 16.25 lb (7.37 kg). Three of the sets of antlers are painted white and three are painted brown; historically the brown antlers have instead been painted blue and red at different times. In the seventeenth century they had the coats of arms of important local families painted on them, but these are no longer visible. The antlers are set into wooden heads, thought to date from

2900-463: The solar Julian calendar with the lunar calendars of its provinces in the east." In medieval and Tudor England , Candlemas traditionally marked the end of the Christmas season , although later, Twelfth Night came to signal the end of Christmastide, with a new but related season of Epiphanytide running until Candlemas. A popular Twelfth Night tradition was to have a bean and pea hidden inside

2958-515: The tradition) is a Christian festival on the last night of the Twelve Days of Christmas , marking the coming of the Epiphany . Different traditions mark the date of Twelfth Night as either 5 January or 6 January , depending on whether the counting begins on Christmas Day or 26 December . January 6 is celebrated as the feast of Epiphany , which begins the Epiphanytide season. A superstition in some English-speaking countries suggests it

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3016-399: The winter. The horn dance apparently stopped being performed around the time of the English Civil War , before being re-established in the eighteenth century; this is probably when the date of the dance changed from Christmas to September time. According to local tradition, the dance has been led by the same family since the eighteenth century. The Horn Dance takes place on Wakes Monday ,

3074-460: The wise men visited the infant Jesus". In 567 A.D, the Council of Tours "proclaimed the twelve days from Christmas to Epiphany as a sacred and festive season, and established the duty of Advent fasting in preparation for the feast." Christopher Hill, as well as William J. Federer, states that this was done to solve the "administrative problem for the Roman Empire as it tried to coordinate

3132-514: The workplace or served at parties, the recipient of the plastic baby being obligated to bring the next king cake to the next function. In some countries, Twelfth Night and Epiphany mark the start of the Carnival season, which lasts through Mardi Gras Day. In Spain, Twelfth Night is called Cabalgata de Reyes ("Parade of Kings"), and historically the "kings" would go through towns and hand out sweets. In France, La Galette des Rois ("Kings' Cake")

3190-459: The years. People familiar with folk dancing can often determine what country a dance is from even if they have not seen that particular dance before. Some countries' dances have features that are unique to that country, although neighboring countries sometimes have similar features. For example, the German and Austrian schuhplattling dance consists of slapping the body and shoes in a fixed pattern,

3248-465: The young men make the necessary arrangements to see the young ladies safely home across the fields. " The Dead " – the final, novella-length story in James Joyce 's 1914 collection Dubliners  – opens on Twelfth Night, or Epiphany Eve, and extends into the early morning hours of Epiphany itself. Critics and writers consider the story "just about the finest short story in

3306-524: Was connected to hunting, either as a ritual to encourage or celebrate a successful hunt, or to celebrate the villagers' hunting rights. Parallels have been drawn to the prehistoric deer skull headdresses from Star Carr in Yorkshire, or the " Sorcerer " cave-painting from Trois-Frères in southern France, as well as references in William Shakespeare 's As You Like It to a deer-hunter being awarded

3364-565: Was performed on 6 January 1605 at the Banqueting House in Whitehall . It was originally entitled The Twelfth Nights Revells . The accompanying Masque, The Masque of Beauty was performed in the same court the Sunday night after the Twelfth Night in 1608. Robert Herrick 's poem Twelfth-Night, or King and Queene , published in 1648, describes the election of king and queen by bean and pea in

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