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Morris Dancers

Thanks Peter for posting them. My friend a teacher used to run classes some time back and someone stepped on her heel and she ended up in plaster. She had a torn ligament. You always think of it as a gentle pass time. Jean.
 
Don't recognise the team. As a mortris dancer (lapsed) each team has its own "Uniform". In Bham we have "Green Man" Erdington and "Jockey morris". I danced with "Shakespeare" Stratford U Avon.
 
leonardjob said:
Don't recognise the team. As a mortris dancer (lapsed) each team has its own "Uniform". In Bham we have "Green Man" Erdington and "Jockey morris". I danced with "Shakespeare" Stratford U Avon.
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I bet Anne Hathaway was a bit peeved!
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I just love morris dancing! We don't get to see much of it in Tasmania, so thanks for the pictures. I was surprised to learn from Wikipedia that although naturalized to the British Isles for many centuries, it quite possibly originated from Moorish dancing dating from the Muslim occupation of Spain (711-1492). Exotic origins for something so iconically British!
 
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Jean....if you get ten Morris Men together and ask that question you will get 10 answers. Of course only i know the real answer.
It has nothing to do with paganism, the bells and sticks are not to ward off spirits, it has nothing to do with fertility. The Moorish connection is doubtful. All european cultures danced a "Moresco" which involved dancing in circles and the name may have come from "dancing like a moor " or "In the Moorish style".The most serious researcxh(John Forerst) if you can follow the highly analytical prose suggests that it was a mixture of "mumming plays" which were a remnant of the Royal Tournaments, and Annual Guild processions and country church "ales". It almost died out and was "discovered" by Cecil Sharpe and taught at London East end "Esperance clubs" for children.
 
Thanks Thylacine....whats interesting about that picture of Kemp is that his sleves evolved into todays white Hankies that Dancers use,
 
Cannot name the group but I do recognise the Shakespears in post 4 and as was rightly said each team had its own uniform, mainly variations on the cross sash, the Green Man wore Green Tabards and if you had danced a solo jig you were awarded the right to wear the devils head on it, I never had the confidence to do that, so mine was plain (Apprentice), most traditions had their own dances even though everyone else had a variation, we also used to glog dance in glogs and also sword hence the name of the group Green Man Morris&sword group, I was also a member of Aston University Morris, there we had to include girls, funding etc, did a lot of english country dancing as well, because of the number of girls made it easy, green Man mainly danced 8 men up in the Lichfield tradition , the rest danced 6 men up.
 
bOBBYB ...i DANCED WITH gREEN mAN IN 1989 FOR A FEW MONTHS BUT DIDN'T ENJOY IT. i REMEMBER THEY WERE gUARDIANS OF THE lICHFIELD TRADITION don't know whether Lichfield have a side now. Apologies caps lock stuck on.
 
I know quite an insular mob as most of the older ones were the ones who started it and yes they are still going, meet at the Highcroft Social Club now, I was made quite welcome though, but changed jobs and shifts didn't fit, I think its www.greenmanmorris.org.uk
 
I also enjoyed the stick dancing, small as well as the staffs, the sword was also very good took loads of practice and co-ordination
 
Here are two more old pictures of morris dancing and related subjects. They are taken from a very interesting dissertation "On the Ancient English Morris Dance", contained in Francis Douce's Illustrations of Shakespeare (London: Thomas Tegg, 1839).
 
Pedrocut the first two photos of the Morris Men you posted were taken in Colmore Row, and the third was crossing over to St.Phillips Churchyard from the "back of Rackhams".
 
Thanks everyone for your comments on the photos of the Morris Dancers. It is great encouragement, as I have a box full of slides, to post anything that may be of interest.

All the best Peter
 
Thanks to you, Peter, for starting a thread on such a fascinating topic.

I couldn't resist some further historical delving.

The English expressions "Moryssh daunsers" and "morysk Daunce" are attested from 1448 or 1449. On the Continent, we can go back a little further. The first two pictures below are from a 1443 Utrecht manuscript "History Bible": marginal illustrations of "men with bells on their legs", almost certainly Morris Men. Sorry they're so blurry: I enlarged them so we can see the bells.

James Strutt's Sports and Pastimes of the People of England (London: Thomas Tegg, 1845) takes us back even further. His book yields the third picture below (from a 1344 English manuscript) of a "Fools Dance". Strange musical instruments! Strutt maintains that while the word "Morris" does indeed come from "Moorish", the Morris Dance itself evolved from the Fools Dance.
 
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Another early illustration of Morris Men (with Morris Woman and Hobby Horse): "The Thames at Richmond, with the Old Royal Palace" (unknown artist, Flemish school, circa 1620, Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge).
 
I have replaced the four pictures that were missing from the start of the Thread. Repeated as thumbnails here...sun08c1000.jpg back04lb1000c.jpg back03c1000.jpg back01c1000.jpg
 
Great set of photos Pedro. Can we name the places ? My guesses are:

1. Outside St Phillip's
2. Temple Row West
3 and 4. Colmore Row

Viv.
 
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