It’s a strange time right now, as things start to change back from online to in-person.  For most of us it doesn’t all change back overnight, and there is a period of things changing at different times, and it can all feel a bit unsettling. 

For yours truly, some lovely online things have now come to an end, and it feels like a big “pause” before the pre-pandemic in-person activities can restart.  Let’s hope the weather is kind so we can dance and play outdoors, or go for nice walks, or just be outside to lift our spirits.

But if it’s raining, there are loads of upcoming and past online events to catch up on.

Upcoming events

Here is a selection of upcoming events.  Keep an eye on their web sites for the latest details nearer the event.

• The Joint Chester & Chippenham Online Folk Festival, 28th-31st May – a packed online programme for the Bank Holiday weekend
• Sidmouth Folk Festival, 30th July – 6th August – a week-long programme of outdoor events
• Broadstairs Folk Week, 6th-13th August – a week-long programme of mainly outdoor events
• Whitby Folk Week, 21st-27th August – Whitby@Home, a week-long programme packed with online events

Clog & step dancing

Learn Sam Sherry’s Improvers Waltz
The Lancashire Wallopers are teaching Sam Sherry’s Improvers Waltz on Wednesday evenings 19:30-20:30 from 2nd June online over Zoom.  Please email wallopers.weekend@aol.co.uk to request the link.  More info on their public Facebook site: Lancashire Wallopers Weekend

Clog & Step Dancing Bursary opportunity
The Instep Research Team (IRT) is inviting expressions of interest by 30th June for bursary awards of £50 to £3,000 for projects related to the objectives of IRT: “To promote, maintain, improve, develop and advance public education by the encouragement of the arts of clog and step dancing through research and by the holding of workshops, conferences, events and demonstrations to encourage people to participate in the said arts”.  See More info on Bursary.

Recordings of our past events (ICYMI)

In case you missed it, recordings of our online Talks and Workshops during lockdown are on the MF YouTube Channel

Please ‘subscribe’ to be notified of any new videos.

There are three new Playlists:
– JMO Day of Dance (playlist) – Workshops in 2021 (Bacca Pipes, North West, Clog Step and Cotswold) and a slide show of the first annual JMO DoD in 2005
– Return to Dancing Fitness 2021 (playlist) – 7 session exercise programme, with ‘easy’ and ‘hard’ level options
– Winter/Spring Workshops 2020-2021 (playlist) – all the Workshops, plus these Talks all about 1 to 1.5 hours (more to follow):

• Hastings Jack in the Green – Keith Leech & Fee Lock
• Demo of Clogmaking – Simon Brock
• Goathland Plough Stots – a Longsword Tradition
• How to Make a Beast – Geoff Roberts
• Shrewsbury Morris on Twitter – Graydon Radford and Ray Langton
• Sussex Bonfires – Heather & Keith Leech
• ‘Morris Music – a History’ – Stephen Rowley & Andy Richards, Taborers Society

Morris in the media

• BBC1 Bargain Hunt, 10th Jan (repeat): The history of the humble clog & how it played a part in Lancashire’s industrial heritage featuring Royal Preston Morris and Michael L Jackson (5 mins)
• BBC Radio 4 Woman’s Hour, 30th April: Morris Dancing with Boss Morris (30:26 to 41:05)
• BBC Radio 4 Today, 1st May: Martin Green and Alex Merry (Boss Morris) (1:54:17 to 1:59:53)

Other past online events (ICYMI)

In case you missed it, here is a small selection of recorded online events which include morris dancing & related activities:

• Whittlesey Straw Bear, 17th-18th Jan – concerts, morris & sword dancing, German bears, behind the scenes how to build a bear, and more
• Folk Weekend Oxford, 23rd-25th April – concerts, morris dancing and mummers play
• Hastings Jack in the Green, 3rd May – short videos of the Jack and morris dancing
• Holmfirth Festival of Folk, 8th May – day of concerts and morris dancing
• Shepley Spring Festival 22nd May – day of concerts and mummers play

Folky stuff

A small selection of folky things for your eyes and ears:

• Folk Tunes and Englishness, Alice Little (3 Podcasts, each 30 mins)
• Folk on Foot on Film – interviews on video (also on Podcast)
• The Folk Forecast – weekly what’s on summary

Covid-19 Guidance Update (17th May)

A short summary of the latest guidance for England – see full details at: MF Covid-19 Guidance

Practices & Performances.  Outdoors we can now practise or perform in groups of up to 30 people, and indoors in groups of up to six people or two households.  Performances must be in line with the performing arts guidance and the events guidance for local authorities.  Multiple groups must comply with the gathering limits, and the groups kept separate.  Template Risk Assessments are provided for practices and performances.

Social distancing: although the new general rules allow us to make a personal choice on whether we continue to keep our distance from family and friends, this does not apply to morris dancing.  The guidance on the performing arts is clear that non-professionals must still adhere to social distancing.

