The Boar’s Head And Yule Log Festival

The Boar’s HeadandYule Log FestivalJanuary 3 & 4, 2015IN THE CIT Y OF CINCINNATI

The Festival’s roots.Oxford University’sQueens College,Oxford, England.The Boar’s Head TraditionFrom Medieval Terrors to Modern Magic1340 - 2015The Boar’s Head Festival is probably the oldest continuing festivalThe dining hall at Queens Collegewhere the Festival has taken placesince 1340.2of the Christmas season. When it came to Cincinnati in 1940, italready had a 600-year history.The pageant’s roots go back to medieval times when wild boarswere the most dangerous animals in European forests. They werea menace to humans and were hunted as public enemies. Like ourThanksgiving turkey, roasted boar was a staple of medieval banquettables—symbolizing the triumph of man over ferocious beast. AsChristian beliefs overtook pagan customs in Europe, the presentationof a boar’s head at Christmas time came to symbolize the triumph ofthe Christ Child over the evils of the world.The festival we know today originated at Queen’s College, Oxford,England, in 1340. Legend has it that a scholar was studying a book ofAristotle while walking through the forest on his way to ChristmasMass. Suddenly he was confronted by an angry boar. Having noother weapon, the quick-witted student rammed his metal-boundphilosophy book down the throat of the charging animal and theboar choked to death. That night, the beast’s head, finely dressedand garnished, was carried in procession into the dining roomaccompanied by carolers.By 1607, a similar ceremony was being celebrated at St. John’sCollege, Cambridge. There, the boar’s head was decorated with flagsand sprigs of evergreen, bay, rosemary and holly. It was carried instate to the strains of the Boar’s Head Carol (still used in the ChristChurch Cathedral ceremony).By then, the traditional festival had grown to include lords, ladies,knights, historical characters, cooks, hunters and pages. Eventually,shepherds and wise men were added to tell the story of the Nativity.More carols were added, as well as accoutrements like mincemeat pie,plum pudding, a Yule log—and Good King Wenceslas.This was the ceremony brought to colonial America by FrenchHuguenots who had experienced it during a period of exile inEngland. A Huguenot family named Bouton settled in Troy, NY,and in 1888, a Bouton became an Episcopal rector and chaplain ofthe Episcopal Hoosac School. He established the first Boar’s HeadFestival in America at the school. It grew over the years, and in 1926,the New York Evening Post called it a “complex and rich tapestry ofexquisite melodies.”In 1939, the rector of a Troy church, the Rev. Nelson MarigoldBurroughs, was called to Christ Church and brought the Boar’s HeadFestival tradition with him. The next year it became the first Boar’s

Head Festival to be performed in a church setting. Since then, thefestival has evolved from a light-hearted celebration into a richlytheatrical performance that is profoundly moving to audiences andperformers alike.From the start, several traditions have shaped the Christ ChurchBoar’s Head. One is that every aspect of the performance must beauthentic to the 14th century. With wild boars being in short supplyin the forests of Cincinnati, a hog’s head is dressed to represent theboar. It is roasted and garnished.At first, following theEnglish custom, only men andboys served in the cast—about50 of them. Women joinedthe cast in 1973, opening upnew possibilities for historicalcharacters and costumes, andthe cast bloomed to today’s190 performers.Continuous improvement isanother tradition.Processions have expanded to use different aisles and entrancesand today are elaborately choreographed. The music has beenthrough one major re-orchestration of its scores and is regularlytweaked. The corps of musicians has grown, too—now numbering70—and includes some of the city’s top instrumentalists and singers.Our theatrical lighting has dramatically changed under lightingmanager Trevor Shibley. Now 150 lights powered by more than 1,000feet of cable add to the festival’s visual magic.There’s also a tradition of quick thinking in the face of theatricaldisaster. One year, a performer tripped over the power cord servingthe organ console. With immediate silence, performers stopped intheir tracks—but minstrel Maurice Mandel kept singing a cappellauntil the organ was restarted, to the audience’s applause.Another year, the mincemeat pie slid off its trencher and brokeinto pieces just before its entrance. Performers scampered around,stuck the pieces back together, and nobody but the back-stagers everknew. In another mishap, a wait sliding down the rope from theorgan loft lost his pantaloons. Thank goodness for tights.When a mid-1990s snow storm paralyzed Cincinnati the nightof the pre-show rehearsal, only one performer showed up. DirectorBob Beiring had to cross his fingers and hope his cast would do wellWhen you read this program text ingold notes, the notes explain the actionof the performance. Other marginaliaincludes history, musicology, trivia andfolklore of the Boar’s Head.Please join in the singing where lyricsare printed in gold type.3

without rehearsing. The shows were fine and a new tradition began: no morerehearsals. With a few tweaks during the first performance, what’s been calledthe “Miracle on 4th Street” comes together. It helps that many cast membershave been involved for decades. The longest serving, Phil Hagner, started as aknee-high sprite and marches 66 years later as a Beefeater.The only absolute show stopper in the festival’s history happened when anenthusiastic king’s page overloaded his incense censor and sent up such a cloudthat it set off the church’s fire alarm. A long wait followed, with fire trucks andflashing lights outside and screeching alarms and first-responders in bunkergear inside—until the fire marshal was satisfied and allowed the alarms to beturned off and the show to go on.For all its lushness, Boar’s Head has an ancient and honorable traditionof thrift. The trees and other greens on the stage are donated by a suburbantree lot on Christmas Eve and trucked to town by volunteers. The poinsettiasare plucked from the lobbies of Procter & Gamble after it has closed for theholidays. The cast, musicians and backstage crews are fed by parishioners whobring sandwiches, deviled eggs, snacks, cookies—and lately, even sushi.The Boar’s Head Festival is our gift to the people of Cincinnati: a traditionalstory of living faith told by modern-day minstrels.As we have done for 75 years, we give these performances with our bestwishes for a blessed and joyous Christmas season.Clockwise:Shiloh Roby, Associate Director of MusicDr. Stephan Casurella, Director of MusicChoir & Orchestra4

