Scarborough Historical Pageant and Play 1912
*Guest post by Keith Johnston, Scarborough Archaeological and Historical Society*
“The verdict upon Scarborough’s Historical Pageant will be that financially it might have been a greater success; in every other respect it could not have been.” (The Scarborough Mercury, 6 September 1912))
Scarborough Historical Pageant 1912 Book of Words - by kind permission of Keith Johnston
When, early in 1911, it was decided to follow the examples of York in 1909 and Pickering in 1910 and to stage a historical pageant at Scarborough, it was believed that a number of objectives could be achieved. It would be an opportunity to display Scarborough’s history and to educate people about it, to involve townspeople and others in a community project, to advertise the town and to bring in visitors, thereby boosting the holiday season, and to make a profit that could be put to good use. There was much success with regard to many of these objectives, but instead of a profit being made, the pageant resulted in a loss financially, in spite of a second set of performances designed to reduce the deficit on the first series.
The pageant, staged between 9 and 13 July 1912, and again between 28 and 31 August, depicted in a prologue, fourteen episodes and an epilogue, events in the history of Scarborough that were, in many cases, connected to the wider history of England. As with many other pageants, the events dealt with began with prehistoric times; unusually for the Edwardian period, Scarborough’s pageant did not stop with Tudor times but contained a number of episodes set in the seventeenth century and even an eighteenth-century scene. Prehistoric incidents in Episode I were followed by Romans and Druids and then by Vikings with the sack of Scarborough by Harald Hardrada and Tostig in 1066. The Earl of Albemarle being dispossessed of Scarborough Castle in 1154 by one of King Henry II’s officers formed episode 4. Cistercian monks and Franciscan Friars were the subject of the next scene, which was written by the Rev. A. N. Cooper, Vicar of Filey, a history graduate and widely known as “the walking parson” as a result of his long distance tramps. Then Edward I held his court at Scarborough, Piers de Gaveston was taken from Scarborough Castle in the following reign and the visit of Richard III to the town in 1484 was depicted in a scene that featured fishermen performing the Flamborough Sword Dance and children a Morris Dance. Episode IX featured the castle being taken by stratagem in 1554, during the reign of Mary, an event that gave rise to the famous Scarborough warning – “a word and a blow – but the blow first”.
Vikings from the Scarborough Historical Pageant of 1912. From A Pictorial Record of the Scarborough Historical Pageant 1912. By kind permission of the Scarborough Museums Trust.
Edward I in the Scarborough Historical Pageant of 1912. From A Pictorial Record of the Scarborough Historical Pageant 1912. By kind permission of the Scarborough Museums Trust.
Miss Taylor as Scarborough in the Scarborough Historical Pageant of 1912. From A Pictorial Record of the Scarborough Historical Pageant 1912. By kind permission of the Scarborough Museums Trust.
The seventeenth century was a very important period in Scarborough’s history and it featured in four of the pageant’s episodes. They dealt with the discovery of the Spa waters, vitally important for the town’s development as a resort, the surrender of the castle to Parliamentary forces during the Civil Wars, the release in 1666 of George Fox from imprisonment in Scarborough castle and the town’s mayor being tossed in a blanket in 1688 as a punishment for striking the minister during a church service.
Following Episode XIV, set in the second half of the eighteenth century, came the Epilogue, which included, besides the hymn “O God, Our Help” and the national anthem, the Song of Scarborough, chosen from entries in a competition:
Now for Scarborough, our Scarborough, and the glory of her days,
For the wonder, beauty, passion, give we humble thanks and praise.
Heed we well her changeful story in our living scroll unfurled,
From her dimly-guessed beginnings in an immemorial world
See Iberian and Gael, Bard and Druid come and go,
Hear the tramp of Roman Legions, battle-cries of friend and foe;
Rebels, traitors, pirates throng her, war-men from a distant land,
Now the Dane, a-rage for ravin, lays her low with fire and brand,
Monarch, lord and knight attending lend their lustre to her name,
Fill the pages of her annals, bright or dark with deathless fame.
Mark how gentler, sweeter spirits mingle with the motley throng,
Men of God and men of learning, singers of immortal song
Lo! they pass; but proudly rising on the hill, twixt bay and bay,
Scarred by tempest, siege and battle, stands her Castle old and grey.
Perished are the arms that held her, all her blazon swept away,
Yet the majesty and glory of the Queen we love to-day,
Hail her “Queen,” our dear and fair one, safe from storm and stress at last;
Guard the wealth of worth she gathered in the far and fateful past
May she, clad and crowned with honour, burning with divine desire,
Ever hide in peace and beauty, and to noblest fame aspire.
So for Scarborough, our Scarborough, and the glory of her days,
For the wonder, beauty, passion, give we humble thanks and praise.
