Page 37 - What's In A Name - The Barry Pipes Canon

WHAT’S IN A NAME? The Barry Pipes Canon • 2005 - 2018 Glastonbury Tor 071-2014-October-Set&Link
Steeped in mystery and mythology, Glastonbury is well worth a visit, should one be spending any vacation time within reach of the English county of Somerset (if you lived there you’d call it Zummerzet!). One would find it interesting to go there, not just to see its Tor, but to savour the Arthurian mystique of that area — which was certainly my experience when I visited there about 20 years ago. Of course, I refer to the legendary King Arthur. Remember his sword Excalibur, the Knights of the Round Table, and the search for the Holy Grail? Easy to reach, Glastonbury is just a few klicks south of the Roman city of Bath. The M5 motorway is also close by, giving you a quick southerly connection to Devon and Cornwall, or north to Birmingham.
So, a tor? What's that? Generally speaking, tor is a Middle English word meaning a high rocky hill or crag. In my birth county of Derbyshire, in the Peak District, there are tors all over the place, and being somewhat archaic, the word appears frequently in
British crossword puzzles.
From Set&Link, newsletter of RSCDS Toronto
But Glastonbury Tor is particularly noteworthy. First, it is conical in appearance and has terraced sides that have been traced in origin back to the Neolithic Era, which is very much BCE, indicating that in the days of early humans, it probably hosted a fort, continuing into the Iron Age. And those people may well have been Celtic in origin. But there’s more! On the Tor’s summit is a solitary 14th century tower. St Michael’s Tower is thought to be all that remains of a medieval church.
Autumn in Appin 072-2014-November-Set&Link
After reading Carole Bell’s excellent front page piece in last month’s Set&Link covering the death of John Drewry, one of RSCDS’ most creative dance devisors, my mind was clear that the next dance I researched for this column would be a Drewry dance.
I must admit that I initially gravitated to the quite intriguing Didgeridoos of Dunvegan. What? Australian aboriginals on Skye? Not likely, but of course, there’s a community called Dunvegan in New South Wales, Australia. I abandoned that idea and settled on John’s well-crafted strathspey, Autumn in Appin.
For me, this dance has several factors going for it. Firstly, it is one of John’s classics. Secondly, by the time you read this you will have probably experienced a good Ontario autumn (which to me is a lovelier word than “fall”), even though you may be anxiously awaiting the coming winter’s first ice storm.
Thirdly, the region of Appin is of significant importance to The Royal Scottish Country Dance Society. Mrs Ysobel Stewart, co-founder of the organization with Miss Jean Milligan back in 1923 (it wasn’t Royal until later), lived at Fasnacloich, an estate, located in Argyll, within a district that’s generally known as Appin. For those who remember, RSCDS Toronto’s veteran member Donald Holmes (Newtonbrook Social Group) wrote a fine account of Ysobel Stewart’s life in the February 2008 issue of Set&Link.
How to find Appin? Should you ever be in Oban and decide to drive north alongside Loch Linnhe to Fort William on the A828, you will pass through the village of Appin.
Back to the dance! Glastonbury Tor is a 32-bar reel introduced not long ago in RSCDS Book 47. It was devised by Duncan Brown, a dance teacher who was the first Chairman of RSCDS Exeter in Devonshire and was instrumental in the founding of that Branch in 1969. Who remembers The Chequered Court of a few years ago? Another of Duncan’s efforts!
What’s the connection with the King Arthur myth? Glastonbury is also the site of a ruined abbey. Within the abbey walls have been found ancient oak coffins with markings indicating they held the bones of both King Arthur and his Queen Guinevere. Unsurprisingly, the nearby ruins of medieval Cadbury Castle have long been thought to be the location of King Arthur’s Court of Camelot. Fortunately, for both the UK and visiting tourists, the whole area is managed by the National Trust, which takes exceedingly good care of all such national treasures.
St Michael’s Tower / Glastonbury Tor
Participants in the RSCDS Toronto October Monthly Dance will have the Duncan Brown opportunity to dance this reel. I am sure you will enjoy it. ◼︎
Although Ysobel died in 1963, I learned that there was a memorial event for her in the early ’80s that John Drewry may have attended. The outstanding beauty of the surrounding region, known as the Lynn of Lorne Scenic Area, apparently had a significant impact on John. Autumn in Appin is the result.
Although John Drewry was virtually a
life-long Aberdonian, being an
academic at the University, he was
actually born in the Leicestershire town
of Melton Mowbray. I wonder if he
enjoyed the taste of English pork pies,
because that’s what the town is famous
for. That said, he went on to devise
hundreds of dances, including The Silver
Tassie. In that strathspey, he introduced a new formation that led to him being called
“Mr. Rondel” by RSCDS’ other co-founder, Jean Milligan. May he rest in peace. ◼︎
Castle Stalker, in Appin, at the top of the Lynn of Lorne, was built by the Stewarts in the mid-15th century. It appeared as The Castle of Aaaaarrrrrrggghhh in the final scene of Monty Python and the Holy Grail.