05 September 2022

From Cappadocia to
Comerford Way: one
large tree in a small town

The Cappadocian Maple on the corner of Comerford Way and Station Road in Winslow is the sixth largest tree of this species in these islands (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2022)

Patrick Comerford

I returned to the pretty, small town of Winslow late last week, mainly to photograph Comerford Way, the street off Station Road, named after Denis Comerford, the last railway signalman to work at Winslow Railway Station over half a century ago.

But a surprising discovery at the corner of Comerford Way and Station Road was the Cappadocian maple tree of Winslow. This tree is the sixth largest tree of this species found in these islands.

It is believed that this Cappadocian Maple in the open green area at Comerford Way is one of the earliest of these trees to be introduced into Britain, as early as 1838, more than a decade before the railway came to Winslow and Station Road was developed.

In the wild, the Cappadocian Maple (Acer cappadocicum) is found in Turkey (ancient Cappadocia), east along the Caucasus and the Himalayas, into south-west China. It is one of the few maples that regrows from around the base of the trunk.

It is a medium-sized deciduous tree growing to 20-30 metres tall with a broad, rounded crown. The five to seven-lobed, pointed, glossy green leaves turn a rich yellow in autumn; the leaf stalks exude a milky sap when broken. Clusters of small yellow-green flowers in early spring are followed by winged seeds.

Appropriately for the drought-like conditions we have been enduring in England in recent weeks, this tree is tolerant of drought and it grows on a wide variety of soils.

The thicket of narrow stems around the tree grow from the roots and they are a typical feature of this species.

The ‘Tree Register of the British Isles’ is a charity devoted to recording the champion trees of Ireland and the United Kingdom.

Banner Homes, Sutton Homes and AVDC, who have developed some of the modern housing around Comerford Way and the other streets in this part of Winslow, have co-operated in protecting the tree during building work, and cuttings from the tree have been propagated and grown in local schools and on nearby open spaces.

The mature trees on the site are protected by a Preservation Order issued 25 years ago in 1997.

The Cappadocian Maple on the corner of Comerford Way is protected by a Preservation Order in 1997 (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2022)

The ‘guiding principles’ behind
the ‘Ornaments & Ceremonies’
in All Saints’ Church, Calverton

The framed Anglo-Catholic poster on ‘Ornaments & Ceremonies’ and ‘Pious Customs’ in All Saints’ Church, Calverton(Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2022)

Patrick Comerford

I was at the Parish Fete in All Saints’ Church, Calverton, on Sunday afternoon.

Calverton is a small, pretty village just 3 km outside Stony Stratford, and I have visited Calverton on many occasions in recent months. But this was my first time to see inside the parish church, with its beautiful layout, decorations, furnishings and stained-glass windows.

All Saints’ Church, Calverton, is an interesting example of Victorian church architecture and decoration at the height of the Tractarian revival of Catholic liturgy in Anglicanism.

I hope to write about that visit in the days to come. But this afternoon I thought I would share this framed poster which has survived on the south wall, and which seeks to explain the rationale behind the Anglo-Catholic rituals, liturgical practices, vestments and customs that are part of the tradition of this church.

(I have modified the capitalisation and punctuation in my transcription to make it easier to read).

Ornaments & Ceremonies of the Church and her Ministers.

Guiding Principles.


I. That everything may be done to the glory of him whose presence is in his Holy Temple, and whose presence is vouchsafed to the Christian in the Blessed Sacrament.

II. That everything that is done shall have a meaning, and serve as a help to worship and an incentive to reverence.

III. That nothing shall be done contrary to the spirit of the English branch of the Catholic Church, as expressed in her Canons, and in the Ornaments Rubric: or contrary to the Ceremonial retained at the Reformation.

‘And here is to be noted, that such Ornaments of the Church, and of the Ministers thereof at all Times of their Ministration, shall be retained, and be in use, as were in this Church of England, by the Authority of Parliament, in the , is the Second Year of the Reign of King Edward VI.’

