Voyages (2) • Kingston Lacy, Wimborne - Wimborne Community Theatre

Poster for Voyages (2) • Kingston Lacy, Wimborne

About the production

After the successful first production of Voyages in 1991, Wimborne Community Theatre (then entitled, “Arts in the Community Events”) was invited back by the National Trust to re-produce the play, working with different schools and artists.

Photos

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Video

1. 1996 Production: One hour edited version of Voyages by Howard Webber of the National Trust.

2. 1996 Production: The complete play followed by the exhibition of WCT productions and of work by Ferndown and Pamphill First Schools.

3. Scenes 1 – 4 of Voyages 1996 in performance.
Scene 1: By the Stables. Scene 2: In Front of the House. Scene 3: Under the Horse Chestnut Tree. Scene 4: The Veneti and the Durotriges.

4. 1996 Production: Children from Ferndown and Pamphill First Schools perform the story of the Veneti and the Durotriges.

Programme

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Research

Thirteenth Century Moot Court Records

KINGSTON LACY MANORIAL RECORDS • 30 MAY 1232

The widow Alicia Payntere has been delivered to the court on the presentment of a case of witchery.

It has been presented that Widow Payntere did approach Agnesse Abbott, the wife of Ricardo Abbott, asking for milk for feeding her hungry children. The court hears that Widow Payntere has lost her husband, Pedro Payntere, about one year past and that she is left with seven children and that her own beast has given up milk. Because of the bad terms between the two women, Widow Payntere was denied milk and in anger she did curse Agnesse Abbott, her children and her beasts in words that did cause great fright and fear. It is also presented that within seven days of this happening the beasts of Agnesse Abbott became ill with a fever and did die. The evidence of several people from the tithing of Cougrove and others from without has been presented to the court and it has been found that a rightful justice is unclear and that by custom the court orders that the Widow Payntere does suffer an Ordeal of Fire and that she should be kept under the watch of the bailiffe and the constable who should present her for judgement in the appointed time.

Letter from Alice Maud Baker to her parents

My dear Mother and Father,

I am writing to you from my little room at the very top of the house. I am sorry you have not received a letter sooner but we have been very recently getting ready for the visit by King Edward next month. You would not believe how much there is to do, what with getting Master Ralph, the young squire, ready for the great day and, of course his sisters, Miss Daphne and Miss Viola.

Every morning I rise at four thirty and dress in my uniform. I’m sure you would be very proud of me. I have to be so careful when blacking the grates and laying and lighting all the fires in the family’s bedrooms, lest I get dirt on it. Nanny inspects us regularly and, believe me, Mother, woe betide any of us who has so much as a tiny mark on our clothes.

I do miss you all, even though Kingston lacy is a beautiful grand old house almost like a palace. I still yearn for our cottage sometimes. There are so many rooms here and the park land seems to stretch on and on for ever. Every time I look out of my window I think about all those stories you used to tell me about the old times. The Roman road is only a stone’s throw from here and the medieval Manor Court is also nearby.

When the evening mist settles over the grass and the trees, it is easy to imagine those days gone by. I wonder if life was easier then…

Research – Dorsetshire Folk Lore

Wise Woman A Dorsetshire peasant and master consulted the wise woman or “cunning-man” of the neighbourhood whenever he believed himself or his property to be under the “evil eye”. People visited them from afar for the efficacy of their spells and charms.

Ref: Particular wise woman who picks her herbs at midnight on the full moon as they are more potent then. She stands in front of a trap with a sick patient in it and makes great flourishes in the air with a willow wand, probably exorcising some demon. Possibly suggestions of an evil eye and flourishing of the wand are only adjuncts to play on the ignorance of her patients. Real cures come from herbal remedies.

Superstitions

It is unlucky to turn back to fetch something once a journey has started.

A dry summer never begs its bread – a fine dry summer is good for crops, particularly wheat.

Let the blood stand still as the waters did in the River of Jordan, in the name of the father etc. Amen – nose-bleeding charm.

Omens signified by magpies: One for anger, two for mirth, three for a wedding, four for a birth.

A snake skin worn on the hat or bonnet – a remedy for headache.

You should never eat pig’s brains as it makes you tell all that you know.

Cuckoo – if heard after Midsummer’s Day or in church you won’t live the year out.

If a woodpecker is heard frequently in a wood (laughing cry) it is a sign of rain.

A bee (dumble dore) denotes the arrival of a stranger during the day.

When sticks of wood are placed together and kindle or blaze up without interference, it is a sign that a stranger will come.

