Julian Cope presents Head Heritage

I know its a coincidence with Armistace Day, and Mother's and Father's Day too, probably, but I find it elegant that the year still follows ancient patterns.

The year is divided by festivals which reflect the farming calendar and the life cycles of the pagan gods and goddesses. Midsummer is the festival of the Sun-God/All-Father at the height of his manly powers. It's also the beginning of the summer's peak. This festival began midsummer and lasted 3 days to the main events, and sometimes carried on for days afterwards too.

Games are held which reflect the attributes of summer and manhood at its peak. Competitions testing physical prowess and battle skills. Sword dancing used to be a fierce demonstration of a warrior's skill (male or female)for instance, though now it has deteriorated into a highland fling type of dance for the tourists. Tossing the caber, horse racing, shot putting, hammer throwing, all the things you see at a Highland Games or a Borders Common Riding in the present day, though now the games are more staggered which occured as they became more important as markets and travelling to them all in rotation was needful for buyers and sellers alike.

Competitions in farming prowess also occur, so cattle and produce are also judged and prizes awarded. The Bounds are Beaten (the boundaries are ceremonially marked/ridden by all the men). Checking the boundaries goes on continuously, but this is a ceremony to mark it as a custom. So called because young boys on their first initiatory experience of being men ride the bounds and are beaten at each one to make sure they never forget where and how important they are. They let women go on the Common Riding in most places in the last 20 years, and don't tend to beat anyone anymore, its all become more ceremonialised. The Best Lad is chosen, the handsomest, most virile, most skillful, single male rider. He then chooses a Best Lass. Titles vary around the country for these two, in my home town of Hawick he was the Cornet and the Cornet's Lass.

Trading occurred while everyone was together at most festivals, horse, sheep, pig and cattle markets, prices no doubt improved by having a winning animal in the livestock competitions. All the other festival activities would occur too, like dancing, storytelling, singing and religious rituals marking the sun reaching its peak and finally swinging back on itself in its rising and setting by the third day, marking the beginning of its decline in powers, and those of the All-Father/Sun-God with it.