Dances
Our dances have a dark theme, incorporating local folklore & nature. All of we our dances are created by Blackthorn, unless stated.
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The Hanging Judge
This dance is about a Judge named George Jeffreys. Near the border of England and Wales stands the Skirrid Inn, reputed to be the oldest pub in Wales. In the 17th century this building served as a court room and it is said that in Jeffreysโ time as judge, he executed more than 180 men! He had them hung from the oak beam above the stairwell. The rope markings can still be seen to this day and his ghost is said to haunt the upper floor. You will also find that the owners still upholds the tradition which has been around for centuries where in Wales itโs tradition for the pub owner to fill a tin tankard full of ale, what they call 'The Devil's Cup,' and leave it on the doorstep outside in the hope it will appease resident spirits and keep evil at bay. You will find the Skirridโs devils cup placed on a ledge above the fireplace. The landlord states when itโs retrieved each night, some of the ale is always missing.
(Border dance)
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The Green Man
This dance is in honour of the Green Man. His image can be found carved in medieval churches and cathedrals, throughout Britain. His meaning has been lost in the mists of time; however, he is thought to be of pagan origin. The Green Man symbolises life, death, and rebirth, representing the coming of spring and natureโs guardian. The dance was written in the graveyard of Kilpeck church in Herefordshire. The church has its own green man carved in to a stone arch way around the main door. There is also other elaborate carvings around the doorway many of them distinctly un-christian in nature. Celtic, Scandinavian, Anglo-Saxon and pagan imagery, dragons, warriors, monsters and mythical beasts. There are several green man images in and around Hereford, they can be found inside and outside of Herefords cathedral, in Templar Church of St. Michael, Garway and St Peter and St Paul Leominster Priory to name a few. On Beltane/May morning you may even see our own green man (see our beast section) accompanying our side to welcome up the sun.
(Border dance)
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Flower Of Death
This dance is in honour of the Anemone, a flower also known as evening-twilight, Granny-thread-the-needle, Moonflower, Ladyโs nightcap and the Faeries Windflower depending which region you come from.
Fairy folk are believed to shelter within them and close the flowers each night and also when rain threatens.
The Chinese called them the โflower of death.โ
(Border dance)
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The Witchโs Curse
This dance is inspired by an object which was found in a property in Herefordโs city centre, a small doll (poppet) from the 19th century was discovered in a crevice, behind brickwork. Folded in her dress was a handwritten note which read:
โMary Ann Ward, I act this spell upon you with my whole heart wishing you to never rest nor eat nor sleep the rester part of your life. I hope your flesh will waste away and I hope you will never spend another penny I ought have. Wishing this from my whole heart.โ
Mary Wardโs fate remains unknown.
(Rapper sword)
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Black Nag
Concealed objects have been discovered in buildings for centuries, from witchโs bottles filled with hair and nails, to cats entombed in walls.
In Herefordshire, 24 horse skulls were discovered screwed to the underside of the floorboards in Portway Inn. A further 27 horse skulls were discovered under a property in Peterchurch. Some say these were placed there for reasons of superstition, believing that the skulls would bring good luck to the household. Another reason is that it allegedly improved the acoustics of a room - the hollow skulls resonating under the floor, when danced upon.
(Border dance)
You will find our own Mari Lwyd who dances with us for this performance.
This is our border version of an old English dance, found in โThe English Dancing Masterโ (1665) and Cecile Sharp's โThe Country Dance Bookโ (1911).
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The Bogland Jig
This dance is in honour of the iron age bodies and ancient trees found preserved in peat bogs of Ireland.
What were these bodies doing in the bog-lands you might ask?
They were from an elite class of iron age people as their well manicured hands show. The remains suggest ritual sacrifices, victims of unusual deaths eventually buried in peat as part of traditional customs, most likely to do with kingship, sovereignty or tribal borders.
Much like the bog oaks preserved from decay by acidic conditions these bodies of the peat who may be deceased still live on to tell their tales.
(A traditional Irish treble jig)
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Mortimerโs Cross
The Battle of Mortimers Cross.
These magical and liminal border lands are no stranger to bloodshed, having been fiercely contested for centuries.
Yet, the bloodiest battle this county has ever seen, was the battle of Mortimers Cross.
On Candlemas Day, 1461, the Earl of Pembrokeshire marched his forces to the border and fought I vain against Edward of York.
That morning, a sun dog - three Suns- appeared in the sky over Mortimers Cross - representing the three sons of York. A sure symbol of their victory to come.
Yet, 4000 men were slain. It was said that the river ran red with the blood of the welshmen, who were buried nearby in unmarked graves, on that fateful February day.
(Border dance)
Written by Angie Latham.
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The Mordiford Dragon
This dance is in honour of the dragon of Mordiford. The tales goes that a wyvern was found by a little girl who lived In Mordiford named Maud, who had desperately wanted a pet. While wandering the woodland adjacent to her village one day, Maud had found a small bright creature with a snout and small, translucent wings prowling around a small group of flowers. Excited by the creature, the girl took it home to show to her parents. Immediately her mother and father realized it was a wyvern and commanded Maud to take it back to where she had found it because it would cause trouble in the village. The indignant Maud pretended to obey but instead hid the infant dragon in a safe place in the woods. There she nurtured her "pet" with milk, played with it and watching it try to fly. The dragon grew vastly each month, eventually taking on an emerald hue and developing thick, powerful wings.
