Abbots Bromley Horn Dance

Not a Mummers Play, not a Morris Dance,  it is a very old tradition.  In the village of Abbots Bromley on the First Monday after the First Sunday after September 4th, the whole village comes together to watch (and perform) this tradition.  It starts early morning (7:45am) with a short church service and the horns (tradition has it they are reindeer horns) are processed from the church, where they reside for the rest of the year, on display.   The dancers then  progress around the village and out into the surrounding areas, performing this dance that part  resembles a Morris dance.  There are lots of twisting moves as well as cross-overs and 'in and outs'.  The dance lasts no more than a couple of minutes but is repeated many times during the day.  The dance ends back in the village with a procession down the main street (visiting the pubs - of course) arriving back at the church for a short service before the participants and onlookers retire for further celebration.

The dance  is performed by men of the village, comprising 6 carrying the horns (which weigh about 13-16 Kg. each) accompanied by a hobby-horse, small boy, fool, Maid Marion and musicians.  It is traditionally held that all performers are male - but this year (2001) the part of the small boy (with bow and arrow) was played by a girl.

As this was my first time at Abbots Bromley I can't say if the day was representative of other years - I hope it was because it was a wonderful day.  The villagers make everyone welcome and you are even served with free drink and food at one of the early morning stops.  The crowd starts out small at the beginning of the day but by mid-afternoon, when they return into the main village proper, it had swollen to a very large number - difficult to estimate as it is distributed down the main street - but certainly well into the hundreds.

Below are a few pictures of the event

Coming down the main street

 Still on the way ( the traffic has to be very patient!)

 Time for a break at The Bagot Arms

 Close-up of the horns

 Maid Marion having a rest