tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38936116645453111562024-02-20T19:14:54.300-08:00Wytchwood DrummerThe random ramblings of a morris musician.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02507996187380766298noreply@blogger.comBlogger15125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3893611664545311156.post-2930645288973226982013-10-17T05:25:00.001-07:002013-10-17T05:25:37.244-07:00If I Could Turn Back Time<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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So the good news is, after a hiatus (should that be <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">an </i>hiatus?) the Wytchwood drummer is
back on his blog. Wytchwood have had an interesting summer, with various pub dance-outs,
a trip up the surprisingly quiet M6 to Sandbach, the Fed day of dance at
Shrewsbury and a quite sublime day driving around the villages of the
Cotswolds. Oh, and a few of us motored down to Wallingford in the old charabanc
to spend a pleasant weekend with our new bestest mates Beltane Border Morris. But
for various reasons, the blog ain’t got done. But we’re back now. So all’s
well.</div>
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The last big thing on our summer schedule was our own Day of
Dance, in Bewdley, to coincide with the harvest fair. After our Chief Day Of
Dance Organiser left in July, the job fell to me, as someone with time on his
hands. A frantic month of work was ahead of me, if we were to have a day worth
remembering. Actually, I’ll let you into a little secret. Apart from a few
e-mails to the sides concerned, a little package containing map, schedule and
local tourists spots (pubs, mainly) and a couple of meetings, the Chief DODO
does bugger all really. Everyone rallies round, the sides turn up and dance, are
thanked and go away again, and everyone’s happy. Ian, our musician, kindly did
the dance rota, we had three willing volunteers to act as marshals and money
collectors (more later on that one) and Liz had a brilliant idea of baking some
biscuits for the Great British Dance Off at the end. In the end five of the
ladies (this isn’t intentionally sexist, just none of our men do baking) made
more than enough biscuits and even I couldn’t eat any more at the end.</div>
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After, I think you’ll agree, the most glorious summer since ’76,
the weather had taken a turn for the worse, but the good news was, that after a
week of cloudiness and drizzle, the forecast was sunny spells. I’d got some
posters to put up around the town, so although we weren’t due to begin until
1015, we arrived in Bewdley at the unearthly hour for a Sunday of Just After
Nine. I stood at the bandstand on Severnside South putting the first poster up,
turned round, and there was a vision in… Well, have you ever gone to bed after
drinking a bottle of whisky and smoking twenty fags and dreamed of Barbara
Cartland in a mini skirt, fishnets and a beard? Just me then? I think you get
the picture. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In fact, here <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">is</i> a picture, why should we be the only
ones to suffer?</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-B4hd_h-nLVI/Ul_VrAx2VEI/AAAAAAAAAEs/9R4KTSJIhZQ/s1600/Philk.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-B4hd_h-nLVI/Ul_VrAx2VEI/AAAAAAAAAEs/9R4KTSJIhZQ/s1600/Philk.jpg" height="320" width="213" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<b>A Vision in Pink</b></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
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Yes, our old mate from Bunnies, Bedcote and several other
Morris sides beginning with B, Phil Watson had arrived to help with the
marshalling and money collecting. Stuart the Squire then turned up, and after a
brief chat, I went off around the town distributing my posters. Bewdley is a
fine Georgian town, overlooking the River Severn, with a history as an inland
port and centre of commerce. As I wandered up Load Street, I tried to imagine
what it must have been like in its heyday in the 18<sup>th</sup> century, full
of bustling costermongers, muleskinners, coopers and teamsters. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Actually, I’ve no idea what I’m talking about;
I’m just reading it off a museum leaflet. Bewdley <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">is</i> a good place to visit though, if you’re ever in the area.
Especially when there are over a hundred Morris Dancers in the town. Hurrah!</div>
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I arrived back at the bandstand at around 10ish, to find
most of our side, but few others. The stall-mongers (is that right, or does it
just mean a seller of stalls?) were crowding in on us but the side were doing
an admirable job of fending them off. We’d invited ten other sides, so I had
another look around town and found more than a few dancers wandering around,
disgorging from cars and vans, sitting in tea shops etc., so <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I gathered them up, and by the time I arrived
back at about 1020, we were ready to go. Stuart said a few words of welcome and
everyone eagerly ran off to their first dance spots, apart from those who were
at the bandstand of course. Actually, I call it "the bandstand"; in
fact the bandstand was removed in about 2003 but the name seems to have stuck
and there is still a rather nice circular pattern of slabs which is perfect for
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We were outside the museum and Civic Centre first, with Old
Meg and Shropshire Rapper. Two lovely sides to start off with and we spent a
pleasant 45 minutes gathering a fair sized audience. It was then time to leave,
and go off to St Georges Hall, where there was virtually no audience at all.
Bewdley, for all its charms, has very few open spaces to dance in; we’re
limited to the Riverside really, and a fairly large pavement area outside the
museum. We really needed four spaces to dance in, so we decided on the hall,
but it’s a bit off the beaten track and a struggle to attract the only
passers-by who are on their way to and from the car park. It was an experiment
that didn’t really work; I’m sure we’ll get over it. In fact, by the end of the
session, we had about twenty people watching, so we didn’t do too badly. We
were with Silhill, a great bunch of people from around Solihull, the posh side
of Birmingham, and danced turn and turnabout until it was time for lunch.</div>
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I don’t know what you think about the Wetherspoons pub chain,
they seem to be all over the place now, offering cheap and cheerful food and
drink; a good selection usually, of real ales. Some seem to me a bit <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">too</i> cheap and cheerful, with big tellies
showing football and kids all running over the place, but they are a good stand
by in towns you don’t know, and if nothing else, they seem to do a good job
keeping the price of beer down across town. It’s only my opinion, of course,
and what does that count for? Anyway, the one in Bewdley is better than most in
my humble opinion, and it was to here that we retired for some well-earned
victuals. It’s set in the George Hotel, a Tudor building in the middle of town.
