Some of the sword-dances still in use in European countries represent scenes with poetry and music. There is, for instance,--or, at any rate, there was still in the eighteenth century,--an ancient sword-dance occasionally performed in some villages of North Germany, in which the principal dancer, or "The King," addresses the people in a speech.[110] Here may also be noticed the "Fool Play" still popular in some villages of Northern England, which is described as "a pageant that consists of a number of sword-dancers dragging a plough, with music, and with one, sometimes two, in very strange attire; the Bessey, in the grotesque habit of an old woman; and the Fool, almost covered with skins, a hairy cap on, and the tail of some animal hanging from his back." And the sword-dance performed in the North Riding of Yorkshire, from St. Stephen's Day till New Year's Day. "The dancers usually consist of six youths dressed in white ribands, attended by a fiddler, a youth with the name of Bessey, and also by one who personates a Doctor. They travel from village to village. One of the six youths acts the part of the King in a kind of farce which consists chiefly of singing and dancing, and the Bessey interferes while they are making a hexagon with their swords, and is killed."[111] The Cavalcade, or procession on horse-back, is supposed to have been originally connected with the Mysteries of the Middle Ages. It is still occasionally performed in Belgium, and its Flemish name is 'Ommegang.' A number of persons dressed in historical and fanciful costumes ride on horse-back and drive in carriages through the principal streets of the town in which the Cavalcade takes place, with the object of representing scenes from sacred or profane history, or allegorical subjects. The procession is made imposing by the splendid dresses of the principal characters, by the gorgeous gildings of their carriages, and the display of baldachins and flags. This show is supposed to have been introduced into the Netherlands by the Spaniards during their former possession of the country. At a certain religious festival, held in Malines in the year 1838, the entire Litany to the Virgin Mary was represented, each Invocation being written on a beautiful flag, carried by a beautiful and richly-dressed young girl, who was riding on a gorgeously-caparisoned horse led by men. The Invocations: "Queen of the Angels!" "Queen of the Patriarchs!" etc.,--were depicted by groups of characters in open carriages; each carriage, splendidly decorated, having the Virgin Mary seated on a high throne, while at her feet were placed picturesquely on steps the angels, patriarchs and prophets, all of whom were dressed in their appropriate costumes, and provided with their requisite attributes. Again, at a festival which was held at Brussels, in September, 1839, two parishes of the town arranged a grand Cavalcade, in which a scene was represented commemorating a political event from the history of Belgium.