I was quite busy in December 22 doing seasonally flavoured events for various local groups and then I started this year with a Zoom performance for 12th Night. I enjoyed it and the audience did too. I’ve been told I must do it again next year so that’s in my diary! We had an audience from all over the world and raised over £200 for the Disasters Emergency Committee.
Here is a lovely review written for Facts & Fiction, the storytelling magazine I edit.
Review of Pete Castle’s Twelfth Night benefit gig for the Disasters Emergency Committee. 5th January 2023. by Allison Galbraith (Scottish storyteller.)
Something about this time of year – the weeks after Christmas and New Year –
feels lack-lustre and sometimes downright depressing. Maybe it’s a festive
season come down or the back-to-work doldrums. Whatever it is, 5th January,
the twelfth day after Christmas, is a time steeped in rituals and celebrations
from a time long passed. This is when traditionalists, like me, take down our
Christmas cards and decorations and stare in amazement at the amount of dust
that has collected behind them!
I was drawn to Pete Castle’s Twelfth Night concert, The Guisers Are Coming, to
find some cheer in these short days and dark nights and indulge my fascination
with the guising tradition of Britain and Ireland. The guisers went from house
to house in disguise – home-made fancy dress- singing carols, folk tunes,
telling riddles and reciting poems. While entertaining their local communities,
they were given food, drink and perhaps money from those who could afford to
give. These customs were documented in ballads and by folk collectors. And this
is where Pete’s extraordinary knowledge of folk stories, tunes, ballads and
traditions comes to life.
Pete explained that the concert was a benefit gig for the Disasters Emergency
Fund, and £200 had been raised. He welcomed his online audience from around the
world and then whisked us all through a portal back to a scene from the past.
As Pete sang the tune, Poor Old Orse, we found ourselves on a Derbyshire
doorstep with the guisers, waiting on more morsels of folk culture from a
master storyteller. Next, a funny short story of sheep stealing, Christmas
dinner and a minister outwitted by a singing child, then another wassail song
from Alison Uttley. Pete read a scene from Allison Uttley’s The Country Child,
The Guisers Are Coming. The guisers tell a riddling tale full of wit and
humour. Pete asked if we knew of Alison Uttley’s work, and the Zoom chat went
red hot as messages poured in from the audience about loving her books – One attendee
mentioned having a signed copy of one of her books – we all swooned at this,
including Pete. He said Uttley’s guising scene came from ‘Just up the road,
about one hundred and twenty years ago.’
Pete continued with stories and songs and a masterclass in folk customs,
connecting to, as he put it, ‘The folky side of Christmas.’ He invited his
audience to sing along to some of the tunes and made them so appealing and fun
that before I knew it, I joined in with a medieval riddling song and old carols
like The Holy and the Ivy. He treated us to a genius seasonal mix of story,
song and folklore, all interspersed with wit, gentle humour and laughter. His
style is so relaxed; the tunes just drop from his fingers and lips; I was
beginning to think Pete must be a real-life green man! He makes his performance
look effortless and easy, a joy to watch. He is a storyteller, folklorist,
musician and writer extraordinaire with several collections of folktales. He
mentioned that some of his material for the night could be found in Derbyshire
Folk Tales (2010, The History Press) and Folk Tales of Song and Dance (2021,
The History Press)
At one point, Pete paused and asked us if he was going too fast. He couldn’t
gauge our reactions without live audience feedback (we were all muted). This
couldn’t have been further from the truth – we were all mesmerised by his
lyrical and melodious voice, his wealth of knowledge and seamless, engaging
delivery. This moment of vulnerability – I’m sure shared by all storytellers
who found themselves suddenly performing to computer screens during the Covid
lockdowns – has made me appreciate Pete’s talent all the more. His concern for
the audience shows he is the real deal – a musician and storyteller who
genuinely connects with his audiences.
Pete ended the evening with a song from Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night (set to The
Two Sisters, an Appalachian tune). In the play, Feste the Jester is singing
goodnight to everybody, so Pete sang to his audience, helping us say goodbye to
Christmas and skilfully wassailing us all into 2023.
And then…
For about a year I’d been struggling with polyps in my nose which made breathing difficult, particularly when laying down (sleeping!) but didn’t really affect my singing apart from making it more hard work. In February I had an operation to remove them. And it’s worked! I was supposed to be taking it easy afterwards but just a week after the operation I had a phone call asking if I could do a gig for Belper Historical Society, the next day! because someone had dropped out because of Covid. I said yes and did a set of Derbyshire Songs & Stories with no rehearsal and my fingers crossed that my nose wouldn’t react! It didn’t and I really enjoyed it. It was just what I needed to get me going again.
Coming up I have performances for various organisations—U3As, WI, South Derbyshire College etc which I am looking forward to. I’ll be doing another Zoom performance some time before the summer too. I’ll keep you posted on here and via Facebook. If you want to know more just contact me.
And, of course, I continue to edit and publish Facts & Fiction storytelling magazine. It’s quarterly and I’m proud to say that I’ve never missed or even been late for an issue in about 25 years! It’s getting increasingly difficult to serve overseas subscribers though. There are no problems with the UK but since Brexit and now the recent Royal Mail computer hack there are more hoops to jump through and I have to waste more and more time on it. But I enjoy doing it and readers enjoy it too.
(Have a browse on the F&F pages if you haven’t already…)
