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| Valhalla (1896) by Max Brückner. |
I can't remember the last time I heard a Latin 16th century arrangement of an originally late medieval monophonic hymn at a Butlin's Holiday Centre ...or whatever they are called now they've stopped calling them 'camps'? During last weekend I did something I thought I'd never do again, I went the the Great British Fok Festival at Butlins, Skegness.
Although the weather was relatively kind to us on this occasion, it is still a distinctly chilled place to be for likes of West Mercians such as myself, right over there on the east coast of England... in December. However, it is not the weather that puts me off returning to this venue...it is the relentless charges for everything in places like these that puts me off.
I will not for example pay £1.35 at an ATM to get my own money out of the machine. I'll spend less instead until I can get to the free cashpoint at the local Co-op shop - open from 8 am 7 days per week - a mile or so down the road.
This working class pleasure dome and British institution called Butlins is universally known across the UK.
I have worked at three Butlins camps myself (when they still were called camps before Guantanamo soured the image).
Although the weather was relatively kind to us on this occasion, it is still a distinctly chilled place to be for likes of West Mercians such as myself, right over there on the east coast of England... in December. However, it is not the weather that puts me off returning to this venue...it is the relentless charges for everything in places like these that puts me off.
I will not for example pay £1.35 at an ATM to get my own money out of the machine. I'll spend less instead until I can get to the free cashpoint at the local Co-op shop - open from 8 am 7 days per week - a mile or so down the road.
This working class pleasure dome and British institution called Butlins is universally known across the UK.
I have worked at three Butlins camps myself (when they still were called camps before Guantanamo soured the image).
The tales of camp life in my youth would have easily fuelled a few dozen folk songs I'm sure... but sadly none they would play on the BBC, or at Butlins for that matter.
Anyway here is a video of Steeleye Span performing an encore of Gaudete (or rejoice in English) which is about as christmassy as I ever get.
The complete text of "Gaudete" including the refrain: Latin |
English |
|---|---|
| Gaudete, gaudete! Christus est natus Ex Maria virgine, gaudete! |
Rejoice, rejoice! Christ is born (Out) Of the Virgin Mary — rejoice! |
| Tempus adest gratiæ Hoc quod optabamus, Carmina lætitiæ Devote reddamus. |
The time of grace has come— what we have wished for, songs of joy Let us give back faithfully. |
| Deus homo factus est Natura mirante, Mundus renovatus est A Christo regnante. |
God has become man, To the wonderment of Nature, The world has been renewed By the reigning Christ. |
| Ezechielis porta Clausa pertransitur, Unde lux est orta Salus invenitur. |
The closed gate of Ezekiel Is passed through, Whence the light is born, Salvation is found. |
| Ergo nostra contio Psallat iam in lustro; Benedicat Domino: Salus Regi nostro. |
Therefore let our gathering Now sing in brightness Let it give praise to the Lord: Greeting to our King. |
| Thanks to Wikipedia for the translation of this beautiful old English carol...... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gaudete |
Meanwhile back in Xanadu aboard Airstrip One.... there is nowhere on these shores where the true meaning of that particular Orwellian epithet could be more clearly demonstrated, than the heavily defended east coast of England. But here we are in the next video montage from the Jellyfish Lounge, Butlins, Skegness in the Danelaw lands with music by Panjenix. Be glad the Solstice approaches!
Aaron, I've often said as nickle-and-diming becomes the norm for 'events' that the counterculture movement became New Age when it added double-entry bookkeeping. It's certainly made the experience less than what it could.
ReplyDeleteThen again, I'd've cheerfully paid to hear this -as I'm a huge fan of Medieval and 'ancient' music.
Cheers, from this part of Oceania!
Cheers Will, I think your observation about the counterculture-New Age metamorphosis being driven by 'nickle and diming' is to use a pun 'right on the money'.
DeleteThe so called Great British Folk Festival is in its 4th year. I tried to get there on Year 1... had tickets but was prevented by snow blocked road closures and treacherous driving conditions, went to the Year 2 one and swore never to go again, missed Year 3 altogether... but was cruelly seduced by the prospect of seeing both Fairport Convention and Steeleye Span at the same gig this year.
Little did I know at the time I booked that Butlin's would put them both on in seperate venues at the same time, neither venue had sufficient seating for the people they crammed in, so I only saw the first bit of the Fairport set so I could catch as much as possible of the Steeleye gig.
Never again!
Give me a little folk club or pub every time. It does show however what a commercially desirable phenomenon the third (or is the fourth?) British folk music revival and particularly the growth in English cultural identity is. Whilst this is a happenstance I view in a generally favourable light, the commercialisation of 'roots' music and the exploitation of the festival set means paradoxically I think, that this particular struggle is won (for the timebeing until fashions change). Entrepreneurs have seen its potential, so we can now turn our attentions elsewhere, the folk revival is obviously flying on automatic pilot if they can fill this Summer pleasure dome in December at enormous grasping gain.
