The Abbots Bromley Horn Dance

Wakes Monday and the annual tour of the Horn Dancers takes place at Abbots Bromley. The procession begins at the parish church around 8 in the morning and the dancers perform at various locations around the parish returning some 12 hours later.

Category:

Travel & Events

Tags:

• Abbots
• Bromley
• Horn
• Dance
• events
• culture
• customs
• traditions
• Morris
• dancers
• dancing
• folk
• Shropshire
• Wakes
• Monday

[Thorskegga]

I am looking forward to watching all your folk custom films. A topic very dear to my heart!

Are you familiar with the mayor weighing ceremony at High Wycombe? I have a few photos of it on my Flickr account (same account name) though I have yet to film it.

[christopherhobson]

@Thorskegga weighing ceremony is definitely on the list for me to visit and has been for some time! (I looked at your Flickr account and you have some good photo's). I will post more videos on Youtube soon.

[Thorskegga]

Splendid, thanks for posting this.

[christopherhobson]

@Thorskegga thanks for the comment and for subscribing

[castaspella169]

lol, I'm an American and I kind of have a dream to go through Great Britain and look at all ya'll's nutty traditions, this worth being there for?

[christopherhobson]

Definitely worth going to. It starts early in the morning and goes on throughout the day. Don't miss any of it!

[LAVirgo67]

@castaspella169 - Americans have nutty traditions, too, albeit not 1000 years old.

[flute4hire]

The traditional antlers of this morris team are so old that the dear they came from is extinct in the British isles. Thats how old this traditional dance is...

[lichtbroeder]

@flute4hire True! Not nutty at all, but delightfully human. Centuries ago this dance was likely connected to a good hunt and survival of the tribe. It wasn't entertainment in the modern sense. Many of our celebrations today are equally as "nutty". What other animals bring trees into their homes and hang things from them, or shoot explosives into the air and cry in unison, "Ooooh! Aaaaah!"?

[lichtbroeder]

@Brythonek There's also good evidence that it's a survival of a pre-Christian Anglo-Saxon custom geared to promoting a good hunt. The antlers used are reindeer antlers, and older ones once used in this dance have been carbon dated to the 11th century. Earlier ones no doubt existed. The Anglo-Saxons were of course Germanic, with ties to Scandinavia and other regions where reindeer are found. Reindeer are not native to the British Isles, and the 11th century antlers would have been imported.

[jaynEwinslade]

When I first saw the antlers in the church I was inspired to write a book - a fantasy fiction - Dance for Deeron based upon the Abobots Bromley event. It is amazing to see the dancers and so fabulous that they keep this ancient tradition alive. I hope Dance for Deeron will also play a part in preserving this part of our heritage.

Bless you.