Tom Bawcock's Eve is an annual festival, held on 23 December, in Mousehole,

Cornwall Cornwall (; or ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is also one of the Celtic nations and the homeland of the Cornish people. The county is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, ...

. The festival is held in celebration and memorial of the efforts of legendary Mousehole resident Tom Bawcock to lift a famine from the village by going out to fish in a severe storm. During this festival

Stargazy pie Stargazy pie (also starry-gazy pie, starry-gaze pie) is a Cuisine of Cornwall, Cornish dish made of baked Sardines as food, pilchards (sardines), along with eggs and potatoes, covered with a pastry crust. Although there are a few variations us ...

(a mixed fish, egg and potato pie with protruding fish heads) is eaten and depending on the year of celebration a lantern procession takes place.

Origins

There are several theories of the origins of this festival, but the first recorded description was made by Robert Morton Nance in 1927 in the magazine ''Old Cornwall''. Nance described the festival as it existed around the start of the 20th century. Within this work Nance also speculated that the name Bawcock was derived from Beau Coq ( French) - he believed the cock was a herald of new light in

Pagan Paganism (, later 'civilian') is a term first used in the fourth century by early Christians for people in the Roman Empire who practiced polytheism, or ethnic religions other than Christianity, Judaism, and Samaritanism. In the time of the ...

times and the origins of the festival were pre-Christian. The most likely derivation of the name 'Bawcock' is from

Middle English Middle English (abbreviated to ME) is a form of the English language that was spoken after the Norman Conquest of 1066, until the late 15th century. The English language underwent distinct variations and developments following the Old English pe ...

use (influenced by French) where "bawcock" is a nickname for a fine or worthy fellow. An example of such use can be found in Shakespeare's ''

Twelfth Night ''Twelfth Night, or What You Will'' is a romantic comedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written around 1601–1602 as a Twelfth Night entertainment for the close of the Christmas season. The play centres on the twins Viola an ...

'' Act 3. Scene 4: "Why, how now, my bawcock!" As the name Tom was often used as a generic description for any man, it is likely that Tom Bawcock was a symbolic name for 'any fine fellow' who risked his life in pursuit of fishing.

Midwinter Midwinter is the middle of the winter. The term is attested in the early Germanic calendars where it was a period or a day which may have been determined by a lunisolar calendar before it was adapted into the Gregorian calendar. It appears with s ...

celebrations were also common in one of Cornwall's other principal traditional occupations:

mining Mining is the Resource extraction, extraction of valuable geological materials and minerals from the surface of the Earth. Mining is required to obtain most materials that cannot be grown through agriculture, agricultural processes, or feasib ...

. Picrous Day and Chewidden Thursday seem to have similar origins to Tom Bawcock's Eve. The only similar tradition in the British Isles that can be traced is St. Rumbold's night at

Folkestone Folkestone ( ) is a coastal town on the English Channel, in Kent, south-east England. The town lies on the southern edge of the North Downs at a valley between two cliffs. It was an important harbour, shipping port, and fashionable coastal res ...

Kent Kent is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Essex across the Thames Estuary to the north, the Strait of Dover to the south-east, East Sussex to the south-west, Surrey to the west, and Gr ...

. This celebration also took place near Christmas time where eight whitings were offered in a feast to celebrate St. Rumbold In Italy, a Christmas Eve feast including numerous fishes is called 'Il Cenone', 'Big Dinner', or sometimes 'Cena della Vigilia' ( the dinner of the vigil). Today the observance the feast of the Vigil is rarely practised in Italy, but survives in

Italian-American Italian Americans () are Americans who have full or partial Italians, Italian ancestry. The largest concentrations of Italian Americans are in the urban Northeastern United States, Northeast and industrial Midwestern United States, Midwestern ...

households, where it is better known as the Feast of the Seven Fishes.

''The Mousehole Cat''

The children's book '' The Mousehole Cat'' by Antonia Barber was inspired by the traditions and practice of Tom Bawcock's Eve and resulted in a television production of the same name. (Ms Barber lists Star-Gazy Pie as a staple of Mousehole diet ''before'' Tom's heroic fishing expedition, however, whereas according to tradition it dates from his return and legendary catch.)

Folk music traditions

There is an ongoing folk music tradition associated with Tom Bawcock's Eve. The words were written by Robert Morton Nance in 1927, to a traditional local tune called the 'Wedding March'. It is believed that Nance first observed the festivities around the start of the 20th century. His version runs as follows: The dialect used in the words of the song translate as follows:- * 'Morgy' = Morgey: Cornish 'seadog' is still the term used in Cornwall and Scotland for Dogfish * 'Lances' = Sometimes 'Launces' Sand eels * Rauning/Running = Hungry or Ravenous * 'Scad' = Horse Mackerel * 'Fair Maids' = Smoked Pilchards - a corruption of 'formade', from the Spanish word 'fumade' or smoked. * 'bra' thrusty jades' = Bra' is short for 'brave' and 'Jade' is an old word used in England and Scotland to mean 'Wild young woman' * 'Oozles' = Throats (windpipes) * 'Clunk' = to swallow; Cornish; ''kolennki'' 'swallow' * Bumpers = large glass, full to overflowing The song appears on four of the albums by Cornish singer Brenda Wootton: ''Piper's Folk'' (1968), ''Starry Gazey Pie'' (1975), ''Way Down to Lamorna'' (1984) and ''Voice of Cornwall'' (1996).

References

External links

Sample Stargazy Pie at Tom Bawcock’s Eve in Mousehole
(Eyewitness account of the celebration) {{Culture of Cornwall Festivals in Cornwall Culture of Cornwall December observances Winter in England Cornish festivals Christmas meals and feasts Mousehole

Origins

''The Mousehole Cat''

Folk music traditions

See also

References

External links