"Mons, town of the "Doudou"" Top 5 Page for this destination Mons Travelogue by ptitetoile

The "Ducasse de Mons" is the biggest traditionnal event in Mons. During several days, the town is drown in an amazing and wonderful atmosphere where history, folklore are mixed to create a unique conviviality.

This giant "party" has its origin in the XIVth century...

In 1349, the plague decimated the population of the area of Mons. The religious and laic authorities decided to implore the mercy and help of the protecting saint of the town : St Waudru and organised a procession with her relics. After that, the plague stopped : it was considered like a miracle and the protected persons and survivors organised this traditional procession every year to show their gratitude towards the protecting Saint Waudru (the French word "Ducasse" comes from "Dedicace" -> in English : dedicate)

Since then, the procession has evolved (itinerary through the town, number of groups, time of the year) but one thing is sure : the attachment of the inhabitants of Mons for the tradition has not stopped : more and more people want to participate. The procession groups now +/- 1400 volontary participants in 60 groups evoking the different brotherhoods and guilds of the Middle Ages.

The evening before the procession, there is a religious ceremony where the reliquary of St Waudru - suspended by cables several meters above the altar of St Waudru Collegiate Church - is pulled down to be exposed to the veneration of the people during one week. The religious chief of the St Waudru Collegiate Church confides the reliquary to the Mayor's care. This ceremony is very touching... For me, the nicest things are the medieval atmosphere created by the organ and the trumpets and the traditional religious songs sung by the wonderful chor. This ceremony gives also the sign that the "Ducasse" is really begun when the reliquary is down and that the trumpets play the music of the "Doudou"!!!! During the ceremony, you can already see some of the groups that will participate to the procession the next day : the "chanoinesses", the guardians, the "pages"...

The procession begins at 10 am and is supposed to last about 2 hours. The different groups (representing the guilds, the nobility) walk at a slow pace, sometimes accompanied by a chor or musicians. Each group is preceded by two or three children who drag a broad right-angled flag with the name of the group, so that everybody can identify it. The reliquary of St Waudru is at the end of the procession. It is carried by the "Golden Coach" (FR : Car d'or) that is pulled by 6 labour horses. The procession starts at the feet of the St Waudru Collegiate Church, goes throught the town, on the main axes, including the "Grand Place" and ends on the other side of St Waudru Collegiate Church : the steep paved street called "Rampe St Waudru".

On the "Rampe St Waudru, a crucial event of the tradition takes place : the climbing of the street by the Golden Coach. The Golden Coach pulled by the labour horses has to climb the street in one time, without stopping, so that it brings luck for the town during one year!!!! In order to ensure a successful climb, there are a lot of young people waiting down the street to help !!!!! There is a wonderful atmosphere before the climbing : the young people sing typical Belgian/Wallonian songs and encourage each other to give strength to their task! When the signal is given that the climb can begin, all the young people begin to run and push the Golden Coach till it reaches the end of the street! It is usely very short and very intense!!! Everybody is released once the climb has been successful and the joy exploses!!! Then another traditional event can begin........

After the procession that finishes around 12 pm, another traditional event takes place, this time on the market square (FR : Grand Place) : the fight beween the dragon and the knight St Georges (called in French : combat dit Lumecon -> Lumecon Fight ).
It is a kind of play with actors representing the famous legend of St-Georges and the dragon (in other city the knight has other names like Michel - for example in Brussels ). This fight was inspired by the medieval mysteries and was organised by the Brotherhood of St Georges to show the life of their protecting Saint in order to maintain his cult. The play evolved, new actors came in and St Georges was replaced by Gilles de Chin, a legendary hero of the region who would have killed a dragon living in the march near Mons.
Initially, the play took place during the procession of the Golden Coach but in 1819, the play was displaced from the procession to the Grand Place where it is still played nowadays. This separation was made under the pressure of the clergy who did not accept anymore the presence of a play with persons coming from the non religious/pagan/popular tradition. But now, St Georges has taken his place again.