(Book of Common Prayer)

Ceremonies in use, and their meaning.

I. Of the Altar, Sanctuary, and the Ministers.

An Altar Cross is placed in the most conspicuous position. to remind us of our Redemption by Jesus Christ.

Altar Lights: two are lighted at celebrations of the Blessed Sacrament to signify ‘that Christ, God and Man, is the very True Light of the World.’

Other lights are used to serve to teach a distinction in the dignity of Festivals, thus two upon any Ordinary Day, four upon saints’ days, six upon Festivals of Our Lord (smaller lights are added as a symbol of joy).

The Perpetual Light kept burning by night and by day symbolises the perpetual presence of God, and serves as a reminder that because of his presence, reverence is required of all who enter his house.

(They differ in number, sometimes one, or three, or five, or seven)

Incense is offered as a symbol of offering to God all things, persons, and acts of praise and prayer, through the one offering of Christ upon the cross. Malachi i 11, speaking of Christian times, says ‘In every place Incense shall be offered to my name, and a pure offering.’ It is also a symbol of cleansing from earthly impurities all that we offer to God.

Vestments are used because God himself instituted their use (Exodus xxviii), and because of the honour and dignity due to him whom we worship, and especially due to the presence of Christ in the Holy Eucharist.

They are: the Amice, the Alb, the Girdle, the Stole, the Maniple, the Chasuble, the Cope, the Tunicle and Dalmatic.

Unleavened Bread (sometimes in the form of wafers) is used, because similar to that used by Christ himself at the Institution of the Blessed Sacrament.

Water is Mingled with the Wine in the Blessed Sacrament, because in the Church it has always been the custom, after the example of Christ himself, at the institution of the Blessed Sacrament.

Colours are used in the vesting of the Altar, Sanctuary and Minister, to remind us of the change in the Church seasons and our duties in regard to those seasons, thus:

White (or Gold), Festal Days (except Whitsuntide);

Red, Whitsuntide and Festivals of Martyrs;

Green (or Blue) Trinity Season;

Violet (or Purple) Lent, Advent, Rogation, and Embertide.

Flowers are used because we would delight to give of the best and purest of God’s gifts to his honour and the beauty of his sanctuary.

Eastward Position is taken by the priest at the celebrations of the Blessed Sacrament that he may be the leader of the people in this their offering to God that he may be one with the people in their prayers for the gifts and graces of God.

A Processional Cross is used for the same reason that the colours are borne in front of a Regiment.

II. Pious Customs.

An Obeisance is made on Entering and Leaving the Church as a symbol of the worship we owe to our Great King, it is made towards the Altar, as the throne of Christ in the Church.

We stand at the entrance and exit of the clergy out of respect to their office as the Ministers of God.

We turn Eastward at the Creeds and Glorias as a token of unity in the faith of the Blessed Trinity, and to express in this unity our belief that Christ shall come (the Light of the World) to judge the quick and the dead.

We bow at the name of Jesus in honour of the holy name, and upon the authority of Scripture.

The Sign of the Cross reminds us that we are his servants, who gave us the same sign in Holy […] In token that hereafter we should not be ashamed to confess Christ Crucified, and manfully to fight […] his banner, against Sin, the World, and the Devil.’

Praying with USPG and the music of
Vaughan Williams: Monday 5 September 2022

‘Wassail, Wassail, all over the town, / Our bread it is white’ … fresh bread at breakfast time in the Hedgehog Vintage Inn, Lichfield (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2021)

Patrick Comerford

I spent an enjoyable Sunday afternoon at the Parish Fete at All Saints’ Church, Calverton.

Before today begins, I am taking some time this morning for reading, prayer and reflection.

