THE ANTIQUARY

A magazine devoted to the study of the past

“I love everything that’s old; old friends, old times, old manners, old books, old wine”

Goldsmith, She stoops to Conquer, Act i., sc.I

Vol. XLVIII

January-December, 1912

London: ELLIOT STOCK, 7 Paternoster Row

1912

From  NOTES OF THE MONTH - Page 3:

An interesting function took place at Kingston-upon-Thames in November, when the Mayor, Alderman Huckle, unveiled a window in the Town Hall, to commemorate the Coronation of King George and Queen Mary last year, and the local revival on that occasion of the old Kingston-upon-Thames Maypole and Morris dances.

In the upper part of the window are displayed the Royal Arms, and below appears a series of figures of Morris dancers reproduced from an early sixteenth-century window, which is now in the private possession of a gentleman living in Shropshire, by whose kind permission and co-operation the figures have been exactly copied and reproduced, though on a rather larger scale, from the originals. The greatest care was taken to secure accuracy, Mr. R. C. Bayne, of the firm of Heaton, Butler and Bayne, which executed the work, spending a long morning photographing and sketching the figures, and noting their peculiarities. He was followed later in the day by Dr. Finny, who succeeded in getting some photographs in natural colours by Lumières process. So that, though the original window could not be purchased for the Town Hall, those who see this window may know that they are looking at an accurate reproduction of a sixteenth-century work and ideas. The Morris dancers shown are the Jester, the Spaniard, the Moor, the Franklin, the Minstrel, the Peasant, the Lover, the King and Queen of May, the Fool and the Friar, with the Maypole in the centre, bearing the words "A Merry May."

Though the exact date of the original window is unknown, it is clearly a pre-Reformation work, and depicts Morris dancers as distinct from Robin Hood dancers, with whom they were in many places intimately associated. Experts have expressed the opinion that 1535 may be taken as the probable date of the original window, while others have put it at a much earlier date. The Morris or Morres Dance was introduced into England by the Spaniards, who in turn had secured it from the Moors, the Spanish word for a Moor being a Moresco. The name Moresque soon became converted into Morris, or Morres as it is always written in the numerous references in the churchwardens' and other accounts of Kingston-upon-Thames, and though these references generally allude to Morres and Robin Hood dances as one and the same, the following entries show that at times they were still distinct in the sixteenth century:

"1553. Recd. of the Spanyards for the hire of the town-hall, 10s. 10d.

"1555. Recd. of the Spanyards for the Counte hall, 27s. 2d."

The first figure in the window depicts the Jester, who was both a dancer and a witty man.   His jests were generally directed against the Church; consequently we find his conically-pointed hat tipped with a cock's head, in allusion to a church steeple and weathercock. His stick is surmounted by a pig's head instead of a crosier, and the two fingers of his left hand are bent down, giving a left-hand benediction to his spectators. He is quite distinct from the inferior fool or silly shown below him, on the lowest pane, wearing a fool's bib, to whom the following entry in the Kingston records alludes, in the sums recorded as having been spent in getting up the Robin Hood and Morres dances:

" 28. Henry VIII., 4 yerds of cloth for the foles cote, 2s. 0d."

Just below the Jester stand the Franklin, or gentleman, and the Peasant, or Countryman. The exact part they took in the performance is now unknown, but that they were dancers like the rest is indicated by the bells on their clothes, which, in the words of the old nursery rhyme, alluding to Morris dancers, were intended that "he shall give music wherever he goes." Next to the Jester, on the top row, are the Spaniard and the Moor, their long, flowing garments distinguishing them from the other dancers; below them in the centre is the Maypole, painted red and white, St. George's colours, bearing two flags, one of St. George, the patron saint of England, and the other of St. James, the patron saint of Spain.

Outside the Maypole is shown the Minstrel; he carries his pipes and drum, but, unlike the others, he is without bells to his clothing, indicating that he did not dance. Reference is made to him in the Kingston records as follows:

" 23. Henry VII., to the Menstorell upon May-Day IIIId."

" 28. Henry VIII., to the Mynstrele, X's, VIIId."

Below the Maypole and in the centre is " The King of May." He has a crown on his head, and daggers stuck in his cheeks to show he was also a juggler, and as master of the ceremonies he appears mounted on a "Hobby-Horse" to show his importance. In the Kingston dances his place was taken by Robin Hood, and his hobby-horse was given to a less important character. To the right of the King of May stands the Lover, whose part also merged into that of Robin Hood, and below him stands the Friar. In the Kingston records he is called "Friar Tuck." Below the King of May stands the Queen of May, whose head-dress suggests a period long anterior to 1535. Elsewhere this part was taken by a man, but in Kingston it was taken by a woman, and her payment was 1s. a year for her services :

" 1. Henry VIII., to Mayde Marian for her labour for two yeares, 2s. 0d."

In 21. Henry VII., Kingston's May Queen's name was Joan Whytebrede.

But if her services were not well paid, much larger sums were expended on her dress :

" 28. Henry VIII., for 2 elles of worstede for Maide Maryan's kyrtle, 6s. 8d."

" 4 yerdse of kendall for Mayde Marian's huke, 3s. 4d.; for saten of sypers for the same huke, 6d.; for a gown for the lady, £0 0s. 8d." A huke was a head-dress, and we may take it that the head-dress worn by the Queen of May in the window, is a huke. In Kingston the united Robin Hood and Morris dances are generally spoken of in the records, and the May Queen is nearly always termed "Mayde Marian." The photograph reproduced on page 3 is kindly sent us by Dr. Finny, of Kingston, to whom we are also indebted for the information given above.

Since the above was in type, we have heard from Dr. Finny that an account of the original window was given by one of its former owners, Mr. Tollett, in Johnson and Steevens' Shakespeare, with an engraving of the window, and a description of the Morres dance, republished in the Rev. Edward Hinchliffe's Barthomley, 1856.   Referring to the two flags of St. George and St. James, Dr. Finny writes: "This is of great assist­ance in helping to fix the date of the original window, for besides the introduction of the Morres dance from Spain, there was another and national reason for this display of the English and Spanish flags together—namely, the marriage of Henry VIII. with Katherine of Spain, which took place in 1510 and terminated in 1533. And as the men in the window are all shown with clean-shaven faces and long hair, Mr. Tollett says: 'From their want of beards also I am inclined to suppose they were delineated before the year 1535, when "Henry VIII. commanded all about his Court to poll their heads, and caused his own to be polled and his beard to be notted and no more shaven." Probably the glass was painted in his youthful days, when he delighted in May games.'

"He further points out that had the window been made after 1606 the English flag would have been the united crosses of St. George and St. Andrew; and he describes the minstrel as 'Tom the Piper.' If this is so, the knowledge of the origin of the nursery rhyme about his son would be very interest­ing. He describes the flower in the May Queen's hand not as a rose, but as a red pink or a gilliflower, which he shows were artificially raised for May Day celebrations; and he describes the May Queen's head­dress, surmounted by a crown, as exactly similar to that of Margaret, eldest daughter of Henry VII., at her marriage with James, King of Scotland, and as resembling that of Anne Boleyn at her coronation. The object in the hobby-horse's mouth is a calabash or ladle for collecting the spectators' money."

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