Towednack Cuckoo Feast

TOWEDNACK CUCKOO FEAST.

THE parish feast takes place on the nearest Sunday to the 28th of April.

It happened in very early times, when winters extended further into the spring than they now do, that one of the old inhabitants resolved to be jovial, notwithstanding the inclemency of the season; so he invited all his neighbours, and to warm his house he placed on the burning faggots the stump of a tree. It began to blaze, and, inspired by the warmth and light, they began to sing and drink; when, lo ! with a whiz and a whir, out flew a bird from the hollow in the stump, crying, Cuckoo ! cuckoo ! The bird was caught and kept by the farmer, and he and his friends resolved to renew the festal meeting every year at this date, and to call it their "cuckoo feast." Previous to this event Towednack had no "feasten Sunday," which made this parish a singular exception to the rule in Cornwall.

This feast is sometimes called "crowder" feast, because the fiddler formed a procession at the church door, and led the people through the village to some tune on his "crowd."