| Where: | Halton, Cheshire at the Castle Hotel on Castle Road & the Norton Arms on Main Street and other local villages |
| When: | Late October - early November |
| Time: | 7pm onwards at intervals (check schedule) |
The Halton Souling play is a revival from the year 2000 of the ancient Cheshire tradition of Souling or Soulcaking , which is a hero/combat mumming play involving the revival of a combatant by the Doctor, but with the addition of a wild hobby horse. The Halton group are the Earl of Stamford Morris side; they start their performances at the end of October at pubs in the surrounding villages and in Halton itself, usually performing on All Souls Day weekend at home in Halton. Their script follows the original one from the 1880s and includes the singing of Poor Old Horse. Their characters include the Old Woman, Turkish Champion, little Jerry Dout, Beelzebub and of course brave St George and the Doctor, and the Cheshire Old Horse with 3 legs and his driver. A collection is made for the local hospice.
Helpful Hints
The team usually performs at weekends and often on November 2nd itself-see website link near the time for full schedule. Details given in the table are for performances at Halton itself.
Click here for the event website : http://www.earlofstamford.org.uk/Souling/
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