QUOTE: perhaps some of you know about the antlers used in the "original" Abbotts Bromley Horn Dance. How long have they been stored in the church and what species are they from?

"The horns are six sets of reindeer antlers, three white and three black. In 1976, a small splinter was radiocarbon dated to around 1065. Since there are not believed to have been any reindeer in England in the 11th Century, the horns must have been imported from Scandinavia."
(Wikipedia)

"Carbon dating has shown one set of antlers to be in the region of 900 years old."
(Time Travel Britain)

To add my two pence worth to the part of the discussion about where and by who the ABHD should be performed, I think an important thing to note is that it's THE Abbotts Bromley Horn Dance, not simply AN Abbotts Bromley Horn Dance. This is an important distinction. There are so few of these folklife remnants left in England that it's a shame to muddy the waters by doing something else somewhere else and calling it by the same name. The people concerned really ought to have the good manners to come up with a new name for what they do.

Otherwise I'm having a Lewes Bonfire and a Padstow Hobby Horse here in Manchester next year... and the Lewes Bonfire won't be on November 5th!

If anyone's interested, Colin Irwin writes about Abbotts Bromley and various other folklore renmants in his hugely entertaining "In Search of Albion" - well worth a read. And very funny.

Cheers

Nigel