As you start to return to practices and performances, please consider the range of feelings within your team, and also consider the general public’s perception of the morris.  Be aware of how your activities and actions come across on the media and social media, and please be kind to those who may appear to make mistakes.

Queries?  If you have any questions, or need help with completing your Risk Assessments, please contact Sally Wearing at sallywearing@outlook.com

Diary dates

2021

• Saturday 25th September 2021 – our AGM will be held online over Zoom.  We’ve made the sad decision to cancel the Day of Dance in September with hosts Customs and Exiles, and ceilidh band The Diatonics, and thank them for all their hard work.

2022
Next year we’ll look forward to seeing you in person:

• Saturday 9th April 2022 in Liverpool for the JMO National Day of Dance.
• Saturday 24th September 2022 in Darlington for the MF Day of Dance and AGM with hosts Black Diamond Mixed Cotswold Morris.

Review of the online talk given by Johnny Haslett on Saturday 15th May 2021, to an audience of over 45 people.  Johnny is a former member of Leyland Morris Men and former leader of Preston Royal Morris Men (now Royal Preston Morris Dancers)

Peter Bearon and Alison Whitaker write:

“Those of you who are familiar with Johnny’s three books will know the amount of work he has put into producing them. Johnny has spent years trawling through old newspapers in various archives and libraries around the North West finding every conceivable mention of Morris Dancers and related activities, mainly in the Lancashire Plain. These have been collated into three large books to date, with a fourth on its way. This talk looked at Volume One which covers dancing in West Lancashire up to 1900.

“You might think that with much easier access to old newspapers on the internet, such a book is no longer necessary. This would be a mistake. Firstly, many papers have yet to be digitised and secondly, the great value in Johnny’s book is that by having all the reports listed chronologically, some idea of the context of the explosion of Morris dancing during the 1890s can be gleaned.

“In his talk Johnny went through various newspaper reports from the first volume, but instead of listing them chronologically, he showed the development of the dance by place and how what started in one town affected events in nearby settlements. This was a whistle-stop tour and despite showing 141 slides, mostly newspaper reports interspersed with a few old photographs, he could only present a small portion of what is contained within the book.  If I have one very minor criticism, it would be that there wasn’t always enough time to read the report on each slide. However, you can overcome this problem by catching up on the talk on YouTube (when it is available) and using the pause button.

“The talk began with a couple of pre-1890 references – Abram in 1880, children from the Churchtown National Schools near Southport in 1887 and a resolution to employ The Oldham Morris Dancers and their band for a forthcoming fete in Southport in 1888.

“However, it was not until 1890 that Morris dancing became an entrenched part of local festivities and processions. Johnny took us through the development of the dance in Leyland, which started with a deputation from Leyland going to Knutsford on May Day 1890 to obtain information about the Morris Dancers. By the end of that month Leyland had about a score of Morris Dancers at their May Festival. The group continued throughout the 1890s with a couple of trainers and an additional group of juvenile dancers with a different trainer appearing in the mid-1890s.

“Chorley was next up. The Rose Festival started in June 1890 with assistance from their Leyland friends and the engagement of Leyland Morris Dancers. By the following year Chorley had its own team of 29 dancers under the leadership of Mr H Gent. From Chorley, Johnny moved on to Horwich in 1891 where the Rose Queen procession was denounced by the local corps of the Salvation Army as the ‘work of the devil’. In July 1891 Chorley Morris Dancers appeared, but also mentioned is a juvenile Morris team at the Juvenile Rose Queen a month later. By the following year the Rose Queen Festival had its own home-grown team – the newspaper proclaimed that Horwich did not need to seek foreign aid to provide Morris Dancers.

“The talk continued in this vein, showing how the dance developed in different towns, how trainers moved from one town’s team to another and, equally important, the type of events they danced at. It was not only May Day and Rose Festivals, but also Lifeboat Saturdays, Trade Processions, Club Days and Field Days. Perhaps surprising is the distances that some teams covered to reach their engagements – Preston Morris Dancers visited Glasgow for a Lifeboat Saturday in 1896.

“Finally, in the chat after the recording had finished, I think Derek Schofield nailed it when he said that Johnny’s work shows that Morris Dancing in the 1890s was ‘popular culture’.

“All in all, a very informative talk, that only scratches the surface of the newspaper reports in Volume One. I look forward to hearing his talk on Volume Two, 1900 to 1909!

Review by Peter Bearon and Alison Whitaker.  Peter and Alison are both members of The Rumworth Morris and Abram Morris Dancers, and Peter is a member of Handsworth Traditional Sword Dancers). 

Participants were encouraged to donate to a ring-fenced fund in the Morris Federation to be put towards a suitable project about North West Morris dancing.

Buying a Book

Copies of Johnny’s Haslett’s books Volumes 1 to 4 may be purchased direct from him (find him on Facebook, or contact us to be put in touch).  Volume 1 covers 1896-1900, Volume 2 1900-1909, Volume 3 1910-1919, and Volume 4 1920-1929.

