Dancing Bears

Since the Market Charter of 1249, Settle Market Place has provided a stage for many and varied occasions; stories are told of Wild Beast Shows and Menageries, when the town gaol under the old market cross was used for the secure keeping of animals, as long as there were no felons in it. Sometimes prints from the early days of photography come to light and Bill Mitchell lent one to the Heritage Day exhibition in September 2004 at the Town Hall, Settle, from his collection of photos. I am sure Animal Rights campaigners of today would have something to say about this travelling performer. One story was told about a young man who volunteered to dance with the bear; sad to say the bear did not approve of him as dancing partner, and left his marks on the man for the rest of his life. Settle was one of the overnight stops for man and beast. The lodging house in Albert Hill (formerly a weaving shop run by Charles Ratcliffe) was the only place to take them; the man was found a bed, but the bear had to be chained up outside in a sheltered corner of the yard, where for many years the iron ring could be seen in the wall. Property alterations of recent years have lost this little bit of Settle history. Jim Nelson

I saw the photo that Jim refers to and it reawakened a conversation that I'd had with him during a Trust walk. Bill Mitchell very kindly gave me a copy, which is reproduced here. The photographer is unknown. Following this, a visit to Skipton reference library, where the cumulative index of The Dalesman is available, showed an entry under dancing bears. The entries were all letters to the magazine. One spoke of a story about a man cycling in the Dales (whereabouts unknown), who came upon two brown bears standing at the bottom of a hill. The rider realised they were dancing bears which were a fairly common sight in those days. There was no sign of the keeper who it was concluded was asleep in a ditch. The bears remained stationary as the cyclist passed.

The most interesting reference was a letter written in 1944, which told of a day when the writer saw a performing bear in Clapham in 1899. It performed on the Green and later went on to Settle, followed by interested children. The writer's father took a photo in Settle Market Place, which accompanied her letter in The Dalesman: it was not the one reproduced here.

Most of the other letters refer to Zoos and Menageries. I knew there was a bear pit in Leeds and went to have a look as it is listed in the A-Z of the city, under Bear Pit Gdns. There is a castellated gateway behind which is the pit some 12 feet deep and 20 feet in diameter. Conveniently, although the pit is fenced off for safety, somebody had cut a way through. The towers of the gateway contain spiral stairways so the public could view the bears from above. A plaque states that the pit was built in 1840 as part of the Leeds Zoological and Botanical Garden. It was restored in 1966 by the Leeds Civic Trust.

It would make sense to associate dancing bears with eastern Europe, as they live in the wild there and I remembered the ballet Petrouchka, choreographed in Russia, where there is a dancer dressed as a bear, led by his keeper in the fairground scene.

At the Heritage exhibition in Settle I had asked a young person if she found the photos interesting and she said yes; when asked about the bear picture her quick and only answer was "It's cruel".
Maureen Ellis