Straw Bear

If at first you don't succeed...

The Straw Bear festival is held at Whittlesea in Cambridgeshire each year on the Tuesday following Plough Monday. Resurrected about 30 years ago, the festival can be dated to at least the 19th century and quite possibly much earlier. In short, a man of the locality dons a suit made of straw, weighing as much as five stone (!) and parades around the town accompanied by dances - molly dances, and sword dances, and a times, mummer's plays. The following day after more music and dance, the costume is burnt. All in all, it is said to be a festive and fun, family day out (a day and a bit if you include the burning on the following day).

There are many links to other traditions and customs that were, perhaps, more widespread across the UK, not least the practice of guising, or dressing up in animals costumes. It is not to hard to see the connection between the donning of the straw costume (including its association with a bear) and Plough Monday. The person bearing the costume being the embodiment of the spirit of the crops being grown over the coming months. Once again the time of year lends itself to a seasonal celebration that unites the community in doing what they can to ensure for a good harvest and better times ahead - or even the survival of the community itself.

If we could find more proof of an ancient heritage of the Straw Bear, it would also not be too much of a stretch of the imagine to see the straw costume, the emodiment of the crops and the ritual burning to be a more pagan version of PLough Monday, both of which would be hoping for the same outcomes. Indeed, a plough forms part of the procession these days.

The ritual burning, and the fact that it is still darkest, coldest winter, would also suggest that the festival is celebrating the end of the old year, and the beginning of the loosening of winter's grip on the land. We are burning the old straw, forgetting the old year; from now on all efforts and strength are to be focused on the year ahead.

For those willing to engage in detailed study of Sir James Frazier's The Golden Bough, there may be resonance with much contained in his magnus opus. That, however, dear reader, is something for you to pursue!

It should also be noted that part of the procession involves knocking on doors and asking for money, and presumably in centuries past, for alms of all sorts. For some this is the essence of the festival, a village community coming together in the lean winter months to ask for help and to support each other. It is hard to see, for modern eyes, why an extravagant and weighty straw costume would be needed - but then those long winter nights weren't filled with Eastenders and reality TV shows...