Robert Beiring, DirectorTrevor Shibley, Director of Lighting5

Original church 1835-1955Boar’s Head & Yule Log Festival began in 1940.1957-1982.1982-1997.Facing page 1998-present.6

7

A gong sounds the hour. Like theecho of history through centuriespast, the heavy tread of theBeefeaters—traditional guardiansof the king—sounds in the narthexand aisles. Solemnly, they standtheir watch of honor.Orchestral PreludeProcession of the BeefeatersAs Dew in AprilleAnonymous, 13th CenturyI sing of a maiden that is matchless,King of all kingsTo her son she chose.He came all so stillWhere his mother lay,As dew in AprilleThat falleth on the spray.Mother and maiden was never none but she.Well may such a lady Goddes mother be.The orchestral prelude has beenarranged from the English folksong “The May Day Carol.” It isbased on the “Cherry Tree Carol” inwhich Jesus, from within the womb,charges a cherry tree to bend downits branches to Mary, who “hascherries at command.” This, andsimilar apocryphal stories, werepopular among traveling mendicantfriars in the Middle Ages.“As Dew in Aprille” is probably theoldest carol text in the Boar’s Headceremony.8

The Yule Sprite ComesInto the darkened church comesa sprite bearing the tiny light of aburning taper. From it, the Deanlights the great Festival candle andholds it high so that all may feel itsblessed light on their shoulders.This symbolizes the coming of theChrist Child into an unenlightenedworld. The light is given to theChurch not only to preserve, but toextend it throughout the Earth.The Very Rev. Gail E. Greenwell, Dean receives the light from the Yule Sprite.9

The Boar’s Head ProcessionThe Boar’s Head CarolTraditional, 16th CenturyThe boar’s head in hand bear I,Bedecked with bays and rosemary.And I pray you, my masters, be merrie,Quot estis in convivio (Refrain)The Boar’s head as I understand,Is the bravest dish in all the land.When thus bedecked with gay garland,Let us servire cantico. (Refrain)Our steward hath provided this,In honor of the King of Bliss,Which on this day to be served is,In regimensi atrio (Refrain)The mightiest hunter of them all,We honor in this festal hall.Born of a humble virgin mild,Heaven’s King became a helpless child.(Refrain)He hunted down through earth and hell,The swart boar death until it fell.This mighty deed for us was done,Therefore we sing in unison. (Refrain)Let not this boar’s head cause alarm,The huntsman drew his power to harm,So death, which still appears so grim,Has yielded all its powers to Him!(Refrain)REFRAIN: Caput apri defero,Reddens laudes Domino.10

Maurice Mandell, Chief Minstrel 1979-2004.“The Boar’s Head Carol,” a variant of acarol from Wynken de Worde’s “NewChristmasse Carolles” of 1521, issung at Queen’s College, Oxford. Ourversion includes three verses writtenby parishioner Eric Van Hagen in1961.Translations: Quot estis in conviviomeans “As often at you are at thefeast.” Let us servire cantico means“Let us serve it with a song.” Inregimensi atrio means “In a royal hall.”Caput apri defero, Reddens laudesDomino means “A boar’s head in handbear I, Giving praise to God.”Jerrry Lowe, Chief Minstrel 2005-2015.11

12

A trumpet sounds. Led by a minstrel, a noblecompany of knights and attendants brings theboar’s head with its many accoutrements. Atlength the conquered enemy is presented nearthe altar. A long line of companies follow theslain boar.The Boar’s Head companies:Chief MinstrelChief HeraldThe Herald’s CompanyTrumpeterYule PagesHolly BearersBoar’s Head CompanyCook’s CompanyPlum Pudding CompanyMince Pie CompanyLord and Lady of the Manor and their ChildrenLady’s AttendantsKing Wenceslas and PagesPoor ManDame Julian and OrphansHuntsman and PagesPilgrimsWoodsmenYule LogWaitsShepherdsStar of the East and PagesKings and PagesTorchbearersBeefeaters13

14

The Boar’s tusks were carved forthe first Boar’s Head here. Thethree flags in his head represent theceremony’s British roots, the FrenchHuguenots who brought it here,and our own nation.Plum pudding and mince pie aresymbols of hospitality and werealways on hand to serve guests inmedieval times. Here, they suggestthe fullness of God’s gifts to hischildren.The trumpet now carried in theceremony was used in the firstChrist Church Cathedral Boar’sHead Festival. It was given to ChristChurch Cathedral in 1987 as amemorial to Lee Howard who hadowned and played it in the firstperformance.Everyone in the procession carriesa gift which has something to dowith the occupation or rank of thatperson. Pilgrims’ badges representthe destination of each pilgrimage.Legend or fact? It is thought thatthe red and green lanterns carriedby the sprites were originally usedto indicate port and starboard onOhio river boats. When electricitycame to the waterfront and theselanterns were no longer needed,they were salvaged by a ChristChurch Cathedral parishioner forthe Boar’s Head festival.15