Fact! The 'blacked up' Morris dancers come from the Welsh borders. There are no Welsh Morris dancers. Or Scottish ones, for that matter.
(Least that's what the Morris bloke from Huddersfield told me).
Fact! The 'blacked up' Morris dancers come from the Welsh borders. There are no Welsh Morris dancers. Or Scottish ones, for that matter.
(Least that's what the Morris bloke from Huddersfield told me).
I was lied to! Ruddy Englisch!Yes, despite the camouflage of Welsh dragons on their website, and green white and red livery, the Isca Morrismen of Caerleon are obviously part of fiendish plan to reclaim Monmouthshire for England [/conspiraloon]
Go away now little boy, or be banned.<ed: drivel removed>
I kind of like Morris dancers because they're so gloriously unhip, and a bit bonkers.Note: A morris troupe is called a 'side'![]()
I kind of like Morris dancers because they're so gloriously unhip, and a bit bonkers.
Most English people seem a little bit embarrassed by Morris dancers, which is a bit of a shame seeing as it's one of the few truly quintessential English traditions. You'd think they'd see the common ground too: Morris dancers love to run around with sticks, wave things around, drink vast amounts of beer and bellow out tunes.Me too. And they remind me of this party there is in my home town every year. As well as Morris dancers there are climbing a greasy pole (snigger) and football on the mud when the tide's out and cockle eating competitions.![]()
I can't stand Morris dancing. I don't believe they are of genuine historic origin, just made up somewhere along the way. But then I don't like any formalised group dancing. I was a Ceroc widower for a while or it may be because I can't do it though and have bad memories of being made to do 'country dancing' in infant school with the teacher pounding away on an upright piano in the school hall.
Good photographs though.
<ed: removed>
Thanks for your input, but he was clearly warned about his idiotic paedo/Nazi nonsense but still came back for more.I saw that and it wasn't that bad![]()
hardcore Morris: http://www.rathergood.com/morris_dancersThe origins of morris dancing are disputed. First recorded in England in the 15th century, “morris” may be a derivation from the French morisque, meaning dance, though many believe it arrived from Morocco via Spain. This may have lent the practice its name (from the word “Moorish”).
Others trace the dances to ancient fertility rites or martial exercises, or see them as a popular variant of the clowning of court jesters.
Today there are four English troupes that can trace their history in an unbroken line back to a popular upsurgence of folk traditions in the 18th century.
In 1899, a time when morris dancing was on the wane, Cecil Sharp, the celebrated collector of folk song and dance, saw one of these troupes, the Headington Quarry Morris Dancers, perform on Boxing Day.
He noted their distinctive music, and would later travel the country recording the various morris traditions, and in 1911 he founded the English Folk Dance Society, helping to spur a revival.
There was a second revival after the Second World War – and another in the 1970s. Brian Tasker, 62, Squire (leader) of the Morris Ring, began dancing in those heady days, at the age of 25.
“It was seen as a cool thing to do,” he said. “Young people were marching with CND, Bob Dylan was at his height and folk dancing was part of popular culture. Every town had three or four folk-song clubs. A lot of people arrived in morris dancing then, but they are now in their fifties and sixties.”
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/article5454904.ece