The greasy pole is a typical game festivities of Coria del Rio, more specifically of the fair. To find out which was the beginning of this game we must go back to the days of Elizabeth II in 1838. That year, the Queen granted the town of Coria three days of the fair (1, 2, 3 September), nearly 10 years before the Seville Fair. You could say that's fair Coria had 2 stages. At first, the show was commercial, it was an exchange activity, buying and selling to try to get some money to farmers, ranchers and fishermen. The truth is that in the years in which this type of fair practice, never worked as expected and traders make money instead of accumulating more debt. The
second stage of the fair is over 1860. Starting this year, the show began to have a strong entertaining and fun. It leaves the commercialism prevalent in previous years and the show begins to permeate the lifestyle of the inhabitants of the town of Coria, their thoughts, their emotions, their joys, etc. This was due to several factors. The first was mentioned earlier: the ranchers, farmers and fishermen were not using enough money not to lease the land on which set out their stalls. The second reason was the proximity to another party which formerly held in Coria, "calves." These were made just before the show and they represented the joy, fun and "crazy." Thus, the fair was taken as a continuation of this event. As a final factor in the transformation of the show was the embodiment of games in the holidays. These games were the races (already lost), the greasy pole and horse racing tapes (these days comes a variant of this last game is the ribbon race bike) and as a symbol of farmers Hacan , fishermen and farmers.
races existed in 3 modes:
- fishing boat with 2 rowers and a coxswain
- boats with 2 rowers and a coxswain
- canoes of a crew member Today
no longer holds any of the 3 modalities.
cucaña
is a game that takes place on the river Guadalquivir. In it, contestants must prove their ability to walk on a long piece of wood attached to a barge and greased with tallow (a type of fat) to make it harder to balance, until it reached a small flag at the opposite end. The player who managed to reach a flag was financially rewarded depending on the color of the flag that gained. The award was given in 1860 was around 25 cents.
In this test, the dip in the river are the note predominant, together with the success they achieve while performing a lot of fun for participants and spectators.
Photo: "Cockaigne in Coria del Río, 1895,"
"the boat" in Coria del Río, where today's game is held the greasy pole
A very important figure in the drive of the greasy pole in the early years was Antonio Rodriguez Franco, deputy mayor of Coria del Río at the time. The award is now given to the winners of the greasy pole leads his name. There
other form of milk and honey. Here we presented one in which the wood by which the contestants have to pass is horizontal. There is also a greasy pole in which players have to climb a wooden pole placed vertically, also smeared with grease at its upper end is located the flag to take.
The greasy pole is a game so popular and important than even the painter Francisco de Goya immortalized in one of his paintings:
Francisco de Goya. The Greasy Pole (La Cockaigne). 1786-87. Oil on canvas. Duke of Montellano, Madrid, Spain.
not the greasy pole is a unique set of fair Coria del Rio, also celebrates the "candle" of Santa Ana in Portugalete, Santa Fe, Torrevieja.
RACING HORSE RIBBONS
consist of the rider, provided with a sharp stick (maybe the rest of the spears of the past) has to be strung at a gallop the small ring about 3 cm in diameter Stitched a tape wound on a spool located at a certain height. At that time, the tapes were donated by young women that embroidered with the illusion that they were caught by the rider who deserved admiration. She was responsible for tying the arm and he the bore during the fair as an estimated award.
Cartoon, 1923 which represents the ribbon race horse
Already in our days on the 90 or so, there began to celebrate a variant of this test, racing tapes bike that is almost the same but instead of going on a horse and go at full gallop, the contestant must ride a bicycle pedaling at considerable speed.
Since its inception, both the greasy pole as the ribbons at horse race, until today, these games have not experienced any significant change and is still celebrated annually on the banks of the Guadalquivir as our ancestors began to practice.
Poster announcing the exhibition of Coria del Río, 1923
References consulted:
- Coria del Río: neo-historical approach to its reality. Edited by the Hon. Ayuntamiento de Coria del Río.
- Roof: Journal of Culture Hon. Ayuntamiento de Coria del Río.
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