Vicar of Bray (term)

The character of The Vicar of Bray appears in a traditional English folk song The Vicar of Bray, and was the subject of a comic opera by Sydney Grundy and Edward Solomon, which opened at the Globe Theatre, in London, on July 22 1882, for a run of 69 performances, and was revived at the Savoy Theatre in 1892 for a further run of 143 performances. A film version of the story was released in 1937 starring Stanley Holloway as the vicar. The opening night cast included Rutland Barrington, Courtice Pounds, W. H. Denny, and Rosina Brandram.

Plot and versions

The eponymous vicar was the clergyman of the parish of Bray-on-Thames, Berkshire. The most familiar version of the lyrics recount his adaptability (some would say amorality) over half a century, from the reigns of Charles II to George I. Over this period he embraced whichever form of liturgy, Protestant or Catholic, was favoured by the monarch of the day in order to retain his position as vicar of Bray. See Annotated lyrics to The Vicar of Bray.

The earliest version of the lyrics may have been written by "an officer in Colonel Fuller's regiment," according to one source. They exist in various forms. However, the story of the vicar's cheerful reversals of principle remains the same in all circumstances.

In the film version the vicar is given a more positive character and events are placed at a slightly earlier period, during the English Civil War. He successfully protects his parishioners by adopting a diplomatic approach during the turbulent events and secures forgiveness for moderate rebels from the restored Charles II.

Cultural impact

The Vicar of Bray is also referenced in the song Parlour Songs in the Stephen Sondheim musical, Sweeney Todd, although the song has been removed from more recent performances.

Historical basis

Several individuals have been proposed as the model for the Vicar of Bray.

• Thomas Fuller and the English dramatist Richard Brome argue that the model for the song was the 16th century cleric Simon Alwyn (1540–1588), who lived in the reigns of Henry VIII, Edward VI, Mary, and Elizabeth.

• The most frequently sung words refer to 17th century monarchs. Therefore, a later proposed model is Simon Symonds, who was an Independent in the Protectorate, a Church of England cleric under Charles II, a Roman Catholic under James II, and a moderate Anglican under William and Mary.

• Thomas Barlow (1607–1691), bishop of Lincoln, is another candidate.

Evolutionary Theory

"The Vicar of Bray" is the name given to an hypothesis attempting to explain why sexual reproduction might be favored over asexual reproduction, in which sexual populations are able to outcompete asexual populations because they evolve more rapidly in response to environmental changes. Under the Vicar of Bray Hypothesis, sex benefits a population as a whole but not individuals within it, making it a case of group selection. A currently more popular explanation for the evolutionary origin and maintenance of sex is the Red Queen Hypothesis, which instead proposes that sex benefits individuals directly.

External links

• The Vicar of Bray at IMDb
• The Vicar of Bray at The Gilbert & Sullivan Archive