Border Morris


No-one really knows where and when Morris dancing originated, although there are theories that the Moors brought it over from Africa, and that the word Morris comes from "Moorish".

The first written words about Morris dancing in England date from 1458 when a cup inscribed with a Morris dancer was bequeathed to someone in a will. The earliest reference to actual dancing was in 1466, when it was called "Moruske". We have churchwarden accounts from Kingston-upon-Thames in 1508 showing payments for "Mores" garments and for "sarten gret levers" to a value of two shillings and fourpence (and very cheap at the price too - "sarten gret levers" cost a lot more these days). St Mary's Church in the Butts, Reading, has a record of bells and baldricks being bought for a Morris side, dated 1512. As far as we know this is the first mention of Morris dancing in our locality. Another church in Reading has records showing that on August 20th 1513 a sponsored Ale was held where dancers were present, as they were also in 1529 and 1530 at another Morris Ale and at May festivities with a May Pole. It is obvious that Morris dancing and drinking have gone together from the beginning. It's nice to know that one is carrying on such a great tradition.

Morris dancing has been in and out of fashion. The Puritans tried to stop it altogether, and it suffered badly during the Industrial Revolution due to population movements away from the countryside to towns. Nowadays it is enjoying a great upsurge in popularity.

There are several styles of Morris dancing. Perhaps the best known is Cotswold, and this is largely due to the efforts of Cecil Sharp, who collected and recorded many dances from old folk in the Cotswolds during the early part of this century. A typical costume for Cotswold Morris sides is baldricks crossed over the chest and bell pads on the shins, with white shirts, trousers or skirts.

Northwest Clog Morris comes, unsurprisingly, from the North West of England, and originated in processional dances associated with mining villages.

There are also sword dances, which come from the coal mining areas of North East England. These are ritually making amends for the rape of Mother Earth and the swords are not actually swords, but tools for cleaning the grime and dust off pit ponies.

Welsh Border Morris was born in the English counties of Herefordshire, Shropshire and Worcestershire, which border on Wales. The earliest written mention of Welsh Border dances is from the Hereford races of 1609. It is a vigorous, energetic form of dancing, using both long and short sticks, and is much freer than Cotswold or Clog. Although there are some traditional dances from villages in the Welsh border counties, such as Pershore, Much Wenlock, Upton upon Severn, Dilwyn, Bromsberrow Heath, Evesham, Brimfield and White Ladies Aston, many of the dances currently danced are made up by the sides who dance them. Morris is a living tradition.

It is traditional in Border Morris to blacken the face. This is believed to be due to the fact that in times past, when dancing was not allowed on Sundays, and was also considered to be a form of begging, the dancers needed a way to preserve their anonymity.





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