Maids’ hands were tied at ancient lamb ale village festival

As one might expect from the title, there is plenty of eating, drinking, singing and dancing.

For past and present villagers, it is a chance of meet old friends, recount stories of times gone by and, with their families, enjoy a weekend of merrymaking.

The first festival is said to have been held in 1649. The ‘maids’ of the village, with their hands tied behind them, would run after a fat live lamb and the first to catch it with her mouth was declared Lady of the Lamb.

The rest of the day would be spent in “dancing, mirth and merry glee”.

The Lamb Ale Festival in 1981 (Image: Oxford Mail)

Next day, the lamb would be baked, boiled and roasted for the Ladies’ Feast, with the Lady of the Lamb “sitting majestically at the upper end of the table”.

Later, the festival extended to a week and in 1849, three special constables were sworn in “for the better preservation of peace and order”.

It was a lively celebration for more than 200 years. It then appears to have tailed off, but it enjoyed a revival after the Second World War.

Picture 1 shows Morris dancers who, with a hop and a skip, got the festival under way in 1987 by parading around the village.

In the interests of equality, the Lady of the Lamb was later joined by a Lord of the Lamb and we see in Picture 2, ‘Lady’ Louise Escott and ‘Lord’ Edward Hedges leading the village parade in 1981.

Some years, the chosen duo appear to have been renamed Lady and Lord of the Feast. What is certain is that the Lady was chosen in a less barbaric way.

The Lamb Ale Festival in 1988 (Image: Oxford Mail)

In Picture 3, taken in 1988, dancers are seen leading the procession to the church where the festival service was held and the foreman of the Kirtlington Morris side, Ian Harris, performed a jig.

Jessica Sprake and Patrick Murray, in Picture 4, took on the Lady and Lord roles in 1998 while Picture 5 shows some of the hundreds of dancers from all over the country who performed at the 1988 event.

The Lamb Ale Festival in 1998 (Image: Oxford Mail)

Picture 6 appeared on a postcard showing the feast 1904-style. The fair cart belonged to the Buckland family and was seen at the feast for many years.