Lichfield Bower 2009.
Today I attended my first Lichfield Bower. The Bower is well known in Lichfield and nearby areas. It is a festival held each spring on a bank holiday. It is about 800 years old. A statute of Henry II of England (1134-1159) ordered that all men capable of bearing arms should be inspected by the magistrates. To enable him to do this Henry set up a Commission of Arraye which had every year to submit to the king, a return of all the men-at-arms available throughout the kingdom.
Bower morris dancers |
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Since there was no standing army, this was a way to find out how many men could fight in a war. The men would then march through the streets and retire at a ‘Bower House’ for roast beef and spirits. This ensured a good turn-out. These musters were known as the Courtes of Arraye, and in Lichfield the Courte of Arraye was always held on Whit Monday. The Lichfield Bower parade was (and still is) accompanied by morris dancers with drum and tabor and by people from the churches carrying figures of saints garlanded with flowers (known as ‘posies’). |
After the Reformation, the figures of saints were replaced by the tableaux representing different trades, but the term ‘posie’ was still used to describe them.
By the time of James II the country has a standing army, famous regiments such as the Coldstream and Grenadier Guards and the Royal Scots were already in existence. It was decided that the Commission of Arraye was no longer needed and it was abolished in 1960. At this time the Courts of Arraye ceased to exist throughout the country, except in Lichfield where the inhabitants decided that as they enjoyed Bower Day so much they would continue to observe it, which they continue to do to this day.
Most of the ancient features of the Bower still survive – the Court of Arraye is held in the Guildhall, when the Mayor inspects the ‘men-at-arms’, the procession through the streets includes the morris dancers and military bands, and the place of the posies has been taken by the tableaux mounted on lorries and trailers. But, as in the past, the principal feature of the Bower is a jolly good day out for all.