Story by staff writer JM Merchant. Feature photo courtesy John Abram.
ONE SUNDAY AT the end of October, tourists milling around Bankside (a district of London on the banks of the River Thames) and Shakespeare’s Globe (“dedicated to the exploration of Shakespeare’s work and the playhouse for which he wrote”) in the borough of Southwark are treated to an unexpected delight. Every year, the Lions part presents October Plenty, an urban festival that celebrates the harvest in a brilliantly theatrical manner.
Jo in her kirtle drinking real cider Photo courtesy Matt Lee Newby
This year was by far the mildest, weather-wise. For these events I typically wear jeans and T-shirt underneath my Tudor kirtle and then bundle up in scarf, gloves and cloak, so it was a strange feeling to be wearing just the kirtle.
Just before midday, a man with a drum and a white bear playing a fiddle magically appear in the street on the banks of the River Thames. With jovial cries, music and dance, they intrigue and captivate the crowd. The performers are helped by costumed pedlars, such as myself, selling postcards, badges, programmes for the days events, and withy (willow) wands.
First wave dispatched to attract the tourists with music and dancing
(and a fiddle playing white bear) | Photo courtesy John Abram
At twelve o’clock the rest of the company emerges from the Globe Theatre. A lady with a bell leads a procession of colourful attendants of the great Corn Queen, an effigy of fertility and bounty drawn along on her wagon and accompanied by the stunning Berry Man, the autumnal incarnation of the Green Man.
The Corn Queen on her cart, accompanied by various characters
Photo courtesy John Abram
The procession leads the crowd into the Globe Theatre itself—though the Corn Queen has to stay in the street because we can’t get the wagon up the stairs.
Inside the theatre the traditional Hobby Horse makes sport of jumping fences made up of members of the crowd before introducing the three goddesses: Iris, Ceres and Juno. With the company, the goddesses harmoniously sing the blessings of the harvest season. The goddesses then present a representative of the theatre with traditional gifts: a corn dolly for fruition of performance, and horse manure for fertility of ideas.
Inside the Globe Theatre | Photo courtesy John Abram
Jo and her costumed nieces watch a performance | Photo courtesy Katy Salmon
With music and a police escort the Corn Queen and her procession head off into the streets of Southwark, having bade the crowd “follow on to Borough Market.”
Of course, there’s more than one route from the theatre to Borough Market. The procession always takes the official route, and whatever that is changes from year to year depending on what part of the market we’re based in. The crowd, however, tends to splinter off in large groups. Thus, the short journey causes joyous havoc every year.
October Plenty always coincides with Borough Market’s Apple Day, a celebration of the apple harvest. The market is one of London’s most renowned food markets, with a huge variety of traditional British and international food stuffs; from family-butchered meats to the most diverse assortment of fudge you’ve ever seen.
Apple Day means the cider sellers do a roaring trade, and there’s a stall that gives you the opportunity to sample all sorts of English apples that I had no idea existed. The apple-peeling contest provides much amusement, with heats for different ages, and the conker fights always result in a few bruised knuckles.
Jo's nephew in the apple-peeling contest | Photo courtesy Katy Salmon
At our base in Borough Market, we build a small grove of young English apple trees, nicknamed the Story Orchard, where little members of the crowd can get away from the hustle and bustle to be regaled with tales of seeds and bees and apples. Here you can also make a wish to hang from the trees.
Left: The Berry Man | Right: The Berry Man in the Story Orchard
Photos courtesy John Abram
It was here I had the delight of bumping into part of my time-traveling family, reunited with one of my many sisters and three of her children.
Bees also get a shot at publicity during this event. The bee population is in serious decline in London and, as we all know, bees are essential for ensuring pollination of flowers and fruit-bearing plants. So next to the Story Orchard you can find advice about starting your own beehive and how to attract bees to your garden, and you can buy packets of seeds for the plants that bees like best.
The play is always the main attraction for October Plenty. Each year a short(ish!) comic play is selected to be performed by the company. This year’s selection was The Marriage of Wit and Wisdome by Francis Merbury, a cheeky show in which the characters are all named after vices and virtues designed to tempt and sway the young man, Wit, on his quest.
The Marriage of Wit and Wisdome | Photo courtesy John Abram
This performance is followed by “The Execution of John Barleycorn,” a traditional poem likening the stages of harvesting and malting barley to an execution that allows others to live. It’s just a bit of silliness, really.
The festivities in Borough Market are then topped off with the stripping of the Corn Queen. Two days of hard work put into building the beautiful lady are decimated in a mere ten minutes when her fruits and plenty are savagely ripped from her and thrown into the hands of the waiting crowd.
Left: The Corn Queen during the procession (from a photo by John Abram)
Right: Dismembering the Corn Queen | Photo courtesy Katy Salmon
Bundles of corn are shared out between friends and family as blessing gifts. Children run back to their parents with a random assortment of items from the cart asking, “What can we make from these for dinner?”
The last item to go is the breasts. These two lovely little squashes are auctioned off, this year making £46 to go toward the Twelfth Night Festival in January.
Auctioning off the Corn Queen's cleavage | Photo courtesy Katy Salmon
The final part of the day is a somewhat sombre walk to pay our respects at the Crossbones Graveyard, resting place of the outcast dead.
