#cornwall tradition

Goel Est

Pages 21 - 25 of Simon Reed’s ’The Cornish Traditional Year’

Lammas comes from the English ‘loaf mass’.

Marks the cutting of the first wheat

Cornish reconstructions include:

Lunasa (after the Irish Feast)

Goal Est (August Feast)

Galan Est (First of August)

Marked by a series of festivals (such as the Morvah Fair).

Midsummer fires and the feasts of Peter & John

Pages 3 - 20 of Simon Reed's 'The Cornish Traditional Year'

Feast of ‘light and rejoicing’

Held 2 days later than the astronomical solstice

Involved bonfires (possibly related to the celtic deity Belenus)

Solestitia = Summer solstice rites

Dancing through and around fires = protection from evil intentions

It’s lucky to scatter hemp seeds for love

Bonfire/Serpent dance - chain rushes, skips and avoids embers. Sometimes & at random, a link in the chain would raise their arms at the head of the chain and the head would rsh through.

Children wore wreaths and garlands of flowers (st john's wort)

The Cornish Harvest Festival

Pages 26 - 36 from Simon Reed's 'The Cornish Traditional Year'

Also called Nicklydize, associated with the Crying of the Neck ceremony

Held near the end of September near Michaelmas and the autumn equinox.

Date varied with seasons but always coincided with the last harvest.

Whole communities would finish the harvest.

Farmers would be traditionally generous