Thanks for your observations here Will a free person is the one who attends a free concert... all the rest of us are relegated to the dehumanised status of consumers, or actually less than that, mere 'punters' by whoever decided to pay for his daughters wedding in the Maldives by staging a 'folk' event to wring our hard earned pennies out of us at every possible opportunity.
As my old Granny used to say (and they don't come more 'roots' than her) "look after your pennies lad... and the pounds will look after themselves."
Too right Gran! I'm done with the Great British Folk Festival.
Ok that first clip was pretty full-on religious for me. Good though. I've just spent my day at the altar of consumerism pre-xmas day, ie shopping, can't seem to cut myself free of the xmas expectations sadly. Still its all done now for another year, and now I can just get ready to enjoy a day with my family. The Bulins experience is alien to us down here of course but there was that funny Hi-de-hi programme some years ago so at least I have some idea of what you are describing.
ReplyDeleteOk, over and out from the grinch lol
Thanks for your comments Iri, I thought it interesting that you viewed Steeleye Span doing Gaudete as a religious thing, which of course it was originally intended to be.
DeleteSteeleye Span had a UK singles chart hit with the song in 1973 and if you listen to the first few seconds of the video someone in the crowd "screams" with excitement when they start singing it. That sort of surprised me at the time as I mused on how the medieval monks would have reacted to what sounds like a spontaneous orgasm from deep inside Butlin's North Sea pleasure dome. I think the squeal was actually one of recognition because of Gaudete's former chart success, it should be noted that it is not just the usual "folk" crowd at this event, there is also a large contingent of people who attend these events because they like Butlins and off season weekenders are usually fairly cheap. The same people will be at the Sounds of the 80s weekend or the Country and Western weekend when they can, so this was not the usual UK folk festival scene at all. The second video shows a bit of Butlins where these two cultures collide.....despite the messing about at the start of video 2 all the sounds and images are all in realtime, the band was behind me in a bar area, the bubble thing right next to where I was sitting it is a straightforward video of 4 minutes at Butlins, Skegness in December.
Somehow when you put the flashing light glitter and the big hit medieval carol together the spirit of Christmas in the UK starts to shine through.
Hope you have a great chilled out Christmas with your family Iri -
Hi-di-hi :-)
I have to concur with Iri Ani that we don't get the Butlin's experience, AA, but it sounds like yours was a good deal of fun at times--if not something that would fit in as "fun" for the whole family.
ReplyDeleteIt too is frustrating for me when I have traveled to a concert or a sporting event or a county fair to find all the little fees for every stupid thing. The money itself is not as much the issue as the feeling that one is being "nickeled and dimed" over and over. I swore off state and county fairs in my area for just that reason--you are constantly paying for see live acts at inflated prices that are often in sites that put you jammed-together with others.
ATM machines are the some of the best examples. My favorite was a visit to Los Angeles a couple months BEFORE the 1984 Olympics where the Committee wanted to charge people five dollars just to STAND inside the entrance to the LA Coliseum to see the empty stadium and the workers putting together the VIP seating for the Opening Ceremony.
I passed on that experience.
DeleteButlins is a whole sociological area of study in itself I think Doug.
DeleteSkegness was the first of the Butlins holiday camps opened by Billy Butlin in 1936.
This was at a time of interwar depression and the camps were allegedly the result of a bad holiday experience Billy Butlin had at a B&B on Barry Island, South Wales...he resolved to create an affordable (to many) working class holiday experience which were very successful and still remain although very different to the originals liked by some people. They were especially suited to families on restricted budgets because they were the first 'all-in' attractions ...where once the holiday was paid for there were no extra costs...as I note above that's certainly changed, now its extra costs for everything of course.
My family never went, we passed a few camps in the car when I was a kid, put my pleas for a 'day ticket' fell always on deaf ears. my parents were never big on recreational collectivism, they always prefered to 'do their own thing' and did their best to avoid crowds.
My dad would never queue for anything that was not essential to physical survival, it was not unusual for us to get up about 5am on Sunday mornings pile in the old Morris Minor and drive the 130 miles (210 km) to the North Wales coast for breakfast, a game of crazy golf in the park, a stroll along the prom, pop and sandwiches on the sea front and home again for tea.
Your dad might have had his fill of "lining up" for things during the war. Sounds like both he and my dad shared a similar aversion to crowds on his time off. I remember when my family first moved to California going down to Disneyland in 1964 and discovering it was closed! I was crushed, but soon we were at another site called "Knott's Berry Farm" and I was back in good form.
DeleteYour pre-dawn adventures sound eccentric and just the stuff of fun memories.
Interesting info about Billy Butlin. I read walt Disney had a similar negative experience at a midwestern carnival, and decided to open "Disneyland" near Anaheim, southern California based on the idea that a very clean, family-friendly park of attractions would be a money-maker and a good adjunct for his movie and television empire. Most people thought he was daft, including his own brother. I can't say much for Disney's politics, but he was a creative man and a gambler and it paid off.
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