Before the fight, the actors and the dragon are waiting next to St Waudru Collegiate Church for the end of the climbing of the Golden Coach. Then they all move together to the Grand Place by walking down the street called "Rue des Clercs". The actors and the dragon are followed by a groups of musicians (a kind of fanfare) that plays the music of the "Doudou" : trumpets and drums give the rhythm and carry away all the people in a passionate mood.
Here are the lyrics of the music :

"EL DOUDOU"

Refrain
C'est l'Doudou c'est l'mama C'est l'poupee, poupee, poupee
C'est l'Doudou, c'est l'mama C'est l'poupee St Georg' qui va
Les gins du rempart riront comm' des kiards De vir' tant de carottes
Les gins du culot riront comm' des sots De vir' tant de carotts' a leu' pots

1) Nos irons vir l'Car d'Or A l'Procession de Mon
Ce s'ra l'poupee St Georg' Qui nos suivra de long
C'est l'doudou ...

2) El' Vieill' Matante Margritte Trousse ses falbalas
Pou fair' bouilli l'marmite Et cuir' ses biaux p'*** pois.
C'est l'doudou ...

3) Les Dames du Chapitre N'auront pas du gambon,
Parce qu'ell's n'ont pas fait El tour de procession
C'est l'doudou ...

4) Voici l'Dragon qui vient! Ma merre sauvons- nous!
Il a mordu Grand'merre, I vos mordra itou
C'est l'doudou ...

5) V'la que Lumecon commence Au son du Carillon,don-don,
Saint Georg' avec sa lance Va combat' el Dragon
C'est l'doudou ...

6) Dragon, Sauvag's et Diab's, Saint Georg' ??? Chinchins
Ess' tourpin' dedins l'sabe On tire, c'est l'grand moumint
C'est l'doudou ...

7) V'la l' Dragon qui trepasse In v'la co pou ein an;
Asteur faisons Ducasse A tabe mes infants

C'est l'Doudou c'est l'mama C'est l'poupee, poupee, poupee
C'est l'Doudou, c'est l'mama C'est l'poupee St Georg' qui va
Les gins du rempart riront comm' des kiards De vir' tant de carottes
Les gins du culot riront comm' des sots De vir' tant de carotts' a leu' pots

Once the procession of actors is on the Grand Place, the musicans settle down in a kiosk where they will play during about half an hour without stopping : the time of the fight.
The real Fight takes place in an arena filled with yellow sand and surrounded by a very thick rope that delimits the circle and prevent the people all around to go inside the circle. This fight is very popular and there are thousands of people coming to experience the fight. So it is almost impossible to see the play from really close.... unless you come very soon in the morning around the rope and if you are not afraid of the crowd....

For the people from Mons, there is one importane objective : to possess horse hair of the dragon!!!!! Indeed, the aim of all the people around the circle (who are mostly young and male - but there is an exception : I do it!) is to catch the horse hair of the dragon when his tail goes over their head! It brings luck for the one who catches it ! So in the first lines around the circle, the contacts are quite intense (pushing and pulling) to reach the goal! (I loved the pun in French invented by my friend Charles : "Au combat dit Lumeçon, ça crin") For the ones who prefer not to experience it so hard, there is an alternative : you can can enjoy the play by looking at the TVs situated all around the Grand Place. Or you are lucky and are invited to the honour balcony of the town hall with the mayor... or whatever other balconies of the cafes around the market square. Anyway, wherever you are, the most important is to be there and feel the atmosphere!

The play is not improvised. It follows a very specific choreography where each actor has his role to fulfill and certain acts to accomplish.