My family stayed there in fact, for our wedding. I tried to imagine what it must
have been like in the 18<sup>th</sup> Century, with its bustling ostlers,
barkeeps and bootblacks. Nah, I didn’t really, I just had a couple of pints of
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In the afternoon, we were at the Bandstand (remember, not <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">really</i> a bandstand) with Nancy Butterfly
and Clerical Error, all the way from North Wales. A great session in the (by
now) fairly warm autumn sun. A good audience too, even though the road was
still open and the odd car kept disturbing them. Phil did a great job, all in
pink, directing traffic and pedestrians alike whilst rattling his collecting
tin. </div>
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The last session of the day, we were supposed to be up at St
Georges Hall again, with Shropshire Rapper, but we scratched that venue, and
the Rappers went up to Severnside North, whilst we stayed on Severnside South
with Aelfgythe, Bellyfusion, and Silhill. Aelfgythe are an all-girl border
side, whilst Bellyfusion are, well, belly dancers. All those girls! I didn’t
know where to look! My wife did though - at me, so I wandered over to the
railings and looked down at the River Severn. An old Severn trow river yacht
was moored below, its crew lounging on the deck. The Bo ‘sun watched as longshoremen
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All sides met up back at the bandstand for a last dance when
biscuits were served. It was a glorious ending and a very happy one. Stuart thanked
everyone for coming, cheerio’s, hugs and kisses were exchanged, and whilst my
wife nipped home to look after our dogs, I helped host a bit of a session in
the Arches, my favourite pub in Bewdley, where they serve the best pint of
cider this side of Hereford. Tunes were played, songs were sung. A very
convivial end to a memorable day. Thanks to all the dancers and musicians from
all sides, to Phil, Steve and Lucy, for marshalling, collecting, selling badges
and keeping the traffic of Bewdley flowing, to the delicious biscuit makers and
all of Wytchwood as ever, for their help and support. And a special thanks to
the public, who bothered to watch.</div>
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Well, that’s all in the past now, merely a dream. Last night
we had our AGM when Stuart, after three outstanding years as Squire stood down.
Joe Muggins here is now the Squire, and looking forward to new challenges in
the coming months. Next dance-out is, I believe, Blists Hill in December. I’ll
keep you posted.</div>
<br />
Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3893611664545311156.post-3123970081682531142013-06-25T14:16:00.001-07:002013-06-26T00:31:54.911-07:00Wearing PurplePeople are drawn to the Morris in various ways. Some are born to it, with fathers or uncles, or in these more enlightened times, mothers or aunties already in a side. Some may come to it as part of a community payback programme. Actually, that's not true. Some though, see a side dancing out, and think "I want some of that". With my wife and I, it was the Witchmen, at Southwell Folk Festival. With Angie, it was Beltane Border Morris, at Upton.<br />
We've danced with some great sides, Seven Champions, Boggarts Breakfast, Ironmen and Severn Gilders, Rivington Morris. Now at Teignmouth Festival, we were going to be dancing with Beltane.<br />
<br />
For us, up in the West Midlands, Teignmouth is a bit of a trek, it's fair to say. On a Friday evening, starting out around 4ish, we were expecting the worst, especially when we saw the ominous signs on the M5 warning of delays around Bristol. Nevertheless, we made the trip in about three and a half hours. The M5 takes you almost all the way. By 830pm we were ready to hit the town. It's compulsory to eat fish and chips the moment you arrive in a seaside town, so we had a look round and found a decent chippy, Finn McCools. Suitably fed, the next thing was a watering hole. It all seemed to be happening at the Riviera Cafe Bar, a large imposing pub on the seafront, so we went in. Doom Bar was on offer, as was Aspall's Suffolk cider. The session upstairs was in full flow, with some excellent singers and musicians. We had a few, a chat with Lizzie, Sarah, Stuart, Alf and Liz from AngleTwitch, Angie and Doug, and wended our merry way back up to the campsite, at the Teignmouth Community School, conveniently situated at the top of a steep hill. And so to bed.<br />
<br />
The next day, it was all looking a bit grim. The wind was howling, well, it had been all night. The clouds had gathered, and a marquee which had been erected by members of Beltane was listing somewhat.I got dressed and washed, and wandered down to the school for some breakfast. An excellent bacon, sausage and egg bap and plenty of tea later, we were ready to go. We were all to meet down at the East Cliff Cafe for the procession. See my last blog for my opinion on processions. Just add to it a roaring wind off the sea, blowing my drum all over the place, a pipe band (though I think I may have mentioned that before) and drizzle. Least said, soonest mended. After about 1/2 an hour of absolute purgatory, we were at the Triangle and ready to be introduced to a rapturous crowd. Despite the weather, which was breezy, chilly for June, and a bit drizzly, there were quite a few people assembled on plastic chairs in the Triangle. The Lady Mayor was there, and she opened the festival with a suitable flourish. Everybody in the procession had to do a dance. We started with an Ockington, and it got a cheer. That was good enough for a start. And the good news was, we didn't have to move, because we were dancing with Old Speckled Hen and Plymouth Maids in the same spot. It's always good dancing with clog sides because their dances last for about four minutes and you get a good break! A Brimfield, a Titterstone Clee and a Manning Tree followed in succession until just before noon, when it was time to move on. Our next spot was on the promenade, along with Gasket Rats and Grimspound, both accomplished border sides. We enjoyed a good thirty minutes or so with them to a fair audience, and then it was time for our lunch.<br />
<br />
I was getting desperate by then, it being half an hour past drinking time, so we adjourned to the Riviera Bar. Ian, our disabled musician, was so desperate for a drink, he tripped on the ramp and went flying into the dining area. The barmaid was great. We helped him up, and she cleared the kitchen and let Ian alone whilst he sorted himself out. Job done, she came back with an accident form and lots of sympathy. We enjoyed an excellent lunch, I had a couple of pints of Aspalls and I went upstairs to the gents. In my haste, I tripped up the stairs, cutting my hand. The barmaid looked concerned. I came back down a few minutes later to find everyone on their way out. The barmaid smiled at me. "we're out of here" I said, "place is a bloody death-trap!"<br />
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What a great barmaid! Mr P, you should be proud of her!</div>
<br />
We then had our own special spot in the Triangle between 1.30pm and 2pm. I spoke to a couple of Welsh lads who were amused by it all. We did a few dances, basked in some quite ecstatic applause, and moved on to our 2 o'clock date with Imbolc Bedlam and Plymouth Maids. We were dancing in Bank Street, and as we arrived I asked Derek, of Imbolc, "where can I get a drink then?" "Well, we're supposed to be dancing here, but there's a pub at the other end so I suggest we all move up there"<br />
"Oh I like you, you can join our side if you like!" It turned out to be a weekend of that sort of comment. I nipped into Molloys for a bottle of Bulmer's and came out in time for a Pershore Hanky.<br />
