Hi Amy,
Thanks for writing, and sorry for the delay in replying; our semester is starting, so things are a bit hectic right now.
I agree with you about the relatively recent nature of the maypole. According to Hutton's _Stations of the Sun_, this was basically a Victorian revival deal. Of course modern revivalists have themselves taken it up and given it an ancient pedigree, but it has never been terribly important in Padstow (unlike for example, in Helston.... but Helston's festival had quite a different history of revival and gentrification).
Have you published anything (or can you direct me to sources) on the Cornish Revival interpretations of Padstow's festival, and on local (UK) Neo-Pagan views of it? We saw a number of people there who were clearly of that ilk, but we were so busy interviewing locals and following the osses that they disappeared before we could interview them. Day trippers. Also, do you happen to have a citation for Semmens' work?
I haven't met Donald Rawe, unfortunately -- I'm assuming he is a different guy than Doc Rowe, also a local character who has tons of archival film and photos of the oss going back 100 years.
All the best to you in all your endeavors,
Sabina
---- Original message ----
>Date: Fri, 20 Jan 2006 13:04:27 -0500
>From: Amy Hale <[log in to unmask]>
>Subject: Re: FYI--*Oss! Oss! Wee Oss!* Online
>To: [log in to unmask]
>
> Thanks, Sabina! Yeah, I'm pretty happy. Maybe being
> a redhead has something to do with it. The website
> was just put up yesterday and I'm pretty pleased
> with it. Sadly, I won't be at CSANA in March
> because it conflicts with the International
> Conference on the Fantastic in the Arts (basically
> Sci Fi academics, I got into it through my Celtic
> Cultural Studies co-editor, of all things). I'll be
> doing a paper there on Transhumanist Art and I'm on
> a fan fic panel, as well. I keep trying to hit the
> UC Celtic conferences but there always seems to be a
> conflict. The British ones seem easier for me to
> get to at the moment.
>
> I'm glad you liked the book. It's always nice to
> know that people have read it :) I'm glad to know
> you are doing well too. Just the other day I packed
> up the neat little coyote you brought back for me
> for kitty watching duty all those years ago to take
> to our new place.
>
> And just to get slightly back on topic, I'd agree
> with Jacqueline that the maypole is a late addition.
> I was thinking possibly late nineteenth century but
> all my older Cornish folklore texts are packed for a
> move, and I can't get to them. I don't think we have
> definitive accounts of the Padstow Oss any earlier
> than early nineteenth century anyway. It seems to be
> a festival that has had a core aspect surrounding
> the Oss and teaser, but the festival itself has
> added many more features pretty consistently
> (including of course the Blue Oss), which is why it
> is so deliciously complex. It's always been in
> motion. You can see a similar cultural layering at
> Helston and also during Padstow's less popular and
> more controversial event "Darkie Days".
>
> I thought Sabina's analysis was right on as well. Of
> course there are other related aspects of the
> festival in terms of how Pagans in Cornwall
> interpret it and use it, the tension among those
> groups and the "natives", how Cornish Revivalists
> interpret the Oss, the Oss in Cornish festival
> culture and a slew of tangentially relevant
> analytical bits and bobs. These are probably more
> relevant to the Cornish contexts of the festival,
> although they have definitely contributed to the
> Oss's wider status as a "Pagan Celtic Festival of
> Great Antiquity". Jason Semmens just did a really
> excellent and technical piece on the early history
> of the Oss esentially rethinking a lot of popular
> (and scholarly) assertions about its history which
> I am looking forward to having a copy of. And I'm
> sure that you've met Donald Rawe at this stage. If
> not, you really should. He's quite a charatcter,
> although as a prominent member of the Cornish
> movement and (stubborn as an ox) he has his own
> ideological perspective.
>
> Best,
> Amy
>
> www.amyhale.weatherlight.com
>
> On 1/19/06, Sabina Magliocco <
> [log in to unmask]> wrote:
>
> Hi Amy,
>
> The Berkeley oss dances at Live Oak Park on the
> Saturday closest to May Day; I do not know of it
> traveling elsewhere. However, one of the
> inspirations for it was a Renfaire oss back in the
> 1980s. The Berkeley oss is now 19 years old -- an
> "ancient" tradition!
>
> Loved your website! It's great to see you happy
> and doing well. I also enjoyed your co-edited
> book _New Directions in Celtic Studies_. Will you
> be at CSANA in LA in March?
>
> Best,
> Sabina
>
> ---- Original message ----
> >Date: Thu, 19 Jan 2006 20:37:06 -0500
> >From: Amy Hale <[log in to unmask]>
> >Subject: Re: FYI--*Oss! Oss! Wee Oss!* Online
> >To: [log in to unmask]
> >
> > I haven't seen the Berkeley Oss, and it sounds
> like
> > an interesting display. I'd love to catch it
> > sometime if I'm in the area. Out of
> curiousity, do
> > they take their Oss elsewhere? I recall
> seeing a
> > pretty good Oss at a Ren Faire outside L.A.
> many
> > years ago.
> >
> > Best,
> > Amy
> >
> > www.amyhale.weatherlight.com
> >
> > On 1/19/06, Sabina Magliocco <
> > [log in to unmask] > wrote:
> >
> > You're right, Amy; in Padstow the osses meet
> at
> > the maypole at 6:00 PM to exchange batons
> and
> > teasers. But the community does not dance
> around
> > the pole, weaving ribbons, as they do in
> > Berkeley. In Berkeley, the oss does not
> dance
> > around the maypole at all; the oss doesn't
> even
> > come out til after the dance!
> >
> > BB,
> > Sabina
> >
> > ---- Original message ----
> > >Date: Thu, 19 Jan 2006 19:46:49 -0500
> > >From: Amy Hale < [log in to unmask]>
> > >Subject: Re: FYI--*Oss! Oss! Wee Oss!*
> Online
> > >To: [log in to unmask]
> > >
> > > Sabina writes:
> > >
> > > 7) Finally, as Pitch pointed out, the
> > Bekeley rite
> > > is part of a Neopagan ritual. The
> > interpretation
> > > of the oss, its role, the fact that
> the rite
> > also
> > > incorporates a May Pole dance (absent
> in
> > Padstow)
> > > and a conflict between the May and
> Winter
> > Queens
> > > makes it a very different event.
> > >
> > > I believe that there is a May Pole
> element at
> > > Padstow, Sabina. When I attended (in
> 96) the
> > Red
> > > and Blue Osses met at the end of the day
> and
> > there
> > > was a May Pole dance.
> > >
> > > Now you know what tune will be going
> through
> > my head
> > > all night!
> > >
> > > Amy
> > Sabina Magliocco
> > Associate Professor
> > Department of Anthropology
> > California State University
> > 18111 Nordhoff St.
> > Northridge, CA 91330-8244
> Sabina Magliocco
> Associate Professor
> Department of Anthropology
> California State University
> 18111 Nordhoff St.
> Northridge, CA 91330-8244
Sabina Magliocco
Associate Professor
Department of Anthropology
California State University
18111 Nordhoff St.
Northridge, CA 91330-8244
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