Pageant of Muncaster

Pageant type

Notes

The pageant was organised principally by villagers from Ravenglass.

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Performances

Place: Muncaster Castle (Ravenglass) (Ravenglass, Cumberland, England)

Year: 1951

Indoors/outdoors: Outdoors

Number of performances: 1

Notes

2 June 1951

[The pageant took place on Saturday 2nd June 1951 at 3 pm; it lasted for one hour. Muncaster Castle, situated about one mile from the village of Ravenglass, was in private ownership: Sir John and Lady Ramsden gave permission for the use of its grounds. The castle is the ancestral home of the Pennington family.]

Name of pageant master and other named staff

  • Director [Pageant Master]: Schofield, Harry
  • Associate Producer: Florence M. Hillon
  • Associate Producer: Effie Heath
  • Associate Producer: Dorothy Downes
  • Stage Manager: B. Turner
  • Stage Staff: S. McVey, J. Carter, R. Blair, G. Worsley and A. Worsley
  • Wardrobe Mistresses: Mrs. M. Farron, Mrs Preston, Mrs Cowan, Mrs Irwin and Miss S. Turner
  • Historical Advisor: Rev. Wm. Sherwen
  • Dancing Instructress: G.N. Beard
  • Make-up Supervisor: L.D. Marriott
  • Props: S. McVey, B. Turner and M. Farren
  • Sound Equipment: L. Pollit and Glen Tubman

Names of executive committee or equivalent

Pageant Committee

  • Chairman: Mr W.G. Marriott
  • Secretary: Miss H. Benson
  • Treasurer: Mr J. Hall
  • Committee Members:  Miss I. Batty, Mr W. Blair, Miss Downes, Mrs Erskine, Mrs Farren, Mrs Hartley, Mrs Heath, Mr Hilton, Mrs Hilton, Mrs Marriott, Mrs Turner, Mr B. Turner, Mrs B. Turner and Mrs Wilson

Notes

Women are well represented among organisers of this pageant; there appears to have been a significant representation of married couples on the committee.

Names of script-writer(s) and other credited author(s)

  • Hodges, M.K.
  • Downes, D.

Notes

Episodes I and II were written by Hodges, episodes III and IV by Downes.

Names of composers

n/a

Numbers of performers

120

The number of performers is an estimated figure based upon those named in the programme; it includes schoolchildren who performed as maypole dancers.

Financial information

No financial information has been recovered but it is likely that the pageant made a significant surplus.

Object of any funds raised

n/a

Linked occasion

Festival of Britain

Audience information

  • Grandstand: Yes
  • Grandstand capacity: n/a
  • Total audience: 11000 - 12000

Notes

The local press reported that well over 11000 people turned up to see the pageant. There was a dress rehearsal the previous Saturday 26 May (undated news-cutting, Whitehaven Archives, ref: YDX 99/1-3).

Prices of admission and seats: highest–lowest

n/a

Associated events

  • 1.30 pm: Opening of the Castle Grounds
  • 4.00-5.00 pm: Interval for tea, sideshows and fair
  • 5.00-5.30 pm: Demonstration by Outward Bound School

Pageant outline

Episode I: The Coming of the Romans (circa 70 A.D.)

The pageant programme provides the following synopsis:

 

The Romans have sailed their galleys up the wide moth of the Esk and landed on the beaches. After a fierce but unequal struggle the Britons are forced back, and when their king is captured the battle is over. An honourable peace is dictated by the Roman General who promises peace and security in return for their allegiance to the Roman Emperor. A great fort, Cianoventa is to be built where the Britons made their last stand and later a road over the fells to Ambalava (Ambleside).

The episode had 23 performers, only six of whom played Romans—all men. Most of the seventeen performers in the roles of Britons were female. Florence M. Hilton was producer for the scene.

Episode II: The Coming of the Cross (circa 900 A.D.)

This episode had a small cast of eight performers (all men) made up of four monks and four Vikings. The producer was Effie Heath. The pageant programme provides the following description:

A wandering band of Monks come to the beautiful country-side to convert the people to Christianity. They are persuaded to turn from their faith in ancient Norse mythology, and to worship the Prince of Peace. A Cross of stone is to be set up in a clearing on the hill-side.

Episode III: Henry VI and the Luck of Muncaster (circa 1464)

The pageant programme provides the following synopsis of this episode:

 

After the battle of Hexham in 1464, King Henry VI and a few faithful followers seek refuge west of the Pennines. At Irton hall they were refused shelter and were obliged to spend the night under an oak tree in the grounds. In the early morning a shepherd boy finds them making their way over Muncaster Fell. He directs them to the Castle where they enjoy the hospitality of Sir John and Lady Pennington. When the King takes leave of his hosts, as a token of his appreciation, he gives Lady Pennington a bowl of Italian glass which has been preserved ever since and is known as the ‘Luck of Muncaster’.

