We've been researching the Rushbearing festival of Rochdale with help from our new friends over in Sowerby Bridge, including Garry Stringfellow, a world expert in the tradition. He sent this through to us:
The Illustration on this page shows a pack sheet made by some of the lads in the Dyeing Department of Messrs. John Bright & Brothers Ltd., Rochdale, and thereby hangs a tale of a very old Custom. The Rochdale holidays are still called “Rushbearing,” although the annual ceremony of rush-bearing has fallen into disusage. Robertson in his “Guide to Rochdale,” states that it originated in the time of Pope Gregory IV. (A.D. 827). Rush-carts were skilfully built in a conical shape rising to a sharp ridge at the top, and at the top was a bower in the form of a crown, made of holly, laurel and other evergreens, round which were twined garlands of the gayest flowers. About thirty young men, with white smocks adorned with gaudy ribbons, and with floral wreathes, were yoked on couples. Each couple held a stave fastened to the ropes attached to the cart shafts, and at intervals the young men engaged in a morris dance. Rush-cart generally came from the neighbouring villages to the towns, and fights of a desperate character used often to take place between the owners of rival rush-carts. Of late years rush-carts have not often made their appearance in Rochdale, and it would seem that the custom is dying out. In ancient times the ceremony used to terminate at the Parish Church, and the rushes were spread on the floor under the benches, to serve as a comfortable winter carpet, and there they remained until the arrival of warmer weather. But within the last forty years the Church is the last place thought of in this festival, which has degenerated into a rustic saturnalia. The Rush-cart banner was always a most conspicuous object in the public procession of the carts. Great taste and large expense were usually bestowed on this gorgeous and indispensible adjunct, which was raised on stout poles and carried by two or more men in front of the cart. Although the rush-cart is now rarely seen, the rush-cart banner has survived and it is this banner, or Pack Sheet, which is shown in the illustration. A glance at the picture in simple black and white conveys a poor impression of the really artistic and harmonious blending of the beautiful colours on the Pack Sheet. Even, however, from the figure arrangements, one can see a possibility of design, which, marked out in the great variety of materials and colours employed, went to make up this example, possibly the most beautiful Pack Sheet ever arranged in the spare moments of dye and bleach-house boys since this old-time custom began. The boys are allowed, at this period, a somewhat free hand in selection, to accumulate the decorative examples they require for the Sheet. It would therefore, be surprising if Messrs. John Bright and Brothers Ltd. dye-room boys failed to put out a good Pack Sheet, since they have the choice from a wide range of materials and colours. On the Sheet was to be seen examples of bundle and warp-dyed cotton yarns, mercerised yarns, artificial silk, worsted, linen and jute yarns. These, coloured with practically every variety of dye-stuffs at present employed, will indicate the almost unlimited choice of examples the boys could pick from. So, better late than never we decided it would be useful to cut a wee promo vid of the project to better introduce it to the kinds of folks we’ll need on board in the months ahead. To this very end we spent yesterday with our ace film maker Sally interviewing all our key partners and collaborators. We asked them to sum up what the story of cotton famine road means to them, we got some brilliant and inspiring responses. From the centre of town we went up to Rooley Moor Road once more, and got the same sensation we do every time we go up there, the sense that big history was unfolding in minute back breaking steps on that windswept moorland as huge stones were quarried, cut and shaped into setts, then carted all the way up to the top to be laid – all by weaving folks who had never done such back breaking work before.
In other news, ok so whisper it quietly but we have a Draft One script! A pungent and powerful concoction of first hand verbatim source material, and lively character based drama. We want our stage play to give voice to those who are not in any recorded histories of this story, it’s got a way to go but there’s a lot in it. We want it to centre on people in the streets and back closes, the mill workers and their families who suffered when the cotton was stopped, the mill gates slammed shut and the hunger bit deep and hard into the spirit and resolve of these people. Our respect for them only grows stronger the more we look into this. And what’s more our promo vid will be available to view soon! |
AuthorMick Martin is a writer and theatre maker. Archives
April 2022
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