If clothes are put on inside out, it is a sign you will receive a present.

A Friday’s dream on a Saturday told is sure to come true if it’s ever so old.

Two legged foxes – human beings.

Some folks are always behind – always late.

Two legged blackbirds – human stealers of fruit.

The Story of Alicia Payntere and Agnesse Abbott: 1232

The story so far….

“Trouble has been brewing down at Cowgrove ever since Ricardo Abbott (also known as John) stayed out late after ploughing his furlong. He claimed to have been innocently doing a good deed – helping the widow Alicia Payntere to fix her roof to avoid having to pay further heriots (taxes) to the Lord of the Manor. Alicia’s husband Pedro died a year ago leaving her with seven children, and, as is the custom, a large heriot to pay in order to stay on in the house.

While he was doing the necessary repairs, Ricardo claimed he was afflicted with a terrible headache. Now it just happened that Alicia knew a bit about strange ailments – indeed, some, Ricardo amongst them, claim she is a Wise Woman in a long tradition stretching back to her Celtic ancestors. So when Ricardo got the headache, Alicia prepared a special potion. She took a dried snake skin from her medicine chest and sewed it carefully into the back of Ricardo’s hat.

Now unfortunately young Bethit, the youngest of Ricardo’s four children, happened to witness this curious bit of healing at a time when she should have been off bird-scaring. She dutifully reported to her mother, Agnesse Abbott, that she had seen her father with the widow woman bending over him doing something to his hat.

Nothing was said for some time but things went from bad to worse for Alicia. In spite of Ricardo’s help, she failed to get the house repaired in time and found herself out on the streets, living in the woods with her seven children. No one yet knows why the Tithing Man who should have helped her, failed to do so (unless, of course, Ricardo is the Tithing Man??)

Her children were cold and starving. In desperation she started to beg and found her way to the door of Agnesse Abbott’s house. She asked politely for milk. Her own cow had dried up and there was nothing she could do about it. We assume she had already tried some of her own herbal remedies on it.

Agnesse Abbott, because of her own feelings of jealousy towards Alicia, refused her. It must be said that it was a bad day for her. She had been thinking about her baby who had recently died and was feeling sad and tense. Added to that her children had been disturbing her – the boys rushing around climbing trees and shouting and the little girl running in and out of the house, letting the dust fly in and disturbing the fire. By midday she had had enough. But there was her arch-rival Alicia with her vast brood asking for milk. Never!

Alicia waited outside and may have left. But her children began to cry and complain at the means of their reception. Alicia persisted and tried again to no avail. As her children cried even louder, Alicia muttered something under her breath and left.

Did she really curse Agnesse’s children and animals? Agnesse was sure she had. Within the week the girl grew sick. Then Ricardo arrived home and reported that one of the oxen had gone lame. In the morning it was dead. The curse had worked!

Agnesse began walking all around the village, talking to neighbours and canvassing their views on Alicia. But they were not sure…

Letters

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Press

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Script

Read the script of Voyages as a PDF

Songs

CHORAL CHANT

Voyages 1 Version

Come into the circle
This zodiac
Round as the stable clock
And listen to the rhythms here
Across the lawns and through the woods
Of a park laid down over centuries
Like one great green cloak
Hiding a timeworn trail of paths
And trinkets of stone and bone.

Beneath the surface a pulse still beats
Echoes trapped in stone and leaf
Louder now the ancient song
You must go on and on and on –
Spiralling, turning, spiralling, turning,
Leaves, trees, stones and sticks.

A journey begins from this courtyard
A path through re-remembered lives
Follow as we sing up the past
Carolling stories of people
Who walked this way.
Our task to guide you
In the shadow of this stone-grey house
In the shadow of this stone-grey house.

Beneath the surface a pulse still beats
Echoes trapped in stone and leaf
Louder now the ancient song
You must go on and on and on –
Spiralling, turning, spiralling, turning,
Leaves, trees, stones and sticks.

Step through the circle –
Let’s have no unwilling groans –
We hope you’ll return to nineteen ninety one
Enriched by the stories we’ll tell and show.
Enough! The circle’s starting to turn back
To Kingston Lacy in nineteen hundred and five
The servants are about to start work.

Voyages 2 version – Echoes of the Past

Come into the circle
Zodiac of stories round
As the stable clock
And listen to the sounds
Across the lawns and through the woods
Of a park, laid like a green cloak
Over the centuries
Over paths once travelled
Over words spoken and unspoken
Over trinkets of stone and bone.

Beneath the surface a pulse still beats
Echoes trapped in stone and leaf
Louder now the ancient song
You must go on and on and on.

