Greetings all from Down Under – South Australia has officially started winter, the storms have blown in, red and orange leaves have been snatched from the branches of the European trees by our icy southern wind and are laying in damp, slushy pools on the ground. The gum leaves are glistening on the eucalypt trees in the chill, misty mornings and the kookaburras are waking us later.
Yes, I am obsessed with the seasons and the customs / traditions that herald the turning of the wheel. I think this is because of my being of Northern hemisphere ancestry. I yearn to connect to those seasonal traditions that are being celebrated at this time of the year, but of course can’t because we are topsy turvy, it would be wrong, wouldn’t it, to mess with ancient customs at an incorrect time of the year?
So, in comes I, Adrienne – director of the English Ale. And if you know about Mummer’s Plays then you’ll get why I just wrote that!
Ritual customs from Great Britain in South Australia
The English Ale is a unique, seasonal gathering that takes place in the picturesque Adelaide hills village of Mylor in South Australia every May. An ‘autumn’ gathering celebrating the village customs and ritual traditions from Great Britain that occur within the seasonal wheel of the year.
The event acknowledges the end of the hot dry summer, the end of the fire season and moving into the ‘greener’ time of the year. The first of our winter rains have arrived and the land that was so parched and dry is now coming back to life. Yes, it’s almost like a second spring and Jack in the Green has returned.
The English Ale is attended by many magical creatures: pageant giants, hobby horses, Mari Llwyds, hooden horses, Jack in the Green, guisers and dancing monsters. All of these characters come from various village calendar customs from around Great Britain and now find themselves adapting and settling into life in the Australian festival landscape.
Jack in the Green
Jack is the green man of the woods, a figure who is covered in greenery who cavorts in the spring. A dancer carries him along the procession route, accompanied by other dancers, musicians, and general revelry. Traditionally Jack is ‘Killed’ in a ceremony that releases the spirit of summer, however we don’t kill our Jack because we don’t want to mess with the seasons, so he is put to bed in the forest after the Ale to await our spring in September.
Hobby Horses, Hooden Horses and Dragons
These are costumed characters that feature in traditional seasonal customs, processions and similar observances around the world. They are particularly associated with May Day celebrations, mummers’ plays and the Morris dance in England. Beasts who make merry but may also wreak chaos and mayhem. Of course, May here is our Samhain time but the hobbies still like to pull unsuspecting revelers under their skirts no matter what the time of the year!
The Mari Lwyd
Mari is an ancient pre-Christian tradition which takes place in parts of Wales during the time of Samhain and the winter festive season in which a horses’ skull is draped in bells and ribbons. Each year the Mari Lwyd is taken from house to house asking for entry via song. The name Mari Lwyd translates as Grey Mare or Grey Mary. Thought to have originated from Celtic Mythology, the pale horse is known to be able to pass to the underworld. She is perfect for our festival as the veil is thinning and the ancestors are close by.
Guisers
The ancient tradition of guising goes back centuries in Scotland and Ireland. Guising derives from the word disguise. The tradition of guising, going house to house at Halloween and putting on a small performance to be rewarded with food or treats, goes back at least as far as the 16th century, as does the tradition of people wearing costumes at Halloween. It was believed that, by disguising themselves, they would blend in with any wandering spirits and remain safe from harm. The English Ale Guisers carry the flaming torches in the procession and enjoy a bit of mischief and mayhem at this time of the year.
Morris Dancers
Hot for Joe are an Adelaide women’s Morris team dancing ‘Border’ Morris, a dance tradition from the ‘border’ counties of Great Britain along the Welsh border. Border dancing is considered a winter tradition. Hot For Joe present a highly styled, unique form of Morris dancing focusing on precise, energetic and dramatic dancing. An inspiring modern interpretation of an ancient dance tradition.
Pageant Giants
Dancing, or Pageant Giants are folkloric manifestations, larger than life characters that parade along with hobby horses and Jack in the Green, a seasonal figure commonly seen at folk rituals and seasonal events. The English Ale’s giants are ‘Petal’ named after Helen ‘The Petal’ Lyons and Rufus of the Wildwood.
The Wickerman
A wicker man is part of a seasonal festival and is burnt specifically for the celebration of a fire feast or at harvest time. The English Ale’s Wickerman is lit after our torchlight procession and Druid Peace ritual, a ritual where we acknowledge the traditional owners of the land where we gather, the Peramangk people and call for ‘Peace’. It is a call for us to put aside conflict and to come together to celebrate the turning of the season on mother earth!
all photos by Jlayuan Liang except for photo of mummers, by Kylie Moroney
For more information about Adrienne Piggot, including her collected articles here on Pagan Song, her bio, and links to her band Spiral Dance’s sites on the web, check out Adrienne’s author page here on Pagan Song.
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