Morris dancing was first recorded in document from the 15th century, but its origins seem to

be shrouded in mystery. According to some, morris dance is connected to dance traditions

from druidic times, for others it comes from court dances which were first performed in Italy
and were then embraced in English courts. The name morris, according to some, comes from
the word Moorish. One of the reasons why this dance is connected to the word Moorish, may
be because of the fact that most dancers originally used to paint their faces in black (today
only some still do and the tradition of blackening their faces may originate as a form of
disguise for dancers or it could have been a reference to miners in later times). For some,
there may be a connection with dances of Moorish origin in the 15th century. Whatever its
origins, morris dance became very popular with the working classes and in rural areas from
the 17th century (while it was previously mainly documented in court settings).

The modern revival of morris dancing started with the work of folklorists such as Cecil
Sharp, Maud Karpeles and Mary Neal, who organised the first revival performance in
London with a group of young women. Not long after, men groups also started and, since
then, morris dancing experts have been disputing over whether morris dance should only be
performed by men or by both genders. Nowadays, there are groups that are men only, women
only or mixed genders.

Styles and Performance

Morris dance is often performed by groups of six or eight people, but occasionally, depending
on the style, there are solos or duets. This dance genre is choreographed and it follows
specific patterns. There is a rhythmic stamping of the feet and dancers can use props such as
wooden sticks, swords, handkerchiefs and bells attached to their shins that mark the rhythm.

Clothes vary according to the styles and so do colours of the costumes. The dancers I saw at
the World Conker Championships were wearing black costumes with some kind of ribbons
attached. However, colours and styles really do vary between different groups and traditions.
Shoes also vary, with some groups wearing clogs others boots. Nowadays only some groups
paint their faces in black. The music that the dance comes with is very lively and instruments
often used are accordions, drums and fiddles.

The main styles of morris dancing are:

Cotswold Morris, mostly from Gloucestershire and Oxfordshire. This style often
involves the use of sticks or handkerchiefs and it is danced mainly in groups but
sometimes there are duets or solos.
North West Morris is more military and processional in style. The Britannia Coco-Nut
dancers are a group from the North West and they are one of the few groups to still
blacken their faces.
Border Morris, from the English-Welsh border, is a style that is vigorous and looser
comparing to others. Its performers usually blacken their faces.
Longsword dancing is from Yorkshire and south Durham. It is danced with wooden or
metal swords.
Rapper, from Northumberland and County Durham, is danced with short swords.
Molly dancing is a style that comes from Cambridgeshire. It is danced during Plough
Monday (the first Monday of the English agricultural year, which is the first Monday
 after 6th January) celebrations. Its specific characteristic is that one of the dancers is a
man dressed as a woman.
Ploughstots style from Yorkshire, which is danced during Plough Monday and
dancers usually hold flags.
Plough Monday traditions that come from East Midlands, which sometimes involve
the use of swords.

Resources
Below I have listed some resources that you may find useful if you want to find out more
about this dance genre. I have included links to the morris dance associations and local
groups (only a handful of the many that exist), a list of academic articles and Facebook pages
dedicated this type of dance.

Associations and Groups

Morris Ring Founded in 1934, this is a mens only association for group around the
country.
Morris Federation A more inclusive federation for both men and women dancers.
Open Morris Started in 1979, it is all inclusive for all genders.
Rattlejag Morris Mixed dance side that promotes the revival of dance traditions
from East Yorkshire, Nottinghamshire and Lincolnshire.
Stroud Morris Dancers Group from Stroud, Gloucestershire.
Sarum Morris Mixed dance side from Salisbury, that perform in the Cotswold
tradition.
Pilgrim Morris Men A men only dance side, Cotswold style, from Surrey.
Charlbury Morris Male dance side from Oxfordshire.
Whitehorn Morris All ladies side from Harrow, performing in north west style.
Welsh Border Morris Group of Men performing Welsh border style.
Mersey Morris Men Men dance side that perform various styles including
Cotswold, rapper and molly.
Old Glory Molly Dancers Group of molly dancing from East Suffolk.
The Ouse Washes Molly Dancers Group based in Norfolk.
Goathland Plough Stots Group performing with long swords.
A traditional dance seen throughout the month of May is Morris Dancing. It is a
traditional English form of folkdancing, performed by groups of men or women.