We had a great hour there, with Imbolc and the Maids, and when it was time to choose what to do next, we just carried on. We ended up with a Tinner's Rabbit and even I had a dance with two young ladies who didn't seem to mind me kicking their shins.<br />
<br />
Back to the Triangle for the last waltz, and our first glimpse of Beltane. They did an excellent White Ladies Aston, with far more gusto and energy than I have ever seen. We clapped and cheered as befitting a great dance by a great side. We did a Pershore Hanky, which got great applause, and finished proceedings with a Twiglet.<br />
<br />
We'd been invited to Beltane's party on the Saturday night, so after a shower, and a change of clothes we headed over for a burger at the Ceilidh in the school. We watched Boekka's dance spot, an interesting mix of Gothy Morris and movement. About nineish we went over to the marquee and joined the proceedings. What a party those Beltane people throw! Music, singing, beer, food and friendship. Possibly the best session I've ever been to. And I suppose really, after their enthusiastic cheering of us in the Triangle, we should have guessed. But it turns out that Beltane, one of the best Morris sides in the country, think that we're pretty good too. Highlights of the evening? Well, a sublime performance by Seamo of the classic Gogol Bordello song "Start Wearing Purple" on guitar with kazoo accompaniment by Keith and Joe. A beautifully rendered "They Don't Write Them Like That Any More" by Spike and just about everyone else. An amazing free-form dance display by Arwen to "American Pie". Oh, and a rousing rendition of the Disney classic "I Wanna Be Like You."<br />
Wonderful, wonderful stuff. Around 2am, my wife and I left, to hugs and handshakes all round. As I was leaving, a pretty girl with red hair gave me a hug. "We're so excited about dancing with you tomorrow" she said. I nearly cried.<br />
<br />
After a few hours sleep, we were up and ready to go. Another breakfast bap, and down to the seafront for dancing with Boekka and Newton Bushel, a fun Cotswold side with a great Fool. We danced turn and turn about as usual, and had a good time on the seafront, as we did in the next spot, at the Triangle, with Newton Bushel (again) and Old Speckled Hen. Another lunch in the Riviera Bar, and it was over to the promenade for our spot with Beltane.<br />
<br />
A few months ago, Richard Ingrams had written a small article in The Oldie magazine, moaning about Morris dancers clogging up his pub. "A rabble of young men and women in drab green costumes and black masks, many of them unsteady on their feet, as they struggled to keep in time with the monotonous diddly-diddly-dee tune of a squeeze-box....." he called them. Well, all I can say is, that in his haste to get a few cheap laughs, he failed to do his research. He's obviously never seen two bloody good sides pulling out all the stops to impress one another as we did that Sunday afternoon. They did a Beltane Fire Dance, we countered with a Manning Tree. They did a Haccombe, we came back with a Sorting Hat. At the end of about an hour and ten minutes, the audience knew they had seen a show of epic proportions. Monotonous? Ingrams, you know nothing! Of all their dances, I love Jolly Roger. Not taking anything away from all their other dances. Beltane are a wonderful exciting side to watch. The music! The shouting! The dancing! The fishnets! If you watch no other Morris side this year, then try to see Beltane. Or us, obviously! You won't regret it.<br />
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<br />
I can honestly say that in five years of dancing, never has a weekend gone by so quickly. Never has a weekend been so full of fun. Never have I thought so much "What a great side! And what lovely people!" So thank you Keith, and Joe, Will, and Sue, and Seamo, and Benji, and Ant, Spike, Arwen and Jackie, and anyone else I apologise I've missed off. Thanks for a smashing weekend. And a special thanks to Amy for reminding me what a sentimental old softy I can be when someone says something nice. Especially when I've had a few.<br />
<br />
PS If a spare liver was found in the marquee on Sunday afternoon, it'll belong to Dougie, our Glaswegian photographer. They all think they can drink up there.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3893611664545311156.post-6855954408600247652013-06-24T13:19:00.001-07:002013-06-24T13:43:46.044-07:00No Sleep 'Til ClunBig weekend then, with the Upton Folk Festival on Sunday and Clun Green Man Festival on the Bank Holiday Monday. We had decided to go to Upton on the Saturday as well, to watch a bit of the dancing. Angie and Doug agreed to put us up for the night, living as they do close to Upton, so we were well sorted. <br />
We arrived in Upton at around 2ish, and with Angie, Doug and Clive, saw some good acts. Quite a few friends were dancing as well, Lizzie was with Stone the Crows, the hard dancin', hard drinkin' Lancashire border side, and Fi was with Foxs, who do the whole weekend. Bellyfusion were there, and Bourne Borderers too. A great afternoon, watching rather than dancing for a change. And when it was all finished, we had fish and chips on the river front. A great day. We spent the evening in the Swan, always a good place when there's a folk festival on, and slept well.<br />
Sunday dawned bright, dry but a little windy. Angie did us some lovely bacon sandwiches and we had the last of the cat's milk in the tea. Not out of the cat's bowl, you understand, it was milk in the fridge, set aside for the cat. Think I've cleared that one up Angie! Thanks for looking after us!<br />
<br />
We were dancing our show spot at 1110am, so we'd all agreed to meet up before 1030 for a quick run through. Practice over, we made our way down to the show spot. We kicked off with a Manning Tree, Lizzie's excellent dance honouring the so-called witches executed in the 17th and 18th centuries. Jane's Dance, a long dance in the Manx tradition followed. Both got some good applause. "Can you do one more?" said the organiser, "a quick one?" so we finished with a Katie Cruel. Rapturous applause. A quick sprint down to the rugby fields, about a mile away, and we were ready to start the procession. I don't know whether I've mentioned it before, if I have, I apologise. I hate processions.<br />
Reason 1: No two Morris sides process at the same speed. You end up with a mixture of shuffling about on the spot, and sprinting to catch up.<br />
Reason 2: They always seem to go for a least a mile, sometimes two. I'm a fairly stoutish sort of fellow, with small legs. It's hard work for me.<br />
Reason 3: You try walking and playing a big mediaeval drum at the same time. It swings all over the place, gets between your legs, falls off.....<br />
Reason 4: Most processional dances are in fact rubbish. This is in no way a reflection on the writers, it's just more or less impossible to write a dance where you keep moving forward all the time in a medium that is meant for static dancing.<br />
Reason 5: Nobody can hear what's going on. There I am, walking alongside the dancers, banging away for all it's worth, in 4/4 time, and just in front there's a pipe band. Or a Samba band. Or three accordions and a set of English pipes playing something in 6/8.<br />
Reason 6. I could go on all night, but I think I've said enough.<br />
On the upside, when we all get to the other end, we all form a sort of guard of honour, and everybody walks through everybody else, to applause and back slapping, that sort of thing. Until we get to the end, and then nobody knows where we started and we start again. After about an hour, we're done. There, I've just cancelled out the upside.<br />
<br />
Anyway, procession over, it was time for lunch. On Dougie's recommendation I immediately ran over to the Anchor, for a pint of Sharpe's Doom Bar. Another followed. What a great pint of bitter Doom Bar is! Spicy, malty, fruity and bitter. A meal in a glass. Apparently I had some food to, but I can't for the life of me remember what....<br />
