The Morris Federation

The UK's largest association of morris and traditional dance teams

Newsletter archive 2014

Our newsletter is a printed magazine that is part of the membership offer to both our team and individual members. It is published four times a year.

Newsletter Winter 2014

When I see other teams dancing, at festivals or Morris Federation events, for example, the one thing which comes over very strongly is that the dancers almost always appear to be enjoying their dancing – and rightly so. Why else would we be doing it? The winter issue features many of the ways in which our members have got pleasure out of dancing and hopefully have given pleasure to the public in the audience. Preliminary results from Jack Worth’s Morris Census suggests that despite an ageing membership in some sides, there is also youth and vigour a-plenty.

View and download: Newsletter Winter 2014 (5Mb)

Contents:

  • Rhiannon, Rhian, Rhi – An Appreciation
  • Job Well Done
  • Branded Rabble Rousers
  • The Morris Census – Update
  • Ossett Beercart Festival
  • Ragged And Old At Thirty
  • English Miscellany Celebrates
  • Paul White’s Diary
  • The Making Of A Tradition
  • Redcaps In Prague
  • A Kirtlington Feast
  • The Last Pub In England
  • Too Old For Morris Dancing
  • AGM Day Of Dance Photo Gallery

Newsletter Autumn 2014

Although an ageing membership may be an on-going concern for some long-established sides, it is very pleasing to feature in this issue several articles which focus on youth, in one way or another. The preservation of information on traditional dances and the exploration of new ways of presenting morris are just two facets of the interview with John, Sue and Laurel Swift. Several sides report on significant anniversaries and a new side describes how it came into being.

View and download: Newsletter Autumn 2014 (5Mb)

Contents:

  • The Swift Family Morris On
  • Seven Stars Rising
  • Anstey Royal Chalfont’s 40th
  • Carnie Cloggers’ 35th
  • Rampant Roosters’ 21st
  • Paul White’s Diary
  • Sussex By The Sea
  • The Making of Makeney Morris
  • When East Meets West
  • Dancing On Ice?
  • Twelve North West Cloggies
  • Literary Corner

Newsletter Summer 2014

Welcoming in the summer proved a little damp for some sides who were up at the crack on dawn on the 1st May, as the back page pictures show. Congratulations to Crook Morris who join the elite of the rapper sword teams by winning more than one category at the DERT weekend this year, plus  Jack Worth writes about the morris census, which he is undertaking across all three morris organisations.

View and download: Newsletter Summer 2014 (6Mb)

Contents:

  • Crook Morris Steal The Show
  • Morris Census
  • Trials & Tribulations Of A Treasurer
  • Premier Pitch For Jerusalem Jammers
  • 21 Ways To Celebrate 21 Years
  • Dancing With Staves
  • BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards
  • JMO Day of Dance, Cambridge
  • Paul White’s Diary
  • Thank You, Border Morris
  • What Do You Think You Look Like
  • It’s All About Spring
  • Scottish Border Morris
  • All On A May Morning
  • Literary Corner

Newsletter Spring 2014

The article on the background to the custom of blacking up generated a fair number of responses, a representative selection are printed in this edition. Traditions old and new are given an airing, there is a report of a morris jig performed in a most unlikely setting, and anniversaries in this issue span several continents. The Lake District is the setting for our front cover photograph and for the 2014 AGM and Day of Dance, full details of which are given, plus Paul White is as entertaining and controversial as ever.

View and download: Newsletter Spring 2014 (4Mb)

Contents:

  • Blacking up: facing the issues
  • Ragged & Old 30 years on
  • Treacle for Christmas
  • Penkevyll meets Mari Llwyd
  • Paul White’s Diary
  • Something to get your teeth into
  • Morris etiquette: ceilidh spots
  • Intercontinental ale
  • Keswick – gateway to the Lakes
  • Review: Wassailing
  • Ossett Beercart – a new tradition
  • Handbook of morris dancing

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