Robin Hood and Little John
They both are gone to Fair-O,
And we shall to the merry Greenwood
To see what they do there-O,
And for to chase - O,
To chase the buck and doe.
With Hal-and-Tow,
Jolly rumble, O.
-"Furry Song" and Morris Dance, Cornwall
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The 16th century "Robin Hood games" were popular features in British Mayfests. One of the oldest surviving spring festival in the world just might be the Furry Dance in Helston, Cornwall on the 8th of May. The "fur" in Furry doesn't seem to have much to do with animal skins at this warm time of year; perhaps they'd be more appropriately titled "leafy" or "flowery" for the ubiquitous garlands and foliate masks and floral crowns bedecking the people, towns and wells of Merry Old England in springtime.
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"Furry" is explained as deriving from Flora, the Roman goddess of blossoms; her Floralia celebration spans late April through early May. More likely, it comes from the old Cornish word fer, which in turn comes from the Roman feria; both words mean holy day, festival, fair.
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Revelers rise very early on the 8th of May for dawn rituals of gathering green branches and early morning dancing, wearing lillies of the valley. Then come the processions and plays, i.e. the "games," featuring Helston's patron saint Michael, whose feast day in Helston is today (late September in most places), and St. George, patron saint of England. The modern Furry Dance has been reduced to a crowded touristy affair, but in the old days a key component was the "Robin Hood games". The Furry Dance is said to be directly linked to earlier pagan rites celebrating Robin Hood and Herne the Hunter (aka Cernunnos).
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Robin Hood is Lord of the Greenwood,
the wild and untamable, yet gentle, archetype of the divine archer, whose aim is always true. As stag god of the forest, he is considered one and the same as, or alternately the son of, Herne the Hunter. Certainly Robin Hood is a folk hero, representing freedom and defiance of authority, a champion of the poor and the dispossessed (maybe that's why I like him so much).
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Marion, his consort, is Queen of the May, the White Lady of the woodland who could shapeshift into a deer, running away from the confinements of civilization to join her lover in Sherwood Forest.
The legend of Robin Hood is one of my most favourites, second only to the (much more obscure) legends of Elen. A new theatrical version is coming to the cinema next week, and I can hardly wait.
Surpassing all Robin Hood films to date is hands down the HTV series Robin of Sherwood , enhanced by Clannad's haunting soundtrack, Legend. It took a long time, but they are finally available on DVD, and many clips are also featured on youtube:
- Nothing is Forgotten makes music video montages of Clannad's music set to episode clips from the series
- There are several downloaded clips from the series by Ravindraa, but the film quality is poor. The best downloaded clip I could find on youtube is here. Even that one is a little fuzzy (might be my computer). Happily the DVD sets are available in the library :-)
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Like other May Day festivities (May Day in England is celebrated on the 8th and 13th as well as the 1st) the Helston Furry Dance has associations with water. Anyone caught working on this holiday was taken to the river and ordered to leap across it (and consequently get drenched) or pay a troll fee.
Beltane tarot reading: Death reversed - 2 Wands - Magician - Page of Cups - 10 Wands reversed
I'm not going to interpret them now, but the 2 Wands from the Sacred Circle deck (chalk hill figure of the Long Man of Wilmington) sort of reminds me of Little John
