The Guldize Pudding part 2.

In preparation for this years Guldize celebrations in Penzance I have been researching in more detail the recipes I can get my hands on for the Guldize pudding. Those that I can find are for huge amounts of food aimed at feeding great feasts, cooking these recipes would be deeply impractical for most modern celebrants. Using a bit of maths and cobbling together the recipes I have had view of I have been able to create a recipe for a small (still over 2 lbs in weight!) Guldize pudding.


Ingredients

9 oz of bread crumbs

2 oz of plain flour

7 oz of suet

8 oz for fresh plums

6 oz of currants

6 oz of sugar

2-3 eggs (If you prefer a richer pudding you can add more eggs)

3/4 of a ground nutmeg

A generous helping of dried ginger and candied peel to taste


Method

Chop and stone the fresh plums and chop the candied peel as needed. Mix with the all the other ingredients in a large bowl. Place a disk of grease proof paper in a large bowl and stuff the pudding mixture into it.


Cover with a double layer of greaseproof paper pleating it to allow for expansion, then tie with string (keep the paper in place with a rubber band while tying). Trim off any excess paper. Now the bowl on a large sheet of foil and bring the edges up over the top, then put another sheet of foil over the top and bring it down underneath to make a double package (this makes the pudding watertight). Tie with more string, and make a handle for easy lifting in and out of the pan.

Boil or steam for 7 (Yes you read that correctly) hours.

The pudding then can be served hot after this process or reheated on the evening of Guldize itself.

Always serve with clotted cream!

Depredation among the fire folk - The ancient Golowan in Penzance.

The Golowan festival is upon us once again here in Penzance. Golowan is now a major community arts festival with a programme of traditions in and around a spectacular display of civic pride. The modern Golowan shares with it's ancient ancestor some traditions, that of Mock Mayor, The Serpent Dance, St John's Eve and of course the fire work. Golowan circa 1860 would have been a very much different event, and was world famous.

The festival can be seen as part of the wider St John's Eve Midsummer traditions of Cornwall that gradually faded from the rest the Duchy leaving only Mount's Bay as a bastion of the "firey carnival". After the festivities of May day and Whitsun the people of the town would start collecting firewood to use on St John's Eve, this would have included gorse which was often used in Cornwall as fuel anyway. At 5pm people started to assemble their fires in the middle of the street and on every street corner. A large fire was created in the Green Market (Yes I know its quite narrow there!).   In some places "tar barrels" were laid out ready to burn (please note that they were never carried as in Ottery St Mary).

At Sun down the people of the town would congregate at the Green Market to elect a Mock Mayor (The Mock Mayor of the Quay) and following his or her election would shower him with sparks from "squibs", large sparking fire works,

When the light finally faded pandemonium would break loose the ,various bonfires were lit an thousands upon thousands of fireworks let off in the street. Then hundreds of torches appeared all being swung in a peculiar manner around the head. Some torches where 6 feet long with tar soaked sail cloth used as a wick, some were fireballs on chains, some improvised from whatever people could find. Candles would also be lit by residents and placed in their windows, a bough of Bay or St John's wort were could also be found fixed above peoples doors.  Girls would often dress with "Golowan garlands" large wooden hoops decorated with flowers.

When the fires and fireworks has died down a strange half game half dance would begin known as the "Serpent Dance". This is not the rather graceful serpent dances of recent Cornish revival but a near scrum. Hand in hand the people of the town would form a long line, dancing between the embers of the fires. Now and again "dancers" in the middle of the line would shout "An Eye" An Eye" and raise their arms to form a gateway for the front of the dance to rush through in imitation of thread and needle. Sometimes the line would have to leap through the embers to avoid being burnt.

Midnight (1am BST actually) would mean the end of the this display and a return to the taverns of the Dock area where the town would drink itself into a stupor.

The next day was of course Midsummers day and in the quay area there was a fair, Market stalls would spring up to sell strawberries served on a cabbage leaf while some "took a pennorth of sea" in other words, took a boat excursion into the bay.

