New Britain Herald Newspaper, September 27, 1930, Page 3

7 2 Tt1mss ettt i dethe odiva The Very Unexpected Practical Joke Played On the Pageant-Loving Spectators of St. Albans Just Because the Village Girls Were Too Modest Lady Godiva, Much to Her Husband’s Surprise, Agreed When He Promised to Lower the Town’s Taxes If She Would Ride Naked Through the Streets of Coventry. This Old Print Depicts Lady Godiva as She Started On Her Epic Ride. ADY GODIVA has ridden ag: This time she was greete cheers and shouts rather than the deserted streets of Coventry. time there were no Peeping They didn’t have to peep, they v lined up along the route of the pr cession, and their eyes were wide open —and Lady Godiva didn’t mind a bit. And this time Lady Godi did not ride in order that an irascible and re- lentless husband would remit the heavy taxes with which the townspeople were yoked, but rather to induce the t people to contribute, to tax the in the interest of local charities. And Lady Godiva’y ride came near being a “flop” instead of a “wow.” For several years past, many of the English towns have made it a habit to steal the thunder of Coventry by stag- ing Lady Godiva pagean 4 always have been sure-fire hits, and the managers of the pageants ha fame and fortune. So extensiv been this “Lady Godiva complex’ many of the British newspapers have sarcastically inquired whether Cov- entry and its fables have been extended to cover the entire British Isles. And Coventry’s patriots have bitterl, by what rights the other towns have usurped the Coventry legend. And so this year, when the manager of the fair to be given to benefit the St. Albans Hospital planned on using the Lady Godiva stunt he was faced with considerable prejudice and lack of interest on the part of the towns- people. Something had to be done. Guarded inquiry among the fair young damsels of St. Albans revealed the startling intelligence that none was particularly eager to emulate the noble lady of years ago, even when a pair of tights and long flowing hair were thrown in as an added inducement. The girls seemed to share the general antipathy toward the whole affair. Tge time for the pageant approached and still there was no one to act the part of Lady Godiva. The town won- dered what would happen. Could it be possible that the plans for the whole event were to be discarded?¢ Could it be that there would be no parade? What would the hospital do without the funds which were being counted on? No one knows exactly where the rumor w first heard. Some say it was in a pub. Others claim that the village barber heard it first and told some of the gay young blades. At any rate, soon all the men of St. Albans had learned that a hgdy Godiva had been secured for the parade. “She’s a French ac- tress,” said one. “Yes, and 1 under- stand she is a beauty,” put in another. “And she isft going to wear a stitch of clothes,” blushed still a third man. “I am going to be on hand bright and early!” This from all three of the men simultaneously. That, indeed, seemed to be the plan. The news spread; the men could not keep it to themselves. People ap- proached the fair man ager and asked him for further details, but he merely looked blank and refused to confirm or deny the report. “Well I know one thing, ‘Erbert” more than one housewife said to her spouse. “You'll be right 'ome ’‘ere dur- ing that there pageant. Earl Leofric Agreeing to Lift the Burden of the Townspeople's Taxes If Lady Godiva Would Humble Herself by Riding Naked Through the Strects of Coventry. Humph, the idea of one of them French 'ussies coming and sel s she's getting five pound or so for doing it. it for something worth while, she didn’t sell ’er pride for no five pounds nor five ‘undred neither, done it for th people. / vou'll be at ’ome, bucko. ‘Ain’t got no idea of goin’ Maggie. What do I care for a little French "ussy? But secretly each one began to con- trive ways and means of escaping the wifely vigilance. The rumors were authenticated a few days before the pageant w scheduled to be held. Bill posters ap- peared and on them were these star- tling words: “Come one! Come all!! At St. Albans for sweet charitee Lady Godiva will ride as God made her! Absolutely as He made her! Come one! Come all!!!” What the people of St. Albans did not know was that when the manager of the fair had composed the above bill-poster, he had heaved a great sigh of relief and wiped beads of anxiety- engendered perspiration from his fore- head. The whole thing had come near being a terrific “flop.” Only, hi A View of the Staines ton’s “Blanket Thic native British i had saved the s and made it p him to presen Godiva “as God made her.” When the day of the St. Albans fete dawned, the little town was crowded with spectators. All of the tow ple were out in their Sun day-go-to-meeting best and throngs from other villages had come to swell the audience. There were even some people from London, for the news that Lady Godiva was to ride “as God made her” had spread far and wide. There were several contributing causes for the popularity .f the at- As the Pageant Manager Had Promised, Lady Godiva Was a French Stage Star, but the “French” Came in by the Fact That She Was a French Poodle While the “Stage Star” Was Due to the Fact That She Had Been Hired From a Troupe of Trained Dogs. to Wear Tights. sainted herome. But Miss Bovington had been swathed in a pair of flesh-colored tights which, it was said, were “as thick as a blanket!” Furthermore, a long flowing wig almost completely cov- ered her fiom head to foot. Another girl, similarly garbed, how- ever, rode in the procession at Coven- try, the home of the Lady Godiva legend. Everywhere the expectant crowds had gone they had seen the same camouflage and in every case it had been a vast disappointment—a dis- illusionment. But St. Albans had given them a four - square guarantee which by no stretch of the imagination could be interpreted more than one