Dancing at Whitsun

Dancing at Whitsun

Dancing at Whitsun

It's fifty long springtimes since she was a bride

But still you may see her at each Whitsuntide
In a dress of white linen with ribbons of green,
As green as her memories of loving

The feet that were nimble tread carefully now,
As gentle a measure as age will allow,
Through groves of white blossoms, by fields of young corn,
Where once she was pledged to her true-love.

The fields they stand empty, the hedges grow (go) free--
No young men to turn them or pastures go see (seed)
They are gone where the forest of oak trees before
Have gone, to be wasted in battle.

Down from the green farmlands and from their loved ones
Marched husbands and brothers and fathers and sons.
There's a fine roll of honor where the Maypole once stood,
And the ladies go dancing at Whitsun.

There's a straight row of houses in these latter days
All covering the downs where the sheep used to graze.
There's a field of red poppies (a gift from the Queen)
But the ladies remember at Whitsun,
And the ladies go dancing at Whitsun.

[words by John Austin Marshall]

Whitsuntide

Whitsuntide Parade

The Origins

Pentecost or Whitsun is observed on the seventh Sunday after Easter. The word Pentecost has its roots in the Greek "pentekoste" meaning the fiftieth day after Easter. Whit Sunday commemorates the coming of the Holy Spirit in the form of flames to the Apostles, as recorded in the New Testament. The recent adoption of a Late Spring Bank Holiday on the last Monday in May is an attempt to deal with the fact that Whitsuntide is a moveable feast dependent on the date of Easter. Although it is no longer necessarily at the church's Whitsuntide, the general public still refers to this holiday as "Whit Monday."

Customs & Traditions

Two main traditions persist, particularly in the North of England - Whit Walks and Whitsun Ales. Whit weekend, being a three-day break, is, like May Day, an important date on the Morris-Dancing calendar, and it also marks the start of the Well Dressing season.

Whit Walks are now confined almost exclusively to the industrial towns of northern England although they were once much more widespread.
The whole community assembles at a central point - usually a school or church - and parades around the town or village. The parades will be led by a brass band with the clergy and local dignitaries, followed by the uniformed organisations - Scouts and Guides, Boy's Brigade etc., and finally local families all in their best new clothes with the girls dressed in white, Whitsun being a corruption of White Sunday. The Whit Walkers will very likely make their way to the local green or playing field and there the "Whitsun Ale" will begin.

A Whitsun Ale is, despite its name, not a type of beer! Whitsun Ales are country fairs, with sports and competitions, Morris dancing displays, music and of course socialising, eating and drinking, in fact a major event on the social calendar.
After the English Civil War the Puritan government banned all types of merrymaking but after the Restoration of Charles II, Whitsun Ales became a major event - helped no doubt by the fact that Charles was born on a Whit Monday and so encouraged the celebration. The Ales are often sponsored by a pub or brewery, giving rise to the misconception that the event is named for the beer!

First World War.com

probably the mosr comprehensive

webite on the net, regarding the

"war to end all wars"

The Battle of the Somme, 1916

Comprising the main Allied attack

on the Western Front during 1916,

famous chiefly on account of the

loss of 58,000 British troops

(one third of them killed) on the

first day of the battle, 1 July 1916,

which to this day remains a

one-day record

Passchendaele 1917

"Squire nagged and bullied

till I went to fight,
(Under Lord Derby's scheme).

I died in hell -
(They called it Passchendaele)."

The Battle Of The Field

the end of innocence

The Complete Morris On

morris on, the son, the grandson

and the great grandson

Whitsuntide

a great explanation of

this holiday from the students

at Woodlands School in

Tonbridge, Kent. this is a truly

amazing interactive website