Border Morris Dances
Morris Dancing has been danced for hundreds of years, and passed down through the
generations in the villages of rural England. The dances are usually performed at
festivals such as May Day, Whitsun and Christmas.
The Origins of Morris Dancing
There are several thoughts to the origins of Morris Dancing. The name may refer to
the possibility of the form of dancing coming to England from the Moors of North
Africa; or it may have been called 'Moor-ish' simply because the dancers sometimes
painted their faces black, and people compared this to the dark-skinned Moors.

The Music
The dancing is very lively and accompanied by an accordion player, a melodeon or
fiddle player (Cotswolds) or a noisy band with a drum (Border Morris or North West
sides)

Accordians and a fiddle

Two accordians and on the right a concertina

Drum
 Costumes
Morris dancers wear different clothes depending on the part of the country in which
they dance. They are often dressed in white with coloured baldrics (coloured belts)
across their chests.

'BAKANALIA' are a Border Morris Dancing group from Leicester.
Border Morris Dancers generally wear 'tatter jackets' and black their faces - probably
originating as a form of disguise.

Bethane Border Morris Dancers

The Dances
There are usually six or eight dancers arranged in two lines or in a circle facing each
other. The dancers may carry white handkerchiefs that they shake, or short sticks that
they bang against each other as they dance. Some dancers have bell-pads tied at their
knees, which make a loud and cheerful rhythm as they dance.

Cotswold Morris

North West Morris
 morris dance
The Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th ed. | 2015 | Copyright

morris dance or morrice dance, rustic dance of the north of England that had its origin
in country festivals, such as those of May Day and Whitsunday. Reference to it in
English literature is made as early as the 15th cent. The main dancers were called
Robin Hood, Maid Marian, the hobbyhorse, and the bavian, or fool. They were
accompanied by a piper or taborer. An ambulatory dance, it was often performed from
one village to another by the main dancers and six other dancers, three in a row. The
morris dance was a sword dance in many vicinities.

If you've ever heard the clash of sticks, the jingle of bells and the squeeze of squeezeboxes
after the choristers have finished on May Morning, you'll undoubtedly have encountered
morris dancing; what you may not have encountered is the enormous variety of morris sides
and traditions to be seen around Oxfordshire throughout the year. This guide aims to provide
the uninitiated with a brief description of the different dances and their dancers, and hopes to
explain in part why, in all probability, someone you know will find morris utterly compelling.

How old is morris dancing?

Nobody's exactly sure - and there are more than enough stories of pre-Christian ritual
heritage to bridge the uncertainty - but most reckon that English morris dancing is a
development of the morisco, or 'Moorish [dance]', that swept through Europe at about the
time the Moors were driven from Spain. A few of the dances that derived from the morisco,
as well as those that may have inspired it, still persist in the folk traditions of Europe and
northern Africa:

Certainly by Shakespeare's time, morris dancing was an established form in southern

England. Enjoying a healthy exposure throughout society for a time, it fell into a slow decline
in popularity but its form was kept fairly well intact by rural communities until the Industrial
Revolution, when systematisation of labour and urbanisation jeopardised the character of
agricultural village life and the festive traditions attached to its seasonal calendar. However,
the morris in Oxfordshire continued to be performed in a few towns, most notably
Headington, Eynsham, Bampton and Abingdon.

