‘There comed en a grinning gaukum and tould us as how a giz-daunce was to door”
Account of Christmas Play, William Sandys, 1846[1]
Guise Dancing in Cornwall is spelt variously as Gees, Geeze, Giz, Geys and Guize but always pronounced as “Geeze”. It is probably a conflation of the Cornish “ges” meaning jeer, joke, mockery, ridicule, satire; the Cornish “gis” meaning fashion, guise, style, way; and the English term “guise”. It is almost always termed Guise / Gees Dancer or Dancing in 19th century Cornish newspaper coverage and not Guiser ot Guising. Although one a dialect column in the Penzance Gazette (6th Jan 1843) prefers the term “Gandher-Dansin” because of the clumsy female impersonations of the males cross dressers!
In essence it is a musical (or at least noisy) processiody n of people in stylised costume. The Guise Dancers might dress “Mock posh” or anonymise themselves by cross-dressing, blacking up faces, wearing veils or masks. During the course of their perambulations, they will stop to engage in a piece of “folk business” which may be a play, a death and resurrection ritual, a song, dance, wassail, mock court, or a combination thereof. An element of chaos is the key to many Geeze Dance traditions and the costumes, masks and disguise encourage this.
“Grinning Gaukum” is the description introducing the Geeze Dancers in William Sandys “Account of a Chrestmus Play” 1846. Gaukum is the dialect work for fool and derives from the Cornish word “Goky” / foolish. In his History of Cornwall written in 1816 Polwhele describes the Guize Dance “as a kind of carnival or Bal masque which answers to the Mummers of Devon, and the Morrice dancers of Oxfordshire. In Celtic Cornish ges, means mockery, a jest.”[2] Nineteenth century antiquarians such as William Bottrell saw a relationship between the folk drama of the Geeze dancers and the medieval Cornish mystery plays. The wassail, hobby horses, dragons and beasts which populate the folk drama of the Geeze Dancers certainly make an appearance in the mystery plays. The very last words of the very last mystery play to be recorded are prescient in sign posting the world of the Guise Dancer to come:
Minstrels growgh theny peba, May hallan warbarthe downssya, Del ew an vaner ha’n geys (Minstrels, pipe for us, that we may together dance, as is the manner and the guise) : Last line of Gwreans An Bys – The Creation Of The World. Transcribed by William Jordan in 1611
In their research into the Guize Dance traditions of West Cornwall Tehmina and Tom Goskar show that 19th century newspaper reports almost exclusively refer to “Guize Dance” in Cornwall rather than “Guiser” or “Gizards” as appear elsewhere in Britain.[3] “Guize Dance” is how participants such as Tom Miners[4] and his contemporaries referred to the tradition when recording for the Old Cornwall Societies in the 1920s. The BBC Broadcast a programme about the Madron Guize Dance in 1932[5] and the narrator, A.K. Hamilton Jenkin, sets the scene by ensuring that we pronounce Guize as Geeze as he introduces the strange garb of the performers.
The atmosphere, and notoriety, of the Geeze Dance is captured in some 19th century descriptions:
… the young people exercise a sort of gallantry called goose dancing, when the maidens are dressed up for young men, and the young men for maidens; thus, disguised they visit their neighbours in companies, where they dance, and make jokes upon what has happened in the Island; when everyone is humorously told their own without offence being taken. By this sort of sport, according to yearly custom and toleration there is a spirit of wit and drollery kept up among the people. When the music and dancing is done, they are treated with liquor, and then they go to the next house of entertainment. Robert Heath, The Isles of Scilly 1750 [6]
Guize Dancers……………….. may always be seen in the streets of Penzance in the evenings from Christmas day to twelfth day, going to or from the houses wherein they are permitted to perform attired in fantastic costume and variously disguised. From a talk given by a Mr Edmonds, reported in the Royal Cornwall Gazette, 18th Sept 1846
“I learn with greatest satisfaction that the worthy Mayor of St Ives, Mr Edward Hain has prohibited Gees Dancing for the year 1900…….people parade the principle streets many being “dressed up”, shouting, singing, dancing, ……men dressed as women and women dressed as men, girls as boys and boys as girls, some of whom under the influence of drink, perform sundry antics which, for vulgarity, would be hard to beat.” (S. T. Rowe, St Ives Weekly Summary, January 6, 1900
Antiquarian folklorists such as William Bottrell[7], Margaret Courtney[8], and Arthur Quiller-Couch[9] all provide similar accounts which accord well with the descriptions provided by Tom Miners[10] for the Old Cornwall Society Journal a century later.
