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Elsie J. Oxenham, the Kirkby Malzeard Sword Dance and Captain of the Fifth

February 7, 2021 By allisonmthompson Leave a Comment

Dear Readers, this week’s post is a covid-related detour: due to an early retirement plan offered at my place of work, an option for which I missed the bar by three months, I have now taken on additional duties there and am wearing so many hats that it interferes with my blogging as well as my desire to watch all the seasons of Laurie & Fry playing Bertie and Jeeves. So, while I continue to work on two long posts on both Camp Fire mysteries and the next Abbey Girls installment, An Abbey Champion, here is a little digression on Captain of the Fifth (1922), the second in the Swiss Series and one that shows Anastasia (Tazy, or “Taisez-vous”) Kingston, teaching the Kirkby Malzeard and Flamborough sword dances to the girls at St. Mary’s School in the Swiss Alps. Most of the focus is on the first dance.

My copy of Captain of the Fifth came as a freebie with another purchase—a freebie because it arrived in a plastic bag as a pile of sheets of photocopied paper that had been painstakingly folded and then glued together page back-to-back with page and also along the back spine in a sort of DIY perfect binding. With all the copying and folding and gluing, [Read more…]

Filed Under: Abbey Girls, Uncategorized Tagged With: Abbey Girls, Elsie J. Oxenham, English folk dance, Flamborough Sword Dance, Kirkby Malzeard sword dance, longsword dance

Elsie J. Oxenham and A16_Queen of the Abbey Girls

August 9, 2020 By allisonmthompson 4 Comments

cricket 2A16_Queen of the Abbey Girls takes place in May to November of 1922 and was published by Collins in 1926. It is a strong story with a lot of dancing in it. This installment features Jen Robins—her crowning as the Brown or Beech Queen, her romance, and her presentation to the reader as one of the real spirits of the Abbey. Throughout the rest of the series Jen will retain her bright and merry spirit and she will increasingly become a wise counselor. Queen of the Abbey Girls also features some of the dark side of Joy Shirley: her selfishness and her inability to recognize other people’s emotions. This is another of the series that addresses Faith and God.

Oxenham is now well-set in her series. She is writing for the age group that she preferred: the older teenager or young woman, typically one who must resolve a problem. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Abbey Girls, Uncategorized Tagged With: Cecil Sharp, Elsie J. Oxenham, Flamborough Sword Dance, Hey Boys Up Go We, Kibbo Kift, May Queen

Elsie J. Oxenham and the Abbey Girls: A_11 The Abbey Girls Go Back to School

June 28, 2020 By allisonmthompson Leave a Comment

ag go back 2The current theme of this blog is an examination of Elsie J. Oxenham’s 39-book Abbey Girls series plus some Connectors, in reading order, focusing on the folk dance aspects they contain. With A11_The Abbey Girls Go Back to School, we hit the richest vein of description of Cecil Sharp and his teachers. This volume was published in 1922, and EJO may well have been planning or drafting it while she attended Sharp’s Vacation School at Cheltenham in 1920—it resonates with her now passionate involvement with English folk dance and her admiration of and attachment to Sharp and two of his teachers. If you are a folk dancer and can only read one Abbey Girl book (or wish to only read one!), this is the one to pick up.  The book is dedicated thus: “To Helen Kennedy North and D.C. Daking with thanks for all they have given to me.” Helen Kennedy North (sister of Douglas Kennedy, who ran the EFDS after Sharp’s death) is found herein as “Madam” and Daisie Daking as “the Pixie.”  [Read more…]

Filed Under: Abbey Girls, Elsie J. Oxenham, English Folk Dance, Uncategorized Tagged With: Cecil Sharp, D.C. Daking, Elsie J. Oxenham, English folk dance, Flamborough Sword Dance, Handsworth Sword dance, Helen Kennedy North, Hunsdon House, Maud Karpeles, May Gadd, Morris Dance

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