History of Morris Dancing

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http://www.morrisdancing.org/

"They strike up the Devil's dance withall: then martch this heathen company towards the church and churchyards, their pypers pyping, the drummers thundering, their stumpes dancing, their belles jyngling, their handkercheefes fluttering about their heads like madde men ...."
Philip Stubbes 'Anatomie of Abuses' 1583
From the title-page of "Kemp's Nine Daies Wonder. Performed in a Daunce from London to Norwich."(1600)
THE MORRIS
The Morris comes to us through the mists of time. It has been part of English life for at least six hundred years and many scholars would argue that it is much older. While the style is peculiar to the English mainland, the dances are thought to be part of the world-wide family of ritual ceremonial dances since they share the common features of disguise, colour, vigour, predominantly male performers, and a dance form based on circles and processions.
By Elizabethan times the Morris was already regarded as an ancient custom. Several references to the dance appear in the works of Shakespeare - an actor from Shakespeare's company, Will Kemp danced from London to Norwich in 1599 (he called this exploit his ' Nine Daies' Wonder '). However, following the Civil War many ancient customs were outlawed by the Puritans and, although the Restoration saw some revivals, the gradual drift of the population from countryside to town saw many communities abandon their Morris dances.

THE COLLECTORS
Cecil Sharp By the end of the last century so much had been lost that a few collectors were inspired to save what they could before it was too late. Amongst these collectors, Percy Manning and Thomas Carter from Oxford, persuaded some members of the old Headington dancers to start dancing again. The result was a public performance of the Morris on the 15th March 1899 at the Oxford Corn Exchange. All of this revived the dancers enthusiasm, and so Cecil Sharp chanced upon the Headington Quarry side dancing in 1899. This was a momentous occasion, both in changing the course of Sharp's life, and for English folk dance and song

SANDFIELD COTTAGE, HEADINGTON, CHRISTMAS 1899
"Sharp and his family spent that Christmas (1899) with his wife's mother, who was then living at Sandfield Cottage, Headington, about a mile east of Oxford. On Boxing Day, as he was looking out of the window, upon the snow-covered drive, a strange procession appeared: eight men dressed in white, decorated with ribbons, with pads of small latten-bells strapped to their shins, carrying coloured sticks and white handerkerchiefs; accompanying them was a concertina-player and a man dressed as a 'Fool'. Six of the men formed up in front of the house in two lines of three; the concertina player struck up an invigorating tune, the like of which Sharp had never heard before; the men jumped high into the air, then danced with springs and capers, waving and swinging the handkerchiefs which they held, one in each hand, while the bells marked the rhythm of the step. The dance was the now well-known morris dance, 'Laudnum Bunches', a title which decidedly belies its character. Then, dropping their handerchiefs and each taking a stick, they went through the ritual of Bean Setting. This was followed by 'Constant Billy' (Cease your Funning' of the Beggar's Opera), 'Byue-eyed Stranger', and 'Rigs o' Marlow'. Sharp watched and listened spellbound. He felt that a new world of beauty had been revealed to him. He had not been well; his eyes had been giving him pain, and he was still wearing a shade over them, but all his ills were forgotten in his excitement. He plied the men eagerly with questions. They apologised for being out at Christmas; they knew that Whitsun was the proper time, but work was slack and they thought there would be no harm in earning an honest penny. The concertina-player was Mr William Kimber, junior, a young man of twenty-seven, whose fame as a dancer has now spread all over England. Sharp noted the five tunes from him next day, and later on many more."
Cecil Sharp by A.H.Fox Strangeways, In collaboration with Maud Karpeles, Oxford University Press, London 1933.
Sharp was attracted to folk music by the encounter with Headington, initially he turned to folk songs collected by others, such as in Chappell's Popular Music of the Olden Time, for his school teaching, but realised the huge difference between the book versions and the transcriptions of the recent collectors such as Lucy Broadwood. He teamed up with Charles Marson, a drinking companion and friend from his Adelaide days, now a curate at Hambridge in Somerset. This led to the three volume Folk-Songs from Somerset, with Marson. As Laudnum Bunches had been Sharp's introduction to the Morris, so The Seeds of Love, sung by Marson's gardener, John England, introduced folk song.