Black Faces: The simple device of applying burnt cork or soot to disguise the face was used in 19th Century Geeze Dance traditions without any intention of targeting or demeaning another ethnic minority. Today wider sensitivity and concern not to offend has encouraged Geeze Dancers to lean towards other and often more exotic disguise or simply painting a white cross on their face! The Padstow Mummers have retained the black faced tradition for their Boxing Day and New Year perambulations but are adamant that no offence is intended.[12]
Dances: Although the Geeze Dance is a broad tradition rather than a particular type of dance, dances were and are part of the “folk business” performed by the Geeze Dancers. In Penzance they have “Thread the Needle”, the Madron Guise Dance included a broom dance passed down over generations and also the intriguingly named “Turkey Rhubarb” which was a mazurka like dance for couples. The Padstow May Celebrations have the ritual dance between the Obby Oss and Teazer and dance movements are choreographed into the Hal An Tow on Helston’s Flora Day.
Music: Some customs have songs or tunes that are an integral part of the proceedings such as the Hal An Tow Song, The Padstow May Day Songs and the processional tune for St Ives Feast and Bodmin Riding. Others like Geeze Dance processions at Golowan and Montol string together traditional tunes like Quay Fair and Boscastle Breakdown together with those penned especially for the occassion like Causewayhead.
Today: In the mid-20th century, it was presumed that television and mass media would sign the death warrant for home grown entertainments like Geeze Dancing. In the 21st century, social media has made it easy for like minds to share ideas and set up events and the traditions around Geeze Dancing have enjoyed a revival of interest. It has to be said though that many folk customs do seem to have a natural cycle of waxing and waning popularity. Some Geeze Dance customs today have continuity with their 19th centuries predecessors some have been revived, inspired by the stories captured by antiquarian writers and organisations like the Old Cornwall Societies.
Examples of Geeze Dance Traditions
St Ives Guise Dancers
The tradition of St Ives Geeze Dancing in its rather notorious original form was still going strong in the 1920s and was revived by the St Ives Old Cornwall Society when interest dwindled later in that decade. Little was seen in the immediate post war years until Dave Lobb, son of one of the original Geeze Dancers, kindled interest again. Today it primarily provides the street band for the St Ives Well procession held on the town’s feast day in February but masked Guize Dancers have made an occasional appearance over Christmas. Photos courtesy of Dave Lobb and Dee Brotherton.
Penglaz, Golowan and the Guise Dancers at Montol
Penglaz and his entourage make an appearance at the Golowan (Midsummer) and Montol (Midwinter) festivals in Penzance. The horse skull hobby horse is called Penglaz – (pen head, glaz – grey), an apt description of the horse’s skull but it might have been the surname of the original bearer – Penglaze. Such is the nature of folk tradition that we cannot be sure. Following the last of his perambulations around West Penwith in the late 19th century Penglaz was reincarnated in 1979 in the form of Pen Gwyn for Lowender Peran by Cornish Dance Group Cam Kernewek. Pen Gwyn was invited to the inaugural Golowan Festival in 1990 to inspire the reincarnation of Penglaz.
In 2007 Golowan was joined by its Mid winter counterpoint, Montol, which drew heavily on the history of West Penwith Guise Dancing with the creation of Guise Dancing groups and a variety of accompanying beast. Two decades later and literaaly thousands of Guise Dancers take to the streets of Penzance for the Midwinter celebrations and 12 days of Christmas. See Cornish Trad: Guise Dancing for more information about Guise Dancing at Montol
Photos Lowender Peran (courtesy of Perran Tremewan) and Montol (courtesy of Lee Palmer).
Padstow Obby Oss
Padstow May Days Circa 1930s courtesy of Malcolm McCarthy Collection. Note Teasers in mask and also cross dressed. Padstow’s popular May Day celebrations with their iconic “Obby Osses” have captured the imagination of the folklorist and featured in several video documentaries. Origin theories seem to have arrived with the professional folklorist, however, and for Padstonians the tradition is about them, their families and community.[11] Today’s “Padstow Whites” costume largely date from the 1950s and the staging of May Day celebrations for Alan Lomax and Peter Kennedy’s film “Oss Oss Wee Oss” together with a trip to the Royal Festival Hall for the Obby Oss. Older photos show “mayers” cross dressing and wearing a variety of costume.