So what happened? It was though for many years that the festivities has died out in the 1870's but there is now evidence that the celebration lasted in some form up to the 20th century. As early as 1815 we have references to attempts to ban the festival especially Penzance Mayor "Henry Boase" who wrote in his diary of the "Depredation of the Fire Folk".By the 1870 some of the town council, eventually succeeded in moving the celebrations to the Promenade area where it declined.. By the advent of WW1 it was but a cherished memory.

We owe a huge debt to those people who 25 years ago had enough imagination and determination to start a revived Golowan albeit a somewhat different one to the old. It was without doubt their intention to use the past to inspire the future and to gradually restore and revive. Will we ever see a firey carnival on the 23rd of June again? It is certainly unlikely that fires will be randomly lit on street corners, fireworks thrown at people or any of the seriously dangerous activities that would quite clearly endanger public safety. I think however it would be possible to recreate some of the display with skilled, trained people, to use modern theatrical techniques to recreate the awe inspiring sight of the Midsummer fire.

The Raffidy Dumitz Band Project - Part 1.

Over the past 3 weeks I have been having a good think about tunes that would be good for the CCA's new musical project. I have come up with a provisional list that I think will work. These are about 70% Cornish and 30% from people I like the sound of that would work in a Cornish Context. These tunes are listed below and would not necessarily be played in the format you see here.  

1) Cornish March - One of three tunes I have included from the repertoire of the former Turkey Rhubarb Band, this tune is synonymous with Montol after being introduced to the festival in 2008.

a) The original by Saor Patrol 

b) A 2009 version by the Turkey Rhubarb Band

c) The Montol Band's version at this years Montol. 

2) An Awhesyth - (The Lark in Cornish) a very soft melody that if sped up would be excellent for the kind of music I am thinking of.

a) Youtube version

3) An Culyek Hos - (The Mallard Duck) 

a) Youtube version.

4) Breton March (Actually Bretonisher Marche) a very simple tune that would be very effective.

a) Breton March on youtube

5) Newlyn Reel - A classic of Cornish Music, the Turkey Rhubarb band were very strong on this particular number.

6) Horatio's Carol - A original tune by Tamsyn "Gurdybird" Swingler and used as the signature tune of the Egyptians guild at Montol.  

a) Horatio's carol played by Tamsyn live - vimeo.

7) Ton Garrow - A original Cornish tune by Henry Tamblin - I really love this and it has a great energy about it.

a) Ton Garrow on youtube.

8) Noel Nouvelete - This one is from an era I am fascinated with. A french standard carol from the Renaissance usually played slowly or sung slowly. The paced up version on a hurdy gurdy below would be ideal for Montol. It would need to adapted into a part a and part b however.

a)  Noel Nouvelete Gregory Joilvet - Youtube

9) Kabm Vean - :Love the tune and would add an element of "euphoria" to any performance a) Crowd Kabm Vean

10) Morvoren - By the super talented Richard Trethewey 

a) Link to midi file on the kesson "Kyt's tunery" site 

11) Rokatanc - A medieval style tune by Vox Vulgaris - 

a) Youtube 

These are only ideas - and I know many of us don't play the instruments being played here. My idea is that we think about different ways to create different sounds. The first Raffidy Dumitz band session will be held on the 21st of February 2015. Details to follow.

Candlemas

Candlemas is an important occasion in many traditional ritual calenders including that of the Irish and Scots where the feast of Imbolc (Imbolg and the feast of St Brighit were alternative names) was celebrated as one of the 4 principle quarter days (Imbolc is actually the day before Candlemas but the former is often translated as the later).  In medieval Christianity the feast marked the purification of Mary at the temple or the presentation of Christ as the temple and was also the time when special beeswax candles were blessed by priests for distribution to the faithful. The following day is St Blaise's Feast (Or St Blazey Feast in Cornwall) where bonfires were commonly lit in most northern European cultures. In paganism practiced in the modern era"Imbolc" has become one of the major events of the year and certainly early Irish literature suggests very ancient origins indeed. Before the reformation Candlemas was also often seen as the last of the Christmas celebrations, a time to host feasts, pay rents , settle debts, and afterwards take down the greenery that had been on display since Christmas.  It is in the guise that you find Candlemas in Cornwall.  The most famous of these customs was the rent collection ritual at Godolphin House, an account of this occasion follows from "The Origins of Popular Superstitions and Customsby T. Sharper Knowlson" in 1910.