 

Review of the online talk given by Andrew Kennedy on 2nd May 2021.  If you’d like to read more about this and other aspects of sword dancing that have interested Andrew, please look at his website About Sword Dancing at www.sworddance.info 

Bob Wilson writes:

“On Sunday the 2^nd May over 60 of us were treated to a ‘Zoom’ talk by Andrew Kennedy who attempted to answer the questions ‘Who were the Sword dancers and why did they do it?’.   Andrew of course is well known to us as past editor of the Sword Dance journal ‘Rattle up My Boys’ and an expert on all things long sword with a bit of rapper thrown in for good measure.

“Four photographs started the talk, emphasizing the wide range of sword dancing currently found in the UK. Rapper (Whip the Cat), long sword, (Isle of Man White boys), wooden peg sword dancing (Flamborough) and controversially, a garland dance (Minden Rose Garland Dancers), the latter being included as in Andrew’s opinion, it is hard to explain a sword dance while at the same time excluding garland dancing.

“Andrew attempted to answer the question ‘Why did they do it?’ by showing two 16^th century paintings, Dance of the Nuremberg Cutlers Guild (1600) and The Kermesse of the Feast of St George (Bruegel, c. 1560). The former suggesting that the dance was performed by apprentices and journeymen of a guild in the presence of the elders, and the latter that the dance was part of village feast day celebrations.” Theories as to why sword dancing exists at all were suggested and these included religious or cultic, men’s adult fraternities, military exercises and industrial (mining). All of these were expanded upon with citing various historical texts.

“Andrew quoted from Tacitus in 98AD who wrote: ‘Naked youths whose sport is fling themselves about in a dance between swords and spears levelled at them.’ Disappointingly, Andrew’s accompanying photograph of the Dithmarscher Sword Dancers taken 2011 seemed to be of a much tamer event.   Tacitus does however go on to suggest that: ‘However daring their abandon, their sole reword is the spectators’ pleasure.’

“Andrew introduced the idea that it might have religious significance by quoting Schuster (1870) linking the dance to the god Fro (Norse Freyr, brother of Freyja) associated with fertility, sexuality, virility and fine weather and Frazer (1890) in ‘The Golden Bough’ linking it to the death and rebirth of a sacred king.

“Initiation of young men into fraternities was explored with some disturbing evidence linking it to German National Socialism.

“The evidence that the sword dance might be linked to military exercise was discussed and it was even suggested that the dance used real swords which the men jumped over and ducked under. Woe betide anyone whose timing was less than perfect!

“Andrew noted that areas where coal or metal ore was mined have a robust sword dance history, iron ore in Cleveland, Sheffield steel, coal from Durham and Northumberland and wolfram (tungsten) in Austria.

“Andrew also noted that Cecil Sharp in the early 20^th Century had a theory that as he observed most English Sword dancing to be east of the Pennines that the dance probably has Viking origins.   Not strictly true as Sharp’s research later revealed dances as far away as Workington on the west coast.

“As to ‘Who were the sword dancers?’, Andrew produced three case studies. The first from the diary of a Nicholas Blundell of Little Crosby in Lancashire of whom Andrew said wrote, produced, directed and funded his own dance for ‘when his Marl-pit is flower’d’ and again on Twelfth night. Blundell went on to name all 14 men in his company.   The second was from the town of Bilk near Düsseldorf where the last three lead dancers (vortänzer) are known by name. In the nearby town of Haddorf the last known vortänzer, Schräder died in the winter of 1919-20 aged 91.   There was a fascinating third case from the town of Elgin in Scotland where in 1623 all the dancers as young men were fined 40/- for taking part in the sword dance.   Among other crimes the individual dancers were accused of were ‘running profanely through the high street’, a ‘blasphemous pledge of friendship at the market cross’, ‘riding the grey mare’ and ‘clinking of basins’.  The dancers were truly a law breaking band of young men who, Andrew says, eventually grew up to become respected elders of the town.

“In conclusion, sword dancers it was suggested came from a wide social range, not usually from the nobility and were all male (before the 20^th century). As for why they did it, Andrew’s evidence points to many theories with each theory having notable exceptions.

“Andrew was happy to answer questions after the talk.

“Congratulations to Andrew for a well researched and thought provoking talk on the people of the sword dance throughout Britain and Europe.

Review by Bob Wilson, Captain of High Spen Blue Diamonds Traditional Rapper Sword Dancers

Participants were encouraged to support the sword dancing newsletter Rattle Up, My Boys or, better still, subscribe – a very reasonable £8 for one year (4 issues).  Email: rattleupmyboys@gmail.com

 

Andrew Kennedy edited the sword dancing newsletter Rattle Up, My Boys for a while and organised the overseas teams for the 2004 and 2008 International Sword Spectacular festivals.  Andrew has danced/played with teams including Clydeside Rapper, Carlisle Sword and Morris Dancers, Sallyport Sword Dancers, East Saxon Swords, White Star Sword Dancers, Thrales Rapper, Southport Swords, and the North British Sword Dancers.