Commemorative plaque on the gate to Crossbones Graveyard
Photo courtesy John Abram
The cemetery itself no longer exists. It closed in 1853, and was then built on and dug up by London Underground (a rapid transit system serving Greater London, also known as The Tube) in the 1990s. It has since come under the protection of a group called The Friends of Crossbones who are resisting the attempts by Thames Link to build over it again, and instead want to turn it into a community garden.
The rusty iron gates have been transformed into a shrine, not only to those that were buried there but to all outcast dead.
Tokens left at the gate | Photo courtesy John Abram
It’s a sad fact that London residents are often so absorbed in the modern world that we forget the things that in times gone by were a great excuse for a party. The Lions part have done a brilliant job of bringing back some of the old traditions, and October Plenty is a fantastic—and free!—day out for everyone.
———
JM Merchant
JM Merchant (or Jo Abram to most) lives in the North End of London, although she aspires to the West End. An occasionally employed sound engineer and stage manager, most of her time is currently spent reading pirate tales as she works on her first novel. She blogs and posts short stories at Am I A Writer Yet? and tweets as @JMMerchant86.
This is great – thanks for writing the article, Pip!
Thank you Tam. Looking forward to Twelfth Night 🙂
Sounds like a fun day for the whole family! Great article!
It’s always a lot of fun, and so different from anything else that usually happens in London.
Glad you enjoyed Betsy. 🙂
This looks like an amazing event/activity — very cool opportunity for time travel as you say! Incredibly creative and entertaining. I love the merging of theatre and history. Very cool!
Thank you Julia.
Any chance you can settle a discussion for us on what type of squash it was that was auctioned off? Well I say discussion but I have no idea what they are and Milli thinks they might be acorn squash but that you’re more likely to know for sure 🙂
x
I’m thinking (sorry Milli) that they aren’t acorn squash because they have an “indented” end, where the guy is holding it — more like a pumpkin-y shape. Acorns tend to have a flat end and a pointy end. I’m not exactly sure, but because of the color variation, maybe something like a “Carnival Squash”? (this is from the hard-to-see-photos and about 2 minutes of google searching on squash varieties, but yeah, I’m an expert so why not, LOL!) 🙂
oops forgot this link, scroll down to see!
http://whatscookingamerica.net/squash.htm
🙂 Thanks Julia
Pip – you told it like it is (even if I’m not in any of the photos). See you at Twelfth Night or KW.
PS – why just read about pirates -why not join us?
Thanks for reading Mr Lawler.
Ok, you’ve intrigued me…join you?
Pip
Good report, enjoyed reading it, esp. about the bits after I left 🙂
Good day out, fun to be in the procession, only problem (not mentioned) was hearing the play in the market (too much background noise) 🙁
Cheers Dad.
I agree with you about the play but there’s not much can be done about the general public really is there.
x
(I should be writing right now, no naturally I read your article and am commenting.)
Jo, this is amazing. I love learning about different traditions and your article complete with those great photos make me want to fly over right now 🙂
So washing your hair isn’t the only procrastination you’re doing today then Estrella 😀
Well if you were to fly over, the Twelfth Night celebration is on January the 8th.
Thanks for reading 🙂
great article. wish we could of seen it – keep up the writing. x
Will do Trish, and I’ll keep sending you the invites, maybe you’ll manage to make eventually 🙂
x
Your vivid article and photographs makes me feel like I was there! What a great harvest celebration. I love The Corn Queen, The Berry Man and you with your nieces watching so intently. Ah, the Story Orchard enchants me. What a fun day! Thank you for sharing it.
Thanks for reading Terri, I’m glad you enjoyed it 🙂
This is great! It reminds me of the Renaissance Festivals they have here in the states – only this one might be bigger! GREAT pictures and it looks like everyone had a great time! LOVE the costumes!
Thanks Ann.
I don’t think this is likely to have been bigger than one your Renaissance Festivals (although my only frame of reference for that is the Simpsons 😉 ) but our main re-enactment events at Kentwell probably do.
Hoping to get the piece written about that soon, the outfits are even better there 🙂
wow! sounds like so much fun! is this annual?
Indeed it is, every October, and then the Twelfth Night celebrations every January 🙂
Hi Millivers Travels, sorry i have forgotten my twitters password 🙂
The very merry occasion, the corn queen and her cart, the inside of the globe theater, not forgetting the costumes.. they really depicts the world during shakespeare’s times.
This is indeed a very interesting post, I have never read on this culture before.
Many thanks as well, for your kind visit and sweet comments on Ann’s post- as my guest..Do come again.. have a wonderful weekend
Glad you enjoyed the post.
Jo 🙂
I hope it was as much fun as it sounds! Definitley bringing my grandchildren when they’re a bit older.
It’s a really nice day out Wilmott, and if you come in kit there’s not the authenti-pressure you find with some other events.
Hope to see you joining us in a few years time 🙂
Pip x
Hope you enjoyed your vacation..Looking forward to visit also in London..
Thanks Jessica, though it wasn’t a vacation, I live in London.
Hope you enjoy your visit.