Video

A ritual casing of the spell Summon Greater Demon.

Haha. VERY first thing that I thought of. My kids are half Gujarati and a quarter Irish.

Glad you enjoyed it.

Sorry Susan but there is no scientifically proven corellationship between Morris dancing and fertility, otherwise the Yorkshire Wolds would be overrun with little Morris dancers and Morris danceresses. On the otherhand, all exercise is recommended for keeping one's equipment in good order. The strange and confusing attire of some men in the video is down to their steam punk alter ego. Some have adopted the lower wear normally favoured North of the border, where the diet of porridge, haggis and deep fried Mars Bars make maximum ventilation essential. Yorkshire dancers usually remain faithful to loosely cut trousers (bicycle clips optional) which provide safe accomodation for their ferrets.

Sorry to hear you missed it, Paul. There is another big gathering in Newark on 20th & 21st July. www.newarktraditions.org.uk/ You can often get info on planned events from the Morris Federation, Morris Ring and Open Morris websites. I don't know how well it was publicised locally but in many places the media seem unsympathetic. When Kingston Upon Hull was city of culture in 1917, in addition to the regular Day of Dance, 27 teams danced in the town for the Morris Federation AGM in the September. Not a single mention in the Hull Daily Mail, nor on BBC Look North nor even in the promotional literature produced (at public expense) by the City of Culture team.

Sounds very like it. The middle bit is "The Old Bazaar in Cairo".

Thanks, Rachel.

It is just waiting for them to throw a stick!

Thanks, Stewart. Will amend the post.

No. Just a Monday night practice session but they had decided to practice by the lock instead of in the village hall as it gave a pleasant backdrop for a video. Lots of people pass along this road without realising the lock is there. The navigation used to be crucial for getting barges from Driffield to Hull and thence to towns throughout the Yorkshire river system and the local canal society are working hard to make it fully navigable again. Morris is not just part of our living tradition, it is great fun too. I recommend it to you!

I think you all look great and you did have a go! Sing like nobody's listening Dance like nobody's watching Be yourself Enjoy yourself

I think you all look great and living life is all about having a go Just remember Penguee, Sing Like there's no one listening, Dance like no one's watching, There's no one else in the world like you. Be yourself!

yes

Hi David, Not entirely sure as most Morris is the result of fusion over time and unrecorded. I always take definitive Morris origin stories with an extremely large pinch of salt. I believe the group learnt it via "Freaks in the Peaks". The style is Border Morris (from the English/Welsh borders), usually a more aggressive style associated with raising beer money by unemployed labourers and relying on formation and body movement rather than complex stepping. The tune is one of the many versions of "The Cuckoo's nest" found throughout the English speaking world, often accompanied by a naughty song, although, as far as I know, there are no words that correlate direct to this particular version. Hope this helps.

Thanks Morris, I guess the origin is lost in the mists of time. It is a wonderful dance and I hope that our British cousins continue to hang on to their musical folk heritage in the world of "pop." One of my great-grandmothers came from Torksey in Lincolnshire, not too far from Hull. I wonder what songs and dances she heard and saw in her youth in the 1840s and 1850s before coming to America? That is a rhetorical question only, of course.

David Brook Hi David, I know Torksey well. Today it is a very small place but in your great grandmother's day would have been a bustling Junction, packed with barges travelling between the River Trent and the Foss Dike which led to Lincoln & Boston. She may well have travelled up to Hull by river, as some of my ancestors did. The people of Lincolnshire were know as "Yellowbellys" by Yorkshire folk. Many explanations but again no definitive answer why. One of my favourite Lincolnshire songs was "Brigg Fair". There are plenty of recordings on You tube. This one czcams.com/video/VpM_JQNBVYs/video.html is very slow but may be more understandable to the ear and has some good photos of Victorian Lincolnshire. "Tatterfoals" who danced at the Hull Folk Festival are from Scunthorpe, about 20 miles upriver from Torksey. You may be interested in some of the Morris dancing info on our website www.morrisminors.wordpress.com.