Nobody knows how long the Abbots Bromley Horn Dance has been taking its annual progress around the village. Nobody really knows what it's all about; just that it is strange and unique, in the British Isles, and carries with it a sense of antiquity and ritual. The day might be book-ended by two church services, but everything in between feels undeniably Pagan. That it is the survival of a pre-Christian rite is indeed the assumption of many witnessing it. But is there any evidence to support that theory?
The Paganism (or Not) Behind the Abbots Bromley Horn Dance.
In a recent BBC documentary, Reverend Simon Davis sounds uncomfortable, as he is questioned about the antlers in St Nicholas' church and the dance in which they are used. "It's Pagan with a small 'p'. It's not exactly..." He pauses, reaching for the correct sentiment. "It's friendly Paganism."
However, historians have searched in vain for any firm evidence to support theories that the Abbots Bromley Horn Dance is a fertility rite, or a relic of the Wild Hunt, or a protection dance with its origins in the Beating of the Bounds. It could be a Harvest Home or none of the above, merely entertainment for the masses.
Professor Ronald Hutton on the Abbots Bromley Horn Dance.
Professor Ronald Hutton is amongst those academics who have tried to make sense of it all. Specialising in English folklore and ritual, Paganism and the 17th century, he wrote about the Abbots Bromley Horn Dance in both Stations of the Sun and The Pagan Religions of the Ancient British Isles.
He noted the horror with which St Aldhelm (pre 685) and Theodore, Archbishop of Canterbury, (700) spoke out against the contemporary English customs of men dressing as stags or women, which was deemed 'devilish'. Hutton speculated that the Maid Marion figure might have once represented 'a patronal Goddess'; while the animal masks and costumes could have had their origins in Shamanism or bestial deities.
But all of this is just circumstantial evidence, with nothing confirming the horn dance as the survival of a Pagan rite. Furthermore, Hutton examined the emergence of the Hobby Horse, but found no reference to it before the fourteenth century. Back then, it was apparently seen as an object of entertainment and mirth. Hutton was forced to concur with the earlier conclusions of another scholar, EC Cawte, in stating that the Abbots Bromley Horn Dance 'is not an archetype, but an anomaly, because it is so completely unique, not only in Britain, but in Europe, that it does not even remotely resemble any other known custom, past or present, and cannot be taken as representative of anything.'
Hutton never said, as some commentators have erroneously stated, that the horn dance is definitely not Pagan in origin, just that we have no evidence for it.
Theories Concerning the Pagan Origins of the Abbots Bromley Horn Dance.
ER Shipman outlined many of the pervasive theories about the Paganism behind the Abbots Bromley Horn Dance. Its similarity to the buffalo dance of North American First Natives was mentioned. This would make the horn dance a rite to ensure the abundance of food, in particular the success of the hunt in nearby Needwood Forest. He doesn't explain how this marries with the fact that the Abbots Bromley Horn Dancers wear reindeer antlers, representing a creature which is not indigenous to the British Isles.
Jon Raven thought that the horn dance's origins were 'stemming from Nature and fertility ritual among the Druids.' This was supported by Rev AR Ladell, who wrote a history of St Nicholas's Church, in Abbots Bromley. Ladell found a remarkably similar horn dance in rural France, which was also once a Druidic stronghold. Here the antlers were replaced by bull horns and the revelers chased young ladies. Yet this too appears problematic, as there does not seem to be any equivalent legends from the Celtic countries bordering England to the West. Ancient Druidism has been well documented there and is still practiced by many people into the modern day.
Finally Shipman highlighted several Biblical passages, where the 'custom of wearing horns as a sign of strength' was noted amongst Pagans. If so, then it cannot refer to English Paganism, as the scriptures were entirely concerned with events in the Middle East. He did, however, link this closer to home with the wearing of horned helmets 'by the Norsemen'. It could well be that the Abbots Bromley Horn Dance invokes the memory of the Norse and Germanic All-Father, Odin, and his Midwinter Wild Hunt. The evidence is still circumstantial though.
Is Abbots Bromley Horn Dance a Pagan Ritual?
Unless much more evidence surfaces, it is impossible to say for certain that the Abbots Bromley Horn Dance has its origins in Paganism. This is unlikely to be of much concern to the hundreds of people who travel to the village each Wakes Monday. It feels Pagan, and it possibly is Pagan, but it certainly is a unique and wonderful event to witness.
Sources:
- K Herbert, Looking for the Lost Gods of England. (Anglo-Saxon Books, 2005.)
- R Hutton, The Stations of the Sun: A History of the Ritual Year in Britain. (Oxford, 1996.)
- R Hutton, The Pagan Religions of the Ancient British Isles: Their Nature and Legacy. (Blackwell Publishing, 1993.)
- D Rankine and S D'Este, The Isles of the Many Gods. (Avalonia, 2007.)
- ER Shipman, The Abbots Bromley Horn Dance. (The Benhill Press Limited, 1982.)
- YouTube: The Ancient English Horn Dance! - Still Folk Dancing...After All These Years, Preview - BBC Four. (Uploaded by BBC, December 8th 2010.)
Jo Harrington - Jo has a BA (Hons) in History and Philosophy and a MA in History. She has a book published on the history of Wicca.
Join the Conversation