<br />
Upton is an interesting festival, in that you just dance where you like. There about a dozen spots, up and down the town, along the waterfront, but you just pick your spot and away you go. Some memories of the afternoon:<br />
Flagcrackers of Craven outside the Swan. Do a magnificent dance called Bedlam. I love theatrical, and this was THEATRE! Brilliant. Watch it when you can!<br />
Bellyfusion, outside the Anchor. I've been trying to get them interested in Tom Waits for a while now, and they've done a dance to a Tom Waits song, just for me! Well, probably not just for me, but that's what they said. It was great! So thank you Angie, it was wonderful!<br />
Good to see Chris Butler-Hall and Rosie, looking so well! Here's looking at you kid! Didn't see your dad though, he was probably in a pub somewhere....Hope you had a good time Steve, see you soon.<br />
All in all, a cracking day, weather held good, some good dancing, company, and beer. Not necessarily in that order. Obviously.<br />
<br />
Now how do I describe Clun? Have you seen Deliverance? It's a border town. Right on the border really. From Craven Arms, you drive through Aston on Clun. And Clunton. And eventually you come across this town, nestling in the valley. Of the River Clun. We parked up on a field and walked into town. We walked into this town square, where there were terraced houses, shops, and a pub. A first floor sash window flew up, and some kids looked out, like that scene in The Wicker Man. The sun was shining brightly and some old friends were sitting on the steps of the pub. Iron Men and Severn Gilders were there, ready to start. Drinking or dancing, anybody's guess, but I know what my money was on. They hadn't been at Upton, and we hadn't seen them for...ooh, a week, so hugs and handshakes followed. <br />
<br />
They were sensibly dancing in the same spot all day, near the pub. We, as newcomers, had been allocated the spot near the bridge, where all the Green Man/ Ice Queen action kicks off, so we walked down a fairly steep hill to set up. Down at the river, it was packed. Last year, the whole thing had had to be cancelled due to flooding. This year, kids were paddling in the river, people were sunbathing on the grass, and the ice cream vans were doing a roaring trade. After the road had been closed, we started off, to a fairly big and appreciative audience. We raced through a Twiglet, a Titterstone Clee, a Sorting Hat, and a Brimfield. All to wild applause. A Manning Tree, our new Oddington dance, Young Collings, and then disaster struck! During Katie Cruel, Kylie pulled up and hobbled off. Dangerous Steve, quick as a flash, stepped in almost seamlessly and finished the dance. Luckily, we had Jodie, a very qualified nurse with us, and she had a look at Kylie's injury. An Achilles tendon problem. Poor Jodie missed the whole of the Green Man/ Ice Queen action, as she administered to Kylie's heel. Thanks a lot Jodie, for being such a patient nurse!<br />
<br />
The Green Man bit over, we were due up the hill and outside the pub again, for an action packed afternoon with the Ironmen and Severn Gilders. Kylie, hobbling over the bridge, spied a chap on a mobility scooter. "You couldn't lend me that to get up the hill could you?" she cheekily asked. He carried on, but seconds later his wife came running back, saying, "he felt guilty watching you struggle, do you want some help?" He very kindly lent Kylie his crutches to walk up the hill with. What a really nice couple!<br />
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An excellent afternoon ensued. A few pints of the ever popular Butty Bach from the White Horse, great dancing and a fabulous time was had by all. Congratulations to Martyn and Sheena for their first dance with Wytchwood, a Pershore Hanky and a Brimfield respectively. Good to see all our friends from the Ironmen and Severn Gilders again. And a combined Sheepskins to finish off. The good people of Clun have probably never been so comprehensively entertained!<br />
<br />Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3893611664545311156.post-82884785810895774462013-06-12T04:16:00.001-07:002013-06-12T04:16:28.793-07:00View From A BridgeThe sun was shining and the excitement intense as we parked up on the Welsh side of the river at Ironbridge. I lugged my drums across the bridge to find Clive, our guitarist already set up and playing his guitar, to nobody in particular. I tossed a few coppers in his bag and told him to get himself a cup of tea.We hung around a bit and sooner or later, the others began to turn up. Eight sides altogether, here for the second annual <i>Black Meet.</i><br />
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A bit of explanation then.You may have noticed, whilst perusing our photos, or watching our videos on You Tube, that we all have black faces. This is no accident. No forgetting to wash, after a shift down t'pit. Or indeed cleaning the chimney. Since time immemorial, well, about 1500, border morris dancers have sought to disguise themselves by wearing tattered clothing and blacking their faces with soot or coal dust. This was for various reasons; begging was illegal, and so was demanding money with big sticks. Morris dancers frequently found themselves on the wrong side of the law, and as their employers were usually the local magistrates, could find themselves out of a job too. Some of the best accounts we have of border morris dancers, believe it or not, come from magistrates courts records! Also, during the 18th Century, black faced disguise was quite common, not just amongst morris dancers, but amongst violent gangs of robbers and poachers, so much so that the "Black Act" of 1723 made the disguise a capital offence. Happily it was repealed in 1823. In these more complicated times, some sides choose to wear masks, or disguise their faces with different colours, but many border sides still wear black faces as a nod to the tradition. After all, you don't want too many people knowing you're a morris dancer. Last year, Iron Men and Severn Gilders decided to hold a black meet for black faced sides and we, along with Foxs Morris, turned up. This year, many more wanted a part of it.<br />
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We stood with Clive on the bridge and watched them turn up. Sill Hill, from Birmingham, Plum Jerkum, from Warwick. Fox's, from Cookley, and the lovely ladies of Aelfgythe from Alvechurch. Us, and Clerical Error, all the way from Flintshire, North Wales. I watched some of them coming across the bridge. "Ay up, shut the bridge, the Welshies are invading!" I shouted. They grinned. As well they might. Around eleven o'clock or thereabouts, we kicked off.We were dancing along with Foxs, turn and turn about. Four dance sides meant that there was plenty of time to rest, watch the other dancers and get some refreshment. I'd had a cup of tea from the excellent Tea Emporium over the road, but by noon, I was ready for some more traditional Morris fare. The Tontine had just opened, so I joined a growing queue at the bar behind that splendid fellow, Graydon, from Shrewsbury Morris, who had just come to watch and take a few photos. He bought me my first one in fact, an excellent pint of Wye Valley Butty Bach. I took it outside, just in time to join in with a Manning Tree. A great dance this one, written by young Lizzie when she was only sixteen, to commemorate all those so-called witches executed in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. <br />
