History of Morris?? Often are asked the questions; 'Where did Morris dancing come from?' and; 'What does it all mean?' Practised in the past by ordinary people, where tradition is handed down by word of mouth, there are very few records that give light to either of these questions. Unlike the activities of the Gentry, where music is notated, descriptions are written, famous events are pictorially recorded in paintings, even some of the dances of the well to-do are choreographed, as in the 'Playford Dancing Master'. But of what form and for what purpose are Morris dances, we have to say that we really don't know. There are records, the occasional painting and stained glass window, and certainly the precise book keeping of churches and Parish Councils, where expenditures connected with Morris dancing activities and perhaps 'breaches of the peace' are noted. These records certainly testify that Morris dancing was practised, as far back as the 16C when ' 1/- was payed for belles' for the dancers of Abingdon.

Ironically information comes to us from 'royal court' activity relating to the early performance of Morris dances:

Some communities took up customs only to drop them after a few years. The most capricious of all was of course the most sophisticated, the royal court. It took up Robin Hood plays only after 1510, when the publication of the most famous collection of tales about the hero, the Geste, created an enhanced interest in him. By 1520 Henry VIII and his companions had wearied of the subject, and never returned to it. After 1525 they also got bored with the Morris dance.

p66/7(The Rise and Fall of Merry England., Ronald Hutton. Oxford 1994.)

Closer to home are references from the Public Record Office, Star Chamber cases, James I, where gentlemen were tried for serious breaches of local law ;-

'A Devonshire gentleman, Walter Wooton, defied sessions and assize orders and the opinions of the 'best affected sort' in his neighbourhood. 'Be of good comfort', he told the villagers of Harberton, '…he doubted not but to procure them their church ale, their Whitsun Lord and Lady, their fool and his horns and all again'. (1606) Sir Edward Parham of Poyntington in south Somerset was alleged to have promoted a church ale with bull baiting, and to have joined in the Morris dancing, 'to get the love and affection of the common people'. Parhams defence was the conventional one that country festivals nourished 'love and familiarity amongst neighbours'…(1606)

p63.(Revel, Riot and Rebellion, David Underdown, Oxford 1985)

At that time it certainly seemed unseemly for the gentleman to condone, let alone participate in traditional folk activities.

Also ;-

There were still Morris dancers at Plymouth on May day, 1605.

p46. (Revel, Riot and Rebellion, David Underdown, Oxford 1985)

While authority frowned on the 'Merrie Making' of the common people at that time and of folk dance, the traditions still persisted.

From records like these we know that Morris dancing took place, we even know what certain dancers looked like, their 'kit', from the few pictorial references that have survived. But particularly in Devon and the extreme South West, what form the dance took and what the dancers looked like are long forgotten, although some relics of the bygone ages still live on in the Hoss's from Padstow and Minehead and a few other local traditions.

There are many and varied personal theories and reasons for performing the Morris dance... scaring evil spirits with sticks, bells and hankies... pagan fertility cults…a celebration of the Rural life... fights between good and evil ...fighting dances… and even weather control…Certainly there seems to be general consensus that the current activities of Morris dancing and similar are echoes of traditional activities from a long long time ago in the past. Thoughts that to dance Morris dances is the perpetuation of Paganism should have died centuries ago when the church itself embraced the Morris dance and invited it into its nave, as in the 'Saddleworth Rush Cart' and certainly the promotion of 'Church Ales' as fund raising exercises, an event very much associated with Morris dancing.

Whatever some people may think, we simply feel that the whole activity is enjoyable, that it is good for us to perpetuate tradition and to be a part of the modern culture that surrounds the performance of Morris Dances and the other forms of traditional dance and music.

A J Duncan