Hi Larry,
Thanks for the interesting and helpful information about faux saints.
It's a phenomenon new to me, so I'll need to get the book and learn
more.
When I first encountered the record (in Stan's book and in the Grimsby
archives), I had a similar thought--that the bower must refer to a
seasonal game with a Summer or similar lord.
Nineteenth century antiquarians claim, with absolutely no documentary
evidence, that early Grimsby staged Robin Hood games and lots else in
the churchyard. In Somerset I had found Robin Hood and May bowers
everywhere--from Yeovil to Wells, and so have many people in other parts
of the country, of course. The bowers in Somerset were purpose built
little structures used in the games; and the word also suggests a haven
or refuge or shelter. Since I haven't had time yet to learn more about
faux saints, I don't quite know what the French were doing. But
something comes to mind. I've encountered many cases of local folk
appropriating a saint as their own. In Wells, for example, St Andrew
(patron saint of Wells Cathedral) is often referred to in the records as
St Andrew of Wells. Not faux exactly, but faux-ish in that it afixes
elements of local mythology to him. I could see the folk at Grimsby
referring to St John as St John of the Bower (but that's pure
speculation). Anyway, perhaps you are right.
However, a couple of issues continue to bother me.
While the principal festive and fund-raising entertainments in Somerset
parishes tended to be the seasonal kinds of games (lords, ladies, etc.,
ridings, mock battles, etc.), the situation in Lincolnshire was
different in that all the evidence that we have indicates that their
fund-raisers were large religious plays, as at Donington, Lincoln, and
elsewhere. Lincolnshire towns had big, wealthy religious guilds, a
different kind of landscape, and a social environment history that more
resembled East Anglia. What I find in parish and guild records in
Lincolnshire is not summer lords but Ascension plays, for example, or
biblical plays. I wonder, would the second oldest chartered borough in
the county have had only a Summer Lord game as its parish play? Would
it have traveled to other towns to promote that? I don't know. Maybe
so.
(I must stress agreement that Lincolnshire certainly had traditions of
such Summer Lords, wakes,ales, et al, from the time of Robert
Grosseteste all the way to the seventeenth century and beyond; it's just
that they don't show up in records as "the" parish play).
Also, would the mayor of Grimsby have found it necessary to appoint six
of the most important merchants and burgesses of the town (four of them
former mayors) to oversee preparations for a summer lord? I don't know,
but maybe so.
Also, in the year of the entry (1527), Lincolnshire towns were filled
with extremely pious religious guilds then mounting the most elaborate
Corpus Christi processions, plays, music, worship, etc. Royals, their
minions, and their players were strongly present. There might have been
a spirit of drollerie and a faux saint in Grimsby, but, I don't know and
I've found no other evidence of it.
At the moment: I'm thinking that the entry might possibly refer to St
John Baptist somehow appropriated by the locals and connected in its
symbolism with the ruling oligarchy and the sea-going life of the town.
Thanks again Larry, and others
Abby: I'm putting a photocopy of the doc. in the mail.
-----Original Message-----
From: REED-L: Records of Early English Drama Discussion
[mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of nm
Sent: Tuesday, February 10, 2004 1:12 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: a query
Jim--
Sorry to get in on this so late. I don't think this is a real
saint. The Bower is the tip-off. I suggested in my book that this is a
summer lord of some kind and that the bower refers to the structure that
summer lords and ladies used to hold their court. He's a faux saint.
There's a wonderful recent book by my colleague Jacques Merceron
about French faux saints. Don't have the title at hand, but it can be
easily accessed through his name (title begins, I think, Dictionnaire).
The French seem cleverer at this sort of drollerie than the English as
best I can tell.
Larry
On Wed, 28 Jan 2004, James Stokes wrote:
> Is anyone on the list able to shed light on the name Holy John of
> Bower, which appears in the records of Grimsby, Lincolnshire? Is it
> likely to refer to John the Baptist, or is there another saint of that
> particular name who has eluded my best efforts to identify him? Many,
> many thanks for any light cast into this resistant little darkness.
> Jim Stokes
>
