Bonzer Words!: Floral Dance
Dermott Ryder recalls the first time he heard the song, Floral Dance.
Kate Emily Barclay Moss, a professional violinist, pianist and concert singer wrote Floral Dance in 1911. The tune, based on a Cornish air, and lyrics she created on the train home from a visit to Helston, Cornwall, during the 'Furry Dance' celebrations. I heard it for the first in 1953 at a formal affair that despotic parents ordered me to attend. I predicted an excruciatingly boring evening.
Father said that if I were planning anything evil he would come down on me like a ton of bricks. I recognized the tone of voice. There were people attending the formal affair who knew a thing or two. So I was to stand up straight and not fidget, smile politely, speak only when spoken to and otherwise be seen but not heard. As it happened I did everything I was not supposed to do but they didn't notice because they were all having such a good time. I also met and talked turkey with a very interesting fellow.
His name was Ivor Davies but I could be mistaken about the Davies but not about the Ivor, or about the rafter raising voice. He was part of a twenty-member Welsh male voice choir. Every member stood five feet ten inches tall and was thick set, barrel chested, thinning at the temples, and wearing an evening suit. To add to the general confusion five choristers answered to the name Idris, seven to Di, five to Malcolm, two to Eli but only one to Ivor. They had all been miners but singing suited them much better, they said, and the money wasn't bad, and it got them away from the wives, and the beer was plentiful and free.
The concert was an overwhelming success. The choir did many of the old favourites including, March Of The Men Of Harlech. Ivor, in solo mode, was magnificent in his homage to Peter Dawson with Old Father Thames, On The Road To Mandalay and the Floral Dance.
FLORAL DANCE
Katie Moss
As I walked home on a summer night,
when stars in heaven were shining bright,
far away from the footlight's glare,
into the sweet and scented air
of a quaint old Cornish town.
Borne from afar on the gentle breeze,
joining the murmur of the summer seas,
distant tones of an Old World dance,
played by the village band perchance,
on the calm air came floating down.
I thought I could hear the curious tone
of the cornet, clarinet and big trombone,
fiddle, 'cello, big bass drum, bassoon, flute
and euphonium, far away, as in a trance
I heard the sound of the Floral Dance.
And soon I heard such a bustling and prancing.
and then I saw the whole village was dancing,
in and out of the houses they came,
old folk, young folk, all the same,
in that quaint old Cornish town.
Every boy took a girl 'round the waist
and hurried her off in tremendous haste.
Whether they knew one another I care not.
Whether they cared at all, I know not
but they kissed as they danced along.
And there was the band with that curious tone
of the cornet, clarinet and big trombone,
fiddle, 'cello, big bass drum, bassoon, flute
and euphonium, each one making the most of his chance,
all together in the Floral Dance.
I felt so lonely standing there,
and I could only stand and stare.
For I had no girl with me,
lonely I should have to be,
in that quaint old Cornish town.
When suddenly hastening down the lane,
a figure I knew I saw quite plain,
with outstretched hands she came along
and carried me into that merry throng,
and fiddle and all went dancing down.
We danced to the band with the curious tone,
of the cornet, clarinet and big trombone,
fiddle, 'cello, big bass drum, bassoon, flute
and euphonium, each one making the most of his chance,
altogether in the Floral Dance.
Dancing here, prancing there
jigging, jogging everywhere.
Up and down, and round the town.
Hurrah for the Cornish Floral Dance.
The Floral or Furry Dance of Helston, Cornwall, originated as a pre-Christian Spring Festival. Later, the Christians of the district, being the cunning devils that Christians inevitably are and seeing it as a jolly useful community event, adopted it as a pro-Christian festival to celebrate their patron, Saint Michael, annually on the 8th May.
© Dermott Ryder
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Dermott writes for Bonzer! magazine. Please visit www.bonzer.org.au
