For the young `uns

xEssential Cornish Reading

Published in 2003, "The Amazing Story of THE FLORAL DANCE" has been read with interest here and abroad.

Features: Historic photographs from Helston      Pictures of composer Katie Moss and her family       Musical extracts    

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From its origins in the
`quaint old Cornish town`
of Helston in 1911...

...to its world-wide fame as the Bestselling Ballad of all time

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From its rebirth as a Brass Band favourite...

...to its place in the history of Cornish Music

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Ian writes:-

What price tradition?

Visit Helston on Flora Day, and you will hear the Town Band play the traditional Furry Dance tune many, many times over. The shape of the tune has remained unchanged for years, and the instrumental arrangement has never officially been written down, though I did it one Flora Day in Helston while preparing this book.
Go to any Furry Dance in a village or town outside Helston, however, and you will NOT hear the Helston version.  No other Brass Bands play the tune in the same way.
Is this an example of sturdy Cornish independence? Not so: if it were, each local band would have its own version of the music, different from all its neighbours`, and this is not the case either! In fact, ALL bands outside Helston play the tune in the same way as each other, and none of them even seem aware that it`s not the Helston version.
How has this come about ? Should we care? After all, tradition nowadays is regarded as a living thing, capable of change. But why should change be merely the product of ignorance?

Why, also, do millions of people the world over, including the Cornish, refer to this ancient tradition by the wrong (English) name - Floral Dance - and why do Cornish folks not seem to care about that either?

Cornwall has been, for nearly sixty years, happy to play and hear a corrupt English version of our most ancient tune, and continues, in total ignorance or apathy, to call it by a corrupt English name.

Self-rule, anyone?     (IM)

In his illustrated 80-page book  "The Amazing Story of THE FLORAL DANCE"    Ian Marshall addresses these questions and suggests simple but sensible answers.