Mock Mayors
Mock Mayors: The Polperro Mock Mayor is elected during the midsummer festival and is processed around village before being taken down to the harbour and thrown in the sea. Penzance and Penryn have revived their Mock Mayors and in 2022 Cornwall Pride introduced their own Mock Mayor election.
Gwari Bosvena – The Trial of the Beast
Gwari Bosvena (The Bodmin Play). The play takes the form of a mock court and dates back to the 15th century as part of Bodmin Riding. By the late nineteenth century, it was dismissed in the local newspapers as little more than a bawdy procession. It was revived again in 1974 and the play and used to tell the story of Bodmin’s part in the 1549 Cornish rebellion and the hanging of the mayor. The play has had several reincarnations since then and currently involves a trial of “The Beast ” who represents Cornwall and is accused of daring to identify as Cornish. The beast in 2023 (link to Cornwall Live)
The Hal An Tow
The Hal An Tow is part of the Helston Flora Day celebrations, normally taking place on the 8th May each year. It had all but died out towards the end of the nineteenth century and was re-instated by the Helston Old Cornwall Society in 1930. They used information provided by older Helstonians and an observational trip to the Padstow May Day celebrations in 1929 to create a pageant which was performed by boys from the Helston Grammar School. Over successive generations it has evolved to become an event involving the wider community and organised rehearsal in the weeks leading up to it. Photos of Hal An Tow with Helston Grammar School pupils 1950s courtesy of Helston Museum of Cornish Folk Life.
Cornish Giants – modern Geeze Dancing?
The later 20th century has seen new additions to the Cornish Bestiary including the puppet giants at Lostwithiel for New Year’s Eve and Calstock and St Agnes for their feast days. Calstock’s Giant Tavy and Giant Bolster at St Agnes’s might not have ancient origins as a custom but they do have folkloric provenance and engage in the anarchy of Cornish Geeze Dancing. Photos: Giant Tavy, courtesy of Calstock Parish Archiv; Giant Bolster, Courtesy of Jocelyn Murgatroyd (©)
Notes
[1]William Sandys “An Account of a Christmas Play”, Specimens of Cornish Provincial Dialect Selected and Arranged by Uncle Jan Trenoodle. (London: J.R. Smith, 1846). , P52.
[2] Richard Polwhele, The History of Cornwall, Civil, Military, Religious, Architectural, Agricultural, Commercial, Biographical, and Miscellaneous. (London: Michel & Co., 1816) Vol 3 p58
[3] Tehmina and Thomas Goskar, Cornish Music Symposium 2018, Cornish Guize Dancing and its Music https://www.cornishtrad.com/guisedancing/historical-guise-dancing-and-its-music/
[4] Tom Miners, “The Mummers’ Play in West Cornwall”, Old Cornwall Society Journal Vol. 1, No. 8, (1928), pp. 4 -16.
[5] BBC Radio Script, Kresen Kernow, Redruth.
[6] Heath, Robert, and Branner Easet. Natural and Historical Account of the Islands of Scilly with a General Account of Cornwall. London, 1750. This is quoted in the Royal Cornwall Gazette 14th Jan 1804 during a general discussion about the origins of Guize Dancing in Cornwall . I am grateful to Tom and Tehmina Goskar for bringing this to my attention and pointing out that this is the source of AKH Jenkins often quoted reference to Guizing in Cornwall and Its People: Cornish Seafarers, Cornwall and the Cornish, Cornish Homes and Customs. (London: J.M. Dent & Sons, 1945), p. 424..
[7]William Bottrell, Traditions and Hearthside Stories of West Cornwall. (Penzance, Deare and Son, 1873), pp 9, 15, 16, 17, 26, 38 – 39, 97-98, 119,161 -162, 283, 287.
[8] Margaret Ann Courtney, Cornish Feasts and Folk-Lore. Revised and Reprinted from the Folk-Lore Society Journals, 1886-87.( Penzance, Beare and Son, 1890).
[9] Arthur Quiller-Couch, The Delectable Duchy, (London, Dent and Sons, 1900).
[10] Tom Miners, “The Mummers’ Play in West Cornwall”, ibid.
[11] Ronald Hutton. Video interview. Sabrina Maggliooco, John Bishop, Oss tales. (Portland, Oregan, Media-Generation, 2007).
[12] See Merv Davey “Guize Dance: Ancient Traditions and Modern Sensitivities.” in Cornish Studies 14 ed. Philip Payton (Exeter, University of Exeter Press, 2006), pp. 229 – 244. Download pdf.