The ancient Feast of St. John (Golowan) was revived ten years ago, it celebrates the Celtic and Cornish past of the town, the surrounding villages, including Newlyn, and the County of Cornwall in general. That sounds a bit pompous, it’s a lot of fun as well, but is the event anything more than a recently devised tourist attraction?
In the Cornish language the word gol means feast or festival and can also be used in the context of wake or vigil. Yowan (pronounced Jowan) is John. So, the literal translation of Gol-Yowan is the vigil or wake of St. John, which falls on Midsummer Eve, June 23rd, and has been celebrated since earliest times. The following account is taken from the Guide to Penzance for 1845. Having read it you may not be surprised to learn that in 1877 it was decided that the form of entertainment described must be banned. In the account below you will see a reference to the Mayor who was obviously doing his best to dampen down proceedings as early as 1845. In 1929 the custom of lighting bonfires on Midsummer Eve was revived and still continues throughout the County today.
From the 1845 Guide to Penzance written by J. S. Courtney:
There is however one custom of the olden time still kept up (in spite of his Worship the Mayor) with something like its pristine splendour. We mean the lighting of large fires and setting off fire works on the eves of St John and St Peter. Pandemonium then seems to have broken loose on Penzance and its neighbourhood. As soon as the evening begins to gather in, the youths from the different parts of the town parade the streets with burning torches, which they swing around their heads with a peculiar circular motion. Some of these are of considerable weight, and they require much exertion and no small skill to keep them from approaching too near the body of the bearer. Thus twisting and wriggling along, with the fitful blaze of the torch reflecting on his or her features (for both sexes mingle in the sport) and you have, without much stretch of the imagination, a strong resemblance of one of the furies. With the increase of darkness there is also an increase in the number of torch bearers; tar barrels and bonfires then blaze in every direction, and as not only Penzance, but also Marazion, and St Michael’s Mount on the one hand, and Newlyn, Mousehole, and Paul on the other, participate in the amusement, the whole bay seems to be lit up and presents a most splendid and brilliant illumination. Meanwhile the central part of town is filled with all classes of individuals who come out to enjoy the scene. Fire works of every description are set off without intermission, and a continued series of flight and chase continues for some hours, it being a principal part of the sport to steal as quietly as possible amongst the crowd and disperse them by the unexpected report of a cracker, or the hissing fire of a serpent. The scene is often extremely ludicrous, and although accidents have sometimes happened, yet as all who appear in the streets are drest suitably to, and prepared for, the occasion, it seldom occurs that they are seriously hurt, or that quarrels take place; indeed the manner of conducting the affair is so well known that ill humour dares not show itself.
About eleven o’clock the spirits of the greater number of those engaged in the sports begin to flag, the fires are also nearly burnt out, and then commences another part, principally enacted by the lads and lasses living in the vicinity of the quay. These form a line, and running through the street call out ‘an eye! an eye! an eye!’ and proceed to thread the needle. For the information of the uninitiated, we will in a few words describe this finish of the evening’s amusement. The line is formed without any regard to the number engaged, except to keep in mind the old proverb of ‘the more, the merrier.’ The two individuals at the upper end then hold high their hands and the whole of the party, beginning with the opposite extremity rush quickly through; this of courses reverses their position, and it is now the turn of those who at first held up their hands, to be the leaders of the thread. Thus alternating, rush after rush takes place, with shouts and laughter, until weariness compels them to desist. Home is now the word, and soon after midnight all is so quiet that a stranger, entering Penzance, could never imagine it to have been the scene of those noisy revellings, which an hour before had been exhibited. The Quay or Midsummer Fair takes place on the following day: this is held on the pier, and is very little different from other pleasure fairs, excepting a custom of having a short trip in a boat which is called ‘having a pen’orth of sea’. This excursion is however mostly taken by the country folks, who in fine weather attend this fair in great numbers. St. Peter’s Eve brings a repetition of the above in every particular, but the fair held on the following day is very much smaller, and consequently thinner attended.
Having read the above account it is easy to pinpoint the origins of many of the events held in Golowan week in this year of 2006 but Health and Safety experts might have something to say if we tried to re-enact the events of 1845 exactly as they took place then, 160 years ago.
Margaret Perry
