Post by Joanna on Sept 9, 2014 22:15:20 GMT -5
The Corn Identity: Straw Jack paraded in pagan pub crawl
CARSHALTON, London, U.K. – Straw Jack was paraded through the streets of Carshalton at the weekend, as part of an old pagan ritual to mark the end of the harvest. Now in its 10th year, the Carshalton Straw Jack Procession started at The Duke’s Head in Wallington Green, and finished off at The Hope in West Street, Carshalton. The event is part of a nationwide revival of traditional folk culture, with Jack being made out of the last straw of the harvest.
The followers of the parade often dress up in colourful outfits and play musical instruments. They visited six pubs along the route for a swift pint, or as one organisor put it: "We stopped off at several of Carshalton’s finer hostelries to take restorative libations."
The parade took place Saturday, September 6, from 12pm to 5pm.
Source: Tom Gillespie, LocalLondon, September 9, 2014.