The two most important actors are of course St Georges and the dragon. During the fight, St Georges on his horse tries to kill the dragon but he does not succeed immediately : it takes him half an hour to finally let him bite the yellow dust. To accomplish his task, he is helped by the "Chinchins". The dragon is carried by "White Men" (FR: Hommes blancs) and its tail is carried by the "Leaves' Men" (with green leaves on their suits FR : Hommes de feuilles). Another group of actors are the "Devils" (FR : diables). Here is a description of them individually. They all have a specific role to play and they also have a symbolic meaning : you will see that the symbolic is present in a lot of details.

St Georges

St George wears a helmet with the style "Premier Empire", a yellow blouse (color of the sun, the light that enables the life, the symbol of wisdom) with a blue shirt under (color of the sky, associated with spiritual matters and reflection). He uses three weapons to fight the dragon : the spear, the sabre, and finally the gun (symbol of modernity) with which he kills the dragon after the third trial. He holds all his weapons with a white glove (symbol of purity)...but for the final shoot, he takes it out : he is a human being that becomes responsible of his acts.

St Georges is the guarantor of the social order, discipline and turns in the arena clockwise (opposite to the direction of the dragon). The fight can be seen as the victory of the "good" upon the "evil" but there are many interpretations with more nuances where the dragon is not that bad (see the description of the dragon below).

The dragon

The dragon is a ten meter long giant : it is composed by a wicker carcass covered by a linen which is pasted and painted in green and a 5 meter long tail made of carbon fibres. At the end of the tail, there is horse hair of three horses.
The dragon is decorated by a lot of bands of the colour of Belgium (black, yellow and red) and the colours of Mons (red and white).

The dragon is carried by the "White Men" who make him turn in the arena. The dragon gives "tail blows" (FR: coup de queue) in the people all around the circle who try to catch so much horse hair as they can because it brings luck.
The dragon tries to escape St Georges, turns anticlockwise (opposite to the direction of St Georges) and executes some figures to let him fall from his horse. A famous figure of both of them is the "knob figure" (FR: figure du pommeau).
The dragon is mostly seen as the symbol of the "evil". But there is also another interpretation. Like I said above, the Dragon is not only bad. It is complementary. According to another psychoanalytical point of view, the dragon is also the symbol of the change, the necessary evolution in a society. The Fight can thus be interpreted like the inner fight of a human being who has to overcome his own fears (of change). But the fears can come back, like the Dragon in Mons that appears again every year....

The Chinchins

They are the 12 "helpers" of St Georges. They are bound to a wicker carcass covered by a cow skin that represent a dog (FR: chien ) and wear a mainly red tartan (scottisch fabric). The role of the Chinchins is to fight against the "Devils", to attack the dragon and participate to some figures like the "reversal" (FR: renversement) of the Chinchins. One of them is the protecting Chinchin of St Georges : he follows him whereever he goes and gives him all his weapons.

The White Men

There are the persons who carry the dragon. They dress in white, meaning that they are invisible (as if the dragon can walk alone). Their number (11) is symbolic : it is the sign of the excess, disproportion, and the inner fight.

The Leaves' Men

Their costume is covered by ivy leaves and their shirt is red. Their weapon is a bludgeon that symbolize the brute force.
There are 8 Leaves' Men and this number represents the cosmic balance. They are sometimes called the "savage men" and are inspired by the idea that the different conquerors in the middle age had of the people living in the forest.

The Devils

There are 11, their costumes are black with a big image on the back. This image is used to be a devil face but now it is the face of the "Pan" of Loisel. Their tasks is to hit the Chinchin and the people with their balloon-like pork bladder. They also jump and roll on the sand on every occasion.

Once the dragon is killed, all the actors leave the circle and go inside the court of the Town Hall... All the people who did not have the chance to catch of receive horse hair goes inside the circle and begin to search these precious horse hair on the sand :-) And then the party can begin (or maybe - for a lot of people - will go on :-))) ... all the cafes and terraces are open to refresh you! Music and drinks will be everywhere! We can dance on the street and have fun all day and all night long!!!!

For more info : see the wonderful website of Olivier Dinant http://ducassedemons.info/ (in French)