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The Mistick Krewe of Comus, founded in 1856, is a New Orleans, Louisiana Carnival krewe. It is the oldest continuous organization of New Orleans Mardi Gras festivities. Prior to the advent of Comus, Carnival celebrations in New Orleans were mostly confined to the Roman Catholic Creole community, and parades were irregular and often very informally organized. Comus was organized by (largely Protestant) Anglo-Americans. == Formation and first parade == In December 1856, six Anglo-American〔''All on a Mardi Gras Day: Episodes in the History of New Orleans Carnival'' by Reid Mitchell. Harvard University Press:1995. ISBN 0-674-01622-X pg 21〕 New Orleans businessmen gathered at a club room above the now-defunct Gem Restaurant in New Orleans' French Quarter to organize a secret society to observe Mardi Gras in a less crude fashion.〔Arthur B. LaCour, ''New Orleans Masquerade: Chronicles of Carnival'' (Pelican Publishing 1952)〕 The inspiration for the name came from John Milton's Lord of Misrule in his masque ''Comus''. Part of the inspiration for the parade was a Mobile, Alabama, Carnival mystic society, with annual parades, called the ''Cowbellion de Rakin Society'' (from 1830),〔 "Carnival/Mobile Mardi Gras Timeline" (list of events), The Museum of Mobile, 2002, webpage: (MoM-timeline ) (events at 1850). 〕 of which businessman Joseph Ellison was a member.〔 One Mardi Gras historian describes the Mistick Krewe's creation in New Orleans thus: : "It was Comus, who, in 1857, saved and transformed the dying flame of the old Creole Carnival with his enchanter's cup; it was Comus who introduced torch lit processions and thematic floats to Mardi Gras; and it was Comus who ritually closed, and still closes, the most cherished festivities of New Orleans with splendor and pomp."〔Henri Schindler, ''Mardi Gras Treasures: Invitations of the Golden Age'', page 13 (Pelican Publishing 2000)〕 Comus' first night parade – replete with torches (which later came to be known as "flambeaux"), marching bands, and rolling floats – was wildly popular with Carnival revelers. So popular was the first Comus parade that the prospect of its second one attracted, for the first time, thousands of out-of-town visitors to New Orleans for the Carnival celebration.〔Robert Tallant, ''Mardi Gras'', page 117 (Pelican Publishing 1976)〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Mistick Krewe of Comus」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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