WINCHESTER PAGEANT.

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 283, 24 August 1908, Page 5

WINCHESTER PAGEANT.

PICTURES OF HISTORY

MERRY-MAKING OF THE MIDDLE AGES. For three and a half hours tho unfolding of the beauties and surprises of tho Winchester pageant held a hugo audience absolutely enthralled. Nothing better has yot been, or. is likely to be, seen'. Circumstances combined to give the pageant of that ancient city, famous for its place in history, its noblo cathedral, its great public school, a character entirely of its own. To begin with, tho ruins of ancient Wolvesey Castle, with tho stretch of greensward in front and tho "massifs" of immemorial elms in tho background, form a perfcct theatre. Glimpses of the!cathedral and collogo put one into the proper frame of mind to appreciate the historical episodes. Tho quiet, essentially English beauty of the scene, and the grey walls of the ruined keep, would have been worth going far to see even if tho pageant had not boon icmarkablc. But the pageant was remarkable—very remarkable indeed. This is proved by the fact that the whole audience, including lnncess Henry of Battenberg and Princess \ ictoria of who wcro the guests of Lord Winchester, stayed to the very end, in spite of its lasting so long. That in itself was a triumph for Mr. F. R. Benson, tho producer, and for Sirs. Benson, who designed the charming dances wlucli added bo very greatly all through to tho attractiveness of tho show. Tho well-known actor, himself an old \\ yUehamist, threw himself with characteristic en-ero-y into the task of planning the episodes and securing their adequate performance. With the aid of capable and enthusiastic authors, stage managers, musicians, and designers of dresses, ho succeeded in creating effects of extraordinary interest and vigorous dramatic quality, as well as a perfectly delightful feast for the eye. A FEAST OF COLOUR. The pageant was a crescendo of colour. r As tho episodes succeed one another, tho drosses grow richer and the_ groupings yield more vivid harmonies, until at tho finish all tho two thousand performers are formed up into a glowing, glittering, brilliant mass, which strikes a final chord of colour magnificent in its bewildering effect. Even before tho performance began tho note of splendour was struck by a procession of prelates in lawn sleeves and scarlet or purple hoods, which majestically advanced from tho Norman gatoway of tho castlo and mado its way to the places reserved for episcopal visitors in tho grsnd_ stand. This was peculiarly appropriate, sinco the pageant is, as ono would expect at Winchester, decidedly ecclesiastical in tone. Among the great Churchmen who figure in it aro Bishop Lanfrauc, Henry of Blois, Bishop Foxe of Winchester, Cardinal Wolsoy, Fisher, and Gardinerand finally, in tho Charles II scone, tho saintly Kon, whom Charles made a bishop in spite of his having refused to countenance the King's fondness for Nell Gwynn. Most of these parts wcro played by clergymen, of whom close on thirty aro among the porformors, as well as many of tho well-known inhabitants of the town and its neighbourhood. Tho scenes received with loudest applauso (though all woro warmly appreciated) wcro the dramatic presentment of King Alfred's appearance in the Danish camp disguised as a harper, and his stirring call to arms, which resulted in .a complete English victory; tho spirited attack on Wolvesoy Castlo by the archers and horsemen of tho Empress Maud, who aro mot with showers of groat stones from tho battlements; and tho delightful revels before Charles 11, which bring tho pageant to a close. GAY AND SOMBRE SCENES.

Thero was a dance by some 130 High School girls in this last sceno which for delicate gradations and combinations of colour and for joyous grace of movement it would bo impossiblo to beat. Equally enjoyable in its way was tho musical ride by a troop of superbly mounted Life Guards costumed as Cavaliers. In their coats of satin or velvet; with feathered hats, and lovc-locks streaming behind them, these brilliant horsemen provoked the greatest admiration. In several other scones they had prominently figured, horsemanship being a feature kept well to tho front all through. Indeed, their assistance was of notable value of tho show. Tho "fun of tho fair" on tho occasion of a medieval merrymaking _ was a scene riotous in its gaioty and varied life. Tho humours of a municipal pageant got up in honour of Philip .and Mary wero amusingly brought out, and the fight between parties of English and Spanish seamon in chargo of mimic ships on wheels, ending, of course, in. a decisive English victory, was realistic enough to bo quite exciting. By way of contrast to these bustling scenes of revel and mirth Mr. Benson pro- | vided the "sombre yet picturesquo episcdo of Sir Walter Raleigh's reprieve, tho finely digniCctd and impressive of tho collego by William of Wykeliam, in which masters and boys tako all the parts; and tho donation to the cathedral of various lands by tho great Northman, Canute. Thus there was a constant variety in tho incidents represented, and m every scene tho processional element was wisely insisted upon. The memory which remains with one is of constantly shifting masses of colour, of stately marchings to and fro, of a rapid succession of illustrious figures, of a series of brillidnt "snap-shots" of tho life of ages long gone by. Add to this tho golden 1 ' stillness of a perfect summer afternoon, the chiming of deeptoned bells, tho voices of monks chanting, tho sprightly melodies of old-world dance; and you have the ingredients of a day of rare enjoyment amid surroundings of de- ' licious natural beauty and deeply moving historic charm. —H.F., in tho "Daily Mail.