The Oldest Traditions: Legends, Rituals and Plays

Worms

Worms – serpents or dragons – were defeated heroically, not only by St George, but in legends of local families. Lord Lambton overcame the Lambton Worm – a feat later celebrated in a local music hall song – and Sir John Conyers slew the Sockburn Worm with his falchion – the very one, legend has it, that still belongs to Durham Cathedral.

Over the centuries, worms and dragons have continued to feature in local lore and performance. Listen to some of these stories in this podcast by John McKinnell.

Animal Impersonations

Abbott Bromley Horn Dance © Optimist on the run, 2006, via Wikimedia Commons

Stags feature in performances harking back to folklore. According to Robert Graystanes’ 14th century Chronicle, Lord Neville of Raby claimed the right to enter Durham cathedral every Holy Cross Day (14th September) with his foresters blowing their hunting horns, and make an offering of a recently killed stag on the high altar; but the pagan echoes of the custom offended the Prior and it was abolished.

In the North-East as in other parts of England, animal impersonations also celebrated Plough Monday, the first day of work after the Twelve Days of Christmas.

Robin Hood

From Robin Hood; a collection of all the ancient poems, songs, and ballads now extant relative to that … outlaw. To which are prefixed historical anecdotes of his life. With wood engravings by Thomas Bewick. British Library HMNTS 992.k.16-17

Robin Hood, though we usually associate him with Nottingham and Sherwood Forest, seems to have got around: not only featuring in ‘The Durham Song’, he also crops up in records from Brandsby, North Riding of Yorkshire.

George Sherwin was reported to the Bishop’s Court in 1615 for playing Robin Hood at a rush-bearing ceremony, when traditionally a procession of parishioners carried fresh rushes into the church, often with music, dancing, and in this case a folk play. The point is that it happened on a Sunday, when such irreligious customs were forbidden: it does often happen that we only find records of performances when the performers were breaking the law!

Other Folk Plays

Other folk plays – Mummers’ plays and others – have traditionally been held at Christmas and New Year, and May Day was also an occasion for songs, processions and competitive performances between parishes, often featuring Robin Hood for young men and, here in Durham, a Young Maids’ Procession for young women. Both appear in ‘The Durham Song’, a surviving treble part from a five-part musical work that describes local festivities in the sixteenth century. The words are incomplete, but very evocative!

The Oldest Written Plays from the North East