'This being Candlemas Day, the old Cornish manor house of Godolphin, now a farm-house, was visited, telegraphs our Penzance correspondent, by the reeve of the manor of Lamburne, who came to collect, with time-honoured ceremony, a rent-charge upon the estate. In the presence of a crowd of curious neighbours and sight-seers, the reeve knocked thrice upon the oaken door. "I come," he cried, "to demand my lord's just dues--eight groats and a penny, a loaf, a cheese, a collar of brawn, and a jack of the best beer in the house. God save the King and the lord of the manor."When the doors were opened, the reeve and some forty guests sat down to breakfast together."

An older account from 1883 says;

"On Candlemas Day (February 2nd), before sunrise, the reeve must appear at the outer door and give three distinct knocks, saying “Oh yes! Oh Yes! Oh Yes! Here comes I, the reeve of the Manor of Lamburne, to demand my Lord’s dues: three groats and a penny in money, a loaf, a cheese, a collar of brawn and a jug of the best beer in the house; God save the King and the Lord of the Manor.” 

The Cornish Culture Association celebrates Candlemas in a way similar to that at Godolphin, with a twist. Because Candlemas is the end of traditional festive season we also consider it the end of the "guising" season. Our members and guests attend a "Candlemas Feast" dressed in Guise costume where we enact a somewhat similar ritual. This time the Lord of Misrule from the Montol festival collects his or her symbolic rent from the masters of the Penzance Guise Guilds. The rent in this case being "3 groats and a Penny, a collar of brawn, bread, a jack of beer and the finest cheeses known to man". A "rough" feast of gammon (found as payment in other rent rituals in Cornwall). pea soup (eaten traditionally on Nickanan Night, a feast very close in date to Candlemas), hot bread, brawn (vegan brawn is also available!) and cheese then follows. The whole event is treated as a "Mock Civic Feast" very much in keeping with the history and traditions of Guise Dancing and ends with a set of bizarre toasts all topped up with Cornish festive drinks like mahogany (gin and black treacle) and shenagrum (hot dark beer, mixed with brown sugar, lemon and nutmeg).  

Montol Festival Statement.

The Cornish Culture Association is pleased to announce that as of today the 25th of September we have taken over responsibility for the organisation of Penzance's Montol Festival. The Cornish Culture Association would like to thank all those who contributed to the festival's success over the last few years, especially members of the Turkey Rhubarb Band whose hard work and commitment allowed the festival to continue as a central feature of the Penzance and Cornish communities.  As there are a number of significant changes to the towns infrastructure this years festival will use a number of new locations. The 5:45pm procession will now start from Chapel Street instead of  St John's Hall (which is undergoing major structural works) and will follow a new route (to be confirmed). There will also be a significant expansion of the traditional Cornish parts of the festival, following detailed research by members of the association,which will take place in the town centre between 7pm and 10pm (full details to be confirmed). We hope that the festival's popular legacy of "celebrating the Cornish traditions of Winter" will not only remain under our leadership but thrive and prosper.

Simon Reed - Secretary and Organiser Cornish Culture Association for and on behalf of the trustees of the association.

The Guldize Pudding.

