I wandered up the road to the pub one evening last week to take a couple of photos of the Haughley Hoofers and a Morris team (Were they East Suffolk Morris?although on a map of Dance Sides in Suffolk they don't exist and are men rather than a mixed group).
Whoever they were, they were nowhere near as colourful and exuberant as some Morris sides - like Arils (Eccentric Amblings and Ramblings) blog.
It was only by chance that I knew they'd be there, having noticed a Facebook post on the local village page a few weeks ago, there were no posters up and no mention of them being here on their own websites.
Haughley Hoofers are a women's clog dancing side and The Morris side were also nearly all ladies too
Accompanied by a type of bag pipes, bells on a stick, a penny whistle and accordion.
Another set of wonderful traditions which may well die out in a few years. I wouldn't want to go back to coal fires or a shared water pump in a yard, but I sometimes think our modern way of life has lost nearly as much as it has gained.
ReplyDeleteMorris Dancing hangs on in many places - hope they find people to join in for the future
DeleteGood to see a diversity of ages - as long as younger people join, the traditions will continue.
ReplyDeleteHopefully it will continue
DeleteWhat fun! Quite a minority interest, I suppose, but, as Angela said, the diversity of ages should keep the group going and the old traditions alive. I do hope so. xx
ReplyDeleteGood to see them still going
DeleteI love watching Morris Dancers. These seem rather . . . tame . . . all neat and tidy, unlike our nearest lot, the Silurian (black-face) Morris dancers, although they have recently had to shelve the blackface tradition and use green on their faces instead as they were being called racist . . . The black face painting (soot originally) was to disguise them when begging for cash . . . https://news.sky.com/story/silurian-border-morrismen-dancers-ditch-blackface-tradition-after-500-years-12504793
ReplyDeleteWhere we lived at the smallholding there was a local group of blacked up Molly dancers- great fun
DeleteIf you - or any other reader - are interested, this Wikipedia article is fascinating.
ReplyDeleteAdelaide seems to be the main hub for Morris Dancers in Australia.
And of course the link would be nice😊
Deletehttps://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Morris_dance
Interesting to read that, thanks Cathy.
DeleteThanks Cathy
DeleteHow sad that a 500 year-old tradition, originally using soot as a disguise when begging for money, has to be stopped because of racism accusations. I wish there were volunteers from genuine black people wanting to join the Morris dancers; would they be accepted?
ReplyDeleteOne would hope so.
DeleteI hope so too. Imagine what would happen now if someone with a coal black face knocking at the door!
DeleteMelodeons - they can play notes faster than on almost any other instrument if you can get your head around them.
ReplyDeleteI've really got no idea of what instruments they were playing - should have asked about that too!
DeleteMorris dancers are wonderful. I've only seen them a few times. Once a year, celebrating the Winter Solstice, the Morris dancers perform at the Sanders Theatre, Cambridge, MA. The Christmas Revels is a popular tradition. Your village has many great traditions to look forward to.
ReplyDeleteI have seen some videos of Morris dancing after reading Aril. I don't know it's history though. Thank you for the link Cathy.
ReplyDeleteI am going to have to look up Morris dancing. Your pictures are lovely.
ReplyDeleteGod bless.
Really interesting. Thanks for sharing the photos. The last time I saw Morris dancers was up north somewhere on a stop we made on a coach trip (I was with Mum). It was fun to watch. I remember seeing a lot of them as a child.
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