Armed Morris Men from Gripping Beast!

[fastolfrus]

Aparrt from the black-faced morris you get other colours too :



We met them locally last year.

Scarborough regularly gets morris and clog dancers,




especially women's teams for some reason

[Christian]

I can't recall ever seeing any examples of Morris dancing until today.

Is it that it is so inherently British that it makes its way into VBCW? Why do they have guns if they are dancing?

I like the suggestion that it is subversive in some ways... how does it do this though? Did they really go around disguised in order to sow seeds of destruction, or is this a bit tongue in cheek?

I used to play in a Chilean folk band (although I am not) and everyone got to dress up as cowboys (huasos) except for me because I played an electric instrument

Not fair. But it was a good bit of fun. It is more of a side-line act here though and not hugely popular amongst the younger generations.

Anyway, I'm really enjoying finding out more about it all!

[paul c]

Is it that it is so inherently British that it makes its way into VBCW?

Its English, not British; the Scots, Welsh and Irish (and Manx and Cornish for all I know) have quite seperate folk traditions that don't encompass Morris (or Molly) dancing. The Scots for one generally think its laughable.

[Hammers]

The Scots for one generally think its laughable.

And reels ain't?

[fastolfrus]

Morris dancing is English, but there are regional variations, such as sword dancing :



http://www.kingsmen.co.uk/

(so armed dancers might not be unusual, although armed with guns is a different issue)

Scotland has Scottish country dancing to contend with :



http://www.scottishdance.net/scd/

and Ireland gets Irish dancing, promoted (or highjacked) by Michael Flatley & Riverdance :http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eSaa-2t2zmQ

Wales has another form of folk dancing too :

[Arlequín]

The Scots would find it laughable certainly... their national dress is a skirt, invented by an Englishman.  

There are Morris groups from the Welsh side of the border areas too, but the Anglo-Welsh or Border Morris tradition is slightly different to the mainstream English one (no hankies for one), at least amongst the older groups rather than the modern ones. Welsh Wales folk customs are indeed different though and are more elitist, the Bardic traditions apply to a mid-social class rather than the lowest. The common Welsh stereotype has its roots in popular rebellion though, as invariably the molested sheep was not owned by the offender and was often the only way to get symbolic revenge on one's betters for some slight. Killing the sheep was a hanging offence, 'inconveniencing' it wasn't.

Morris is subversive in a variety of ways, not least that it's a pagan tradition and anti-establishment... as is 'drag' - which originates from male subversives wearing women's clothing. Some obscure law long ago held that women not accompanied by their men were not to be held accountable for their actions or words, or something like that. So when they wanted to slag off the Lord of the Manor, bishop or some other worthy, or do some act of petty vandalism, they'd disguise themselves as a crowd of women, or be within a group of women. The follow on from this is that drag comedians/actors are traditionally 'blue' and irreverent in their material, be it from Elizabethan theatre or present day TV.

Morris dress in VBCW would act as both a group identity and individual disguise prop... not what I'd choose to wear to war, but even Khaki has it's limitations in certain environments.

*Note to self* -5 man points for knowing about drag.

[Red Orc]

Northern England doesn't have Morris though. JollyBob's experiments with Belgian Techno-Morris aside, Cumberland/ria, Northumberland and Durham, and indeed much of Southern Scotland and Ireland, have Clog Dancing instead (and indeed some sword dancing).

Reels, being essentially dances with a partner, and that weird Irish stuff where you don't move your hands (because the Victorians thought that girls touching themselves was rude, yup, those Irish ones are supposed to be courtship dances), are completely different to the basic Border Cloggy and Morris tradition - more or less, a troupe performing a ritual to mark agricultural work.

[Lowtardog]

Quite a few different costumes, an old school friend back home plays the fiddle for the local Morris dancers

http://www.monkseatonmorrismen.co.uk/

[fastolfrus]

And don't forget that old staple - shin kicking contests.

Absolutely bloody lethal if you're wearing clogs (possibly worse if sober - your aim is better and you feel it more).

Not sure where this originates, but organised shin kicking basically involves standing, leaning slightly forwards but at arms length with your hands resting on your opponent's shoulders, then you take it in turns (or in some cases both let swing together) to kick his shins as hard as possible until one (or both) of you fall over.

[DFlynSqrl]

This is why I love the LAF.  I've never even heard of Morris dancing and now I feel like I've learned something interesting today.  Not really something I'd be interested in doing, but still neat to be exposed to something new.

