Captain Clegg
Introducing Captain Clegg
Occasionally Cinque Port Morris Men are accompanied by an inquisitive, and sometimes mischievous, character called Captain Clegg. Although he can be a little boisterous, and at times annoying, Captain Clegg really is friendly and quite harmless.
We’re convinced Captain Clegg thinks he’s one of the morris men but in fact he is one of those rare creatures known as a ‘Hooden Horse’. First recorded in the late 1800s, Hooden Horses were originally found in East Kent and were associated with farm workers who used the character to help them raise extra money in the bleak period around Christmas. The horse would be taken around the parish accompanied by a number of characters (the carter, a rider and a betsy – a man dressed as a woman) who would act out a small play for the wealthy families of the big houses in return for food, drink and maybe a little money.
The tradition for fund raising continues to the modern day since Captian Clegg (who is named after a character in the series of Doctor Syn novels by Russell Thorndike) has a voracious appetite for coins of the Queens realm. If you are approached by Captain Clegg simply place a few coins in his mouth and as he swallows them you will be graced with good fortune. In fact, as the Victorian hoodeners would say,
“If ye the hooden horse does feed
throughout the year thou shall not need”
Since his first appearance on New Years Day 2009 at the Bell & Jorrocks, Frittenden, Captain Clegg has been raising money for charity and dispensing good fortune in the process.
Dancing in and around the Cinque Ports - Email: info@cinqueportmorrismen.org