It was in 1899 that academic musician Cecil Sharp first encountered the recently-restored
Headington Quarry Morris Men and subsequently embarked upon a life's work of collecting
the traditional tunes of the English people; social worker and suffragette Mary Neal
collaborated with Sharp to collect the dances, which she then taught to the girls of her
Esperance Club in London. Their performances, and the 1907 publication of The Morris
Book, encouraged several attempts to collect and revive the abandoned village traditions - a
process that was frustrated by the Great War, but which would more than regain its
momentum in the wake of the American folk revival of the 1950s.
This second English folk revival saw a wider development of the regional styles and a huge
increase in the number of sides: some resurrecting their unique village repertoire, including
Adderbury, Ducklington and Kirtlington, but many more combining dances from several
traditions. A third revival beginning in the 90s has seen yet another surge of interest amongst
a new generation keen to connect with traditional dance, music and song with increasing
enthusiasm, proficiency and innovation.

What kinds of morris dance exist today?

Nowadays several styles of morris dancing may be found throughout England, of which the
following constitute by far the greatest share:

Cotswold: a flowing figurative style using both sticks and handkerchiefs that dominated the
first revival and that persists as the popular perception of morris dance, originally found
throughout Oxfordshire and Gloucestershire;

Border: collected from the towns of the Severn Valley and the English/Welsh border, an
earthier, more aggressive stick-dancing style that was reinvented in the 70s;

North West: a more processional style found chiefly throughout Lancashire and Cheshire,
which may include the wearing of clogs and the use of garlanded hoops;

Rapper/Longsword: from the North East and Yorkshire, intricate dances that involve
tightly-woven figures using flexible two-handled / rigid one-handled swords respectively;

Molly: an eclectic revived tradition from East Anglia that is gaining popularity throughout
the Midlands.

Understandably, the Cotswold traditions are the most widely practised amongst the morris
sides of Oxfordshire, but most of the others are represented: for details, see below.

What does morris dancing involve?

Bells: Almost all morris sides wear bells; this could be just one or two tied to each clog, or a
whole bell pad with over a dozen on each leg.

Hats: Most men's and mixed sides will wear hats; this is usually a top hat, a straw hat or a
cricket cap. Those with brims are normally bedecked with ribbons and flowers; a Border
dancer's top hat is also likely to be surrounded by pheasant feathers.
Baldric: The sash that many Cotswold sides will wear, often worn as a crossed pair; each
side will use particular colours. Other sides will wear waistcoats, tabards, rosettes, or jackets
covered with 'tatters' (particularly true of Border and Molly sides, who between them will
wear just about anything).

Clogs: Typical to North West styles, these are today less like the ones you'd find in a Dutch
souvenir shop and much more like sturdy shoes with thick wooden soles.

Sticks: Normally around three feet in length, hazel is generally considered the best wood to
use. There are plenty of stick dances to be found throughout the traditions of southern
England; Border is particularly noted for its aggressive (and occasionally quite suggestive)
sticking.

Handkerchiefs: An integral part of the Cotswold style, hankies are tied/looped around the
fingers and snapped upwards, downwards, outwards or around, depending exactly on where
the dance is from.

Melodeon: The most popular musical instrument in morris, it's a small accordion that works
in a very similar way to a harmonica, normally with two rows of buttons on which to play the
melody and four pairs of buttons with which to provide a bass/chord accompaniment.
However, all sort of instruments may be used: traditionalists prefer a simple pipe and tabor
drum, whilst North West sides tend to include brass instruments; a solo fiddle is frequently
seen with Rapper sides, whereas many Border sides like lots of percussion.

Fool: A distinctive character role retained by a number of sides, the Fool acts as the
interactive link between the dancers and their public. In addition to making announcements,
amusing children and playfully intimidating grown-ups for their hard-earned cash
(traditionally by bashing them over the head with an inflated pig's bladder), they will skilfully
interject in the dances with an improvised step or two, often perilously close to interfering
with the movement of the other dancers. It's for this reason that the Fool is normally the best
dancer in the side.

Beast/Hobby: Often a horse, but frequently any sort of creature, they too will interact with
the audience and provide a comic contrast to the often quite serious-looking men in white!