The Horkey
11 November 2006

The Horkey Supper is only one part of the Day.
Before that, Contracts have to be set, Dances danced and the all-important Bough paraded, nay Danced, through the village.
New photos have now arrived from the Digital Chemist to throw more light on these arcane rituals.

The Horkey celebration begins with the Dancing of the Bough from Church Green, through the village.

A re-enactment of the Making of the Harvest Contract is held, before several traditional dances are, well, danced.





Here we have the dance ending with a salute to the farm, and the site of the May 1 Celebrations with which the Season began.


From the church, the Men move off through the village, always following the celebratory Horkey Bough, which symbolises the ending of the Harvest season.


The Bough was paraded on Fair Green, before more dancing took place.





Among our repertoire, "Getting Upstairs" is one of the more subtle and delicate dances, demanding expert and refined handkerchief deployment.




It is also more standard practice to undertake more vigorous Stick Dances in the middle of the road, to the grave discomfiture of passing 4x4-ers, worried about their paintwork.






Although the Black Lion is intended primarily for drinking, the Morris Men of Little Egypt have been known to cut a figure or two there as well.


As will be seen, both the Horkey Bough and Alas-a-dair played vital parts in this year's homage to the Side's Spiritual Home.










During the evening, the Men perform another little-known and rarely-seen figure known as The Horkey Stomp.

These photos do some, but scant, justice to the complexities of the performance.

So there, you have it: Little Egypt at large, in all their myriad forms: elegance, strength, tenacity and delicacy embodied in one small group of Suffolk's finest.