Morris Dancing
Grown adults strap bells to their shins, whack sticks together and dance in car parks, all to keep a tradition alive that Shakespeare's clown once danced 100 miles.
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Quick Facts
- First written mention
- "Morys daunce" appears in 15th-century records
- Main styles
- Cotswold, Border, North West clog, Molly, longsword and rapper
- Famous revival moment
- Cecil Sharp watched Headington Quarry dancers on Boxing Day 1899
- Typical kit
- Bell pads, baldrics, hankies, sticks, hats and often flowers
- Classic music
- Melodeon, concertina, fiddle, pipe and tabor
- Dawn custom
- Many sides dance up the sun on May morning
- Famous long-distance feat
- Will Kemp's morris from London to Norwich in 1600
- Governing bodies
- The Morris Ring (1934), the Morris Federation (1975) and Open Morris (1978)
The actor who danced to Norwich
In Lent 1600, the Shakespeare company clown Will Kemp danced the morris from London to Norwich. It took him nine days of dancing spread over several weeks, and he wrote it up as a pamphlet called Kemps Nine Daies Wonder. Crowds turned out to cheer, and a few tried to keep pace with him. It shows that morris was already a familiar spectacle, one that a celebrity could turn into a publicity stunt. The first written references to a "morys daunce" go back to the 1400s, and by Tudor times it was a regular part of parish festivities, May games and civic pageants. Where the name comes from is still argued over. The favourite theory is that it means "Moorish", linking it to a European fashion for dances in exotic costume. Nobody has settled it, which suits a tradition that thrives on argument.
The Boxing Day that saved the morris
By the end of the 19th century morris had faded from many villages. Then on Boxing Day 1899, the folk-song collector Cecil Sharp stumbled on the Headington Quarry side dancing near Oxford. William Kimber was playing the concertina and dancing, and Sharp was captivated. He wrote down the tunes and steps, and the dances went into print and into school lessons. The Morris Ring formed in 1934 to link men's sides, and women's and mixed groups later set up their own organisations. This is the great debate in morris. Was it an unbroken village tradition, or has it been partly reinvented by enthusiasts? Dancers happily argue both sides over a pint, and the dances survive either way.
One name, many very different dances
Cotswold morris is the version most people picture. Dancers in white wave handkerchiefs or clash sticks in neat sets of six, with bells jingling at the shins. Bampton, Adderbury, Ilmington and Headington Quarry each have their own repertoire and style. Border morris comes from the Welsh Marches and is rougher and louder. Sides wear ragged tatter coats, carry sticks and dance with a stomping swagger. Many sides once blacked their faces, but plenty have dropped the practice and now use bright colours or other face paint. In the North West, clog morris grew up around Lancashire and Cheshire mill towns, where dancers in clogs hammer out rhythms on the ground. The Saddleworth Rushcart festival belongs to the same world. Molly dancing from East Anglia was once linked to ploughmen's winter begging, and it can be cheerfully chaotic. In Yorkshire and the north east, longsword and rapper dancers weave in tight, dangerous-looking figures. Rapper sides use short, flexible blades, while the Grenoside Sword Dancers near Sheffield still perform on Boxing Day.
What a side actually does on a Saturday
A morris side is a club, usually with a squire or foreman, a musician or two and a keen band of regulars. Practice happens in a village hall through the winter. Come spring, the side goes out on tour. A typical day means dancing outside a string of pubs, with a rest and a pint between spots. A side may meet others at a "day of dance". Many sides hold a traditional dance on May morning, rising before dawn to "dance up the sun", with a breakfast afterwards. The kit does a lot of work. Bell pads make the rhythm audible and flowers in hats mark a side's identity. The baldric is a sash worn across the chest, and each side has its own colours. Sticks and handkerchiefs are not just props, as the clash and flick are part of the music.
Odd details and friendly rivalries
Dancers argue over who does a dance "properly". A side may insist on doing a dance exactly as it was collected, while a rival adds its own flourishes. Some dances are known only in the village where they began. The tradition has also had to defend itself. Some sides have dropped customs that no longer sit well, and the old men-only rules have faded as women's and mixed sides have multiplied. The Abbots Bromley Horn Dance in Staffordshire is often mentioned alongside morris, though it is a separate custom. Six dancers carry reindeer antlers around the parish each September, and the horns date back to around the 11th century. The oddest rivalry may be between sides who have to share the same pub garden. The usual solution is a polite handshake and a showdown of dances, each side hoping to get the louder cheer.
Notable people
- Cecil Sharp
- William Kimber
- Will Kemp
- Rolf Gardiner
- Maud Karpeles
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