Crow Fair 2006

The centrepiece of the Fair is the Crow Dance, last performed by men of the village in 1972. Fran Bennett has talked about it to those old Crow Dancers who are still around, in order to make the performance as authentic as possible. In the 90s, the dance was performed by the children of the local primary school, and the music which the school used is on the MADCA website.

We do not know who performed this music - can you tell us? - but we downloaded it, burnt it to a CD, and sent it to Mike Thomas of Foxes Bark, who had agreed to play for us. He wrote down the music from the CD, which was not an easy task, so that he and Marion could learn it.

A beautiful day, blue sky, a hot summer's day but with enough cool breeze to keep us all happy. Ideal weather sent for Moulton's first Crow Fair for a long time.


Mike and Marion from "Foxes Bark" prepare to perform the music. They are well known in Moulton, where they have performed many times over the years.	Farmer brings the Scarecrow out and sets him up in the dance arena.

Scarecrow is absolutely motionless, and because the dance has not been performed for some time, most people do not realise that he contains a beating heart!	The entry of the Crows, all of whom have been guaranteed anonymity by both their costumes and the organisers.




As the dance reaches a climax, pigeons are released and fly off. Farmer shoots a couple of crows, killing one and wounding another, and the Crows depart.

Then, to the surprise of many, Scarecrow slowly comes to life, dances briefly, and leaves.

End of the Crow Dance.	Bob Latham and ?, two of the Moulton men who were Crow Dancers many years ago, enjoy the modern version.

My Dad's a Crow Dancer!	Farmer and Scarecrow compare notes after the dance.

Resurrecting a village tradition after such a long time is difficult. Fran has spent a lot of time, tracking down old Crow Dancers, asking them how things were done in the past, trying to get things right. If any of our readers can give us more information about the Crow Dance, particularly if the music has been written down anywhere, we would love to hear from you.

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