The episode had only eight performers (six male and 2 female). The producer was Florence M. Hilton.

Episode IV: May Day Festival, 1751

Dorothy Downes produced this episode, which had the largest cast within the pageant: around eighty performers took part and this number consisted of men, women and children. The synopsis of the episode is as follows:

 

On May Day 1751 the villagers and fisher-folk of the parish gather together in the Castle Grounds to celebrate the happiest day of the year. The festivities are at their height when the men of the village return from a smuggling expedition. On the midst of the excitement the Excise-men are seen landing on the shore. A search for contraband is instituted¾but in vain! After the Excise-men have marched away, completely baffled, with shouts of laughter the folks of Muncaster and Ravenglass continue their May Day celebrations.

The drama included a May Queen, a dancing bear, a hobbyhorse and children from the local school performed a maypole dance. There was also a mime performed of the tale of 'St George and the Dragon'. (Original typescript for the Pageant of Muncaster, Whitehaven Archives and Record Centre, ref: YDX 99/1)

Key historical figures mentioned

  • Julius Agricola, Gnaeus [known as Agricola] (AD 40–93) Roman governor of Britain
  • Henry VI (1421–1471) king of England and lord of Ireland, and duke of Aquitaine
  • Sir John Pennington (c.1394–1470) soldier

Musical production

Few details have been recovered: there was live singing and members of the Ravenglass Choral Society took part (Festival of Britain, Pageant of Muncaster 1751-1951: Souvenir Programme (Whitehaven, 1951), 9).

  • 'Adeste Fidelis' is sung by monks in episode II (Typescript, Whitehaven Archives, YDX 99/1).
  • There was a fiddler playing traditional music in episode IV, but other accompaniment to the pageant drama may have been recorded music.

Newspaper coverage of pageant

Whitehaven News

Book of words

None noted.

A Book of Words was not produced but a copy of the original script is held at the archives at Whitehaven.

Other primary published materials

  • Festival of Britain, Pageant of Muncaster 1751-1951: Souvenir Programme, 1/-. Np., 1951.

References in secondary literature

n/a

Archival holdings connected to pageant

  • Whitehaven Archive and Local Studies Centre holds two files of material about the Muncaster pageant; these consist of copies of the programme, the original typescript, a retrospective note (no author) containing memories of the pageant, and some newscuttings. See refs: YDX/97 and YDX 99/1-3.

Sources used in preparation of pageant

n/a

Summary

The pageant held at Muncaster Castle, which was performed by people from the close-by village of Ravenglass, presents a David and Goliath-type story. The much larger nearby town of Whitehaven also planned to hold a pageant in 1951 to mark the Festival of Britain year (Carlisle held a major pageant that year as well). Had the Whitehaven pageant taken place, it might very well have overshadowed the efforts of the tiny population of Ravenglass. In the event, Whitehaven's pageant failed to see the light of day, despite the fact that a script was prepared,1 and the Muncaster pageant turned into something of a triumph of organisation and successful performance. Ahead of the pageant at Muncaster, the event's producer estimated that if the pageant's luck held and the weather was kind, perhaps two thousand people would come along on the day: instead, over eleven thousand spectators arrived. This was some achievement by any estimation, though it did cause problems. These began with the traffic queue created on the road leading to the castle, which the police stepped in to manage; then, once everyone arrived at the venue, controlling the large crowd became the next issue. The local press stated:

 First comers spent an enjoyable hour wandering round the delightful grounds of the Castle before taking up vantage points on a grassy slope overlooking the sward on which the pageant was to be presented and with an enchanting view of the old home of the Penningtons against the background of the Eskdale fells. By 3 p.m., zero hour for the players, the ‘auditorium’ arranged for 2,000 was packed with 6,000 people and the crowd became so big that it overflowed to the ‘wings’. Harassed officials did their best to stem the tide, but were beaten and the pageant had to be produced in a considerably restricted space.2

The local press aptly described this as a 'modern invasion' in deference to the invasions and incursions that featured within the pageant's narrative.

The pageant had only four episodes and took a traditional approach to format. The drama began with the arrival of the Romans. In this first episode, the inevitability and indeed desirability of colonization was celebrated. The local Britons accepted Agricola's declamation that 'the world is ours and Rome is civilisation' with only a gesture of reluctance. Throughout, the Romans are depicted as bringers of justice and peace, and the Britons as people who are sensible enough to realise this, despite their primitive state. Episode II then featured more invaders—though after they had successfully settled in England—when Vikings accepted the message of Christianity delivered by visiting monks. Local legend centred on the ill-fated Henry VI followed in episode III, when the king obtained temporary shelter with the Pennington family at Muncaster Castle and made a gift to the family of an ornate drinking cup; and the final episode featured May Day. Alongside the usual attractions of a fair, local legend also featured in the latter scene, which depicted smugglers outwitting government excise men by hiding their contraband under the skirts of their wives and daughters (whisky smuggling across the English and Scottish border was endemic until the equalisation of spirit duties in 1856).3 This episode also used the conceit that it celebrated an anniversary of events that had happened exactly 200 years previously.

