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St Ives Guise Dance
Turkey Rhubarb, Turkey Rhubarb, Turkey Rhubarb I
sell Click here to hear Mike O'Connor's version of the tune *
Up until the early 1900’s the period between
Christmas Day and Twelfth Night was still celebrated in West
Cornwall with Guise Dancing. During this season the streets of
St. Ives and the villages around Newlyn and Penzance were
nightly paraded by parties of young people attired in strange
costumes. In most cases the boys were dressed as girls and the
girls as boys. Some of them cleverly represent historical
characters; others were merely disguised with blackened faces
and Nottingham lace veils, begged from their mother’s meagre
supply of old curtain hangings. Failing this they would mask up
with scarves and bandanas covering their faces almost
completely. These 'Goose or Geese-dancers' paraded the streets and often behaved in such an unruly manner that woman and children were afraid to venture out. If the doors of the houses were not locked they would enter uninvited and stay, playing all kinds of antics, until food and drink and money was given them to go away. They became such a terror to the respectable inhabitants of Penzance that the Corporation put a stop to the celebrations in about 1880. Every Christmas Eve notices were posted in conspicuous places in the town, forbidding the appearance of any dancers in the streets over the next 12 days, but they still kept up the tradition in St. Ives. Guise-dancing celebrations must have deteriorated in style since the beginning of the 19th century, as writers then spoke of a time when all enjoyed the merrymaking. Robert Hunt in his "Popular Romances of the West of England" published in 1870, tells us that......." this (St Ives) is the only town in the country where the old Cornish Christmas revelry is kept up with spirit. The Guise dancing time is the twelve nights after Christmas. Guise dancing in St Ives is no more nor less than a pantomimic representation or bal masque on an extensive scale, the performers outnumbering the audience." The Turkey Rhubarb dance always marked the finale to the evenings proceedings, after which the exhausted participants at last gave up and went home. This dance was also associated with the Christmas Mummers play, where a concertina, sometimes referred to as a 'cordial', would provide the music.The dancers performed in heavy shoes fitted with scoots, metal pieces attached to the soles. After a lapse during the war years several attempts were made to revive the custom in Cornish towns and villages and in some places it made a comeback. The BBC recorded and broadcast extracts from the 'Geese' dancers performance of Turkey Rhubarb in 1936 but there is no trace of it in the archives made available to researchers. Miss Helena Charles, who set up a school of inter-Celtic dancing in Cornwall in l949, provided further corroboration of this dance as she was aware of it being used by Paul and Madron W.I. as part of their Christmas Mummers play `St George and the Turkish Knight`The name `Turkey Rhubarb` is itself a delightful enigma. There might obviously be some connection or confusion with the Turkish knight in the Mummers Christmas play. However, Turkey Rhubarb was
NOT the common garden rhubarb, parts off which
are highly toxic
Turkey Rhubarb, Turkey Rhubarb, Turkey Rhubarb I
sell
Today all that remains is one long night of conspicuous drinking
and celebration in St Ives on New Years Eve. The revellers go
from pub to pub, usually ending up on the beach in front of “The
Sloop” to welcome in the New Year. Most of those who take part
do attire themselves in some kind of fancy dress but
little takes place in the way of dancing. Now, where did I put they old net curtens ?
For more information on Mike O Connor and to buy the CD click here
For more information on the Cornish music & dance go here
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