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We finished the dance, and I stood and watched a few more.Chatted a bit, had a little look at the wonderful scenery. This is what the Morris is all about, I thought. We were dancing on the bridge itself, the world's first cast iron bridge, built in 1779. Who built it then? If you said Thomas Telford, like me, you'd be wrong. It was a chap called Abraham Darby III, whose grandad, the first Abraham Darby, had perfected iron smelting with coke instead of coal. I learned all this from a plaque on the bridge. You do get a good education from Morris dancing!<br />
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I bought two more pints of beer, one for Graydon, one for me. One o'clock came, and it was time for a lunch break. My wife had already agreed to drive home, so I bought another pint. The Butty Bach being long gone, I had to make do with Bank's Original. Not that that's any hardship of course. We stood on the bridge eating our sandwiches and drinking. The sun was out, it was a glorious Spring day. Quite a few people were watching too, encouraged to get out by the weather. You always seem to perform better when there's a sizeable crowd for some reason, and a few claps and cheers help you along. We certainly got that in the afternoon; Twiglet, in particular, was a triumph. We're up and running with a couple of Oddington Cotswold dances now too, check out the <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uZowAI4laUM" target="_blank">Young Collins</a> on You-tube! Even if Fi's business cards did drop all over the floor.<br />
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Around three o'clock then, we started wrapping up, although a few of us then went down to the Malt-house brewery for another session. We did a few more dances, enjoyed another pint, and then headed back up the road to the car park. Luckily, Doug had brought his van down to the brewery car park, so he agreed to take us, and the drums, back up to the bridge. We sat outside the ice cream shop across from the bridge, enjoying the late afternoon sun and an ice cream, and agreed that a good day had been had by all.<br />
<br />Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3893611664545311156.post-69565438860477012322013-02-04T13:11:00.002-08:002013-02-04T13:11:48.724-08:00A Winter's TaleIt's always a bit dodgy, planning an outside event in England, in January. Or any other month, I suppose, really. Anyway, we'd had a bit of rain over the New Year, and we were all agog to see whether we would get a decent day for our wassail on the 5th. In the event, it was dry, ish, and not too cold. After all the stress of the planning and the workshops, I think we were all actually looking forward to it. We had a wassail bowl, the Mayor of Bewdley had agreed to lead a torch-lit parade, we had some torches, Bewdley Apple Growers Co-operative had very kindly donated some cider and apple juice, and we were all raring to go. Oh, and 10,000 leaflets had been distributed in the surrounding area. Yes, 10,000.<br />
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We'd decided to do another workshop, in order to refresh the kids' memories. After all, they'd had two weeks off school and Santa had visited in the meantime. As the wassail was due to start at 230pm, we all met up at midday, and established ourselves in a room in the museum. And the kids began to arrive. The ones who'd turned up on 2nd December, the ones who'd been at the workshop in the school. And some others, who'd been attracted by the leaflets. Luckily, we'd brought along some more tee shirts and rags, so whilst the Squire and a few others ran over the dance and the song with the kids, a small team set to work making yet more rag jackets. Me, I did a bit of drumming and a bit of standing about. Watching with envy as some of the parents dropped their children off and then hurried off to the pub. I had my tankard ready though, for later on.<br />
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2pm arrived, the parents who hadn't stayed at the workshop turned up, suitably refreshed, some more so than others, and we all agreed to meet down at the other end of town for the procession. I took my big mediaeval drum on the procession, opting to leave the heavier stuff in the little room. We had a little chat with the mayor, lit the torches and away we went. Shambling along Severnside South, me banging the drum, torches blazing away, all attempting to sing the Somerset Wassail. Twice. Thankfully, it didn't take too long, and before we knew it, we were all shuffling through the front doors of the museum. Hundreds of us.<br />
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I grabbed the rest of my drums as we passed the little room where we'd been running the workshop and hurried off to the end of the gardens where the masses were assembling. And masses they were. The museum had put "clickers" on the doors to check how many people were coming in and out. More of that later. Stalls had been set out too, there was a hog roast, a stall selling delicious cakes among others.<br />
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We started with some community singing, a few wassail songs excellent performed by members of the Bewdley Choral Society, perhaps not so excellently joined by Wytchwood members, Bellyfusion, and literally hundreds of audience members, who, to be fair to them, had about one song-sheet per hundred people. They all hummed along quite nicely anyway, and we created a fair racket between us. When we were all wassailed out, we did a few dances, a bit of everything really, border, molly, and our recently learned Oddington Cotswold dance, Young Collins. Bellyfusion Dance Collective did a few too, and went down as well as ever. <br />
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After about half an hour, the audience and the Wytchettes were raring to go, and we introduced the products of our work-shopping labours. The Wytchettes had swelled to a fairly respectable thirty or so, and were about as enthusiastic as it's possible to get about Morris dancing. They gave a great rendition of their little song, did the dance, and then just to make sure, did it again. Wonderful stuff, and much appreciated by their parents. Much appreciated by everybody really, and they got a huge cheer at the end.<br />
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On to the wassail then, and the sprinkling of cider around the trees placing of cider soaked bread in the trees, and the banging of pots and pans to wake the trees from their winter slumber. We had the cider, some for the trees and some for us, and we had the wassail bowl to pour it into. It's also customary at this point to hoist a small worried looking boy into the tree and shoot at him, but the trees were a little on the small side, having only been planted in recent years, and we didn't have a gun. Perhaps next year.<br />
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The audience were very enthusiastic about the ceremony, and soon the trees were full of soggy bread. Heaven help any birds looking for a free feast, they'll have the mother of all hangovers the next morning. I contented myself with a few mouthfuls from the wassail bowl, safe in the knowledge that we would be soon retiring to the Arches, where they serve the best cider in Bewdley, in my humble opinion.<br />
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It was 4pm. people were beginning to drift off. And I was building up a thirst. Ellie, of the Bewdley Development Trust, was ecstatic. The clickers had counted up, and reckoned we'd had nearly 3,800 people through the doors of the museum. To put that into perspective, it's about twice the average Kidderminster Harriers attendance. Not bad going.<br />
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We went off to the upstairs room at the Arches. I had at least three, possibly more of the excellent Robinson's cider. Aaah. the wonderful golden light of an English autumn sparkling in the glass.
