FEMININE INTERESTS.

Timaru Herald, Volume CXXV, Issue 18497, 19 February 1930, Page 3

FEMININE INTERESTS.

PERSONAL AND FASHION NOTES. Basque Dancers in England: A most interesting feature of the Folk Dance Festival, which was held at the Albert Hall, was the visit of a team of twelve Basque folk-dancers from the province of Biscay, in Northern Spain. These dancers had never before been out of their, own country, and did not know a word of English, so a member of the English Folk Dance Society acted as interpreter. They were working peasants, and unable to leave their work for more than a few days, so they did not have much chance to see a great deal of the sights of London. The dances they performed were spectacular, the costume worn bearing a remarkable resemblance to that oi the traditional English Morris Dancers, except that ?t included the characteristic red Basque beret. Swords and clubs were used in some of the dances, but the most spectacular dance was done without any weapons and at high speed, each man in turn having an opportunity of showing his skill. The Biscay dances always open witn an impressive ceremonial which appears to be an initiation rite. The eight dancers stand in two files of four, and a large flag banner is carefully spread out on the ground between them, the flagpole being held by a rinth man. The eight dancers kneel down and lower their heads, and the flag bearer with a sudden shout throws up his led beret, and swings his flag round and round, keeping time to the rolling of the drums. The flag just clears the heads of the dancers, but sometimes in its swift passage overhead, a beret is lifted clean off and flung f’r away from its owner. Another interesting performance was that of twelve Morris dancers from Rovton, Lancashire, who gave traditional dances that were not discovered till a year ago. Londoners saw these dances for th 6 first time. The Oxfordshire (Bampton) Morris Dancers also took part in the festiva: and they w'ere accompanied by their fidriler. Mr ''Veils, who is now 70, and nearly blind. He has been connected with the folk dancing movement since his boyhood. The Staffordshire and District Branch of the English Folk Dance

Society performed the ancient horn dance of the Abbotts Bromley (Staffordshire Bowl Dancers. Wedding in the Country: A notable country wedding was that of Sir Christopher Furness and Miss Violet Roberts, which took place at B uusterly Church, Witton le Wear, ir. Durham, near the bride’s home, Bedburn Hall. Sir Christopher's seat is in Yorkshire, at Otterington Hall, near Northallerton: The bridegroom is very interested in the Scout movement, and is District Commissioner for Sea Scouts. Members of the Tyne and Tees Sea Scouts, and the Pipe Band of the 49th. City of Edinburgh formed a guard of honour. Miss Roberts is the popular amateur huntsman ol' the Durham Harriers, so members of the hunt were there in full force. She (hose a beautiful gown of parchment satin beaute, with a train of old Spanish lace which her mother and grandmother both wore at their weddings. Her veil was of parchment net held by a wreath of orange blossom, and her only jewellery was a string of pearls which the bridegroom gave her. Thera were six bridesmaids in delphinium blue chiffon velvet, with silver caps, carrying bouquets of pale pink carnations. A Hardy Couple: It would ne difficult to find a more adventurous couple than the Hon Victor and Mrs Bruce. The former spent a day recently in his speed-boat, Sea Bee 11., doing a trial for the Admiralty, which took him" six hours in seas that were so high that he and his passengers, a man and two women, were nearly thrown out. So mountainous indeed were the waves in Portsmouth Harbour that even the patrol boats were not out, but Mr Bruce managed to do 120 miles in 20 laps. This constitutes the first British record. The Hon. Mrs Victor Bruce has a non-stop run from John o’ Groat’s to Monte Carlo, and a 24-hour endurance test in a speed-boat to her credit, and she was also one of the first women to dash across to Calais in her speedboat. Mrs Bruce is going up to Lapland. and will start from there in a non-stop run through Norway, Sweden and Germany to Monte Carlo, where she hopes to arrive for the Rally. This will take her about 80 hours, and will probably be the star performance of th.e ten women motor-car drivers, who are going to take part in this Raily under the auspices of the Women’s Automobile Association.

The headquarters of this Association, by the way ,are now completed and the lounge is furnished with a winecoloured and pale green cretonne that is a copy of an old French design, with wine-coloured suede armchair sittings for ash-trays.

Woman Racing Official: Mrs Annabelle Tharp, the only woman member of the English Jockey Club, who died a few weeks ago, was always honoured with the friendship of the Royal Family. Of late years her memory began to fail, and this story is told of her. The present King greeted her at a meeting at Newmarket a year or two ago, but Mrs Tharp failed to recognise him. “I remember you quite well,” she told him. “but—l have forgotten your name.” The King told her his name, and both laughed heartily. She was more than ninety years of age. Going to Hare wood House: Princess Mary, Countess of Harewood and the Earl of Harewood, are to take up their residence in the mar future at Harewood House, near I e-eds. Because of this move Lord Harewood has decided to let Goldsborough Hall furnished, and the shooting estate, for a number of years Goldsborough Hall is the dower house of the Harewoods and it was expected that the dowager countess wouid use it, but she has chosen to live in London. It is a fine old Jacobean house, lving on the north side of the valley of the Nidd, near Karnesborough. Harewood House, though more modem, is one of the finest mansions in Yorkshire. It was built during the reign of George 111. and Robert Adam and the famous Chippendale were employed in furnishing it. It contains a collection of china valued at over £200,C00. and many valuable pictures. The park covers 2000 acres. Red the Fashionable Winter Shade: Nobody who takes a stroll down Tiord street, Regent street or Piccadilly these days can be in any reasonable doubt about the fashionable winter shade. It is b’a ■zoned from every West End shop window in tones that are shrill as trumpet calls. Every dummy mannequin wea it and has made up her exotic comnexion to suit it. The winter colour is an uncompromising red. This is a difficult shade for many neople t,o adant themselves to, and the intriguing auestion arises whether Dame Fashion thus intends some delicate comrliirent to the Labour Government. It is all very well to pooh-pooh such a suggestion as grotesque, but the remarkable coincidence needs some exnlninirg that last time red was the fashionable colour was the last time we had a Labour Ministry at Westminister. It mav, of course, be a forn-> of protective colouring. Does Ladv de Vere desire to be mistaken for a “Red”? A Clever Diver: America has a notable woman diver in the person of Mrs Margaret Campbell Goodwin, of New York. Mrs Goodv/in salvaged the copper cargo of the Pewabic, sunk in Lake Huron in 1865. five men having lost their lives in thq, attempt. She was successful in raising £60,C00 worth of the metal from 180 feet of water. Mrs Goodwin is now writing a book of her experiences. A Youthful Cheir woman: Sydney possesses the youngest chairwoman of a State Convention. Beatrice Leer, aged 15, was chosen to preside over the annual meeting of the Junior Red Cross branches held at the Education Buidling, Little girls also moved and seconded motions. A Turkish Journalist: The Con tantinople newspaper Haighin has as its editor Mme. Mark Hagonouch. whose opinions on topics of the day carry great weight in Turkr{. She is the widow of a Turkish lawyer who was intimately associated with Kemal Pasha, and though only in her early thirties has a wide knowledge of the politics and problems of the Levant and the Near East. She was educated in England and Germany, and for some years studied at Cambridge.