Fowey Royal Regatta, Floral Dance

There is an old song in the southwest of England, heralding back to Pagan times, that somebody or someone at one time wrote the words to that no one seems to remember. This song is known by all who have heard it once in the form of dun-dun-na-dun-na-na-na-na-na-na and so on or, alternatively, 1, 2, 3, Skip! 1, 2, 3, Skip! It is the Floral Dance.

On the Monday evening of Fowey Royal Regatta, after the working boats and racing boats arrive from Flushing into the old port town of Fowey, the children and women, and sometimes the men too, dress all in white with wreathes of flowers on their heads to parade through the town. They gather at the top of the town on the property of the family who owns have of Fowey and whom open their gates for just this occassion only once a year. The Regatta Queen and Attendants are announced. The procession forms a large queue. And then, the drums begin.