The stunning, fresh aroma of traditional cider apple varieties. The long, clean after-taste.Well that's what it says on the website. And who am I to argue? We sang a few songs, played a few tunes, and I got together with the ever enthusiastic Ellie to discuss the press release. We decided on a few words for the local rags, and then discussed the Apple Grower's Co-operative. "The farm where they have the cider-press, they have a nice camping barn, you know. If you wanted to invite other sides to the harvest festival in September. We need to start planning that soon. I'll be in touch in a few weeks."Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3893611664545311156.post-43045413456100307952012-12-15T13:11:00.000-08:002012-12-16T00:35:20.149-08:00You Don't Learn That In SchoolWe'd talked about doing a wassail. Some time around Twelfth Night, as is traditional, in Bewdley, as you would expect. Our squire had happened to mention it at the Harvest Fair, and the ever-enthusiastic Ellie, from Bewdley Development Trust was on board before you could shout "Gesundheit!"<br />
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"We need to get the schools involved, can you do some workshops? Teach them a dance, how to make rag jackets, that type of thing." To be honest, we'd just been thinking about a low key do, us and perhaps another side, doing a bit of dancing, a bit of drinking,bit of singing, sprinkle some cider around a few trees, job done. Down to the Cock and Magpie for a well-earned session and home to bed happy, if not completely sloshed.<br />
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Ellie's energy is infectious though, and before we knew it, we'd agreed to do a workshop one Sunday in December, followed up by a session in each of two schools to reinforce what they'd hopefully learned. I must admit, whilst I'm always happy to go along with anything, I wasn't overly hopeful about any kids turning up for a dancing lesson on a cold Sunday afternoon in December. So at about 1130, with little anticipation, I lugged my drums from the car park to the museum (yes, I'm still lugging, whether Santa sees fit to reward my fairly good behaviour all year with a sturdy drum trolley remains to be seen).<br />
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They'd set us the education room aside for the workshop, and we all gathered in there around the radiator, which was lukewarm. And our first customer! He was there too, a young lad who had stepped up to the mark at the Harvest Fair and enjoyed it so much he'd come back for another go. He came out with his mum to watch us do a few dances in the courtyard. As we danced, a few others turned up, and before we went back into the education room, we were in double figures!<br />
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Our Squire started off by introducing the dance and the side danced it through, to polite applause from the mums and dads and excitement from the kids. And then we were off, teaching a group of about a dozen children, aged between five and ten, a dance. And pretty good they were too! The good thing about children is that they are all so enthusiastic! They worked really hard, whilst the bemused parents looked on with pride. After only about an hour, they (the kids this is, the parents I suspect would have taken considerably longer) had just about grasped it. We taught them the song to go with it, and then started on the jackets.<br />
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Rag jacket making for beginners:<br />
1. Take a child's tee shirt, cut it down the front middle to make a little jacket<br />
2. Cut some strips of coloured material. We had brown, red, orange and yellow, like our own.<br />
3. Use PVA glue to stick said strips on randomly on the jacket.<br />
4. Use a hair dryer to speed dry the glue.<br />
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Here at last was a great opportunity for the mums to get involved, and soon the floor of the room was littered with happy families all making rag jackets. Great! I'd dread to think what the electricity bill was like though, three hair dryers going full blast for about an hour. I bet the little disc was spinning like an old 78 record!<br />
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The jackets done, we had time for another run through, and then took them outside, for their FIRST PUBLIC PERFORMANCE! And very well it went too. A fair crowd watched the proceedings, and gave them a good round of applause at the end. And so our first children's workshop came to an end. All in all, a pretty good show. The Wednesday after, six of us held a workshop for children at St Annes School, which also went very well. Under the watchful eye of Headmaster Simon Tapp (who dances with Alvechurch) we put about twenty young hopefuls through their paces, many of whom had been to the Sunday event. It only remains now to wait for 5th January, when the wassail takes place, and the children's hard work can be seen by all. The excitement is intense.<br />
<br />
PS. Long-standing readers may have noticed no references to cider, beer or spirits. For once your drummer was responsible, and not a drop passed his lips. I'm waiting for the wassail.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3893611664545311156.post-67555160173804459542012-10-26T14:24:00.001-07:002013-06-26T00:28:09.313-07:00Shining in the ShadeWe've been guests at a fair few days of dance this year, and thoroughly enjoyed all of them. This time it was our turn to organise. We had been invited to open the Bewdley Harvest Fair and were making a weekend of it by inviting a few local sides for the next day. Invitations had been e-mailed, replies received, and dance spots arranged. We'd also agreed to run a dance workshop on the Saturday in the museum, and were hoping for a few willing volunteers!<br />
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The day dawned bright and sunny, if a little chilly, and we all met up at the museum entrance at around 10am, eager to start. We did a few dances, got a fair amount of applause, and then made way for a procession of heavy horses. This gave us chance for a break in the museum tea shop, and a well earned cup of tea. No beer? I hear you cry. Well, it was only about 1115, and you'll be pleased to know I managed a pint or two later. Anyway, a cup of tea and a listen to the excellent <a href="http://www.whalebone-music.com/" target="_blank">Whalebone</a> who were playing in the cafe. They played a few tunes, including one of our dances, King of the Fairies, although a lot faster than we do it! I had a chat about their stomp-box too. It's on my wish list.<br />
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On to our workshop which we held in the gardens adjoining the museum. A little disappointing with only about half a dozen volunteers. I've always said that nothing clears a crowd quicker than talk of audience participation. Quite a few wanted to watch on this occasion, but not many took the plunge. So if you are ever out, watching a morris side, and they ask for volunteers, go on! You know you want to really. You won't regret it, honest.<br />
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Anyway, we taught a small select group an Upton Snodsbury, had another cup of tea, and wandered back to the front of the museum for our second set. The only slight problem with the museum front is that it seems to be constantly in the shade, and so quite chilly on a brisk autumn day. However, another great set and a fair sized audience of happy shoppers. Bewdley bustles a bit on a Saturday so there was always a constant supply of new onlookers. I managed to run down to the Arches for a nice pint of Robinson's cider. And then a bit later on I managed to run down for another one. <br />
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The set finished for the day, we said our goodbyes to the museum staff, packed our things up and enjoyed a swift one in the sun, by the river. Well, the Robinson's was slipping down rather nicely by then.....<br />
