Tuesday 9 August 2022

Haughley Hoofers and a Mystery Morris

 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).

Or another possibility is they could be the Hageneth Morris re-started (Hageneth was an old name for Haughley) but last I heard they had disbanded in 2019 although this group were wearing a similar costume as Hageneth used to. 
I should have asked!  but it was only when writing this post that I discovered all the information!

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.



Back Tomorrow
Sue


21 comments:

  1. 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.

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    1. Morris Dancing hangs on in many places - hope they find people to join in for the future

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  2. Good to see a diversity of ages - as long as younger people join, the traditions will continue.

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  3. What 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

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  4. I 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

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    1. Where we lived at the smallholding there was a local group of blacked up Molly dancers- great fun

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  5. If you - or any other reader - are interested, this Wikipedia article is fascinating.
    Adelaide seems to be the main hub for Morris Dancers in Australia.

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    1. And of course the link would be nice😊
      https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Morris_dance

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    2. Interesting to read that, thanks Cathy.

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  6. How 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?

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    1. I hope so too. Imagine what would happen now if someone with a coal black face knocking at the door!

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  7. Melodeons - they can play notes faster than on almost any other instrument if you can get your head around them.

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    1. I've really got no idea of what instruments they were playing - should have asked about that too!

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  8. Morris 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.

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  9. I have seen some videos of Morris dancing after reading Aril. I don't know it's history though. Thank you for the link Cathy.

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  10. I am going to have to look up Morris dancing. Your pictures are lovely.

    God bless.

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  11. 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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