way. The men grinned in expectation, dug each other in the ribs and stamped impa- tiently as th aited —and in the front ranks of the spectators. At last there was a roar from the crowd. Someone, far up the line, had seen the first figures of the procession sodiva” Procession. Many of the Spectators Complained that Miss Boving- * Tights and Long Flowing Wig Took Much of the Charm Away From Her Role. These Same Spectators Later Flocked to St. Albans to See Lady Godiva “as God Made Her,” and Saw a French Poodle. traction. It is not known, butiti pected, that some of the so-called wits had announced that they were on hand to see the greatest possible oddity of the present motorized age, a white horse! But as a matter of fact, the people whe had been attending the various Lady Godiva pageants throughout the countryside, had become a bit fed up on the substitutions which had been made in the name of mod They wanted to see a real Lady Godiva and in St. Albans it was promised. In fact, some of the virtuous matrons of the town had been up in arms for several days and had talked of actions, legal and otherwise, by ) they could avert this menace to morality. In Staines, another countryside town, the spectators at the Lady Godiva pageant had seen Miss Gladys Boving- ton straddle a docile calico pony named Charlie to take the part of Coventry’s Newspaper Featurs Serrice, 1938 L starting out from their covered gathering place. “Get off me neck!” cried one paunchy, unromantic looking man from the front row. . “Stick your ’ead dow: tively from a short lad, who had come a little too late and was in the fourth rank. “Quit shovin’, yer bloomin’ boun ders!” *‘Give a bloke a chance to see!” ‘Is she comin’?” “Lift me up, papa!” Interest ran high, there was no ques. tion of that, and the bo! S, forced for the ‘occasion by volunteers from among the townspeople, had a hard time keeping the spectators from spilling over into the line of ma No doubt some of the difficulty w caused by the understandable interest of the policemen themselves. With one hand they would try to shove the crowd back while their own eyes were “Lady Godiva” as She Was Christened for the Occasion. This Is the Poodle Which Rode in the Pageant at St. Albans. steadily gazing toward the slowly approaching column. At last Lady Godiva ap- peared and as she slowly passed through the throngs the roars that greeted her rolled like a wave down the street. In the roars could be detected real, keen, amusement, mingled with chagrir. and a little dis- appointment. For Lady Godiva was a dog! A little French poodle!! There she came, sitting up on her “haunches on the back of a beautiful white horse, led by two pages in me- dieval costumes. St. Albans took the joke with good humor. The people were disappointed, there was no doubt of that, but they were rather ashamed to think that they had been foolish enough to believe that in 1930 a real, nude Lady Godiva could ride through the streets of an English towh. Some of the townspeople chided the fair manager and charged him with perpetrating a fraud, but to them he replied: “Some other towns, now, may not be like St. Albans, but our girls—bless their sweet hearts—are all good girls! Not a one in the whole town would show herself in tights and false hair. So's not to disappoint anyome, I just named this little dog ‘Lady Godiva' and I guess you'll admit she rode the way é}od made her—except I scrubbed her rst.” The poodle dog had been hired for the occasion from a troupe of perform- ing dogs which had recently played in St. Albans. The Lady Godiva pageants of the past few years have had more than an entertainment value, they have sought to preserve the story of one of the most sainted women in English history, a woman to whom, only two years ago, a memorial tablet was erected in Cov- entry. Lady Godiva, according to the old legends, was the wife of Saxon Earl Leofric, overlord of Coventry, about the year 930. Leofric was a heartless, cruel monarch who cared little for the welfare of his people but who was mightily interested in his own welfare and prosperity. Upon the people of Coventry Leofric had imposed the burden of terrific tax- ation and time and again Lady Godiva, who had the interest of the people at heart, had pleaded with her husband to lighten the tolls. But he had been adamant. Finally, hoping to quiet her en- treaties, he sneeringly agreed to lower the taxes if she would humble herself by riding through the streets of Coven- try stark naked. Much to his surprise, Lady Godiva agreed. A proclamation was issued requiring everyone to keep within doors and to close their shutters during the period of Lady Godiva’s ride. So deeply had he won the affection of the people of Coventry that her requeest was obeyed by all—all except one man, a tailor, who bored a hole in his shutters so that he might see Lady Godiva pass. *Peep- ing Tom,” as he became known, watched and as a result of his faith- lessness, he was struck blind. And down through the ages for a thousand years the name “Peeping Tom” has been ap- plied to those who spy upon their neighbors’ doings. The story of Lady Godiva is one of the most cherished legends of old Eng- land. Periodically for many years, her famous ride had been resurrected in fetes and pageants in Coventry and other towns of England and always they have been accompanied by a reverence which was almost patriotic. For this very reason, many people have decried the commercialism which has characterized the most recent version of the event. While it is too early to anticipate results, there is a possibility that the affair at St. Albans this year will re- sult in a slightly different attitude to- ward these pageants. The populace has become rather fed up with the conventional camouflage and they most certainly won't be hoaxed by & dog— again—so it is well within the range of possibi that hereafter the pageants will be reserved for their birthplace only—Coventry. N s S,