This year marks the 150th anniversary of the composer Ralph Vaughan Williams, whose music is celebrated throughout this year’s Proms season. In my prayer diary for these weeks I am reflecting in these ways:

1, One of the readings for the morning;

2, Reflecting on a hymn or another piece of music by Vaughan Williams, often drawing, admittedly, on previous postings on the composer;

3, a prayer from the USPG prayer diary, ‘Pray with the World Church.’

The window depicting Christ the healer in the Chapel of Saint John’s Hospital, Lichfield (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2021)

The Gospel reading for today in the lectionary as adapted by the Church of Ireland is:

Luke 6: 6-11 (NRSVA):

6 On another sabbath he entered the synagogue and taught, and there was a man there whose right hand was withered. 7 The scribes and the Pharisees watched him to see whether he would cure on the sabbath, so that they might find an accusation against him. 8 Even though he knew what they were thinking, he said to the man who had the withered hand, ‘Come and stand here.’ He got up and stood there. 9 Then Jesus said to them, ‘I ask you, is it lawful to do good or to do harm on the sabbath, to save life or to destroy it?’ 10 After looking around at all of them, he said to him, ‘Stretch out your hand.’ He did so, and his hand was restored. 11 But they were filled with fury and discussed with one another what they might do to Jesus.


This performance of ‘The Wassail Song’ was part of ‘Carols for Quire 5,’ at Trinity Cathedral, Cleveland, Ohio, on 20-22 December 2013

Today’s reflection: ‘The Wassail Song’

For my reflections and devotions each day these few weeks, I am reflecting on and invite you to listen to a piece of music or a hymn set to a tune by the great English composer, Ralph Vaughan Williams (1872-1958).

I was listening yesterday [4 September 2022] to the hymn ‘Come down, O love divine’ for which Vaughan Williams wrote the tune ‘Down Ampey,’ named by Vaughan Williams after the pretty Cotswold village in Gloucestershire where he was born in the Vicarage on 12 October 1872.

This morning [5 September 2022], I continue the theme of Vaughan Williams’s connections with Gloucestershire, where he was born, and invite you to join me in listening to his joyful setting from 1913 of the ‘Gloucestershire Wassail.’

This is, perhaps, the most famous of all the local wassail traditions. ‘Wassail’ is an ancient toast meaning something like ‘Good health!’ It is also refers to a mulled cider that was part of ‘wassailing’ festivities, typically on the Twelfth Night of Christmas. To this day, the practice of wassailing survives as a folk tradition in many parts of England.

‘The Wassail Song’ (1913) comes long after Vaughan Williams had edited of the English Hymnal (1906). The intervening seven years were marked by intense activity, and in the end Vaughan Williams was to gather more than 800 songs and variant versions.

‘The Wassail Song’ grew out of these collecting efforts. He published his arrangement of the tune he had gathered as the last in a collection of folk song settings, the Five English Folk Songs, in 1913. The other four songs are ‘The Dark-Eyed Sailor,’ ‘The Springtime of the Year’, ‘Just as the Tide was Flowing,’ and ‘The Lover’s Ghost.’ Vaughan Williams turned to folk song for inspiration throughout f his career, but these five arrangements are often considered his best. Certainly they are the most elaborate, with the material treated freely throughout.

This morning’s is sometimes called ‘The Gloucestershire Wassail’ to distinguish it from ‘The Somerset Wassail.’ The best-known ‘Wassail’ song today, however, is ‘Here we come a wassailing among the leaves so green,’ which comes from Yorkshire. Many versions of wassail songs have been recorded by English folk groups, including Steeleye Span and Maddy Prior and the Carnival Band.

‘The Gloucestershire Wassail’ appears in both the original Oxford Book of Carols (1928), for which Vaughan Williams was one of the editors, and the New Oxford Book of Carols (1992).

Vaughan Williams’s setting has kept alive ‘The Gloucester Wassail,’ which can be traced back to at least the 18th century. It is one of many songs celebrating the tradition of ‘wassailing’ from door to door, when singers are offered drink in thanks for their singing.

