About this issue of "Morris Matters"

Summary: Vol. 34 Issue 1

Published: January 2015

Table of contents

  • Discovering a New Reference to Morris Dancing in Berkshire, by Jameson Wooders
  • The Earliest Recorded Ritual Dance in England? by Jonathan Hooton 
  • The Bo Diddlers present: STUMP! by Jill Griffiths 
  • I Wish I Had Looked After My Feet!! by Tim Radford 
  • Music and the Morris by Roy Dommett 
  • Len Bardwell – an autobiographical note 
  • Dr Lankin’s Problem Page 
  • The Pinewoods Morris Men in England by Martin (Shag) Graetz 
  • Dommett Dance Weekend by Dave Crease 
  • An Ignored Influence by Roy Dommett 
  • The Morris Sighed by Andy Hilditch 

Editorial

More anniversaries coming up – Pinewoods came over from America to celebrate 50 years, the Morris Federation will be celebrating 40 years in September this year and my own team, Windsor Morris, like several others, will be holding events to mark their 40th year of dancing. I wonder how many of those teams saw that landmark arriving? It doesn’t seem so long since I was collating the Morris Federation booklet “21 Years On”! I know one of the questions in the Morris Census conducted by Jack Worth last year across all three morris organisations was about whether teams saw themselves as still being around in a few years time: his findings will be published by the morris organisations- interesting reading!

Shortly after the last issue came out we were sorry to hear of the death of Eddie Cass, an authority on the traditional Pace Egg plays and other Lancashire customs and a leading light in the Folklore Society and the Society for Folk Life Studies.

Citation

#Editor: Beth Neill
#Citation: Morris Matters, 34(1),

Loading Viewer...

Featured Teams

The PDF file has been analysed to list the morris and sword dance teams which are featured in the issue. Note we can’t be 100% sure that this list and dance category is accurate.

Morris Matters Vol. 34 Issue 1, Jan 2015

Cotswold Morris

  • Hammersmith Morris Men – Appear in two contexts. In the research article on Berkshire morris they are listed among the teams the author danced with during his PhD years. Later they host a visit by the Pinewoods Morris Men in London and organise part of their tour along the Thames. 
  • Oyster Morris – Mentioned as one of the sides the author danced with while researching Berkshire morris traditions. 
  • Rumworth Morris – Also listed among the sides the author had performed with during his academic research period. 
  • Tyler’s Men – Another team referenced in the list of sides the author danced with during his morris career.
  • Eynsham Morris Men – Featured in the account of the Pinewoods Morris Men tour of England, hosting an evening of dancing and pub singing in the Cotswolds.
  • Windsor Morris – Mentioned in the Pinewoods tour report where they meet and dance together during the visit. 
  • Berkshire Bedlam – Appears both in the author’s personal dancing history and again when Pinewoods Morris Men meet the side during their England tour. 

Molly Dance

  • Seven Champions Molly Dancers – Listed among the teams the article’s author had danced with while researching Berkshire morris history. 
  • Norwich Kitwitches – Central to the article discussing early ritual dance traditions around Cawston in Norfolk. The side carried out a Plough Tour and performed Molly dancing in several churches associated with historic plough-guild customs. 

Rapper / Sword Dance

  • Handsworth Sword – Appears in the Pinewoods Morris Men tour account, where the team performs sword dancing with visiting dancers during an informal gathering in Sheffield.

Performance / Contemporary Morris

  • The Bo Diddlers – Featured in a performance review of their stage production STUMP!. The group blends morris dancing with theatrical and contemporary dance performance, presenting highly choreographed routines in a theatre setting. 

International Morris

  • Pinewoods Morris Men (USA) – The subject of a major article describing their 2014 tour of England to celebrate the side’s 50th anniversary. During the tour they dance with several English teams including Hammersmith Morris Men, Handsworth Sword, Eynsham Morris Men, Windsor Morris and Berkshire Bedlam

#MFmorrismatters   #MorrisMatters

Don't miss out

Get The Morris Federation's News

Subscribe for news about The Morris Federation and morris related activities. Available for all.