Furry Dance

The Furry Dance (/ˈfʌri/ FUH-ree) is a celebration of the passing of winter and the arrival of spring, and one of the oldest British customs still practised today.

The name likely derives from Cornish fer meaning "fair, feast" referencing the celebration of the Apparition of Michael the Archangel, Helston's patron saint.

The most famous Furry Dance takes place in Helston, Cornwall, United Kingdom.

[2] The earliest mention seems to be in a letter to the Gentleman's Magazine for 1790 [3] where the writer says "At Helstone, a genteel and populus borough town in Cornwall, it is customary to dedicate the 8th May to revelry (festive mirth, not loose jollity).

All the boys wear white clothing, with the only colour being their school ties, and the girls (also in white) wear matching coloured head-dress flowers (blue cornflowers for St Michael's, forget-me-nots for Helston Community College, daisies for Nansloe and poppies and buttercups for Parc Eglos) in their hair.

The Hal-an-Tow, which takes place on the same day, is a kind of mystery play with various historical and mythical themes.

The Hal-an-Tow Pageant starts at St John's Bridge and is performed at seven locations around the town.

The Helston Furry Dance is number 135 in Roy Palmer's Everyman's Book of English Country Songs.

St Piran showed his care for us And all our sons and daughters, O He brought the book of Christendom Across the western waters, O And taught the love of Heaven above For Cornishmen below.

God bless Aunt Mary Moses And all her power and might, O And send us peace in merry England Both day and night, O.

[17] In 1890 Cornish antiquarian Margaret Ann Courtney wrote that the tune was sometimes known as "John the Bone".

She quotes the Furry Dance tune in the piano accompaniment to the chorus – though altering the melody in two bars.

This song was soon published by Chappell & Co., and first performed by baritone Thorpe Bates the same year.

In 1976 the Brighouse and Rastrick Brass Band recorded an arrangement of the Moss song made by their musical director Derek Broadbent.

In January 1978 a vocal version by Terry Wogan accompanied by the Hanwell Band reached number 21 on the UK singles chart.