<br />Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3893611664545311156.post-55019913616407262842012-10-17T09:06:00.001-07:002012-10-17T09:06:29.953-07:00Keep On WalkingAfter our successful dance-out at the Robin Hood, Drayton in May, those hard dancin', hard drinkin' girls from Aelfgythe had invited us to their day of dance. Alvechurch is their home, an ancient village only about half an hour away, and fairly close to the Worcester and Birmingham canal. But more of that later. We took the dogs, "we need to get them more acclimatised to dancing, and you can hold them while you're drumming (?!!!) said my wife. So we packed them in the car, Darcy the Labrador and Nutmeg the Cocker Spaniel, along with all the dance gear and three drums, and off we went, bright and early. Having got lost only twice on the way, we arrived in well under an hour, and parked, on advice, in the car park of the Red Lion, in the middle of the village.<br />
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It was around 10am, and we were due to start at 1030. I got out. My wife sat in the car. "Are we not going then?" I asked. "Let's wait for the others." "But they might not even park here" "Do you know where we are supposed to be?" "No, do you?" "Yes, the Crown" "Where's that then?""I don't know"<br />
Such was the quick-fire repartee. We agreed to do the unthinkable and ask someone. After about ten minutes a local looking woman walked past and pointed us along a road, up a hill. "Just keep on walking along there, it's near the canal. Just keep walking." We did. For about twenty minutes, my wife with the two excited dogs, me buried under a mountain of drums, until we finally crossed the canal and found ourselves in amongst a gathering of morris dancers. It was just 1030. Just about time for a cup of tea then. There was a huge queue at the bar, and two young barmaids were running frantically around trying to serve dozens of coffees (no tea) from a broken espresso machine. I kid you not. In the corner of the bar sat two bemused men in blue work shirts. I don't know whether they were delivery men or gas fitters or whatever, but they were sat there at 1030am with a pint of bitter each. "Good lads!" said I. They grinned.<br />
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Having got my coffees I went back outside to find that Aelfgythe had done a dance and we were all dispersing to our first slots. We were back down in the village. My wife started walking back down the hill with her friend and the dogs. I threw my drums in the back of our guitarist's station wagon and jumped in. Our first spot was outside the lovely Joshua Tree shop in the village centre. We were dancing with Black Adder. We danced turn and turn about in front of an small audience. Variously there were: two women, a man and his dog, a young woman from a shop over the road, who stood on the opposite corner throughout the whole hour, two women with two young kids, the woman from the Joshua Tree. Throughout the whole hour a few people rushed past and I'm sure one man actually crossed the road to the other side and then crossed back again at a safe distance. On the whole though, I think it's fairly safe to say that nothing much happens in Alvechurch on a Saturday morning. The woman from the Joshua Tree was lovely though, and didn't mind at all us setting up in front of her shop. <br />
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After a happy session with Black Adder, we realised that it was 1145 and we had to be back near the canal, at another pub called the Weighbridge. We started walking....... We arrived at about ten past twelve, and were thrown straight into a dance. I had to sing John Barleycorn and they wouldn't even wait for me to go and get one in! Life is so unfair sometimes. The dance over, I strode purposefully up to the bar, tankard in hand. What a choice! Enville's best, a few guests and a very tempting Tardebigge cider! Discretion was the better part of valour, and I had an excellent pint of Chainmaker Mild, only 3.6%. Which generally means you can have more. I had a couple there, whilst we danced through a nice set with Alvechurch, Black Adder again, and Step On Board Appalachian dancers. A nice mix. We finished with a shared Jane's Dance with Black Adder. We now had an hour for lunch! My wife wanted a ham and cheese roll, I fancied a pork pie, but there was a huge queue at the bar by now, so we walked back down to the village where we'd seen a fish and chip shop. The Tudor Rose fish and chip shop, set in a great little Tudor building, do great chips and a mean chicken tandoori pie! Of course, I needed something to wash it down, and whilst we were getting ready outside the Joshua Tree again, I nipped down to the Swan to refill my tankard.<br />
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Oh, I nearly forgot! We did a belly dance! Yes, again. With the most excellent Bellyfusion, who have swapped their piratey stuff for a really entertaining and amusing circus style show. Catch them somewhere soon! The afternoon outside the Joshua Tree was slightly better audience wise, and we had a pleasant hour there with our hosts Aelfgythe. They put loads of energy in and are really great fun! Last session of the day was a sort of free for all at the Red Lion, where, if you remember, we had parked at the start of the day. A relatively short and flat walk then, to the said pub, where I was delighted to find they were serving Banks Original. Since moving to the West Midlands I've been quite taken with the lighter style of mild, of which Banks Original is a good example. I had one, and another one to make sure. Besides, Alvechurch Morris Men were there again, and they don't hold back the drinking! I was chatting to our foreman, who is not over fond of us drinking whilst performing.<br />
Foreman: "I thought Alvechurch were on before us"<br />
Me: "Well, they should be, but you can't really rely on them can you?"<br />
Foreman: "Not really, no."<br />
Me: "They are worse than me, aren't they?"<br />
Foreman: "Yes, and that's saying something!"<br />
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They enjoy themselves though, and I suppose we none of us would do it if that weren't the case. The dancing gradually came to an end and it only remained for the Aelfgythe Squire to thank us all for coming. All in all, a great day, but a lot of exercise walking up and down those hills.<br />
Lesson learned: I really MUST get a trolley for my drums.<br />
<br />Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3893611664545311156.post-1724527871703506052012-10-04T12:18:00.001-07:002012-10-05T09:12:39.599-07:00Better and BetterAnother Saturday, another day of dance; this time Lincoln. A good gig for me, as it's only 16 miles from where I come from, and hence my old stamping ground.Way back in April, when we first found out about this, my distinctly non-folky family had all agreed to come and watch. So not much pressure there then. We were missing half the band, as Ian and Dave couldn't make it.So just Clive, the guitarist and me. It was going to be a long day.<br />
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We were camping the weekend, at a nice little site between Newark and Lincoln. We all arrived at various times during Friday evening, and had a pleasant gathering with wine and nibbles. The weather was kind. The birds were singing, everything was right with the world, and we had a relatively early night in order to be ready for the morning.<br />
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Arriving at Lincoln bright and early, we met up with Clive who had forsaken the camping for the lure of a b&b. The first dance spot was at the Museum of Lincolnshire Life, quite out of the way really, and hopefully a good place to limber up. There was a small crowd watching the Poachers Morris as we arrived, and began to set up. We were dancing with two other sides, Maids of the Mill, and Slapdash Appalachian. Maids of the Mill are a Dutch ladies side from from Utrecht and their squire asked me "which of these sides is Slapdash?" I couldn't resist it. "I think they probably all are."<br />