In the legend, after reaching maturity, the dragon's hunger could not be satisfied with milk anymore, it now had an enormous hunger for meat. Soon, it began to plague the local farms, killing their livestock, especially cows and sheep, and farmers were intolerant. These men tried to stop the beast by extermination, but it soon feasted upon them, finding human flesh delicious. Maud implored the beast during her visits afterward to stop its rampage. Still the beast, now fully mature, killed everything in its way except for Maud, its only friend.
The townspeople grew exhausted of the constant attacks from the dragon and desperate, sought help from the noblemen of Mordiford. A man from the local Garstone family set out in full armour to end the beast's life forever, finding the beast nearly camouflaged in the woods many plants. The dragon almost instantly released a blast of fire, Garstone barely deflecting it. He aimed a lance at the wyvern's throat, releasing it and fully penetrating through the dragon. Maud, insane with rage and grief, burst from the surrounding woods and came to mourn her past pet.
(Border/Fire dance)
The Hares of Much Marcle
Inspired by a section from Ella Mary Leathers Folklore of Herefordshire book โIn Much Marcle it was believed that witches became hares in order to lead the foxhounds off the right scent.โ
(Border dance)
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Merched Beca
The Rebecca riots took place in the rural parts of west and mid Wales in 1839-1843. They were a series of protests made by local farmers and agricultural workers against the payment of tolls charged to use the roads. Turnpike Trusts, or groups of businessmen, owned most of the main roads. These men fixed the charges and decided how many tollgates (turnpikes) could be built.
During the riots, men disguised as women attacked the tollgates. The privatisation of salmon reserves on the River Wye also caused upturn in the 1860s and 70s, which became known as 'the second Rebecca riots'. These rioters went by the name of 'Merched Beca' which translates directly from Welsh as Rebecca's Daughters. Rebecca was their mythical leader and the name came from the Bible:
โAnd they blessed Rebekah, and said unto her, Thou art our sister, by thou the mother of thousands of millions and let thy seed possess the gate of those that hate themโ
(Genesis XXIV Verse 60)
(Molly Dance)
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Twiggy Witch
A dance inspired and in honour of the amazing British Cryptids films made by Whinnymoor
(Border dance)
Katie Cruel
A Molly dance which we dance as a respectful nod to all the forgotten women in Cross Bones Graveyard, an unconsecrated memorial to the thousands of prostitutes who lived, worked and died in this once lawless corner of London.
(Molly dance)
Original choreography by Rick Nagler for General Hardware Border Team.
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An Ode To John Dee
John Dee was an English mathematician, astronomer, astrologer, teacher, occultist, and alchemist. (Longer write up coming soon)
Dance written by Sarah Edgecombe
The Old Ways
The original song was written by Dave Dodds in the 1960โs but we dance to the version covered by The Unthanks. The song itโs self is haunting but how the original song came to be written is just fantastic.
Apparently, David Dodds had given a lift to an old lady who insisted on quoting: โDevil, devil, I defy theeโ, and spitting of the floor of his new car every time she saw a magpie (a traditional response to counteract the bird's supposedly evil effect). Understandably, it didn't go down too well. However, it resulted in this wonderful song. A well-known superstitious rhyme is used as a chorus; also included are many widely held folk beliefs about the bird.
Border/Fire dance)
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The Apple Tree Man (wassailing dance)
The apple tree man is the name given to the spirit of the oldest apple tree in an orchard and in whom the fertility of the orchard is thought to reside. It is said that every orchard has its own apple tree man. He would oversee the the blossoming and ripening of the fruit and look after the farmerโs fortunes to ensure a good crop. He would spook and frighten anyone entering the orchards around harvest time who were intent on stealing his apples.
(Border dance)
The Apple Tree Man may even make an appearance.
Other performances:
The Corpse Candles
(a performance at dusk)
One of the omens warning of impending death was the appearance of small faint lights flitting about near the home of a person fated to die, or along the road by which funerals would travel to reach the churchyard. In rural areas bordering Wales, the belief was particularly common and known as โcorpse candlesโ, (canwyll corph inWelsh) these small yellow, sometimes blue balls of light would appear around dusk. They would seem to hover around corpse roads which were old roadways which in the medieval period were used for taking dead bodies to church, chapel or burial grounds. These lights were able to travel wherever they wished, over mountains, valleys, rivers and marsh land.
There are dozens of stories about corpse candles in Wales, most of them dating from the 18th and early 19th centuries. One tale, is of three men who were tossed out of their coracle on the river near Llandeilo, Carmarthenshire, Wales. All three died and afterwards, news spread that, just a few days before, the passengers on a horse-drawn coach traveling the local road had seen three corpse candles hovering above the water at the exact spot where the three men drowned.
Fire Dance.