WILLIAM KIMBER
The story continues when a request came to Sharp for songs suitable for a club of working girls - the Esperance Club in Cumbreland market, St Pancras. It was under the care of Mary Neal, with Herbert MacIlwaine as choir master; the girls amusements were singing and dancing. The folk songs that Mary Neal obtained from Sharp and introduced to the Esperance girls were such a success that she determined to discover dances to go with them. Sharp told her of the morris dances and of William Kimber, whom she went to Oxford to interview. Kimber and another dancer went along to teach the girls. This led to a public performance in Small Queen's Hall of folk songs, dances and singing games. In July 1907 Sharp published, in collaboration with Herbert MacIlwaine, The Morris Book, Part 1, the accompanying music was in two sets with pianoforte arrangements by Sharp. In the first edition of The Morris Book the notation was based partly on the dancing of the Esperance Club girls, in the second edition (1912), the dances were noted directly from Kimber and other traditional dancers. In 1910 Mary Neal published her Esperance Morris Book, and the Esperance Morris Guild was formed, lasting until 1914 when it lapsed. In 1911 The English Folk Dance Society was formed, among the names on the first committee were Lady Gomme, Dr R. Vaughan Williams and George Butterworth.
The driving force behind the Headington Quarry team was William Kimber, and the meeting at Sandfield Cottage was the beginning of a lifelong friendship between Sharp and Kimber. From this encounter Sharp became the most enthusiastic of the Morris collectors, travelling the length and breadth of England in search of the dances and their associated tunes. Particularly before the Great War, Sharp cycled and walked many miles, collecting folk songs and morris, sword and country dances. Other parts of The Morris Book were published, with Part 5 in 1914, in association with George Butterworth. As a result of these labours he also published The Sword Dances of Northern England (1913), 3 parts, and The Country Dance Book, (1909), 6 parts. A number of morris and sword teams started up, notably Thaxted Morris Men in 1911.
The work of collecting and interpreting the dances continues up to the present day, and as a result Morris dances can be seen in towns and villages all over England, and indeed in Europe, North America, Australia, New Zealand and even Hong Kong.
This represents the very bare bones of the complex and intriguing story that is 'The Morris Revival', it features many other individuals than Cecil Sharp, but he was the catalyst for the revival. William Kimber
Both photos from the Doc Rowe Collection with permission

THE CLUBS
The majority of Morris clubs dancing today are 'revival' clubs, formed after the early collectors had done their work. They meet regularly for practice and to give public shows, unlike the old sides that would often meet and dance for a short period each year. A side will have a Squire or Captain, a Bagman or Secretary, and often a Foreman responsible for teaching the dances. Each side will have its own costume derived from traditional forms, with perhaps a symbol or badge having some civic or territorial association. Many sides have a Fool and/or an Animal to amuse the audience. In the old sides the Fool was sometimes the Squire, as it was said that he had to be the best dancer.
Many Morris sides were formed during the ' folk ' revival of the the 1960's and and 1970's, until this time there were were about 80 clubs. As we approach the Millenium there must be 800 Morris sides in the UK and over 1000 worldwide!
Vancouver Morris Men dancing into membership of the Morris Ring at Thaxted

There are now two other Morris organisations for dancers in the UK, the Morris Federation, formed originally as the Women's Morris Federation in 1974, and the Open Morris, in Australia there is the Australian Morris Ring, the American and New Zealand Morris have no collective organisations.
Morris Dancers were one of the earliest groups to take an active interest in the World Wide Web, at present there are over 250 clubs with web sites in the UK and North American, for the latter continent a Morris side without a Web presence is a rarity! Some American Morris sides even have all their members ' on line '
THE MORRIS RING
The activities of the early collectors and revival dancers was savagely interrupted by World War I. However as the enthusiasm of the early collectors spread again through society in the late 1920's and a number of revival Morris clubs came into being to support the few traditional teams still dancing. In 1934 the Cambridge Morris Men invited five other teams to join them in the formation of a national organisation and the six clubs - Cambridge, Letchworth, Thaxted, Oxford, East Surrey and Greensleeves - met at the Thaxted meeting of that year to inaugurate the Morris Ring. There is still a 'Thaxted' Ring Meeting each year, and several other Ring Meetings are organised each year by and for member clubs. There are now 260 clubs in the Morris Ring
THE COTSWOLD MORRIS
Perhaps the best known variety of the Morris is that which was collected by Cecil Sharp in the villages on the uplands of Gloucestershire, Oxfordshire and Northamptonshire, and which has therefore become known as Cotswold Morris. The teams consist of six dancers and a musician, and often a Fool or animal character. Each village produced its own steps and dances, and these have become the ' traditions ', known by the name of the parent village - Bledington or Badby, for example. There are still traditional teams at Chipping Campden, Abingdon, Bampton and Headington Quarry, but some villages have revival teams continuing the work of the old sides, notably Ilmington, Adderbury and Eynsham. The set dances include hankerchief dances, stick dances and handclapping dances. The men will usually wear a white shirt, white trousers or dark breeches and black shoes. Bells will be worn below the knee, and the club costume will often be a coloured baldrick or a waistcoat. A variant of the Cotswold Morris is found in the north midlands and dances have been collected from Lichfield, and Winster in Derbyshire.
The Bampton Morris Men on the 6th June 1927. The fiddler is Jinky Wells who gave many of the dances to Sharp. (Photo from the Archives of the Cambridge Morris Men)