When most people think of Cornish harvest customs think only in terms of Crying the Neck, however the cutting of the last corn is part of a much bigger tradition of feasting and celebration known as Guldize. Guldize is one of the first distinctively Cornish customs to be described and was popular right up to the mid 20th century. There are now several Guldize events in Cornwall including in Penzance where the Saturday nearest the equinox is always celebrated.  The wheat harvest of old seems to have been some 2-4 weeks later than today the chosen date in Penzance reflects this, in fact there are several chapel harvest celebrations in West Cornwall that fall in the first week of October.  The traditions of Guldize are very numerous and I will deal with these in the next blog entry. This article is purely about one curious part of the feast, the Guldize pudding. For many years I have read of Guldize suppers where a large pudding was eaten, served with lashings of clotted cream. I thought nothing more of this until I recently attended an evening in Madron organised by Bewnans Kernow. A local resident was able to describe to me the "threshing day suppers" (an alternative name given to Guldize following the introduction of mechanical threshers). He also recognised the word "Guldize" and associated it with a large steamed pudding, not dissimilar to a Christmas pudding, which was eaten at all times of the year.  The descriptions of puddings suddenly became more significant. It seems that these puddings were at one time eaten at Harvest time across the British Isles leaving legacy traditions in Cornwall and one other community, Brent Knoll in Somerset.  So what did this pudding taste like? What was the recipe?  TheWestern Morning News of 1946 carries this recipe which I think is the nearest I will be able to get to a Guldize pudding recipe. 

More research needs to be done, maybe there is a family recipe out there, I will however be attempting to bring back the pudding into into Guldize at Penzance on September the 20th this year. 

Guise Dancing - A Cornish Culture Guide.

A Cornish Culture Association Guide.

Guise Dancing is one of the most important traditions in Cornish Culture. Guise dancing was originally performed at Christmas time, feast days and other special occasions throughout Cornwall and is enjoying a revival in 21^st Century Cornwall. This guide is intended to provide information about the tradition and encourage people new to the practice to engage with this unique and vibrant tradition.

Disguise.

All forms of Guise Dancing have one thing in common, disguise. According to historian AK Hamilton Jenkin the word “Guise” is derived from French and should be pronounced “Geeze” not “Guyze” [1]. Guise Dancers use costume, masks, make-up and sound to disguise who they are. This serves several purposes First it originally allowed people to do things that they would not normally feel comfortable doing under normal circumstances, including begging. Secondly disguise creates a sense of unease and wonder which can be used to intimidate or even entertain.

Origins.

The origins of Guise Dancing seem to be found in the middle-ages. Across Europe there can be found traditions of visiting homes on special occasions to perform in disguise. The protestant reformation had a dramatic effect in the British Isles, driving our such customs which where seen as “popish” or even “heathen. In Cornwall this drive was less effective and many pre-reformation customs survived and were modified by the Cornish people as part of an ongoing “folk process”.

Strangely dance here may not mean dance in any modern sense at all. In fact Morton-Nance one of the leading figures in the Cornish Revival of the early 20^th Century seems to think that there was no dancing at all [2] he describes Guise Dancing as “a dance that is no dance”. Other sources disagree with this and you do find references to dancing performed by Guise Dancers, especially set dances [3]. 

The three types of Guise Dancing.

1. Processional Guise Dancing
2. Visit Guise Dancing
3. Guise Dance Drama.

Processional Guising involves processions of “perambulations” of performers often around villages and towns.

Visit Guise Dancing involves visiting homes or public houses to entertain the occupants.

Guise Dance Drama is a form of the tradition where Guise Dancers perform folk plays of various forms. Please note that it is incorrect to describe these plays as “mummers plays” in Cornwall, this is a term mostly used in England. On many occasions these traditions would merge. It must be noted that only the best prepared Guise Dance bands would attempt a play of any kind, especially the longer and more complex varieties.

Music and song.

Guise Dancers would entertain first and foremost using music and song. At Christmas the songs would often be carols in particular the carol “While Shepherds Watched” [4]. The song, music and dance “Turkey Rhubarb” was another popular musical activity [3]. The song Turkey Rhubarb takes its name from a popular herb used as a mild laxative an advert from the nineteenth century selling a “cardiac tincture of Turkey Rhubarb” describes it as a “warm and pleasant laxative”. There is a comic song recorded with the same name in 1884 [5] outside of Cornwall written by a “Mr Bowden” curiously when the song and dance was collected in Cornwall it was collected from a a Mrs Bowden whose Grandfather a Mr Jenkin had performed it as part of the Madron Guise Dance tradition [6].

