Hum-&-Sway

The Hum-&-Sway was a ritual of sorts enacted at UK fan gatherings from 1954.

In the Tynecon souvenir book (1974), Mary Legg said "It was at Petercon that ... the first (they say) Hum and Sway Ceremony for about ten years was performed. (Come to think of it, it's about due for another revival at the Newcastle con, if it goes in ten year cycles!)"

It seems likely Legg was actually talking about Repetercon in 1964 rather than Bullcon (also known as Petercon) in 1963. But the ceremony performed ten years earlier was presumably an event described by Dave Newman in Eye 3 (December 1954), a London Circle party in Stuart Mackenzie's home at Halloween:

Shortly after Bert Campbell and his wife arrived it was decided to get on with the "serious" business of the evening. The crowd was dragooned into something vaguely resembling a circle and asked to sit on the floor. Bert then went into a spiel about how everybody had to get into sympathy with the vibrations, the main point of the harangue being that on the command "Everybody hum", everybody should do just that. While Bert was talking, Ted Tubb and Stu Mackenzie were serving the potion to the participants on the basis of a quarter of a pint per head with the strict admonition that nobody was to drink the stuff until Bert gave the word. After a count of three, the word was given and everybody drained their glasses to the dregs. There was a hush, followed almost immediately by a buzz of conversation as everybody discussed the drink. You see, it was sweet, smooth and easy to drink but a couple of minutes after it was swallowed it began to make its presence felt – you might liken it to a species of central heating.

The circle was reformed again and the glasses refilled, but this time the mob were asked to sway in response to Bert's commands and soon they were all swaying in perfect synchronism and hymning in a monotonous monotone. There were frequent shouts of "You've gotta get ecstacy!" and "Yuh gotta believe!"  and the crowd were once again exhorted to drink deeply. This time the drink was swallowed without comment, and humming and swaying were resumed without any encouragement being necessary. The mob were really in the mood by now and glasses were being held out for yet a third helping of the potion. This was served with due warning as to its potency, a warning that was well advised as one member of the party can testify.

It's unclear whether the event was re-enacted at subsequent parties or conventions until Repetercon by which point it had been developed into a full-blown ceremony as described by Langdon Jones in Quotecards Anyone?:

We were told that only those with glasses would be admitted. After I had rushed downstairs frantically looking for my glass which I had mislaid, I made my way into the – by now – crowded hall. People were sitting round the side of the hall, cross-legged. At the head of the hall were Ted Tubb, Mike Moorcock, Pete Taylor and Ken Bulmer, all dressed in flowing robes. In the body of the hall were Norman Shorrock and Eddie Jones, who were the Cupbearers. After a Tubbesque 'explanation' of the ceremony, we began the symbolic movements. These consisted of shutting the eyes, humming, and swaying from side to side. HUMmmm—and-sway, HUMmmm-and-sway, HUMmmm-and-sway, chanted the Priests, and there arose a great sound from the throats of the assembled multitude. Ted explained that as soon as we heard the note of the Ceremonial Horn, we. should drink the libations that had been poured into our glasses by the Cupbearers. The Ceremonial Horn sounded, and to cries from the Priests of DRINK! DRINK!, DRINK!, we emptied our glasses. Then after a brief pause, it was HUMmmm-and-sway, HUMmm-and-sway, over again. This went, on for what seemed like hours of swaying euphoria. Then the climax of the ceremony came. Nell Goulding was selected as the Sacrificial Virgin, and was laid-out on the floor. I think it was Pete Taylor who stood over her, with sword upraised, for about a minute. Then down flashed the sword, out went the lights, and they came on again to reveal an expired Nell, one of the most delectable sacrificial corpses I have ever seen. To resurrect her, we started humming and swaying with redoubled vigour and booze kindly supplied by Norman Shorrock. And with the revival of Nell, the ceremony drew to an end. By now I was in a state of Enlightenment, and I found I could appreciate the Unity of the Universe. I staggered around for a while, and then joined a drunken group who were screaming inanities into a tape recorder. I think it was this ceremony and the booze, that made this the most happy part of the Con.

Bob Shaw reported in Hyphen 36 (February 1965) that Irish Fandom was unimpressed:

Before we knew it, it was time for the last big event, the famous Humming and Swaying in which Irish Random refused to join. Several people we know well and like were in it and had a great time, so it seems that one must be able to have a good tine messing around on the fringes of mass hypnosis. But, this being so, why does the affair have to be invested with an air of childish unpleasantness by tricks like fake sacrifices?

Nevertheless, Skyrack 67 (May 1964) reported that "the PeterCon Hum & Sway session organised by Ted Tubb and Ken Bulmer realised £2.14/-" for TAFF. From the description above it's not entirely clear how but fortunately Harry Nadler in Alien 9 (June 1964) elaborated:

As the convention entered its closing stages the last parties got underway with a "hum and sway" session organised by Ted Tubb and Ken Bulmer to raise funds for TAFF (the Trans-Atlantic Fan Fund ... an organisation formed to bring an American fan over to a British Con one year, and vice-versa the next, this year Wally Weber came from Washington.)

There was still enough of the Shorrock brew (he must have loaded the "Al Capone" bus from stem to stern and had Ina drive from the roof!) to go around and help get everyone into the 'throw-your-money-in-the-bucket-for-TAFF' mood ... and it worked!

Writing many years later in Relapse 18 ( Autumn 2010), Charles Platt recalled that "The event was ridiculous, but Ted's verbal cadences were amazing."

In Monthly Bulletin 5 (September 1964) somebody, presumably Langdon Jones who was so moved by the Peterborough experience, reported that "at this meeting it was decided that we should hold a Hum-and-Sway session at the BrumCon" but Ken Cheslin, writing in Brumble 5 (June 1965), regretted that the ceremony wasn't repeated.

Legg's suggestion of a ten-years-on revival at Tynecon seemingly came to nothing. But Peter Weston was also inspired by the Repetercon ceremony although while he'd been at the convention – his first – it seems he may have been relying on secondhand sources for what actually happened. Peter Roberts said that at Suncon, the 1977 Worldcon where a UK contingent were bidding for the 1979 Worldcon:

Pete was also anxious to stage the mystical Hum & Sway, but it turned out that nobody had ever witnessed the event. He finally decided to bluff his way through with the aid of much alcohol.

Anyway, the party seemed to go off pretty well. A startling number of people packed their way in, sang lustily, competed at knurdling, drank all the fizzy pop, and generally had a good time. We awarded the Champion Knurdler a bottle of whisky (which I generously helped finish) and, since Pete turned off the lights, the mysteries of the Hum & Sway remained mysteries.

A report in Journey Planet 38 (2017) said that Weston revived the ceremony again at Interaction, the 2005 Worldcon:

The climax, if you can call it that (and some did), came when Pete gathered the faithful around for a "hum and sway" that he learnt at the knee of Ted Tubb and Ken Bulmer (to this day only a few know that they only had one patella between them). Pete sat the assembled cross-legged in a circle before invoking the most sacred spirits of fandom so that all present could walk tall at the convention the next day. The gathering then took a deep sup of whatever drink was in front of them before linking arms and the hum-sway began. The proceedings were rounded off with a blessing for the organization of Worldcons and the productions of fanzines.

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Fanhistory

1954—????

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