{"id":674,"date":"2013-08-09T11:00:06","date_gmt":"2013-08-09T11:00:06","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.blogs.hss.ed.ac.uk\/ben-jonsons-walk\/?p=674"},"modified":"2013-08-06T16:10:17","modified_gmt":"2013-08-06T16:10:17","slug":"the-giants-of-pontefract","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.blogs.hss.ed.ac.uk\/ben-jonsons-walk\/the-giants-of-pontefract\/","title":{"rendered":"The Giants of Pontefract"},"content":{"rendered":"

After feasting on venison with Pontefract\u2019s aldermen, Jonson was walking wearily to his bed when he was mobbed by dancing giants. Our account suggests that this, with accompanying music, had been arranged to welcome Jonson, though it may have been that his arrival in Pontefract simply coincided with one of the town\u2019s festivals.<\/p>\n

Processional giants, built on wicker frames, and covered with cloth, were carried in towns and cities across England in midsummer and other festivities. Until the mid sixteenth century they often represented religious figures, perhaps the patron saint of the guild that owned them, or David\u2019s combatant, Goliath. The Pontefract giants may have been housed in the castle in the early seventeenth century: as the trusty three military men touring England in the 1630s were to report, \u2018we view\u2019d the spacious Hall, which the Gyants kept\u2019.<\/p>\n

Although the practise was widely suppressed after the Reformation, the ceremonial use of these effigies continued for several decades in cities including Newcastle and Chester. Such was the gigantic figure of Gogmagog who appears in several places. A poem on a German giant residing at Charing Cross in 1660, describes<\/p>\n

\"German<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

His whole proportion is upright, and streight,
\n‘Tis nine foot fully, and a half in height:
\nNot much in debt to Age, his Body clean,
\nUp to his Stature, and not fat, nor lean;
\nHis Hand exceeds in bigness, and his Span
\n‘Bove twice th’extensions of another man.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

 
\nand of others in England…<\/p>\n

\n

In his Dimentions set forth at Guild-Hall,
\nKnow ’tis a Poet onely can define
\nA Gyants posture in a Gyants line,
\nThe Art falls short of Nature, and must err,
\nWhen Rules are given her by the Carpenter…
\nAnd thus attended with his direful Dog,
\nThe Gyant was (God bless us) Gogmagog.
\nAnd He who (fear’d by his prodigious Frame)
\nNot long since kept the gates of Nottingham;
\nAnd many others who have left to all
\nSucceeding times their proud Memorial[Anon.]<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Giants still exist today, though their original religious associations have usually changed to a representation of national or regional heroic figures, or to reflect local folk traditions.\u00a0Christopher the Salisbury Giant<\/a>\u00a0is the oldest one surviving in England, dated from before 1570. Formerly owned by the Tailor\u2019s Guild, he is now incarcerated in Salisbury and South Wiltshire Museum.\u00a0Giants like this are still symbols of civic pride, carried in town festivals, intended to bring a joyous air and a larger-than-life structure to such events.<\/p>\n

Groups of giants from English and European towns, such as the Dorchester giants, today travel around festivals\u00a0in the UK and Europe, such as these at Steenvorde<\/a>.\u00a0
\n<\/em><\/p>\n

\"At<\/a>

At the Samson festival in St Michael im Lungau<\/p><\/div>\n

Before the Barcelona Olympics, 625 giants gathered from all over Europe in the nearby village of Matedepera, and in 2000 nearly 70 giants were listed in the British Isles.
\nBritish Isles Giant Guild: www.giants.org.uk\/<\/a><\/p>\n

Further reading: Daniele Di Bartolomeo, \u2018Giants in European Festivals and Processions: a Short Note\u2019,<\/em> on the ENBaCH website, the European Network for Baroque Cultural Heritage:\u00a0routeofbaroque.enbach.eu\/<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

After feasting on venison with Pontefract\u2019s aldermen, Jonson was walking wearily to his bed when he was mobbed by dancing giants. Our account suggests that this, with accompanying music, had been arranged to welcome Jonson, though it may have been … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":31,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-674","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-places"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.blogs.hss.ed.ac.uk\/ben-jonsons-walk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/674","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.blogs.hss.ed.ac.uk\/ben-jonsons-walk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.blogs.hss.ed.ac.uk\/ben-jonsons-walk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.blogs.hss.ed.ac.uk\/ben-jonsons-walk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/31"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.blogs.hss.ed.ac.uk\/ben-jonsons-walk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=674"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.blogs.hss.ed.ac.uk\/ben-jonsons-walk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/674\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":874,"href":"https:\/\/www.blogs.hss.ed.ac.uk\/ben-jonsons-walk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/674\/revisions\/874"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.blogs.hss.ed.ac.uk\/ben-jonsons-walk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=674"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.blogs.hss.ed.ac.uk\/ben-jonsons-walk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=674"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.blogs.hss.ed.ac.uk\/ben-jonsons-walk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=674"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}