In the 19th century, the Christmas season was a time of drunken revelry for many until the Victorians turned it into the family holiday we know today. In ‘Deck the Halls,’ for example, the line ‘Don we now our gay apparel’ was originally ‘Fill the mead cup, drain the barrel,’ while ‘See the blazing Yule before us’ was worded ‘See the flowing bowl before us,’ and ‘sing we joyous all together’ is really ‘Laughing, quaffing, all together.’

For his setting of ‘The Wassail Song,’ Vaughan Williams selected six of the eight verses, leaving out most of the references to specific barnyard animals. For example, the “ox” Vaughan Williams refers to is first a horse, Dobbin, and then two cows, Broad May and Colly, in the original.

When the song refers to ‘our bread it is white,’ it is worth remembering that at one time white bread was not regarded as providing poor nutritional value or bland taste and a texture lacking in appealing texture, but was seen a delicacy enjoyed by the well-to-do.

Vaughan Williams begins the arrangement with a haunting introduction. Although the tune itself opens with a rising fourth (E–A), he commences with a series of rising fifths and then fourths (A–E at first and only then E–A), generating the hollow, ancient sound of harmony without thirds.

He creates rhythmic tension by first following the proper stress emphasis of the word ‘Wassail,’ presenting it as expected on the upbeat, and then going against this by placing it on the downbeat, which can throw choruses off in rehearsals.

Only after all voices have entered can the tenors bring forth the tune itself, eventually handed about to other parts as well.

Throughout the work, dynamics are of special importance, for if properly followed the impression Vaughan Williams creates is that of singers approaching from afar, eventually singing full force when they are nearest to the listener, and then fading away as they head off into the distance, ending with the altos alone on a ppp rising fifth.

‘The Wassail Song’ and original Oxford Book of Carols are not Vaughan Williams’s only ventures into Christmas music. Among his many seasonal creations are his Fantasia on Christmas Carols, including ‘On Christmas Night,’ for baritone, chorus, and orchestra, from the year before ‘The Wassail Song.’

One of the last major pieces he wrote was the spectacular Hodie for chorus, soloists, and orchestra, completed in his 82nd year.

Wassail, Wassail, all over the town,
Our bread it is white and ale it is brown;
Our bowl it is made of the green maple tree;
In the Wassail bowl we’ll drink unto thee.

Here’s a health to the ox and to his right eye,
Pray God send our master a good Christmas pie,
A good Christmas pie as e’er I did see.
In the Wassail bowl we’ll drink unto thee.

Here’s a health to the ox and to his right horn,
Pray God send our master a good crop of corn,
A good crop of corn as e’er I did see,
In the Wassail bowl we'll drink unto thee.

Here’s a health to the ox and to his long tail,
Pray God send our master a good cask of ale,
A good cask of ale as e’er I did see,
In the Wassail bowl we’ll drink unto thee.

Come, butler, come fill us a bowl of the best;
Then I pray that your soul in heaven may rest;
But if you do bring us a bowl of the small,
May the Devil take butler, bowl and all!

Then here’s to the maid in the lily white smock,
Who tripp’d to the door and slipp’d back the lock;
Who tripp’d to the door and pull’d back the pin,
For to let these jolly Wassailers walk in.



Today’s Prayer, Monday 5 September 2022:

The theme in the USPG prayer diary this week is ‘Season of Creation,’ was introduced yesterday by the Season of Creation Advisory Committee.

The USPG Prayer Diary invites us to pray today (International Day of Charity) in these words:

Let us give thanks for those who are trying to make the world a better place through charitable giving of time, energy and money. May we treat each other charitably.

Street art in Rethymnon in Crete … Sunday 4 September marked the beginning of Creation Season (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Yesterday’s reflection

Continued tomorrow

Scripture quotations are from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicised Edition copyright © 1989, 1995, National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide. http://nrsvbibles.org