| Harry Mottram enjoys watching
the celebration of traditional English folk dancing.
They are all at it. Laughing, drinking, eating, taking holidays.
singing, living it up and generaly having the time of their lives. The
Morris sides of Somerset. And of course they do actually dance. But
having scratched the surface of this international network of societies,
clubs, sides and associations the unifying force is love of life. And
the focus of all this activity is a celebration of traditional English
folk dancing.
For centuries Morris dancing was practised all across the country in
one form or another. A celebration of the arrival of spring and some
obvious fertility overtones which have long since lost their potency'
leaving a series of enjoyable dances. Passed down from father to son and
from foreman to journeyman, every large village or community had its
Morris and its Mummers, pre-Christian rituals which had been transformed
and updated to the fashions of each new generation.
The church had tolerated it as a harmless peasant custom but when the
Reformation took place in the 17th century many folk traditions fell out
of fashion. Morris dancing continued but began to be eroded by the
decline in agriculture and drift of the population to the industrial
towns.
In 1899 when Cecil Sharp took an interest in this dying custom and
started to record the songs and steps, the Morris sides were in terminal
decline. And when the First World War began the slaughter of a
generation of rural men in 1914, few Morris sides tied on their bells
and donned their hats in the years after the conflict ended. However,
Cecil Sharp and his fellow enthusiasts formed the English Folk Dance
Society which continues to this day in promoting and resurrecting
traditional dance.
In Somerset, Morris clung on sporadically sometimes helped by the
folk dance society and its adherents. Sides would flicker and then die
due to lack of dancers and more to the point lack of interest. In the
early 1950's a side in Clevedon led to the Mendip Morris side beginning
in 1956, and a decade later The West Somerset Morris Men was formed. By
the 1970s a revival was under way with a public interest in all things
folk. Since then the ancient tradition has steadily grown and is once
again a familiar sight ill the summer months out- pubs and at fetes.
'I joined the Morris to pay off a favour,' said Andrew Bond of Wells.
'I wanted to borrow something off one of the dancers and was roped in to
be a fool on Whit Monday at a dance I've been in ever since.'
Andrew is the Bagman of the Wells Morris which is a member of the
Morris Federation. This was originally a women's Morris and dance
association which is now open to all non-ring sides. The Morris Ring is
the official organisation for most Morris sides in the county Their
spokesman Dudley Binding founded the West Somerset Morris in 1965 and
has been a driving force in tile county for the revival of many folk
dances and customs
Apart from their obvious enthusiasm for life and the traditions of
dance, the one aspect tiling common to all the Morris sides is that the
members tend to be interested in all sorts of other folk activities.
Many are musicians many take part in Mummers groups (which are a sort of
winter theatrical version of Morris), some are in choirs and others in
groups and bands. And it doesn't stop at a few venues in Somerset. Many
sides go on tour just like a football team, the Wessex for instance
travel to Colditz in Poland, others roam across France and most have
links with sides in other counties across England.
So the next time that you start tapping your foot as very merry
Morris men perform the Hey Diddle Dis or the Lads-a-Bunchum outside your
local boozer, sign up for a social life which could change your life.
MORRIS MISCELLANY
· There aren't just male Morris dancers there are also female sides.
For more information on women's groups contact the Morris Federation.
Telephone: (01424) 436052. They have several sides in Somerset which
include the Beetlecrushers tel 01373-812227, No Mean Feet tel
01460-241089, and the delightfully named Mr Wilkin's Shilling on tel
01225-885341. Many of these sides also perform Clog, Appalachian
dancing, as well as Stave dancing which is local to Wessex.
· Not all Morris sides are the same. Some are rigidly traditional and
some adapt new steps and costumes to create a 20th take on the ancient
dancing. It should be mentioned that all sides welcome new dancers and
musicians.
· There are some characters that appear in most sides. The Squire is
usually the captain of the side and makes sure the dancers behave
themselves. The Bagman keeps hold of the collection and organises the
events. A Fool is rather a wacky character and tries to whip the
audience into a frenzy of participation. Then there are other characters
such as the Fiddler, the Cake Man, the Green Man, the Man/Woman and
various other folk who appear in various guises.
· One theory has it that Morris derives from Moorish dancing which
spread during the rise of the Moors in Spain. This however is probably
only an influence on existing traditions. There are similar types of
folk dancing across Europe whichshare similarities with Morris.
· The bells and sticks are supposed frighten away evil spirits, and the
hendkerchiefs waft away the last vestiges of winter.
· Tea is the favoured drink on hot days although Morris dancers are
also know for their enjoyment of beer and cider.
· Hazards include cobble stones, stray toddlers, dogs on long leads and
buskers. · Ask any Morris dancer and the swear that it never rains when
they dance. Fete organisers please take note!
· The costumes derive mainly from Cotswold Morris which is one of the
areas where the custom never died out. To the north and east of England
a slightly different version exists but they are all simply called
Morris.
Optional extras for Morris include Gurt Twiggits or Jingling
Johnny's (sticks with bells), Cows' Bladders (on a stick for hitting the
dancers should they make mistakes), and Horses' heads (for frightening
small children).
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