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St.
Ives Cornwall
Read
about the town and its various attractions
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| FACTS |
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Fact
1 The annual Hurling of the silver ball dates from time immemorial.
Fact
2 It is a rugby-style game, traditionally played between local
'Upalongers and Downalongers', mostly children these days.
Fact
3 St. Ives preserves other traditions too, including the Loving
Cup and John Knill ceremonies. |
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For
the first time since 1999 the famous silver ball was untarnished
by rain during the annual hurling game at St. Ives. Mind, its blessing
in the holy well of St. Ia probably had something to do with that!
St. Ia is the patron saint of St. Ives; she brought Christianity
to the town in the 6th Century, anf her Feast Day is celebrated
every year in this way.
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| St.
Ives Mayor Joan Tanner carries the silver ball to St. Ia's Well |
The
Mayoral procession was followed by a street-full of children from
local primary schools!
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| Children
of St. Uny School |
They
danced to a wellknown Cornish tune,
the girls resplendent in tartan sashes and ivy-leaved
garlands in their hair. Drums and accordians accompanied the happy
throng, the music amplified by the narrowness of the cobbled allyways.
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| An
ivy-clad piper plays in the Church |
Inside
the Parish Church, there was more music and more dancing, with the
children singing the song of St. Ia, written by the late Cornish
Bard John Barber.
The
significance of the ivy comes from the belief that St. Ives' patron
saint floated across from Ireland on an ivy leaf, or possibly an
ivy-clad coracle!
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| The
Mayor prepares to hurl the silver ball |
The
real excitement of the day began when the Mayor 'threw-up' the silver
ball from the wall of the Church.
An eager crowd of children and teenagers seized it and the beach
below became a massive rugby scrum.
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| Could
it be under those rocks? The
game is on |
During
the next hour and a half, while the upalongers and downalongers
battled it out for possession on sand and cobbles, the Feast Day
focus moved to Royal Square.
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| The
Western Hunt gets ready to go |
Yet another
task for the Mayor, Councillor Joan Tanner, was to hand out the stirrup-cup
to around tenty-five riders of the Western Hunt. With horns sounding,
members then galloped up the hill, and their own chase was on!
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| The
Mayor hands out the pennies |
Back
at the Guildhall, as the clock approached twelve o'clock, the Mayor
handed out five pound's worth of pennies to the youngest children,
and then waited for the return of the silver ball. In all the centuries
of this event, apparently it has never failed to be brought back!
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| Triumphant
winner of the Hurl - David Down |
True
to form, on the stroke of twelve, an excited group of teenagers
made their way through the crowd, their leader, thirteen year-old
David Down presenting the silver ball to the Mayor. She gave him
a silver crown in return. David said it had been a long tough and
tumble - all the way to Carbis Bay and back!
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