MASKS AND WILDING

The shonky and conspicuously hand made masks worn by the Human Organs  (right) have gone down well.   Given the ease with which the rough music of the organs  can be  played, and the anonymity that  the masks can provide, there's no reason why the organists need always be the same people. Wearing the masks correctly is probably as difficult as playing the music. There's a fine line between a mask and a hat. 

..so, Charter weekend in Ulverston and a bit of basic onomastics:  The town name is either from  the Old Norse personal name Úlfarr, or the Old English Wulfhere; the  ton, comes from old English meaning "farmstead" or "village". The personal names Úlfarr and Wulfhere both translate roughly as "wolf warrior" or "wolf army", which explains the presence of a wolf on the coat of arms and, if you want it to, could explain the gutters full of fake fur after our wolf pack mask session in the street on saturday afternoon. (left)

By the end of the session, the crowds on Market Street were seeded with small wolves, From what we heard, a lot of these masks will be turning  up in the street again at hallowe'en, or at the lantern procession. 

That would be nice. The wulfhere angle is a very pleasing rhyme and we'll happily go along with it but the pubtalk afterwards was of undercurrents, 'obby 'osses, equine skulls and the disruptive license bestowed by mask and costume; of the great pleasure in running these  open air workshops, of watching kids make something with their folks and then walk away in it, into the crowd, snarling, slightly other; of a possible re-wilding.