Music in modern guise dance groups is often used to create mood, whatever mood they wish to convey that is. Sometimes this is a dark and foreboding sometimes purely entertaining.

Costume.

Mock Formal Guise
Dancer 1930's.

Guise Dance costume is not fancy dress. Characters from film, TV or anything recognised from the world of popular culture is to be discouraged. There are numerous varieties of Guise-Dance costumes all are worth looking at in detail.

Mock Formal.

In historic accounts this variety of Guise costume is called “gentleman's hand me downs” and consisted of old formal clothing donated by richer groups in society for the purposes of the performances. In modern Guise groups (at least since the 1930's) Mock Formal costume usually consists of a top hat (or other formal hat), black suits and other clothing reflecting the formal clothing of the early to mid 20^th century, anything that looked “old”. In previous times Mock formal would have reflected the formal clothing which would have been seen as archaic at that point in history.

Cross dressing.

Traditionally Guise Dancers cross dressed frequently. Men dressed like woman and dressed like men often in the “Mock Formal” attire of the opposite sex. This is rarer in modern Guise groups but certainly not unheard of. Despite a number sources stating that every Guise Dancer would have adopted this custom it is but one of many variations of the tradition. William Sandys (writing as Uncle Jan

Trenoodle) records a costume used in the early 19^th century at Tredrea near St Erth used by a gentleman who wore a ladies night gown covered with rags and ribbons and highly coloured britches topped off with a ladies “Gook”. A gook is the name used for a number of bonnets used by Cornish women during this era.

Mock Rags and Ribbons.

Guise Dancer
 Rags and Ribbons.

Another traditional costume used by Guise Dancers consists of covering costume of all sorts with highly coloured rags and ribbons [7]. These can be attached to all sorts of costume from the very simple to the highly ornate. Some descriptions give us a picture of a very simple Guise-Dance costume made from white shirts placed over the outer clothing of the celebrants, these white shirts being covered with rags, handkerchiefs and ribbons [1].

19^th Century Guise Dance Costume. [1] [12]

The early 19^th century in Penzance was a time of a particularly rich Guise Dance tradition. In this era men and women adopted very ornate costumes of high complexity. Male costume (worn by men and women) would have consisted of high heel boots, highly coloured britches and long waisted coats. Female costume (again worn by both genders)

consisted of bag skirts and stiff bodied gowns, again highly coloured. Male head gear consisted of cocked hats (bicorns) topped off with plumes and feathers. Female head gear consisted of steeple crowned hats (high crowned hats of various types) worn on some kind of pad. The features of these costumes would be exaggerated by stuffing waists, britches and skirts with straw or cotton.

National costume.

The use of the national costumes of a wide variety of nations was common among the Guise Dancers of the late 19^th and early 20^th Century. In various accounts we have references to Turks, Egyptians, Chinese and Indian costumes. Often these Guise Dancers “sold” in a comic manner pretend goods to the other revellers.

Disguising the face.

All Guise Dancers disguise their face in some way.

Masking.

Volto Mask.

Guise Dance masks are or of several kinds. The Venetian or masked ball style mask is extremely popular with modern guise groups. The use of these masks is based on several 19^th century accounts where processional Guise Dancers in Penzance are likened to a masked ball and an Italian carnival. The Italian style mask can be split into several groups.

The Bauta – A full face mask with a square chin.

The Colombina – A half mask.

The Medico Della Peste – The plague doctor mask, a full face mask with a long nose that appears like a beak.

The Volto – A full face mask.

The Zanni – A long nosed mask made of black leather

Animal masks of all sorts were often used by revellers from elephants to bullocks.

Home made masks often included grotesque distortions of features where facial features were exaggerated. Sometimes these masks included mock facial hair like moustaches.

Lace veils.

Lace veils, often made from black “Nottingham” lace, were common in some places in Cornwall [1][11]. These were worn again by men and women and were sometimes decorated with sequins or buttons. These are still used by a number of modern guise-dancers to great effect.

Make up and blacking up.