THE SWORD DANCES
From the North Eastern counties of England come two types of sword dance.
From Yorkshire comes the Longsword dance, performed by six or eight men who carry rigid swords made of steel or wood. Intricate figures are made under or over the swords, which are woven into a star-shaped lock at the end of the dance. No bells are worn. While teams wear a variety of costumes, the most distinctive is that worh by Handsworth, a traditional team from Sheffield. There are other traditional teams at Grenoside and Goathland, and many revival teams.


The Claro Sword team dancing in Framlingham market square
The sword dances collected in Northumberland and Durham are the Rapper sword dances, rappers being a flexible sword with a handle at each end. For most of the dance the swords are held above the dancers heads while they weave intricate patterns at high speed. The dance begins with five men, but often the fool characters, the Tommy and Betty, will join in before the end. Frequently teams will only wear dark breeches and a white shirt, but sometimes the shirt will be decorated with rosettes.
THE NORTH WEST MORRIS
The Morris of the North West of England is danced by at least nine men and is of a processional nature in that the dancers move around the community performing set figures accompanied by much stepping. They wear a most elaborate and colourful costume but with fewer bells than the Cotswold Morris man, and they dance in clogs that accentuate the rhythmic stepping. In recent years many Lancashire communities have seen the re-birth of their team - Manley, Horwich, Preston, Leyland and many more - and a few teams have recreated the Rushcart tradition, most notably and successfully at Saddleworth.
THE BORDER DANCES
At one time it was believed that the dances collected in the villages of the Welsh border counties were simplified versions of the Cotswold dances, but now it is thought that they are simply older variants of the Morris. They are danced by sides of four, six or eight men who will black their faces and wear' rags ' and dark trousers. The stepping and figures are very simple and vigorous, and many of the dances involve stick clashing.
THE MUSIC
All Morris sides have their own musicians. We know that some four hundred years ago the common instruments were the pipe and tabor, but now these have been joined by the fiddle, concertina, melodeon and accordian and a host of other instruments. While the Cotswold and Sword dances are usually accompanied by one musician, the Border and North West teams will often have a band. In the North West this may even be the local brass band, but even if there is not a full complement of instruments there will nearly always be a bass drum and a side drum.
The tunes are drawn from many sources. Some of the Cotswold tunes are very old - for example ' Trunkles ' - while others come from the music hall era (' Getting Upstairs ' and ' Old Black Joe '). It is probably true to say that they were generally popular tunes of the day adapted to fit the dances. The North West dances use many march tunes and the bands accompanying the Border dances may even break into variants of modern songs.

ASSOCIATED TRADITIONS
All over England our town and village communities have developed strange traditions. Many of these are very old and in most cases the communities have forgotten the original reasons for continuing the custom. It is enough that the custom must be observed. Some of them have close links with the Morris, in fact the term' Morris ' is sometimes held to include all of these traditional celebrations. The oldest include the famous Padstow and Minehead Hobby Horses, the Britannia Coconut Dancers and the Abbots Bromley Horn Dancers. The horns appear early in September and are accompanied by Robin Hood, Maid Marian, a jester and a Hobby Horse. There is a re-enactment of the Horn Dance at the Thaxted Ring meeting in June, but in the last few years the two events have developed very different characteristics.
In recent years a number of forgotten customs have been revived, often supported by local Morris teams. In January the Whittlesea Straw Bear walks in the Fens and Plough Monday is increasingly celebrated in East Anglia. Morris teams also play a significant part in the LIchfield Bower, Nutsford May Day, the Gate to Southwell and many other celebrations throughout the year.

MUMMERS
There are a number of traditions that come under the general umbrella of the Morris. Groups of Mummers can be found in many parts of the country, some of them still presenting their local plays, but today many Morris sides have a play that they take inside during the winter season. The plays all tell an ancient story of death and ressurection, although St George has been known to draw a revolver in emergencies.