Morris Myths
It's amazing the number of 'facts' that a lot of people 'know' about morris dancing. Here's the low down on a few of them.
Blacking up is racist.
No it isn’t. Welsh Border morris and East Anglian Molly dancing were both traditionally done by agricultural workers during the winter when they were short of work. It was a form of begging, some of them may have begged rather aggressively! So the dancers and musicians disguised themselves with soot or ashes either out of shame or to protect themselves from the long arm of the law.
Proper morris dancers wear white and wave hankies.
This is the popular image of morris dancing and is true of the Cotswold tradition. However there are many types of dancing which come under the morris umbrella. As well as the border tradition which we dance there is Northwest, Molly (from the fens), Garland, several varieties of sword dancing and even broom dancing!
Only men can do Morris dancing.
Cotswold dancing is quite strongly associated with men, but it was only in the 20th century that the Morris Ring banned women. Some might say this was a bit rich as many of the founders of the Morris ring had learnt the tradition from the Esperance Working Girls Club of London.
There is evidence of women morris dancing from the 17th century. Northwest dancing has always been done by men and women together and Garland dancing is exclusively a women’s tradition.
It’s a pagan fertility dance.
The origins of morris dancing are lost in the mists of time. This one can’t be disproved but it certainly can’t be proved either.
Blacking up is racist.
No it isn’t. Welsh Border morris and East Anglian Molly dancing were both traditionally done by agricultural workers during the winter when they were short of work. It was a form of begging, some of them may have begged rather aggressively! So the dancers and musicians disguised themselves with soot or ashes either out of shame or to protect themselves from the long arm of the law.
Proper morris dancers wear white and wave hankies.
This is the popular image of morris dancing and is true of the Cotswold tradition. However there are many types of dancing which come under the morris umbrella. As well as the border tradition which we dance there is Northwest, Molly (from the fens), Garland, several varieties of sword dancing and even broom dancing!
Only men can do Morris dancing.
Cotswold dancing is quite strongly associated with men, but it was only in the 20th century that the Morris Ring banned women. Some might say this was a bit rich as many of the founders of the Morris ring had learnt the tradition from the Esperance Working Girls Club of London.
There is evidence of women morris dancing from the 17th century. Northwest dancing has always been done by men and women together and Garland dancing is exclusively a women’s tradition.
It’s a pagan fertility dance.
The origins of morris dancing are lost in the mists of time. This one can’t be disproved but it certainly can’t be proved either.