Phill Wiles Mary (Wiles) Howard

History of the Wiles Family and Paul Wiles, with topics on Cambridge, England, Japan and Paul's car accident.

Flamborough


Flamborough Ghosts and Superstitions

Flamborough sword dancers around 1910We have had the house in Flamborough, England, for generations; my ancestors were the village blacksmith so it holds many memories. It is a listed building as a blacksmith at some time in Flamborough.

 

 

Flamborough sword dancers with me in 1970English sword dancing
England has many styles of traditional dance, each originating in its own part of the country. The Morris dance, for example, is often regarded as "typically English" but in truth has its home in the villages of the Cotswolds. But sword dances are just as English and many have their origins in Yorkshire and the North-East. There are two principal styles - Rapper, from Northumberland and County Durham, which is peformed with short, flexible swords, and Longsword, with its longer steel or wooden swords, from Yorkshire. These traditions were affected by changing social customs and the Great War (1914-1918). Many teams died out but a huge revival of interest in recent years means that sword dancing is now being performed by more groups than at any time over the past century.

Longsword is by far the older of the two styles, dating back at least 200 years, and dozens of Yorkshire villages boasted their own sword dancers. Many danced around Christmas, sometimes accompanied by a plough, symbolising the change of seasons. "These frolics they continue until New Year's Day, when they spend their gains at the ale-house with the greatest mirth." (Ingledew's History and Antiquities of Northallerton, 1858).

Rapper dancing has its roots in the North-East's coal mining communities, evolving early in the 19th century. The dances are much faster than Longsword, from a local version of which they probably evolved, with intricate stepping and often athletic movements such as somersaults. Best suited to indoor performance, they would be danced around the local pubs as a source of beer money and were fiercely contested in competitions. One or two of the early teams continue today, along with a growing number of newer groups.

Both English traditions were imported to the USA by Cecil Sharp and others in the early 20th century, where they have continued to be performed and developed further, often with great flair.

In March 1998 we begin building plans for a new house at Earswick, York. My sister Mary is an S. R. N. who lives with her husband, Doctor Martin Howard (haematology, a medical science that deals with the blood and blood-forming organs) with family at Wilberfoss, York. It will be nice us all to be closer together going to help Mum. I also have a younger brother Phillip born 19/1/1967.

Our garden is looking nice even though it is not the best time of the year, so I'm sure it will look wonderful during the summer. The main structure of the house was finished by February 1998. Builders were then able to start working on the interior. The new house is coming on well. The Christmas of 1997 was our last Xmas in Flamborough.

My Dad is called Peter and was born 14/12/1936. He worked at Woods Agricultural Engineers in Driffield from 1957-70. He was a partner in the company, and then he left to work with his cousin in a garage at Flamborough. He worked 7 day per week from 1970-82, then I had my accident and he started having the weekend off, only working for 5 days. (his boss Jack works 7 days a week now, 2003!) As Dad is the strongest he gets all the heavy lifting jobs, real work to do; but my Mum gets me washed, dressed, cooks and cleans. In 1998 Dad and Mum retired and we moved to our new house.

My Mum was born 2.2.1941, Pat Anne Colman. She me, Mary and Phillip; my sister and brothermarried my father and had a son (me!), then Mary, then another son Phillip. I went Cambridge University, my younger sister studied to be an S. R. N. and my younger brother Phillip is an oil fitter in Aberdeen. Mum worked part time in the cigarette shop in Bridlington, later at a supermarket in Flamborough to earn some extra money while we studied (Paul, Mary!).

I went to live in Stockton Lane, York in May 2004; we now have a bungalow which is a lot easier and more accessible for me.

counter