Morris Dancing

Morris dancing is a British folk dance. It, traditionally, features a group of men dancing wearing white clothes with bells fastened around their legs, as shown below. 

Morris dancers often were hats bedecked with ribbons, flowers and streamers. You can also see pheasant feathers in some areas. 

The dancers usually where clogs, a wooden shoe akin to Dutch souvenir shoes and they were often worn by working people  (English Folk Dance and Song Society, 2014). 

Sticks are used in some dances, often of hazel and around 3 feet in length. Handkerchiefs can old be used in dances and are looped around the fingers. Some troops also have sword dances (The Editors of Encyclopedia Britannica, 2018).

The sash shown on the above picture is a baldric, often worn as a pair. Different colours have different meanings. Some troops will wear waistcoats or tabards. 

Morris dance music is usually played on a melodeon, accordion or a concertina. These are squeeze boxes with buttons or keys and can play melody and chords. If they only can play chords then a fiddle or flute may also be used. Music is often in binary form, first section then second section and has a strong beat which is accompanied by clog foot falls, sticks clacking, bells rattling and handkerchiefs and streamers moving in the wind (Azle Concertina, 2013). 

Any folk song can become a Morris tune but there are books of public domain Morris tunes available online from the early 1900's. They are also to be found in Folk tunes of the British Isles (Sharp, 2018)

Morris Tunes

Cornish Floral Dance

by Katie Moss https://imslp.org/wiki/The_Floral_Dance_(Moss%2C_Katie)

English Country Gardens

by Cecil Sharp https://imslp.org/wiki/Morris_Dance_Tunes_(Sharp%2C_Cecil)

Downloads

Click image to download.

Review

Question 1: What is a Morris Dance?

Question 2: What do Morris Dancers wear?

Question 3: Where do they wear bells?

Question 4: What footwear is used?

Question 5: What are the sticks made our of?

Question 6: What is worn on the hat?

Question 7: What instruments provide the music?

Question 8: What form is the music usually in?

References

• Azle Concertina (2013). What Exactly Are Morris tunes? [online] thesession.org. Available at: https://thesession.org/discussions/31200 [Accessed 9 Aug. 2024].

• English Folk Dance and Song Society. (2014). Clog Dance. [online] Available at: https://www.efdss.org/learning/resources/beginners-guides/34-english-folk-costume/2467-efdss-clog-dance# [Accessed 9 Aug. 2024].

• Sharp, C. (2018). Morris Dance Tunes (Sharp, Cecil) - IMSLP. [online] Imslp.org. Available at: https://imslp.org/wiki/Morris_Dance_Tunes_(Sharp%2C_Cecil) [Accessed 9 Aug. 2024].

• The Editors of Encyclopedia Britannica (2018). Morris Dance | Dance. In: Encyclopædia Britannica. [online] Available at: https://www.britannica.com/art/Morris-dance [Accessed 9 Aug. 2024].