Helston Furry Dance
Notation:
Standard Notation
ABC Notation
Mandolin Tablature
Violin Tablature
traditional
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English
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Transcription: by Darryl D. Bush
"Helston Furry Dance", also known as "Hal-an-tow", "Helston Foray/Forey" or<br> "The Cornish May Song" is an English dance tune in 4/4 time and<br> F Major (Karpeles, Raven), G Major (Carlin) or D Major (Barnes). The parts are played AABB.<br> <br><br> The tune and its variants are widespread over England and Wales. Baring-Gould calls it<br> "a relic of part of the Old English May Games" and it was published by Edward Jones<br> in his Bardic Museum, vol. II (1802) and George Johnson in his Welsh Airs, vol. II (1811).<br> <br><br> The name Helston, referring to a town in Cornwall, comes from a Celtic root, "henlis", meaning<br> 'old court', coupled with the Old English ending, 'ton' (tun), meaning an enclosure, farm or<br> village. It is an ancient market town and was first granted its charter in the year 1201.<br> <br><br> The term "furry" probably derives from the Cornish word "fer" meaning "fair" or "feast".<br> The Furry Dance is one of the oldest British customs still practiced today. It is not a morris<br> dance but, as with many morris dances, pagan<br> origins are often ascribed to the rituals that "welcomes in the spring". It<br> takes place on the 8th of May (except when the date falls on a Sunday or Monday — Monday<br> being Market Day — when it is the preceding Saturday), the date celebrating<br> the feast of the Apparition of Saint Michael. It is also called "Flora Day".<br> The town is decorated with bluebells and hazel. It takes the form of a dignified<br> procession with separate dances for adults and children. The dancers dress in top hats<br> and tails and their finest dresses and the procession follows a traditional route. Most<br> people in the procession wear lily of the valley, which is Helston's symbolic flower.<br> Unlike most traditional dances, the music for this dance is played by the town band which is a<br> marching brass band.<br> <br><br> It was printed in Baring-Gould's Songs of the West (1892),<br> Barnes' English Country Dance Tunes, vol. 2 (2005),<br> Carlin's Master Collection (1984),<br> Karpeles & Schofield's A Selection of 100 English Folk Dance Airs (1951) and<br> Raven's English Country Dance Tunes (1984).<br> <br><br> It was recorded by Billy Cooper, Walter & Daisy Bulwer on English Country Music (2000.<br> Originally recorded 1962).<br>
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