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Author Jen Anne
Once Upon a Time
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Photographs are copyrighted by Jennifer, shared here with her kind permission.
New Web Page 9/16/10
~ Story written by Jen Anne of Penwith (UK) in June 2009 ~
Graphic design, editing and website coding by Nancy Lee Moran of USA 2010
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A Letter from Demelza
Dear Mum and Dad, I'm writing to tell you about THE BEST DAY EVER.
On Saturday it was Mazey Day in Penzance. That is when Midsummer is celebrated and everyone goes mad with music and dancing and marching in processions down the street in colourful costumes. Each school in the area prepares a special themed display to be paraded on foot round the town, and you cannot imagine how much work they put into it. The big day is more exciting than Christmas to these children. Can you believe that? They say so anyway.
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I took my camera out with me just to show you what it was like. The sign says, Penzance Welcomes You in Cornish. Ashley took a couple of me and Esme waiting for everything to get started. You can't see Chloe, but she was there too. We found a great vantage point on a wall.
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Here's the Golowan Band dressed in white with blue sashes. Doesn't their leader look smart? They must have walked miles before the day was over, playing such jolly tunes. At the end of the day they go mad in and out of shops winding up and down streets with townsfolk joining them in a dance called the Serpentine, in which people hold hands until someone shouts "Give me an Eye" and then the leaders form an arch and everyone has to rush through. It's like a playground game, and it can get quite rough. We did practice it at school too. Gardy calls this anarchic behaviour and says this is why the event was banned at one time.
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There are fiddles, accordions, flutes, a variety of brass instruments, and very loud drums! It's quite a racket and it leads a procession of fantastic creations. The streets are jammed with enthusiastic spectators.
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I liked the ghost ship best!
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I thought this giant lady looked like our music teacher, Miss Blundell. She was in the procession further back, leading the school orchestra. Our effort was a bit boring really. I wanted to be in it, but she said I couldn't because I don't play anything. I could easily have shaken a tambourine or something. Or banged sticks together like this Samba band.
They made a great sound! The rhythm just made you want to dance. I had to hang on to Chloe! She would have followed them.
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This huge puppet of the Mousehole Cat was Chloe's favourite. Mousehole is a village near Penzance, and there is supposed to have been this marmalade cat who went to sea in a storm and saved the starving villagers with a catch of fish. It's a local legend that his owner Tom Bowcock did it for real and is a celebration each year at the winter solstice.
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I said this one looks like Lauren (Blewetts headgirl) just to tease Esme, who's got a massive crush on her. I didn't really mean it but I certainly got a reaction from Esme. Es is nice, but so serious! Always got her head in a book and a real teacher's pet. Ashley's glad I live with them now!
Humph. No comment!
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Anyway, I'd rather learn to be a stilt-walker like this girl.
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Chloe bought a rabbit from this stall. Can you spot the little yellow one in the blue skirt! She takes it to bed with her now.
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Then we did see Lauren with her friend Kelsey near St. John's Hall. They were spying on the creations for the next parade. One was a huge black monster.
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"What is it?" I heard Lauren ask a man.
"Black Annis. It's a creature that lives in a swamp. She steals little children, she eats 'un for dinner."
"Tee hee," tittered Kelsey. (I hate her!)
"Kels, don't laugh. Better stay away from this one children. What an enormous claw!"
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I could tell Chloe did not like it one bit, so we moved on.
Lauren's all right. I thought she was really snooty at first, and was not at all happy when Gardy told us she was coming to keep an eye on us during the holidays. Lauren's Grandmother is a great friend of Gardy's, and guess what!!! She's given us a darling dog, a Papillon we have called Abby. We left her at home. Gardy said the crowds would frighten her.
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Here's a picture of Lauren I took with one of the banners. (There are so many banners up around the town, all made at workshops fresh every year, by anyone who feels able!)
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I have to agree with Esme, Lauren is pretty. Here she is again. |
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That man and the woman in green are this year's Mock Mayors of the Quay! They are sharing the position because they tied the vote. See, he is wearing the mayoral chain with a crab on it, and he also has a stick with a cauliflower attached to it. Cassandra in the foreground is a well known white witch. Of course she only does good magic. She swears it's her doing that Mazey Day is always a fine day! She was one of the Teasers who baited Pen Glaz last night. But you will have to get Chloe to tell you about that.
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Chloe says I haven't sent a picture of her watching. She stood on the wall and nearly fell off several times, pointing and waving, just jumping about with excitement. She's okay, but she misses you. So do I.
Well, Mum and Dad, I took loads more pictures but you will have to wait until you come home before I can show you. I will try to send these to you in New Zealand when you have arrived. Let us know!
Love from Demelza
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Note from Nancy Lee about Jen's doll stories:
Jen's dolls go into each setting of the story, in real life! No Photoshop tricks or faux backgrounds! Jen likes the challenge of taking the dolls out into Cornwall, where the scenes and emotions of the stories become real to her as an author.
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If you would like to receive an email when future chapters are posted to my website, please send an email to nancylee@nancyleemoran.com. Just write "Jen's Stories" in the title line. You would receive no more than one email a month. For your privacy, I never share email addresses with anyone else. |
Nancy Lee Moran's POLICY TO SHOW RESPECT for HELEN KISH & other doll creators is as follows:
The dolls I use were factory painted. I would never repaint a doll that the artist (Helen Kish) had painted herself, such as some of those in the Kish Signature Line. I would not paint one in a limited edition of fewer than 300 (preferably 500 or more). I consult the beautiful book I own: Helen Kish: The Artist and Her Dolls by Louise Fecher (hardcover published in 2006). I am NOT affiliated with any doll company, creator or manufacturer.
Please send your questions and requests to Nancy at: nancylee@nancyleemoran.com
or by phone: 402-274-3040 Central Time
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