Kineton and District History Group

It is always a great pleasure to welcome back a speaker who has given such splendid talks before and this was certainly the case when Mari Macdonald visited the group for the April meeting to speak about Easter customs.

Her previous subjects had been historical - The Battle of Edgehill and The Gunpowder Plot for instance, but this time she took as her topic the field of folklore and tradition, focussing particularly on Warwickshire.  Most peopel knew a few of the traditions, but almost everyone learned something new.

Miss Macdonald started by tracing the origins of many Easter customs to the days of the Vikings and even earlier.  the sun had always been an important part of primative worship and it is believed that the great disc of the sun was the origin of the football used in the town football matches played at Easter, when the game is virtually a free-for-all, ranging from one end of the town to the other in such places as Ashbourne in Derbyshire.

The sun also became a symbol of Jesus Christ's reserection and as in so many instances the Christian faith took over ans adapted pagan customs.  The speaker pointed out how English folklore had a habit of taking over and generally softening these customs, for instance the mysterious and powerful Easter hare had become the fluffy Easter bunny!

Miss Macdonald was left in no doubt as to how much her talk, with its mixture of humour and serious fact had been appreciated.

A Viking visited the March meeting of Kineton and District Local History Group.  Announced by by his splendid horn, he strode into the village hall clad in helmet, pieces of armour and woollen clothing to announce himself as Martin Way, about to give the group a lecture on Glimmer in the Dark, a celebration of art and craftsmanship in Anglo-Saxon England.

The rest of the evening more than lived up to this dramatic opening.  By the end of it, Mr Way had convinced the members that any idea that Anglo-Saxon England was the Dark Ages, was totally mistaken.  He had not only provided the group with well chosen slides illustrating the exquisite artefacts that the Saxons left behind, but also in particular metalwork, some domestic, some some with a war-like puirpose, they all displayed a degree of craftsmanship and design that passing centuries have not bettered.  Skilled warriors these ancestors of ours might have been, but they were also people of great artistic sensitivity and skills.

Mr Way allowed time for the group to examine the generous number of artefacts he had brought with him and the number of questions asked of him after the lecture shows how much interest he had generated in the members of the group.  Never again will they think of Anglo-Saxon England as being a Dark Age.

The January meeting of the Kineton and District Local History Group saw the usual successful combination of AGM and annual supper.  The AGM proceeded smoothly, with David Freke re-elected as Chairman and the rest of the committee and officers re-elected en-bloc, with the welcome addition to the committee of Roger Gaunt.  The President Lord Willoughby de Broke presided.

There followed an ingenious and informative quiz devised by David Beaumont, a founder member of the Group, who raided his fine collection of local photographs which members had to identify.  It was surprising how many even Kineton residents found they were unable to recognise!

However, the quiz was enjoyed by al, as an appetiser for the supper - once again the catering for the buffet supper was done by Isobel Gill, who provided an ample and delicious spread.

The evening ended with two comic monologues by group member Richard Acton, which was enjoyed by all.  Members left feeling that a very happy evening as well as an instructive one had been spent and it is not every AGM about which this can be said!