morris_trivia

Morris Trivia (Revised Dec 2002)

Confessions of a morris dancer - Extract from BBC On-line - click for more

Champion morris dancer Simon Pipe has little truck with suggestions that the tradition is dying out. Here he argues that bell ringing and stick waving still has a place in modern society.

Forget free speech and democracy: if you want a sure sign of a decent society, I give you morris dancing !! ..... m ore

Alice de Wetehalle and Morris Dancers (1458)

According to Ronald Hutton in his book "The Making of Merry England" (OUP), the first definite reference to English Morris Dance was a silver cup "sculpted with moreys dauns" bequeathed in 1458 by Alice de Wetehalle to her heirs. Hutton states that Morris became a favourite royal entertainment, appearing in the court of Henry VII in 1492, and appearing in market towns in the 1500s.

The dances are described as very vigorous, with much capering and rapid arm movements, and often included the Lady and the Fool in the troupe.

The Morris appears to have become fashionable in England the late 1400s, and may have displaced earlier English leaping dances, known as routs and reyes. It was also widespread in Europe, but not before Alice de Wetehalle's bequest.

Hutton feels the origin of the name 'morris' is uncertain, but is probably not a corruption of 'Moorish'.

William Kemp and his "Nine Daies Wonder" (1600)

The Kemp's Men Morris side, based in Norwich upon Wensum, are named in honour of Will Kemp. Kemp was a colleague of Shakespeare, fellow shareholder in the Globe Theatre, Europe's most famous comic actor amd morris dancer extraordinary. It is likely that several of Shakespeare's clown roles were written specifically for Kemp, but in 1599, the two fell out. This was perhaps inevitable given that Kemp believed that no production of Hamlet to be complete without a dog on wheels!

Whatever the cause of the quarrel, Kemp decided to demonstrate that he, not the upstart bard, was still the people's favourite and in a sort of 16th Century publicity stunt, he set off to dance all the way from London to Norwich. In spite of primitive roads and winter weather, he achieved the feat in just nine days* and wrote a book about the event ("A nine daies wonder"), the phrase "a nine days wonder" having originated about 50 years previously.

Some of Kemps Men, along with some stout folk from other sides like Golden Star, and several Morris Dance sides of eastern England, carried out a fitting re-enactment of Kemp’s feat, culminating in Norwich on Easter Saturday, 22nd April, 2000.

*This excludes the week or so be was holed up in a hotel in Bury St. Edmonds in heavy snow and the two half days which he decided not to include.

Thomas Coryate and Morris Dancers (1611)

There's a reference to Morris Dancers in a book "Coryat's Crudities" by Thomas Coryate, published in 1611. I came across this in a book "The Life and Adventures of Thomas Coryate" by Michael Strachan (OUP 1962). This includes a facsimile of a song referring to Morris Dancers. Interestingly, the verse and music are printed in movable type in the 1611 book, but copyright lunacies prevent me from attaching a scan of this page.

Thomas Coryate (1577-1617) was a witty, well educated eccentric from Odcombe in Somerset, England, who called himself the "Odcombian Leg-stretcher". He decided to earn his fortune by walking around Europe, which he did in 1601-2, and publishing an amusing account of his travels. The book needed to be approved by the King (as did all books at that time), and his considerable efforts to get the King's permission finally paid off, and the book was published in 1611.

However, this did not clear his debts, so he then walked to Turkey, where he spent a year learning Arabic so that he could continue his ambition to walk to India via Persia and Afghanistan. Various journals and notes were despatched by him to his publishers in England, but he contracted an illness in India and died before he could complete his work.

From Beekeper's News, January 2001, reproduced by kind permission of EH Thorn Ltd

Wassail Time Again

On 28th January 2001, many beekeepers will attend the annual Wassail Ceremony held at Honeycombe Farm, South Gloucestershire, Frank Buckley's apiary and orchard near Cribb's Causeway, 5 miles north of Bristol.

Once again an Apple Queen has been chosen, a large bonfire is ready for lighting; gallons of punch have been brewed and huge quantities of gingerbread and Parkin made to welcome the guests. Shotguns have been cleaned ready to fire into the apple trees - to drive away pests and devils.

Last year 200 guests attended and 18 gallons of hot punch and mountains of gingerbread and hot Parkin were consumed. Beekeepers come from far afield.

On the day, the Apple Queen will be crowned and the apple trees anointed with cider. Toast is placed in them for the wren and the robin - The Wassail song will be sung and a volley of shot guns fired into the trees to drive away pests and devils.

Then a procession of all the guests, led by a drummer and a piper, will visit the beehives to "tell the bees" chanting: "Gentle Bees, we wish ye no harm. We'm just come a-Wassailing".

This is the old tradition that the bees must be told of important family events -weddings - births - deaths - change of ownership - or they will desert the hives.

There then follows a display by Morris Dancers.

Once the Wassail was widespread throughout the fruit growing areas of Southern and Western England. Then every farm had its cider press and cider was part of the agricultural Iabourers' wages.

Frank has kept bees at Honeycombe Farm since 1946. The bees are now managed by the Bristol Branch of the Avon Beekeepers Association, who have a demonstration apiary there.

Extract from a letter by Jean Morrison, from English Dance and Song magazine, 1981. See also EFDSS Web Site www.efdss.org

Salisbury Tailors Guild 1564

In the records of the Tailors Guild in Salisbury, Wiltshire, England, there's an entry:

"2nd Sept 1564. Yt ys agreyd that Gregory Clerke shall have the keepyin of the ffyve morrys-cots, with XXII dosyn of Myllan bells."

The Guild made and repaired the clothes of the dancers, and of the Giant, 'black boys', devil and other characters who appeared at the Midsummer Feast, and other times of revel.

In June 1611, the Wardens of the Tailors Guild were committed to prison for patronising morris dancers on Sunday.

So, take care !!

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