[carlos marighela]

Bizarrely enough Chilenos have a weird predeliction for prancing about waving hankies, it's not just the English.



Actually, it's worth noting that the  English have had a great influence on the cultural traditions of South America and it falls into three distinct spheres.
The country yokel school, which explains the links between Morris dancing and the Cueca.

The Cockney School, best exemplified by Brazil's shared fascination for sequins with Pearly Kings and Queens and, incidentally, the 'ave a banana' theme adopted by Carmen Miranda.

Finally there's the connection between Argentina's national dance, the tango and Birmingham. In the days before the NHS and marrying outwards and upwards, it was commonly held that tilting the head could relieve the sinuses and assist chronic adenoid sufferers. Naturally the tango was invented by a brummy. 

[kidterminal]

This Morris Dancer stuff is fascinating for an American like me. We have sword dancing here. Well we did 30 years ago when so many Irish were coming across to NY in the 70's & 80's. Great stuff gentlemen!

Rob

[Captain Blood]

I went back to and reread all posts, and if anyone is taking the piss, I am not catching it.

Peder, I said 'before anyone takes the piss...'   

I do assure you that taking the piss out of morris dancing is a national hobby - even though 90% of people will still turn out to watch when a team performs outside a pub. It's another of those uniquely British idiosyncracies - much derided whilst also, secretly, much loved. But certainly not cool.

Wargaming on the other hand is simply much derided.
My point really, was that it is somewhat ironic to see wargamers having a snigger at something like morris.

So, for example, I'm sorry to say that of my many hundreds of family, friends, work colleagues and acquaintances down my 47 years, quite a lot of them would understand my participation in morris - even though thinking it a perhaps a little eccentric.
Whereas I could count on the fingers of one hand those that would understand painting and playing with little soldiers, which almost everyone I know (including my wife!) considers deeply weird if not downright deviant 

The irony again, is that there is a close relationship between the two hobbies. I'm interested that several chaps here seem to know rather a lot about morris for instance. Did you know that the famous (late) military illustrator, Rick Scollins, was into painting both military history and morris?
Speaking for myself, I love history in all its forms, and two of my hobbies (there are several others!) give outlet to this. I connect with the past through painting and gaming with miniatures, and through dancing a folk tradition that's roots are lost in the mists of time.

And yes, both activities seem to have a deep appeal for overweight, bespectacled, bearded blokes, with poor social skills.
Sadly, while these sorts of chaps may make perfectly good wargamers, they aren't ideal as morris dancers - which is a big part of the reason why morris has such a 'not cool' reputation...
It tends to be danced in most places these days, by old codgers, fat nerds, and ugly women.
In fact, in it's true form, it's a young man's game - vigorous and aggressive. See the right team in the right place (and it's rare, I admit) and it's a bit like watching a haka - if you don't get an atavistic tingle down your spine, there's something wrong with you.

[starkadder]

This is why I love the LAF.  I've never even heard of Morris dancing and now I feel like I've learned something interesting today.  Not really something I'd be interested in doing, but still neat to be exposed to something new.

Aarrgggh.

Silence can I not indulge any more in on the topic of this Dancing of the Morris.

Australia had a brief outbreak of this activity in the 1970s. My university campus was infested by men in white and bells and sticks ritually clubbing each other.

We were forced to deploy the Ultimate Weapons - Scorn, Derision and fine weather. The Morris Dancers skulked away to quiet unexplored areas near the Cliffs of Despair. They have not been heard of in these parts for thirty years.

If you want something more robust than a VBCW, try mounting a Morris exhibition in the Antipodes. The sticks will end up in some very unfortunate places.

I apologise to anyone who has been tempted to or actually succumbed to the blandishments of this vile exercise.

I too hold a great affection for the LAF. I just want every Morris dancer extirpated from the planet. A bottle of very fine pinot noir seems to have affected my normally quiet and accepting demeanour.
 

[Rob_bresnen]

at the risk of going off topic...

morris dancing is an traditional English folk tradition that is at least 8oo years old. They attract much mocking and sarcartic comments (even here in England) but in fact they are keeping an ancheint tradition alive. If you so strongly advocate getting rid of an English folk dance, then surly the same venom should be administered for other forms of traditioal dance; Aborigony, native-American, african tribal dance, spanish flamenco, indian bangra and so on.

I an not, and never will be a morris dance. to be honest I think they are a bit odd, but I respect them for preserving something distinctly English (as opposed to British- A subtle difference only the English can understand)