Review of the talk by Sue Allan on 28th Jan 2023 via Zoom. See the video recording (1hr 15 mins): https://youtu.be/sjBAgM9GrUQ
Richard Wheeler of Dead Horse Morris & the Broomdashers writes:
“This was an expanded and updated talk from that given by Sue at the Histories of the Morris in Britain conference in 2017. (The full conference proceedings can be downloaded from that link or purchased as a book).
“Sue told us that there were records of Morris Dancing or similar (e.g. Maypole Dancing) from 11 locations in Cumbria – a rather wider area than just Cumberland and Westmorland but with a cultural coherence. This included a cluster of seven locations on the west coast.
“The information on dancing varies between locations. For some there is a bare mention in newspaper reports (some of which can be accessed through Johnny Haslett’s books) through to others, such as Keswick and Ulverston, where there are danceable notations. Sue showed some quite fantastic photographs of dancers and dancing.
“The impetus for the dances appears to have come out of the idea of Merrie England in the late nineteenth century – Keswick May Day Celebrations started in 1885 with the procession lead by morris dancers. Indeed, morris dancing was closely associated with carnivals and similar events – coronation celebrations. As the fortunes of carnivals have waxed and waned so has the fortune of associated morris dancing. When Wigton Carnival was revived about 1980 the morris dancers were revived as well.
“The dancers were, for the most part, young girls although some boys did dance as well. Almost all the different processional dances were originally taught by one man 
– Oliver Cowper who was a professional dance master in the west of Cumbria based in Workington and, later, Whitehaven but teaching over a wider area. (Morris Dancing being just one of the many styles of dance he taught). The Keswick dances were developed from a dance seen in Lancashire linking back to the Leyland Morris. In Cockermouth between the wars the dances developed with competitive dancing between two primary schools (and looking very like a precursor to the Carnival Morris). Key individuals, like Sister Aquinas in Wigton, kept the local morris tradition alive post war.
“Music, as far as records go, was to a brass band playing the tune Hundred Pipers.
“And some generalisations which came out of Sue’s research
- A few individuals can have an immense effect on the nature and spread of traditions
- Researchers need to be aware that they have their own prejudices and bias – and that these may change over time. “Morris” is not the same as “Cotswold Morris”!
- There is more work which can be done – investigating local newspaper reports, investigating the influence of dance teachers/ schools
“Various papers written by Sue on Cumbrian traditions (mostly song, not dance) can be found at https://lancaster.academia.edu/SAllan
by Richard Wheeler of Dead Horse Morris & the Broomdashers, East Kent
Resources
The Morris Federation’s Notation Library holds dance notation for the Wigton, Blennerhasset and Keswick dances.
Sue Allan’s Academia page, where full text of her chapter in ‘The Histories of Morris in Britain’ can be found and downloaded. Her chapter there, of the same name as this talk, comprises basically the same information as the talk: https://lancaster.academia.edu/SAllan
About Sue Allan
Born and bred in Cumbria, Sue Allan’s career has included work in local radio and TV, with Cumbrian arts organisations and writing for Cumbria Life magazine, for which she is still a regular contributor. Sue has been involved with folk music as a singer, musician, dancer and latterly as an academic since her school days, co-founding Carlisle Morris Men – for which she was musician – in 1974, and women’s team Throstle’s Nest Morris in 1977. She is the third generation of her family to perform Wigton’s morris dance.
