This cassette single lived in our house during my childhood, baffling and entertaining me with its pirate-like synth rap. It seemed even odder years later when I learned that Captain Sensible formerly played bass for punk band The Damned.
#English
The Spring Tradition of Flora Day
![](http://colintedford.com/wp-content/uploads/woods-people.jpg)
People dressed as shrubs danced yesterday in Helston, Cornwall, UK. Others dressed in old-time finery danced in a line so long you couldn’t see either end. They celebrated Flora Day, an old spring tradition also called the Furry Dance (named long before furries).
![](http://colintedford.com/wp-content/uploads/helston-flora-day-2011.jpg)
While the shrub people dance, everyone sings:
Hal-an-tow, jolly rumbalow For we were up as soon as any day-O And for to fetch the summer home The summer and the May-O For summer is a-come-O And winter is a-gone-O
![](http://colintedford.com/wp-content/uploads/hal-an-tow-scr.png)
Each verse brings a costumed pantomime. This Hal-An-Tow video starts with shouting and noise, then at 1:35 comes a Cornish proclamation that sounds like Swedish Chef, followed by the dancing shrubs, song, and weird pageantry.
![](http://colintedford.com/wp-content/uploads/helston-flora-2006-28-1024x768.jpg)
The great processional dance features kids (in one dance) and adults (in the other two) walking in pairs in a tremendous line and periodically doing a little dance that puts them with a new partner. The children’s dance alone has 1,000 people in it. See for example the 2014 midday dance, 2011 children’s dance, … and footage from 1955 … and 1921.
The banner at the start of this other Flora video shows that I didn’t make up the name of the Furry Dance (I kind of thought it was vandalism on Wikipedia’s Flora Day article until I saw the video).
I’d love to see it in person someday. I’d love have something like it here!