Warning, this morning's blog contains very few facts.
Up in the top left corner of the panel is a group of maypole dancers with a huge crowd of parents looking on. I don't know anything about the photograph taken at this event. Was it posed for the Tapestry or from someone's album? Do children still perform this dance in schools?
Just been looking at Wikki and it's suggested there that English Maypole dancing isn't as old as I thought. It was brought to the London stage from Italy in the eighteenth century, became popular in the south of England and then spread when a teacher training college put it into the curriculum.
Presumably the Barwick-in-Elmet Maypole is one of the more traditional type, centuries old.
To the left is one of the Traveller's children on horseback. This is from one of a series of photographs taken at Lee Fair, West Ardsley.
Known - this piece was hand stitched, including french knots, by Pauline Clayden who completed it in 15 1/2 hours on printed fabric.
Thanks for the memories! I loved Maypole and Country Dancing in primary school. And I particularly admire the rendition of the crowd on the hill. Very clever.
ReplyDeleteI seem to remember this was one of the few times the boy's and girl's branches of the school got together - the other was when strolling actors came to give performances.
ReplyDeleteKate thinks that this particular photograph came from the Vicar at Barwick.