THE BIRMINGHAM TEA CEREMONIES
An anthropological study
Note
The observations reported here were made five or six decades ago.
The practises described may no longer be used.
An anthropological study
Note
The observations reported here were made five or six decades ago.
The practises described may no longer be used.
The most wide spread ceremony is conducted by someone known as Mother. Often Mother is a female, though male Mothers have been noted. Sometimes the regular Mother will stare intently at one of the participants and say “Will you be Mother?”. This is a command, which must be obeyed.
First Mother puts some boiling water into the pot, swirls it around and pours it out. Then she puts the tea leaves into the pot. The ritual amount is one spoonful per person and one for the pot. However, whilst Mother may intone the number of spoonfuls added she will be estimating how strong the tea produced will need to be. In particular she will judge how many participants will want cat lap (very weak tea). Not all of the spoons need to be full. Indeed the spoon used varies in capacity from one ceremonial to another. Most often an actual teaspoon will be used. There are caddy spoons, somewhat larger than a teaspoon. An apostle spoon, which is smaller, has to be specially designated for tea. Otherwise it will taint the tea with an egg flavour.
Balancing the needs of those supplicants who want cat lap and those who want something stronger is a part of the craft that the Mother will have learnt as an acolyte of another Mother. Having poured in boiling water she may give the tea a gentle stir, then pour the cat lap. After this she will give the remaining tea a vigorous stir and leave the tea to stand. When it is deemed strong enough she will pour tea for those who want a proper brew.
Before pouring the cat lap and again before pour the proper brew she will gently tilt the tea pot backwards. This is so that any tea leaves trapped in the spout are less likely to be poured. Most Mothers spurn the use of a tea strainer. Then she pours a small amount into her own cup. The tea in the spout may not be as strong as the main bulk of tea.
Probably before pouring the tea she will have ascertained the milk requirements of all the supplicants. She will want to know the quantity of milk and if they want pass or stera (ie pasteurised or sterilized milk). Often an acolyte will serve the milk and later take a sugar basin round. All take their first sip of tea together, give a satisfied sigh and congratulate Mother
Broadly this follows the normal British tea ceremony practice. The local variations are the choice of milks and possibly the tilting of the pot before pouring. As well as this first ceremony I have heard, possibly apocryphal, accounts of another.
This other ceremony is somewhat less ceremonious and less formal than that described above. The person conducting the ceremony has no title. It is usually the dominant female of the household. The required number of drinking vessels have already been placed on the table before the tea has been made in the back kitchen. These vessels are often jam jars and each contains, approximately, the same amount of milk and sugar. The 'tablecloth' is often a newspaper (the Spatch). For special occasions this maybe an (Ah'gus) pink or (May'l) blue one. The tea is never catlap. There is no choice of milk type and it may contain a contribution from an iron cow. The original iron cow would have been a pump but now it is a brass tap.
Having poured the tea, to half-fill the jars, mother bellows “Ee'yah. Cum an ghe'tit!”. There is no rush, without handles the jars are hot. Only someone with work-hardened hands can pick them up immediately.