Given the small size of the local community, the majority of its members must have been involved with the pageant in some fashion. Local societies and associations—such the Women's Institute—had a hand in the pageant, and remarkably, this village had its own dramatic association and a choral society.4 The grounds of the privately owned Muncaster Castle were made available to the community of Ravenglass, presumably at no cost. The owners were at the time resident in Kenya, but it seems their granddaughter came forward and volunteered to take the part of her ancestor, Lady Pennington, in episode III.5 Some Roman costumes were borrowed from Whitehaven Grammar School (for they had recently put on a production of Julius Caesar) but most costumes were locally made.6 Clothes rationing was still in force but according to one participant, 'a small committee of women offered to make smocks and dresses for the school children doing the Maypole dancing'. Moreover, wartime make-do and mend approaches still came in handy:

Someone had a big roll of cream linen intended to make sun-blinds years ago, old trunks and cupboards were ransacked... potato and flour sacks were washed and bleached for Celtic costumes, a local Grammar school loaned us Roman regalia, mourning suits for the Excise Men to wear and boxes of black felt hats arrived for helmets etc. Not all was strictly authentic, and even old sheets dyed bright colours could be made into colourful dresses'.7

In the end, the prize for greatest effort should probably have gone to those who had volunteered to steward the event. Excellent weather on the day, and the popularity of this part of the coast for day-trippers from Cumbria and Lancashire brought the unanticipated flood of spectators. Although an example of an advertisement has not been recovered, it is clear that the pageant must have been well advertised—likely in railway stations as well as the press—and that this message reached the intended audience. A news report indicates that during episodes I and II, the performers coped reasonably well with the background noise created by the huge number attending. However, they were almost overwhelmed in episode III when the crowds surged forward to 'where the footlights would have been on an orthodox stage' and 'the dialogue was completely lost amidst the "shushings" and "sit downs" of the crowd'.8 Fortunately, episode IV did not depend so much on dialogue and its lively action carried the day. The enormous success of the pageant must have created a large financial surplus and it seems that a good day out was had by all at this particular Festival pageant. The dramatic backdrop of the castle and it picturesque surroundings—rhododendrons and azaleas were in full bloom—all helped make the day memorable. As a somewhat unorthodox but situationally appropriate finale (given the proximity of the Lake District), the proceedings were crowned by a demonstration of an emergency mountain rescue done by instructors and students from a local outward-bound school. In this, the rescuers scaled the walls of the castle to bring down a 'live patient'.9

That so many people flocked to Muncaster to see an amateur production demonstrates very clearly that pageantry was alive and well in post-war Britain, and that an event such as the Festival of Britain was hardly needed in communities like Ravenglass, where the active associational life of the community relished the opportunity to put on the likes of a pageant. Its success also shows the appetite that still existed for what was quite a traditional pageant within a classic historic setting.

Footnotes

1. ^ A script for this pageant is held at the Whitehaven archives, ref: DH/83/1; all other evidence suggests it was abandoned, although the town did undertake a programme of Festival of Britain events.
2. ^ This information is contained in an undated newscutting (probably from the Whitehaven News) entitled 'Pageant of Muncaster; a Modern Invasion', contained in archival records held at Whitehaven Archives, ref: YDX 99/1-3.
3. ^ Paul Readman, ‘Living a British Borderland: Northumberland and the Scottish Borders in the Long Nineteenth Century’, in Paul Readman, Cynthia Radding and Chad Bryant (eds.), Borderlands in World History, 1700-1914 (Basingstoke, 2014), 173-4.
4. ^ The Ravenglass Amateur Dramatic  Association and also the village's Choral Society are acknowledged, see  Festival of Britain, Pageant of Muncaster 1751-1951: Souvenir Programme, 1/- (Whitehaven, 1951), 9.
5. ^ A typewritten note by the depositor of the records for this pageant is included with these documents. In this, the unnamed writer recalls his memories of taking part in the pageant; in these recollections, he/she states that the Pennington's granddaughter performed this role.  See Whitehaven archives, ref: YDX 99/1.
6. ^ Festival of Britain, Pageant of Muncaster 1751-1951: Souvenir Programme, 1/- (Whitehaven, 1951), 9.
7. ^ Depositor's note.
8. ^ Undated newscutting.
9. ^ Ibid.

How to cite this entry

Angela Bartie, Linda Fleming, Mark Freeman, Tom Hulme, Alex Hutton, Paul Readman, ‘Pageant of Muncaster’, The Redress of the Past, http://www.historicalpageants.ac.uk/pageants/1519/