Flower of the Month: Dragons and Dancing Giants in Yorkshire West Riding

Some of the earliest records of performance in the West Riding provide evidence of the dragon of Ripon Minster. In the accounts of 1439-40, the Chamberlains of this Benedictine monastery note the stipend paid to the man ‘who carried the dragon in processions on the feast of the Ascension and the three Rogation days leading […]

Flower of the Month: A Libelous Song in Court of Star Chamber

October’s Flower tells of a scandalous libel case from the villages of West Yorkshire. One of the main reasons that defamation—libel and slander—became an issue for the civil courts—was to punish those who would undermine the credibility and authority of administrators of justice. Shakespeare captures this idea near the end of Measure for Measure when […]