The circle’s starting to turn back
The circle’s starting to turn back
To Kingston Lacy In nineteen hundred and five.
The journey begins from this courtyard
A path through re-remembered lives.
Look , look!
How Viola walks back
To the edge of her childhood
Sees herself;
The daughter who would have been a son
The girl who must curtsey For a King
She is the one
About whom there is something to tell
Follow as we play up the past
In the shadow of this stone-grey house
In the shadow of this stone-grey house.

Beneath the surface a pulse still beats
Echoes trapped in stone and leaf
Louder now the ancient song
You must go on and on and on.

WHEN THE KING CAME TO TEA

The crowds waited expectantly
When King Edward VII came to tea
The servants lined up nervously
When King Edward VII came to tea.

Hooray! Hooray! Hip! Hip! Hooray!
Hooray! Hooray! Hooray!
There was ptarmigan, widgeon, sturgeon and teal,
Cold cuts of turkey, ham and veal
A luscious lobster from Studland Bay
Freshly caught for the Royal Day
When King Edward VII came to tea.

Hooray! Hooray! Hip! Hip! Hooray!
Hooray! Hooray! Hooray!

The stable clock was chiming three
When King Edward VII came to tea
All was pomp and ceremony
When King Edward VII came to tea.

Hooray! Hooray! Hip! Hip! Hooray!
Hooray! Hooray! Hooray!

ALICE MAUD BAKER’S SONG

I know I’m only a servant girl
And I’m not ashamed to say
I belong to the ranks of those that toil
For a living day by day.
With willing feet I press along
In the path that I must tread
Proud that I have the strength and skill
To earn my daily bread.

I belong to the lower class.
That’s the phrase we often meet
And there’s some who sneer at a servant girl
As they pass her in the street.
They star at her in proud disdain
And their lips in scorn will curl,
And sometimes we can hear them say
“She’s only a servant girl.”

Only a servant girl, thank God,
With willing hands and heart,
I am able to earn my daily bread
And in life’s battle take part.
You could offer me no title
I would be more proud to own
And I stand as high in the sight of God
As the Queen upon her throne.

Ye gentle folk who pride yourselves
Upon your wealth and birth
And look with scorn on those who have
Nought else but honest worth,
Your gentle birth we laugh to scorn,
For we hold it as our creed
That none are gentle save the one
That does a gentle deed.

LISTEN

Listen, Listen, Listen, Listen

Listen to the stories,
The stories in the stone,
Listen to the stories,
The stories in the stone,
Look for the thumb print of a Celtic King,
Look, look for the wisdom of a hollow ring.

OR:
Listen, Listen, Listen, Listen

Listen to the voices,
The voices in the trees,
Listen to the voices,
The voices in the trees.

Follow, follow,

Follow the child, follow the child,
Follow the child as she moves, as she movess,
Towards the cedar trees, shaking their long green hair,
In the breeze, in the breeze.

Follow, follow,

Follow the child, follow the child,
Follow, follow the child
Listen, Listen,
Listen, Listen,

Now..

SONG OF NAMES

Viola, Veneti, Alice, Alicia
Viola, Veneti, Alice, Alicia
(Over and over, over and over)

Over and over, over and over
(ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba)
Sounds echo louder
(ba ba ba ba)
Day after day
(Day after day)

Lineage of names
From these descend.

Alice, Alicia, Viola, Veneti.
Viola, Veneti, Alice, Alicia

Over and over, over and over
(ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba)
Sounds echo louder
(ba ba ba ba)
Day after day
(Day after day)

Yesterday, today; yesterday, today
(ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba)
Tomorrow and tomorrow
(ba ba ba ba)
Day after day
(Day after day)

Lineage of names
From these descend

Alice, Alicia, Viola, Veneti.
(over and over, over and over)

(Repeat and fade)

SONG OF STONE / PRECIOUS STONE

Precious stone
Precious stone
Helping, healing
Helping, healing
Soothing stone.

Rock of old,
Use your powers,
Make her well
Tonight.

Precious stone
Precious stone
Helping, healing
Helping, healing
Soothing stone.

Crush the roots,
Mix the herbs,
Make her well
Tonight.

Precious stone
Precious stone
Helping, healing
Helping, healing
Soothing stone.

Location

Mrs J Puts Out Her Bunting • Cornmarket, Wimborne, 1995

Undercliff & Over Heath • Bournemouth, 1997

Voyages (2) • Kingston Lacy, Wimborne (1996)

About the production

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Programme

Research

Letters

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Script

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Location

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