Although it was desired to educate people – including the children from local schools who attended the final dress rehearsal in July – about Scarborough’s past, it was recognised that entertainment was also very important. With reference to one of the August performances, a local reporter commented “The history of the ancient Castle and of the Scarborough district, which have figured so prominently in English annals, was shown with all the brilliant spectacular effect of successful pageantry, the colour of dress and armour and fluttering flags, the excitement of battle, and the glitter of courtly glamour”.
The pageant certainly benefited from a fine site. A number of possible locations had been considered, but there was general agreement that the Castle headland was the best possible location. At first it was intended to use the inner bailey, near the keep, but when Scarborough Corporation was not in favour of a proposal to make a break in its wall to facilitate the staging of the pageant, it was decided instead to use the main part of the Castle yard, with the keep and inner bailey as background. This would allow for a larger grandstand and a considerably larger number of performers, adding greatly to the spectacular effect of the performance.
View from the Grandstand in the Scarborough Historical Pageant of 1912. From A Pictorial Record of the Scarborough Historical Pageant 1912. By kind permission of the Scarborough Museums Trust.
The finale of the Scarborough Historical Pageant of 1912. From A Pictorial Record of the Scarborough Historical Pageant 1912. By kind permission of the Scarborough Museums Trust.
The pageant had been advertised as “admittedly the best dressed pageant ever held” and the production of the costumes, armour, weapons, flags and banners involved a great many people. In addition to about 1,300 performers, approximately five hundred others worked to try to make the pageant a great success. Here the town benefited not only from having an able, enthusiastic and experienced Pageant Master, Gilbert Hudson, but also from the experiences of others who had worked to make the York and Pickering pageants successful. The aim of having a project that would involve the local community was fully realised, even if at times the producers worried that they would not be able to recruit enough male performers! Political differences were put aside: the local Liberal M.P., Walter Rea, supported the pageant and his wife played Lady Cholmley while the town’s prospective Conservative candidate, Captain the Hon. George Monckton Arundell, took the part of Pageantry. Social events were organised to enable the participants to relax together.
Gilbert Hudson, Pageant Master of the Scarborough Historical Pageant of 1912. From A Pictorial Record of the Scarborough Historical Pageant 1912. By kind permission of the Scarborough Museums Trust.
C Hylton Stewart, one of the two masters of the music in the Scarborough Historical Pageant of 1912. From A Pictorial Record of the Scarborough Historical Pageant 1912. By kind permission of the Scarborough Museums Trust.
Mrs Rea as Lady Cholmley in the Scarborough Historical Pageant of 1912. From A Pictorial Record of the Scarborough Historical Pageant 1912. By kind permission of the Scarborough Museums Trust.
The extent to which the pageant brought people into Scarborough and thus benefited the town’s holiday season is difficult to assess. Certainly the pageant was widely advertised, not only in Great Britain but also in the United States, and a range of accommodation providers, including the Grand Hotel, referred to the pageant in their newspaper adverts. House parties were arranged and excursion trains run. Newspaper reports indicate that organised groups visited Scarborough with the purpose of witnessing the pageant.
After the positive reviews of the pageant performances in July 1912 and the general feeling that the town had done itself proud, it came as a shock to many to discover that a financial loss had been made. Expenses of over £5,800 had exceeded revenue by more than £1,670 and guarantors were faced with a call of ten shillings in the pound. In an attempt to reduce or even eliminate the deficit it was decided to have further performances in August. These, however, only made a small profit and even that was wiped out by extra expenses that had come to light since the original statement of accounts had been drawn up. The guarantors were called upon to honour their commitments.
The performers of the Scarborough Historical Pageant of 1912 leaving the castle. From A Pictorial Record of the Scarborough Historical Pageant 1912. By kind permission of the Scarborough Museums Trust.
The crowd on their way to a performance of the Scarborough Historical Pageant of 1912. From A Pictorial Record of the Scarborough Historical Pageant 1912. By kind permission of the Scarborough Museums Trust.
Why had a financial
loss been made? Some said the grandstand had cost too much, others that tickets
were too highly priced for some would-be spectators. Others had gone to see the
royal visitors to Yorkshire in July instead of travelling to Scarborough to
witness the pageant. The Mercury
blamed bad management, stating “the business methods which have been pursued
have not been what they should have been”.
In October 1912, while those responsible for the Scarborough pageant were still trying to sort out its finances, Joshua Rowntree, former M.P. for Scarborough and also a past mayor of the town, gave an address on the subject of the pageant. His message was that rather than focusing on the financial losses, people should have positive memories: “Some hundreds of their people had made a great effort to present a lifelike succession of scenes from its history to the public, and for this they might well be grateful.” Amongst the things he hoped would remain from that effort was “a strong sense of the value of history, of the links which bound us to the past”.
Memory and Muses. From A Pictorial Record of the Scarborough Historical Pageant 1912. By kind permission of the Scarborough Museums Trust.