TC Lethbridge | The Sons of TC-Lethbridge

Hal-An-Tow

15th Apr 2006

Diary Note: Tuesday 8th May 2001: The Furry Dance - Helston, Cornwall
"I awoke at a quarter-to-six to find my bedroom wall glowing with soft red light. I lay still for a few minutes and listened to the increasing cacophony of the dawn chorus that heralded the arrival of this beautiful spring morning here in Gorran Haven. The soundtrack to this beautiful day was interrupted by an early morning call from our host, the writer Colin Wilson. Colin is an early riser and had already been up writing for the past hour. This really is a remarkable time of day and I made a mental note; that I too needed to introduce this early morning ritual into my own daily routine. By a quarter-past-six, The Templar and I were on the road, on our way to witness the Flora Day celebrations at Helston. The Cornish byways were unsurprisingly quiet at this time of the day, but on arrival, we realised that we weren’t the only ‘early birds’, as most of the onlookers and participants had already taken their positions for the annual pageant."

When all of the participants are congregated on the bridge over the River Cober, the circular dance know as the Hal-An-Tow begins promptly at eight-thirty. The male dancers appear dressed as ‘men of the woods’ and the women - known as ‘hedges’, are decorated with greenery and flora. The collection of foliage from the wood is not indiscriminate, for each branch is strategically chosen and plays a crucial role within the ritual. White hawthorn blossom is symbolic of the purity of spring and laurel leaves, used by the Romans to adorn kings, is utilised to honour the kings, or spirits of the forest. Ivy is also exploited, for this evergreen plant is representative of winter. In the original pagan ritual, the annual struggle between winter and summer was re-enacted in the town and this conflict is still perpetuated in the metaphorical conflict between the local saint - Michael and his dragon.

"The chaotic cacophony of sound created by the revellers as they emerged from the woods, was reminiscent of the dawn chorus that I had been privy to that morning. Each of the participants, akin to each bird in the dawn chorus, made there own unique sound that created a complex soundtrack to the proceedings. The accumulative racket was chaotic, but individually, each delivered its own unique statement. It is clear that the originators of the Hal-An-Tow most certainly derived their ritual from observing nature and attempted to recreate its splendour within a timeless ritual."

In early records of the Hal-an-tow, a May Bride was awoken on 1st May by the blowing of whistles and the banging of drums. This cacophony was most certainly metaphorical of nature’s chaotic element. Villagers were obliged to disburse the marauding revellers, or risk the fear of being taken astride poles and thrown into the river. This act that may well have had roots in the ancient practice of presenting offerings to the spirit of the river.

The Furry Dance celebrates the arrival of spring and its objective is to awaken the earth’s energies after the long winter months. By crossing the River Cober, the revellers have acknowledged a metaphorical divide between winter and summer. Of course, in reality, no such division exists, for the merging of the seasons is a subtle, gradual process, but the Hal-an-tow ritual is an attempt to rationalise this transition. An understanding of the workings of the great cycle was once crucial to pastoral existence and a demonstration of this comprehension was incessantly exhibited in customs and traditions. By rationalising this wisdom, a feeling of order and wellbeing spread throughout communities, who were reliant upon nature for their subsistence. The present bridge, a fairly recent construction, dates back to the 1830’s, but because of its vital role within the pageant, a bridge of some description has always played a crucial part in the ritual crossing. The previous, wooden construction was known as St. John’s Bridge and once connected the old hill with the town via Almshouse Hill. It might not be too bold to suggest that St. John, a saint intrinsically linked to a biblical water ritual, is crucial to the passage across the Cober. It can also be no coincidence that St. John, whose day is celebrated on June 24th, is synonymous with a bridge that posed as a ritual gateway to the summer. The river itself may well have once played a part in ancient water, or baptism rituals, for John is a Christianisation of the flowing water god Eau.

The Hal-An-Tow ritual creates an ethereal division between the darkness and chaos of winter and the light and harmony of summer. This was a concept that the nature-observing pagans understood, for they realised that it formed the vital equilibrium of existence. The monist religions, misinterpreting winter as evil and saw the conflict not, as equilibrium, but as ‘the battle of evermore’. Having made this moral judgment, St. Michael and his dragon were destined to be perpetually at war. The congregation then proceeds into the town where the participants choose to weave in and out of the townsfolk's homes. The word Furry probably derives its name from the Gaelic word fathi meaning to be ecstatic or to be inspired and has probable connections with the Latin feria(1) meaning fair or festival.

A nineteenth century vicar of the nearby town of Newly suggested that the Hal-An-Tow most probably derived its name from the word ‘Hayle’ which, coincidentally, is the name of a nearby town and also means river estuary upon which the town of Helston is situated. The word Tow, Taw, or Tew is literally a shortened form of the word Tewynn, meaning sand dunes. Kelvin I Jones, author of Hal-An-Tow - A May Day Game(2) suggests that its origins can be linked to a people or tribe who came up from the sand dunes at the nearby Loe bar, via the woods at Penrose. Here they would have collected greenery a crucial element of their ritual before arriving at the bridge over the River Cober(3) where the festivities would commence.

The Hal-An-Tow that we witness today has many unusual characters that participate in its enactment. A number of Mediterranean looking gentlemen are representatives of the Spanish Armada who, in the sixteenth century, landed at the nearby village of Mousehole. These ‘invaders’ were said to have been responsible for the slaughter of a number of villagers and hence became a focus of hatred for the locals. It is interesting to note how the ritual has evolved, for by the incorporation of these villains, the ritual has retained its pertinence in the local community. Other main protagonists in the Hal-An-Tow include not only St. Michael and his dragon, but also the cast of Robin Hood who appears in his green man aspect. Also in accompaniment is a mysterious crone figure, known as Aunt Mary Rose who presides over proceedings.

The Hal-an-tow is therefore like a giant snowball rolling through history, collecting up anthropological debris on its way. The inclusion of such characters, demonstrates the flexible nature of the ritual and it is this un-dogmatic approach that has sustained its longevity. The current festival, like The Straw Bear Festival at Whittlsey, is a fairly modern contrivance based upon a much older ritual that had died out around the time of the First World War.

We know that a number of spring festivals have been moved from their original station in the year to coincide with Christian events and their heathen symbolism still survives in a covert form. The perpetuation of these event in today’s Christian calendar, keep alive traditions that most probably began as pastoral, pagan rituals, some which, may well have had roots in prehistory.

welbourn TEKH – Lincoln – April 2006

Notes:
Click on images for an enlarged view.

1. It is the root for the Cornish word ‘fer’ or the Breton word ‘foar’ and the Middle English ‘ferier’. It is also associated with the eighteenth century Flora Day, which it has direct associations with the Roman Goddess of flowers and fertility ‘Floralia’.

2. Jones K.I. (1999) ‘The Hal An Tow’ Oakmagic Publications.

3. The River Cober, upon which Helston is situated, was probably originally known by the Gaelic name ‘Choher’.