Madron

The officers of the Madron Society are:-

Hon. President Mrs. P Snow

Hon. Chairman Mr. R Mathews

Hon. Treasurer M.J.F. Uren

Hon. Secretary Mrs. P Hope Tel. 01736 362290

Recorders Messrs Nicholls, Pollard and Richards

Press & Publicity Mrs H Bawden Tel. 01736 330526

Committee

Vice Presidents Mrs. E Green & Mr. J Hosking

Vice Chairman Mr. D Liddicoat

Publications Mrs. P Snow

Dialect Recorder Mrs. Zip Roberts

General Mesdames. Glasson, Jenkin, King, Liddicoat

The Madron Old Cornwall Society meets at 7.15pm on the third Monday of the month at the Landithy Hall, Landithy, Madron for a talk followed by a pasty supper.

The annual subscription is £3; visitors may be charged 50p. All are welcome so why not come and join us.

Map

Programme.

2008

21st January	More Madron Memories	Peter Scrace
18th February	Images of a Recorder	Michael Tangye MBE
17th March	Our Speaker for the March meeting is now John Potter - A Bygone Era - an absolute feast for steam engine buffs and those interested in farming in the old days!
21st April	Doug Davies’s slides	Roy Matthews
24th April	Annual dinner	Beck’s Fish and Chip Restaurant at 6 pm
19th May	Trereife	Timothy Le Grice

15th September	Meat Matters	Ian Lentern
20th October	Around Cornwall and Beyond	Godfery Stevens
17th November	Annual General Meeting Followed by In Sickness and in Health	Dr Hersant
15th December	Members’ evening and raffle

Outdoor Events

23rd June 2008	Midsummer Bonfire with music and dancing	Bulls View, Madron at 8.30pm
25th June	Porthcurno Telegraph Museum	Annual outing
Friday 5 September at 6-30pm	Crying Of The Neck Reverend Elizabeth Greene, new Methodist minister assisted by Reverend Phillip Williams Penzance Town band	Pasty supper and dancing in the Landithy Hall afterwards (See photos of 2006 event)

Federation Events
5th July	Summer Festival Programme	Callington
1st November 2.pm	Winter Festival	Bodmin
Federation Journal published twice a year
Other Events
August 2008	Esethvos Kernow. Eisteddfod of Cornwall.	Looe
September 2008	Gorsedd	Looe

Crying The Neck - A Harvest Celebration

Click to see photos

On Friday the 1st September at 6.30pm the Madron Old Cornwall Society held a "Crying the Neck" ceremony at Boswarthen Farm, Madron. The banners of both Madron (Doreen King) and Penzance (Burt Prigg) Societies were paraded.

The M.C. was Don Liddicoat, Vice Chairman of Madron Old Cornwall Society and the hymns were accompanied by Penzance Silver Band.

The first hymn was "Praise the Lord! Ye heavens adore him".

This was followed by a prayer which Pat Snow read in Cornish with the English translation being read by Pastor Russell Buley of Trenere Chapel, Madron.

Don Liddicoat then gave an explanation of the ceremony.

'The standing corn was then cut by Mr. Tony Jenkin. After the last cut was made Mr. Jenkin then gathered and bound the corn into shocks and then arranged them into stooks.

The last of the shocks is called 'the neck' and this was raised on high by Tony Jenkin who cried:

"I hav'n; I hav'n; I hav'n."

Everyone then cried together:

"What hav'ee; what hav'ee; what hav'ee?

Tony then replied:

"A neck; a neck, a neck." and the crowd gave three hearty cheers.

The ceremony was then repeated in Cornish.

Tony: "Ma genef; ma genef; ma genef. "

All present: "Pandr' us genes; pandr' us genes; pandr' us genes?

Tony: " Pedn yar; pend yar; pedn yar. "

All present gave three hearty cheers.

The final hymn was then sung "We plough the fields and scatter" followed by the closing prayer.

The ceremony was followed by a service in Madron Chapel with Pastor Russell Buley conducting the service and giving the lesson.

This was in turn followed by a traditional pasty supper.

The ceremony was led by (L.to R.) Pat Snow (Cornish Prayer), Tony Jenkin (Reaper), Don Liddicoat (M.C.) and Mr Russell Buley (English Prayer)

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A revised booklet on the 'Crying The Neck' ceremony with a colour cover and the words of the celebration of harvesting the final sheath of corn for the season in both English and Cornish can be obtained from:

Publications Officer, F.O.C.S., Map Tewen, 6, The Terrace, Pentewan, St Austell, Cornwall, PL26 6DE.

Price £1. Please add £1-00. post & packing to each book in the U.K. Elsewhere price on request.

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Photos by Sandra and George Pritchard

Click on one to see enlarged version.