Little Egypt Heritage Articles eduda tsunogisdi © Bill Oliver 22 October 2006 Vol 5 Issue: #34 ISBN: pending Osiyo, Good Evening Ladies and Gentlemen of Little Egypt, “Traditions” I’ve been told that I have a strange sense of humor; I do like the bizarre, the curious, and the strange. I have saved little bits of these from years in a file folder. And, every so often I find that file and settle into reading. Being a “Marine Brat” I was exposed to foreign customs early in life. Service men of World War II also brought home from distant and faraway lands many remarkable accounts of strange peoples, strange beliefs, and strange ways of living. Strange at least to us Americans. Take eating as an example. We Americans use a napkin [the British call this a baby's diaper], when we eat. We unfold it and spread it over our lap, not tuck it under our chin. When the meal is over, we place the unfolded napkin back on the table. If we leave the table during the meal we lay the unfolded napkin in our chair while we are gone. Other cultures tuck the napkin under their chins, and often fold their napkins when placing them back on the table. Food is picked up with a fork. One can use either your left hand or your right one but most Americans use the right hand except when cutting food, when the fork is in the left and the knife in the right. If you hold the fork in the left hand you can keep your knife in the right to push the food onto the fork. If you use the right hand to eat then a small piece of bread may be used to push things with the left hand. It is still considered correct for a man to seat the females at the table before he sits down. If everyone is seated and a lady comes in to join the table, the men should stand up until she is seated. In most countries this is paramount to good manners; today we might consider this odd. Americans chew with their mouth closed. Our mothers kept telling us to not "smack", or make other strange noises while eating. We don't always follow that rule when alone but when eating with others we try to remember. In some other cultures it is custom to chew food with the mouth open. Eccentricity is not foreign in any culture that I’m aware of. In my neighboring town, the next one up river, lives a man we affectionately call “Polar Bear”. Wednesday last, Mr Herb Mericle turned over time to begin his second century of life. Beside “Polar Bear”, Mr Mericle is known as the “Father of the Polar Dip”, an annual event where folks “dip” themselves in the Maumee River on New Year’s Day at 1430 hours [2:30 p.m.]. He claims to have begun this tradition back when I was but a “tad of a lad” in the 1930s to celebrate his marriage which took place on that day and time of the year in 1936. If my facts are correct though he started his cold water dipping more like 1932, so maybe the timing of his dips brings the event into that particular time. His last plunge was the first of January 2002. Many folks warned him that such tempting of hypothermia and/or frostbite was not healthy. However, he has replied that he was the only one of such advisors yet living. This publicize event brought out spectators and “joiners”. His tradition was not always shared – there have been years when he “dipped” alone. I take a particular fancy to British Folk Customs. Oxford University has several colleges. In All Souls’ College, Oxford, “Hunting the Mallard” was a traditional custom, annual celebration, associated with the Feast, or Gaudy, on January 14th., but is now observed only once in every century. It consists of a ceremonial hunt for the tutelary [a guardian] bird of All Souls. In this case, a mallard of great size that, according to legend, was discovered in a drain when the foundations of the college were being laid in 1437. There is always a debate as to whether it was buried there, or very much alive and, being disturbed by the workmen, flew away and was lost. Hence, on Mallard Night, after the feasting had ended, a search used to be made for it by all the Fellows, led by an elected 'Lord Mallard' and six officers appointed by him. These officers carried white staves in their hands, and wore medals struck for the occasion, depicting on one side the Lord Mallard and his attendants, and on the other, the Mallard on a long pole. At midnight, the whole inebriated company would set off in procession, carrying lanterns and torches and raucously singing the Mallard Song, to hunt diligently for their mythical bird in every part of the building, in and out of rooms and closets, along passages, up and down stairs, and out over the leads. The search lasted for several hours, and did not usually end until daybreak. Now I love books and love to read. I was taught [and shown] that books were precious. In fact it was a major offense to destroy any book. My Mother transported our “library” half way around the world and back. It was a Depression Thing, I’m sure. The Honourable [correct British spelling] Maurice Baring was a member of the famous banking family, as well as poet, diplomat, essayist, war correspondent and a noted ‘leafomaniac’. Mr Baring did not collect books, he collected pages from books. If he came upon an interesting passage, he would simply tear out the page and paste it into a notebook. It should be said that at least his habit was confined to his own books and not volumes from the local library. However, once he had extracted what he wanted he simply gave the books away. Every time he moved his “house” he gave away his entire library and started all over. No doubt the recipients were somewhat bemused to find several of the pages missing from each of the volumes. Another ‘leafomaniac’? It is interesting to note that Charles Darwin, the English naturalist, also used to tear out the pages that he wanted from a book, and then just put the bulk of the book in his attic. He did not have a library, as much as a vast set of papers and pages pinned together. For anybody who loves books, the practice seems incomprehensible. Should we think of “sweeps”, it is not usually connected with chimney sweeping. In Rochester, Kent, England, there is a spring bank holiday held on the first weekend in May. A May Day Celebration. This festival owes its roots to age old traditions. Sweeping chimneys was a dirty but necessary trade nearly 300 years ago. The Sweeps Festival is said to be the largest gathering of Morris Dancers in the world. Notably, it is the only true English day where you can join in and listen to the music. The Morris Dancers hold hankies in their hands, or sticks, and have bell-pads tied at their knees, which make a loud and cheerful rhythm as they dance. The custom of men welcoming in the New Year by carrying pans of blazing tar on their heads is still kept alive in Allendale, Northumberland, England on New Year's Eve. The "carriers", dressed in fancy costume, balance on their head the end of a barrel filled with inflammable material. The procession is timed to reach an unlit bonfire shortly before midnight, then each man in turn tosses his flaming "headgear" on to the bonfire, setting it ablaze. On the stroke of twelve, all join hands and dance around the fire, singing Auld Lang Syne. Speaking of barrels of flammable material, there is Guy Fawkes night (5th November), which many of us have heard about. Held at Ottery St. Mary, an internationally renowned place for Tar Barrels, an old custom said to have originated in the 17th century takes place. The annual event involves people racing through the streets of the town, carrying flaming wooden barrels of burning tar on their backs with these words being sung: "Remember, remember, the fifth of November, Gunpowder, treason and plot. We see no reason why Gunpowder treason Should ever be forgot!" In November 1605, the infamous Gunpowder Plot took place in which some Catholics plotted to blow up the English Parliament and King James l, the day set for the king to open Parliament. The men were angry because the king had treated them badly and they didn't care for it. The story is remembered each November when 'Guys' are burned in a celebration known as "Bonfire Night". Remember, “The Night of the Dead” is approaching!!! Soon!!! e-la-Di-e-das-Di ha-wi nv-wa-do-hi-ya nv-wa-to-hi-ya-da. (May you walk in peace and harmony) Wado, Bill -=- 1453 PostScript: