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The most famous Furry Dance (/ˈfʌri/ FUH-ree) takes place in Helston, Cornwall, United Kingdom.[1] It is one of the oldest British customs still practised today.[2] The earliest mention seems to be in a letter to the Gentleman's Magazine for 1790 [3] where the writer says "At Helstone, a genteel and populus borough town in Cornwall, it is customary to dedicate the 8th May to revelry (festive mirth, not loose jollity). It is called Furry Day". The dance is very well attended every year and people travel from all over the world to see it: Helston Town Band play all the music for the dances.
The Furry Dance takes place every year on 8 May (except when the date falls on a Sunday or Monday — Monday being Market Day — when it is the preceding Saturday). In Helston, 8 May, the Apparition of Saint Michael, the Archangel Michael of Christianity, is called Flora Day,[4] and the term furry probably derives from the Cornish language: fer, "fair, feast".[5][6] It is a celebration of the passing of winter and the arrival of spring. The schedule of the day is thus: morning dance at 7 a.m., the first performance of the Hal-an-Tow pageant at 8:30 a.m. with the last completed by 9:30 a.m., children's dance traditionally at 10 a.m. though in recent years the numbers and logistics have seen this advanced to 9.50 a.m. and in 2016 to 9.40 a.m., midday dance at noon, and evening dance at 5 p.m.. Of these, the midday dance is perhaps the best known: it was traditionally the dance of the gentry in the town, and today the men wear top hats and tails while the women dance in their finest frocks.[7]
Traditionally, the dancers wear lily of the valley, which is Helston's symbolic flower. The gentlemen wear it on the left, with the flowers pointing upwards, and the ladies wear it upside down on the right. Lily of the valley is worn on Flora Day by dancers, bandsmen, Flora Day stewards and by those who are "Helston-born".
- ^ "Helston Flora Day". Helston Flora Day Association. Retrieved 11 March 2024.
- ^ Williamson, George C. Curious Survivals ISBN 0-7661-4469-0; p. 148.
- ^ The Gentleman's Magazine 1790, Vol 60, p. 520
- ^ Watersons songs, Hal-an-Tow, history and variants Retrieved 13 April 2012
- ^ "The Gazetteer". Archived from the original on 29 February 2012. Retrieved 26 July 2012.
- ^ Norris, Edwin, ed. (1968). The Ancient Cornish Drama, Volume 1. p. 501. ISBN 9780405088216.
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
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