In East Cornwall it was common to see Guise Dancers blacking their faces. Originally burnt cork would have been applied to the face to hide the features of the performers. Face paints are now substituted for the rather acrid burnt cork. In West Cornwall other forms of facial make up were used especially by Guise Dancers who crossed dressed.

Animals and Guise Beasts.

Early 20^th century accounts of Guise Dancing in St Ives include descriptions of large numbers of people wearing animal masks. These include a wide and exotic menagerie of creatures from Elephants to lions. In the early 19^th century animal imagery was more raw and less zoo-esque notably some participants in Penzance wore bullock hides and horns.

Related to this animal imagery was the use of Guise Beasts. A Guise Beast is a representation of a variety of animals either in carved wood or by use of an actual skull. Many Guise Groups at the turn of the 18^th Century had a beast (and most parishes [15]), often an 'Obby 'Oss. Writers describe these as being “very numerous” [8]. One of the most famous of these was operated by a Guise Dance group called the “Corn-Market” in Penzance [9]. The beast took the form of a wooden carved head, operated by a black faced man called “Old Penglaze”. It was the beast and Old Penglaze's job to enforce forfeits on revellers during the game played by the group known as spy-the-market. In later descriptions of the Penglaz 'Oss the wooden head is replaced by a horses skull [13]. A similar skull horse is found in descriptions of Nickanan Night (Shrove Monday) [14]. It is this description that influenced the creation of Penglaz, the 'Obby 'Oss that appears during the summer Golowan festival in Penzance.

Games.

Some Guise Dance groups played games. These included games of forfeit and chance where people would be punished for transgressions [9]. In Newlyn there are several examples of Guise Dancers entering properties and turning tables and chairs upside down, sometimes breaking the furniture in the process. [10].

Guise Groups and Lords of Misrule.

Guise Dance groups often appoint mock leaders very similar to the tradition of the Lord of Misrule [9]. These mock leaders were often accompanied by mock state or civic officials who symbolically supported these leaders. The selection of leader was undertaken in a wide variety of ways, sometimes by lot and sometime purely on their reputation as an “experienced reveller” [9].

Best Practice – Doing Guise Dancing right.

To get Guise Dancing right you must seek to balance all of the above. First and foremost is costume and disguise, the more complete the disguise the greater the effect the Guise Dancers have on those watching. Masks for example are far more effective if they are full face. Fancy dress hats and the like should be also be avoided as they look very out of place in a group of performers who are wearing more genuine costume. Dancing is only part of Guise Dancing (as strange as that may sound to ear) and should be part of a balanced performance that includes music, song and possibly ritualistic games (turning furniture upside down sounds like fun to me). It is important that Guise Dancing remains Cornish and that any attempt to add folk customs from other places should be resisted, Guise Dancers should dance Cornish dances and perform Cornish plays.

Ultimately a good Guise Dance performance causes in the observer an initial sense of unease and uncertainty followed by entertainment. All this is followed by a swift departure into the night leaving a sense of mystery and wonder.

References.

[1] Western Morning News 8^th January 1929 – Letter from AK Hamilton Jenkin.

[2] Western Morning News 15^th January 1929 – Letter from Robert Morton Nance.

[3] BBC “Twelthtide” Radio broadcast 8.10pm 4^th January 1937.

[4] Robert Hunt – Popular Romances of the West of England.

[5] Huddersfield Chronicle, West Yorkshire, England Friday 1^st February 1884.

[6] An Daras website retrieved 14^th of August 2014.

[7] The Gentleman's Magazine, and Historical Chronicle

[8] Richard Edmondes from the Transcripts of the Penzance Natural History and Antiquarian Society 1851.

[9] William Sandys Christmas Carols Ancient and Modern 1831.

[10] Interview with Rev Alison Richardson 2007.

[11] Interview with Nicholas Phillips 2007.

[12] William Bottrell Traditions and Hearthside Stories of West Cornwall 1870.

[13] Barbera Spooner – The Padstow 'Obby 'Oss 1951.

[14] West Briton January 16^th 1843 – Letter from J Marshall.

[15] English Song and Dance Society 1979 Volumes 41-44.