O wad some Pow'r the giftie gie us
To see oursels as others see us!
It wad frae mony a blunder free us,
And foolish notion

Robert Burns, "To a Louse"

We are delighted to welcome back a viewing of the BBC Morris Dancing Twos, this time captured for YouTube

Some other Writings and References ...
Section constantly being re-written! All views accepted, warts and all!

Morris: A Life With Bells On: 27th September is St Morris Day!

See "The greatest morris dancer in the world" BUT beware this is a 176MB MPEG-4 movie file, but has now been put onto YouTube. Watch out for more news items on "Morris; a life with bells on" after Thursday's 24th September London screening. Meanwhile read: Hell's bells! The joy of Morris Dancing : The Independent UK, also :Blighty to premiere Morris dancing mockumentary and the Review from directorKen Russell in the Times on Line

Blighty TV, (Virgin 206 and Sky 534) now has "Morris: the making of" (You may have difficulty seeing the videos on this link)

It was good to see Morris Dancing presented with a 'positive' image in some recent articles and references. Especially after the 'extinction' story. Try a Google search with the words "morris dancing extinction"

Read A.A.Gill's excellent article about the morris at Thaxted in 2009:
"This is a lost part of what we once were, and who we still are"

Becky Mills: "A Modern Man's Morris"

YouTube now has a large number of videos of morris dancers and morris dancing, this is one person's view. "An Royal Shakespeare Company Video Project. The Argentines have the tango. Spain gave the world flamenco. England is now well into its sixth century of Morris, a dance where excellence is defined..."
Adam Seddon - December 2008
See YouTube for original and for related videos. The video is particularly interesting for the extended interview with the Britannia Coco-nut Dancers of Bacup, and for the opinions of the old and young dancers. The video came out just prior to the reports across the press of the imminent demise of the Morris, also some of the press comments about blacking up. The "Nutters" have a cogent reply to this!

LET'S MORRIS Words and music by Gid Taylor

We morris with the bells, and we morris in the socks,
Some of you have noticed we are morrissing in frocks,
The cloggs are very heavy ah,but let me make it clear,
They seem a little lighter when you're drinking loads of beer.

Shake your hankies in the air and clash your sticks,
Some of us have had a few, so look out for the tricks.
Leaping over brooms can really concentrate the mind,
Be careful of the morriser who's coming up behind.

Let's morris, let's morris.

We morris on the one leg, and we morris on the other,
There is lot's of morrissing that you will soon discover.
We slap each other's faces, but we're never really mad,
There's a rumour going round that we are very sad.

.... and there is more!! --->>

If you want a regular "fix" of quotes about morris dancing, try subscribing to the Google Alerts for: "morris dancing" "morris dancer" 'morris dance", but be prepared for a lot of emails!

Strictly Morris Dancing: By Kathleen Ambrose. Reproduced by kind permission of the author and "The Countryman".

The BBC 2 "Morris Dancing 2s", now disappeared fronm the web. Was an excellent advert for our dances. However the designers didn't seem to know the difference between a melodeon and a concertina!

Try a search of the BBC site on Morris Dancing or Morris Dance ..

ICONS. a Portrait of England: Morris Dancing. Morris dancing was rightly voted as an Icon, we get a good write-up, and for ALL forms of morris. Whilst the comments come from many dancers, there is a good deal of public comment, and most of that is favourable, indeed very enthusiastic! I think that the most touching comment comes from a young London dancer, Caroline. Anyway, read the comments.

LocalGov.co.uk During her deputy leadership campaign, Hazel Blears gave a fascinating speech to the New Local Government Network, entitled 'After devolution'. See: "Dancing to a different tune" by Chris Game. (15 August 2007)

Councillors and morris dancers - I'd never previously seen the parallels. Yet what does being a party councillor involve? It's surely 'a means of personal expression through organised and practiced group movements, which make limited, but not insignificant, technical demands on the participants?' Or is that morris dancing?

