Lichfield author dances into print on Shrove Tuesday as new book celebrates Britain's most eccentric traditions
There could not have been a more fitting stage for a book launch. On Shrove Tuesday — the same day that Lichfield's Market Square filled with the laughter and flour-dusted frenzy of its annual Shrovetide Fair and Pancake Race — author Anna Hallett stepped outside Waterstones bookshop on Market Street to celebrate the publication of her third book: Traditions Observed: From Bun Throwing to Swan Upping.
To mark the occasion, Beggars' Oak Clog Dancers — a vibrant mixed clog morris side based in nearby Armitage and formed in 1983 — performed in the street outside the shop, their brightly coloured costumes and the rhythmic clatter of their clogs drawing in passers-by who joined the dancing on the pavement. The choice of both the day and the performers was entirely deliberate.
A Travelogue of Britain's Living Heritage
Traditions Observed: From Bun Throwing to Swan Upping — published by Spiral Books — is Anna Hallett's most ambitious work to date. Priced at £19.99, the 300-page, full-colour paperback is a travelogue of some of the most remarkable, resilient, and occasionally bizarre customs still enacted across Britain each year.
From well dressing and wassailing to mumming, Straw Bears, Mock Mayor elections and the blessing by a Boy Bishop, Anna explores the remarkable breadth of ceremonies that British communities have stubbornly — and lovingly — kept alive. Civic ceremonies covered include the Mayor Weighing in High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire, and the ancient legal ceremony of 'Quit Rents' performed before the King's Remembrancer in the Royal Law Courts in London.
The book is written in the warm, approachable style of a seasoned traveller and historian: part-guidebook, part-chronicle, wholly engaging. Anna attended many of the events herself, combining her lifelong passion for history with a curiosity that has taken her across the length and breadth of the country.
Staffordshire at the Heart of the Story
Lichfield readers will find their own region close to the heart of the book. Beggars' Oak Clog Dancers are featured in its pages — specifically in the context of one of Staffordshire's most extraordinary annual events: the Abbots Bromley Horn Dance.
Held each September on Wakes Monday (the first Monday following the first Sunday after 4 September) in the village of Abbots Bromley, the Horn Dance is one of the oldest and most mysterious folk customs in England. Six dancers carry enormous sets of reindeer antlers — the largest pair weighing over 25lbs — that have been radiocarbon-dated to the eleventh century. They are accompanied by a hobby horse, Maid Marian (traditionally played by a man), a Fool, a child with a bow and arrow, and a musician. The horns are stored in St Nicholas's Church for the remaining 364 days of the year, and the day begins with a blessing from the local vicar before the company sets out on a ten-mile circuit of the village and surrounding farms, finishing around 8pm.
Beggars' Oak Clog Dancers are among the performers who support and complement this remarkable event each year, helping to create the festival atmosphere that draws visitors from across the country and around the world.
About Anna Hallett
Anna Hallett is a long-time resident of Lichfield, and Dutch by birth. She has spent many years teaching history at various educational institutions, and her passion for the past — combined with an infectious curiosity and a love of travel — has shaped all three of her books.
She is also the author of Almshouses, published by Shire Library — a title that reflects her abiding interest in social history and the ways communities have cared for one another across the centuries. Traditions Observed is her third published work.
About Beggars' Oak Clog Dancers
Founded in 1983, Beggars' Oak Clog Dancers are a mixed clog morris side dancing in the North West tradition — a style characterised by brightly coloured costumes, live music, a steady drumbeat, and, of course, clogs. They are based in Armitage, Staffordshire, and meet for practice every Monday evening at Armitage Village Hall.
Their name comes from the Beggars' Oak, an ancient tree of around 1,000 years old that stood on the Bagot Estate near Abbots Bromley — a traditional meeting place for travellers and itinerants — until its removal in the 1940s. As well as the Abbots Bromley Horn Dance, they perform regularly at fetes, fayres, Well Dressing festivals, and Women's Institute events across the region.
"We were delighted to support Anna and to dance on Shrove Tuesday, right in the heart of Lichfield," said a spokesperson for the group. "Our traditions and Anna's book are really on the same page — keeping these customs alive and sharing them with the next generation."
