Country Matters by Arrowsmith Oct 26: Not Fair?

Pictured Above: Giffords in action.

Early last month, passing Stratton Meadows, I suddenly had an unexpected feeling of loss. Giffords Circus, where – together with our young grandchildren – we’d been enchanted by the clowns, acrobats, aerialists and magical performers, their presence had completely left us. A familiar empty field had been returned to us, where somewhere that had never existed before, now stood no more. 

The circus had brought us ‘Waterfield’; a village of imagination. Throughout the season other residents and guests had been to that same location, sited in their own particular Waterfields.

The power to create affections, fears, thrills and laughter has been a skill carried around the World by entertainers for thousands of years.  Sometimes people travelled from countries where their languages didn’t match those where they went. Their work created a generosity which was often not recognised.  Sometimes they were even viewed with suspicion by folks who were eager to take the gifts of joy they offer, but then extremely reluctant to view them as trustworthy.

Entertainers frequently face hard working conditions. Even when they’re thought-of as ‘celebrities’. Certainly, troubadours and wandering minstrels had an unenviable task taking music from Cities to small towns and country gathering places. Early theatre companies like Shakespeare’s would perform at venues such as The New Inn in Gloucester. They probably might not have been able to stay at the Inn!

From those early days, performers have had to travel to earn.  You might think the digital world means artistes can stay at home, program their AI equipment and draw on a passive income,

But live music at the Phoenix Phoestival, shows at the Barn and – later this month – Anna Lapwood playing the organ in Cirencester St John the Baptist Church seem to suggest that audiences aren’t yet ready to stay in and do everything ‘digitally’.

It being October another seasonal country tradition comes to our marketplace.  For the first two weekends it’s time for The Mop.

The Mop is a hiring fair, which combines the historical purpose of a labour exchange with that of the attraction of a travelling funfair.  The relatively recent attraction of English Circuses began in 1768, started by Philip Astley, a cavalryman who created the 42-foot diameter ring which was the ideal size to ride standing bareback on a horse, and later evolved by taking other acts into their travelling spectacles incorporating both human feats and animal taming performances.

Fairs had travelled to destinations granted charters to hold fairs since the Norman conquest.  The largest travelling fair in England is Hull Fair, granted its charter in 1279. Performances held at fairs – music, dance, acrobatics, juggling and contortionism – slowly gave way to helter-skelters, swings and roundabouts.  With the development of steam power and later internal combustion engines, fairs began to include ‘wall of death’ performances. Rides, sometimes involving electrical generators, such as dodgems and ghost-trains reduced the opportunities for locals to compete with fairground travellers at wrestling and bare-knuckle fighting.

Although the Showmen’s Guild – which began in 1889 as The Van Dwellers’ Protection Association – originally started representing Circus people, the world of travelling entertainment has changed immensely.  Over the years it has seen the Romans with their arenas, the Commedia de L’Arte in Venice, silent French Pantomime, even Punch and Judy and the State Circuses of the East. It takes a special type of people to choose the song from Disney’s Pinocchio; “High Diddly Dee, an Actor’s Life For Me”.

If you want to take advantage of catching them at home, Giffords Circus will be performing some winter and Christmas shows at their Barn in Stroud.

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