The comments from other Morris dancers are interesting - and it is a pity that our Fluffy cousins did not pick this one up!

Daily Hansard - Lords hansard - 25 Jun 2007 : Column 455 "Lord Chancellor’s men ‘morris dance while Rome burns". A report which was then picked up by the BBC and the Guardian.

The Observer, 25.06.06. 7 Days by Armando Iannucci

Gordon Brown: my secret passion. "...After a tedious meeting in the City about money or some such, I hop straight on to a train into the Middle English countryside with a bag of bells and a stick. Then I go to a secluded clearing or dell in the woods and morris dance to my heart's content. Then Sarah picks me up and we both go off for a late-night pub lunch. She keeps this magic spot secret, which is why there are no visual records in existence of me ever doing it."

How To ... Morris Dance by Guy Browning - they wanted money to reproduce this stuff, but links are free! I did like the picture that went with the article - from the Guardian Weekend, Life, 24-12-05.

Obituary, Jack Langstaff by Derek Schofield, Guardian, Sat 24th Dec

A kind letter in the IoS (30/10/05) following some ignorent comments in the IoS (23/10/05)

The IoS had to label the letter "Cloggies'corner". The comments arise from a suggestion on BBC 4 by Lord Redesdale concerning the 2012 Olympics, with the suggestion that morris dancing should feature in the opening ceremony. Lord Redesdale asked a question in parliament on the matter, this was duely reported in Hansard.

I ask you to think again before dismissing the idea of featuring Morris dancing in the opening ceremony of the 2012 Olympics (Bad Idea, 23 October). Last month, I saw Morris dancers perform in a village square in central Europe. Though performing a complex routine, these guys were enjoying themselves, and it was infectious. Their banter and their interaction with the spectators contributed to a most enjoyable and uniquely English experience. Isn't that just what you'd like the 2012 ceremony to be? Mike Norris, Dublin 18, Ireland.

From Terry Pratchett's "Reaper Man" Try a search at http://www.co.uk.lspace.org/ with 'morris' as the subject, some Morris Minors and Desmond, but a lot on Morris Dancing.

"The Morris dance is common to all inhabited worlds in the multiverse.
It is danced under blue skies to celebrate the quickening of the soil and under bare stars because it's springtime and with any luck the carbon dioxide will unfreeze again. The imperative is felt by deep-sea beings who have never seen the sun and urban humans whose only connection with the cycles of nature is that their Volvo once ran over a sheep.
It is danced innocently by raggedy-bearded young mathematicians to an inexpert accordion rendering of 'Mrs Widgery's Lodger' and ruthlessly by such as the Ninja Morris Men of New Ankh, who can do strange and terrible things with a simple handkerchief and a bell.
And it is never danced properly.
Except on the Discworld, which is flat and supported on the backs of four elephants which travel through space on the shell of Great A'Tuin, the world turtle
And even there, only in one place have they got it right. It's a small village high in the Ramtop Mountains, where the big and simple secret is handed down across the generations.
There, the men dance on the first day of spring, backwards and forwards, bells tied under their knees, white shirts flapping. People come and watch. There's an ox roast afterwards, and it's generally considered a nice day out for the family."

Will Fertility Dancing Boost the Harvest? - featuring Uncle Bob!

The Pleasure Principle - Lead me to the maypole - by Libby Purves
{Article from Saga Magazine, printed by permission, thanks Libby!}

"Morris men's war on morrisettes" {Article from Guardian Unlimited, features Patrick Purves and why Alford MM left the Ring in 1999}

From Cambridge Evening News, 7th June 2005 "Aircraft Noise at Thaxted"

.. the village, which is directly under the London Stansted Airport flight path, has been forced to cope with increasing aircraft noise - and this year many visitors said it ruined the event, especially the Abbots Bromley Horn Dance, performed late at night in the main street in what should be complete silence.

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