Page 6 - fdo_5dec15

Photos: Nancy Nies. FROM OUR CALIFORNIA CORRESPONDENT

Morris Dancing in Cambridgeshire
by Nancy Nies
When a longtime friend invited me to spend several weeks with her
in southeastern England this past summer, I researched the possibility
of seeing some folk dancing while there—and quickly discovered the
popularity of Morris dancing. I saw that no fewer than two dozen Morris
dance groups (known as “sides”) would perform at the annual Ely Folk
Festival in mid-July. Unfortunately, we would not arrive in the area until
after the festival. Luck was with me, however. Local dancers Maggie
Kent and Chris Partington kindly replied to my inquiries (and provided
information for this article) and it happened that on two consecutive
evenings I was able to see two performances—and two different
styles—of Morris dancing.
Knowing little about this form of English folk dance, I looked into
its origins and found that different sources gave different possible
explanations. What is clear, though, is that Morris dancing in England
has a long history, dating back 600 years. The name probably comes
from the term “Moorish”, though there’s no evidence that the dance
came from the Moors. It likely originated as entertainment in European
courts in the 15th century, eventually spreading to the “common folk”
and becoming a part of church festivals and village fêtes.
But let’s get back to last summer. On the evening of 30 July, the venue
was the street next to the Red Lion pub, in the village of Stretham, and
the dancers were a lively group called the Coton Morris Men. This side,
based in the Cambridge-Ely area, performs Cotswold Morris dances. Chris
Partington tells me that in general, Cotswold sides wear white and focus

on the stepping. The Coton
Morris Men’s costumes are
described on their website
as being “extremely
simple: white trousers,
white shirts, black shoes,
black waistcoats.” They
also wore bell pads on their
shins and carried sticks or
large white handkerchiefs
for most of their dances.
They were accompanied
by three female musicians
on the melodeon, whistle,
and concertina.

The Coton Morris Men perform a stick dance in Stretham.

Folk Dancer Online — 6 R e t u r n t o Table of Con tents www.ofda.ca