Traditional pursuits in September – part 3
All images courtesy of Wikimedia Commons
Widecombe-in-the-Moor is a village on the east side of Dartmoor, Devon. Every year, on the second Tuesday in September – 12th September this year – it holds a fair, which began in the 1800s as a livestock fair but has expanded over the ensuing years to encompass a variety of events and attractions. Animals are no longer sold at the fair, but there are exhibits of sheep, horses and cattle and it remains a showcase for all things local, agricultural and traditional.
The fair is organised entirely by volunteers with the aim of raising money for local causes and providing an entertaining and enjoyable day out for visitors from near and far. Whatever the interest of the visitor, there will be something to please, from vintage machinery to competitive wood chopping, flower and vegetable produce to dog agility displays and many more besides.
During the day, visitors may spot Uncle Tom Cobley and his friends on his borrowed grey mare, for the song about them made Widecombe Fair famous. Today, 'Uncle Tom Cobley and all' is used to mean 'and everyone', either humorously or in exasperation at the numbers involved in an activity or list.
The day before, ‘the Monday following the first Sunday after the 4th of the month’, (September 11th) there is the annual Wakes Monday ‘Horn Dance’.
This takes place in Abbots Bromley, Staffordshire and the antlers used in it date from the 11th century. There are twelve participants – six carrying the horns, a musician playing an accordion, the Hobby-horse, a jester, a bowman, Maid Marian (played by a man) and a youngster with a triangle. The horns, three sets of white, and three sets of black, are collected from the church early in the morning and the dancers proceed to dance round the village and local countryside, returning to the village at 8:00 pm, having danced over ten miles.
On 16th September the World Gurning Championship is held in Egremont, Cumbria, as part of the ‘Crab Fair and Sports’. The fair has been in existence since 1267, though it's not clear when gurning became part of it. The fair has other events, like climbing the greasy pole to take the leg of lamb that’s nailed to the top, a fun fair and street races. The main attraction, though, is the Gurning Championship at the Market Hall in the evening. Gurning contests are a rural English tradition. The objective is to pull the ugliest face with the head stuck through a horse collar.
This, from the English Dialect Dictionary defines gurning thus:
"to snarl as a dog; to look savage; to distort the countenance," while the Oxford English Dictionary suggests the derivation may originally be Scottish, related to "grin." In Northern Ireland, the verb "to gurn" means "to cry," and crying is often referred to as "gurnin'." Originally the Scottish dialectical usage refers to a person who is complaining. The term "gurn" may also refer to an involuntary facial muscular contortion experienced as a side-effect of MDMA (Ecstasy) consumption.
