Geese (pronounced gEEze) dancing, also known as ‘goosy’ dancing or ‘guise’ dancing, can still be seen today at events such as those in Padstow on Boxing Day and New Years Day and the ‘Hal An Tow’. The idea of Geese dancing is that the participants are in fancy dress, making sure that they cannot be recognised. This was traditionally through veils, masks or being ‘blacked up’. Geese dancers would make their way around local public houses on feast days causing general havoc in the village. The idea was that because you could not be recognised, you could get away with far more that you would usually.
Too see pictures of the Hal an Tow please click here
