Home of the Chaine folk
Pageant type
Performances
Place: Grounds of Ebor House (Hawes) (Hawes, Yorkshire, North Riding, England)
Year: 1951
Indoors/outdoors: Outdoors
Number of performances: 2
Notes
19–20 July 1951
Name of pageant master and other named staff
- Director [Pageant Master]: Scruton, L.
- Producers: Mr L. Scruton, Mr J.H.
Morley, Mr R. Morgan, Miss A. Beet, Miss K. Stancer
- Properties and Costume Designer: Mr.
J.H. Morley
- Lighting: Mr T.H. Eyre
- Sound: Mr M.W. Clark
- Music and Choreography: Mrs L. Scruton
- Makeup: Mrs L. Scruton, Mrs W.K.
Murdoch, Mrs F. Braithwaite, Mrs T. Eyre, Mrs F. Eyre, Miss E.C. Eyre, Miss I.
Allman
- Stage Manager: Mr R. Morgan
- Stage Assistants: F. Braithwaite, A.W.
Foston, E. Thompson
- Effects: Mr A.F. Langton
Names of executive committee or equivalent
Committee of Management
- President: C.W. Patchett
- Vice Presidents: Brigadier, R.C.
Chichester-Constable, Lt. Col. R.A. Alec-Smith, T. Harrison, V. Clark, G.E.
Caley
- Chairman: Mr H.H. Capes
- Hon. Secretary: Mr L. Scruton
- Hon. Treasurer: Mr A.F. Langton
- Messrs F. Braithwaite, A.W. Foston, A.
Brisby, W.H. Lanham, F.H. Stevenson, J.W. Harness, F.C. Eyre, H. Hargrave, H.T.
Horrox, G.W. Beadle, E. Thompson
Names of script-writer(s) and other credited author(s)
- Horrox, Rev. H.T.
Names of composers
n/a
Numbers of performers
Staged by staff and past and present scholars of the County Primary School
Financial information
n/a
Object of any funds raised
n/a
Linked occasion
Festival of Britain
Audience information
- Grandstand: Not Known
- Grandstand capacity: n/a
- Total audience: n/a
Prices of admission and seats: highest–lowest
n/a
Associated events
n/a
Pageant outline
Part One. ‘From Desolation to Desolation’
These five scenes are concerned with the Stone Age and the Bronze Age of Primitive Man in Holderness, and with the Roman occupation of Britain from its early beginnings and incorporation of Britain in the Roman Empire to the time when the recall of the Roman Legions left the land undefended, a prey for the English pirates who had long harried the coast. Synopses text taken from the book of words, Home of the Chaine Folk. Np. 1976.
The episodes are:
- Episode I. Hunters of the March, 4000BC
- Episode II. The Lake Dwellers, 1000BC
- Episode III. Chief of the Parisii, 100AD
- Episode IV. Return of a Native, 200AD
- Episode V. Last of the Legions, 400AD
Part Two. Birth of A Village.
The heathen English come to settle in the land made desolate by their raids. The following five scenes deal with the founding of the village by our legendary ancestor, Chaine; the conversion of the people too Christianity about two centuries later; the long and bitter struggle with the heathen Northmen who came marauding in their turn; the gradual unifying of Christian England; the terrible vengeance of William the Conqueror against the rebellious North; and the restoration of order by Henry II.
The episodes are:
- Episode VI. Coming of the Chaine Folk,
420AD
- Episode VII. Coming of the Cross, 630AD
- Episode VIII. War in the Marshlands
830AD
- Episode IX. Peace at the Village Cross,
1020AD
- Episode X. Tale of a Grandfather, 1155AD
Part Three. Fruitful of Noble Men
The seven episodes which follow cover almost two centuries, bringing us to the close of the Middle Ages. They are centuries distinguished by truly great names. The Abbot of Meaux, who gave us our present Parish Church; the craftsmen and artists responsible for the skilled work; the village folk, our forebears, who sacrificed and laboured for its building; deserve to be honoured.
The Episodes are:
- Episode XI. The Abbot of Meaux, 1280AD
- Episode XII. Philip Ingleberd, 1320 AD
- Episode XIII. The Village Moot, 1352 AD
- Episode XIV. Coming of the Friars, 1380
AD
- Episode XV. The Tempest, 1392 AD
- Episode XVI. The Wishing Well, 1450 AD
- Episode XVII. At the High Bridge, 1471 AD
Part Four. Century of Storm
These six Episodes cover a period of 116 years, a period during which England was experimenting both in Religion and Politics. It was a time of wild intolerance, stupid bigotry, and foolish superstition. Yet it was also a time of steadfast loyalties, firm principles, and robust faith.
The episodes are:
- Episode XVIII. The Pilgrimage of Grace,
1537 AD
- Episode XIX. With Axes and Hammers, 1552
AD
- Episode XX. Call of the Beacon, 1558 AD
- Episode XXI. The Witch Hunt, 1620 AD
- Episode XXII. At Kayningham Creek, 1642
AD
- Episode XXIII. Michael Taylor, Minister,
1655 AD
Part Five. Future of Promise
Opening with the restoration of the King and Church, as it affected our village, these closing scenes of the play carry us through the first contact with a new spirit in the Church called ‘Methodism’, which was eventually destined to influence village life profoundly; through the first awakening of interest in the welfare and education of children; and so to the close of the Victorian era.
The episodes are:
- Episode XXIV. Kayningham makes merry,
1660 AD
- Episode XXV. The
Preacher at the Cross, 1750 AD
- Episode XXVI.
Child Apprentices, 1800 AD
- Episode XXVII.
The Board School, 1875 AD
- Episode XXVIII.
A Prophet Speaks, 1902 AD
Key historical figures mentioned
n/a
Musical production
n/a
Newspaper coverage of pageant
n/a
Book of words
- Home of the Chaine Folk. Np. 1976. [A reprint of the original script].
Other primary published materials
n/a
References in secondary literature
n/a
Archival holdings connected to pageant
- Copy of Script in East Yorkshire Archives, Beverley, Reference PE86/30
Sources used in preparation of pageant
n/a
Summary
A great many pageants were held in association with the 1951 Festival of Britain and this is one example (see Bedale, Hunmanby and Carlisle). Staged by local schoolchildren and their teachers, it seems to have been a notably elaborate affair, involving no fewer than twenty-eight separate episodes. Doubtless because he scriptwriter was a local priest, religious history loomed large throughout.
Like many Festival of Britain Pageants, Home of the Chaine Folk focused on the everyday history of common people in the village over many millennia, rather than the actions of Kings and Queens.
Footnotes
How to cite this entry
Angela Bartie, Linda Fleming, Mark Freeman, Tom Hulme, Alex Hutton, Paul Readman, ‘Home of the Chaine folk’, The Redress of the Past, http://www.historicalpageants.ac.uk/pageants/1489/