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Anyway, we started off, and we were probably as slapdash as we have ever been. The music was difficult with just guitar and drums, and during Manning Tree, I just couldn't hear Clive at all from my position at the bottom of the set. The dancing was okay, but everything felt a bit flat really. We were watched by a small crowd, which was probably just as well.<br />
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We finished that set and moved down to the cathedral area, St Pauls Yard in fact, where Grimsby Morris and Dukes Dandy were waiting, along with a fairly large crowd. We followed Dukes Dandy on, and did some quite reasonable dances in fairly quick succession; there was quite a bit of clapping and cheering and we seemed to be doing okay. It turned midday, and I started looking round for my first pint, spurred on by my rendition of John Barleycorn. I spotted The Cloud Bar, the sort of trendy sports bar place I wouldn't usually go in, but needs must. A very pleasant barmaid served me a pint of Addlestone's Cider and chatted about the dancing.<br />
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Suitably refreshed, I took my tankard out and carried on.<br />
We did a few more dances.<br />
I had another pint.<br />
Suddenly I was really enjoying myself. And so were the crowd.<br />
When we finished the set, a young couple came over and asked if we could teach them a dance. Apparently they were media studies students making some sort of travelogue.<br />
We taught the young man an Upton Snodsbury during which he managed to bash my wife's finger with his stick.<br />
Thanks again to the staff of the Cloud Bar, who came to the rescue with an ice pack. They really are nice people!<br />
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After a well deserved lunch then, on to the cathedral, where we met my family. My Dear Old Mum, eighty years young, had walked up Steep Hill, and was all in. They watched us for the next set though, and thoroughly enjoyed it. Our squire even dedicated a dance to my mum, who was quite embarrassed by it all! We had the biggest crowd of the day too, I reckon upwards of two hundred towards the end. We did a Brimfield and a Twiglet. Both went down a storm. By the time of the massed dance at the end, we were rockin'.<br />
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All the sides met at the end of the day for one last dance each. At the cathedral, where, conveniently, we were already. It was done in reverse alphabetical order. I knew there was some reason why we chose the name Wytchwood. On first then. Jane's Dance. The crowd went mad. We sat down and watched the other sides. There is some photographic evidence of me watching the Raving Maes, apparently. And drinking more beer. Obviously.<br />
What a great day it was! After a fairly flat start, it just got better and better. And so did we.<br />
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Later on, we spent a very pleasant evening in the Strugglers, an old local pub under the castle walls, and probably the best pub in Lincoln. I had several pints of Bateman's. It was excellent. As was the company. What a great end to a very pleasant day of dance. Roll on the next one!<br />
<br />
<br />Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3893611664545311156.post-84326353516702507812012-09-09T11:00:00.000-07:002012-09-09T11:00:29.241-07:00What We Did On Our Holidays<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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Some of you may have been wondering where I’ve been. Well,
okay, even if you haven’t, I’m going to tell you anyway. I’ve been on holiday,
a belated honeymoon, to Australia. Queensland to be precise, Cairns, The
Daintree, Port Douglas, Heron Island and Brisbane to be even more precise. And
although this is really a blog about the Morris, I thought I’d tell you a bit
about it, from the Wytchwood Drummer’s point of view.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
After a day of travelling, via Singapore and Darwin, we
spent the first five nights in an apartment at Trinity Beach, just north of
Cairns. We managed to fit in a couple of days in Cairns, a trip to the “hippy
village” Kuranda <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>on a cable car and <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>back on the rainforest train. A great trip,
and an added bonus was the Tjapukai aboriginal culture centre, where I had a
bit of a jam with an old aborigine rock fan, him on the didge, me on the
clapsticks. Great fun!</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Food was good quality, if slightly more expensive than
Blighty, beer is, of course, not so good. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Although no Fosters was to be seen anywhere,
they do seem to tend towards the fizzy lager, and what’s more, lull you into a
false sense of security with names like Victoria Bitter, which is nothing of
the sort.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
We had three nights in the Daintree, the bit of rainforest
in the far north, near the coast. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Went
to sleep with the sound of cicadas and rainforest birds just outside the cabin.
Great! Had a lovely meal at the Whet restaurant on the last evening. Superb
food (crocodile, which, incidentally, I really recommend), nice white wine.
Outside on the terrace, overlooking the rainforest. Really special.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
So on to Port Douglas, where we stayed <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>two nights in the really swish Peninsula
Boutique Hotel. Nightlife in Port Douglas seems to be centred on Macrossan
Street, and I’ll describe the best bar, in my opinion. The Iron Bar looks like
a great big tin shack, halfway along. The tables and chairs are made from old
driftwood and potato sacks. The staff are hardworking and friendly, and they
serve cider! Mercury cider from Tasmania to be precise, and apparently it’s
growing in popularity. All is not lost then. A good pint of cider it was too. I
had several. The main attraction in the Iron Bar though, is the cane toad
racing. Seven cane toads on a table, seven “jockeys”, armed with party blowers,
and the first toad to jump off the table is the winner. It has to be seen to be
believed really. The toads have non-PC names like Fat B@%$^&d, Aussie Aussie
Aussie and the ever popular Camel Toad. (Think about. No, don’t!) It was great
fun anyway, and takes place every night, apparently. See the Iron Bar on my pub
guide on the main Wytchwood site.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The highlight of our holiday then, was four nights on Heron
Island, a coral cay right on the barrier reef. Absolutely superb. I could go on
for hours describing cocktail hour as the sun goes down over the Coral Sea, walking
along the seashore alongside huge ray fish, stargazing in the pitch black night
sky, snorkelling amongst the fishes and corals. It was wonderful. Everybody
should do it sometime.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Final two nights in Brisbane, a lovely modern city with a
great night life. I drank some more cider in the Plough, and finally found a
pint of Old Speckled Hen in the Pig and Whistle, an “authentic English pub” and
home to the Brisbane Man City supporters club. I kid you not, they were showing
the FA Charity Shield. English pub? Nah, more a pub designed by someone who’s
never been in an English pub. But Old Speckled Hen though! Tasted okay too. </div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-N1j2YRXiP18/UEzZCUOq84I/AAAAAAAAACY/rMGFePFEA7I/s1600/IMG_1706.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-N1j2YRXiP18/UEzZCUOq84I/AAAAAAAAACY/rMGFePFEA7I/s320/IMG_1706.JPG" width="212" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
So to sum up:</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Food<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>8/10<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Excellent if a little pricy compared to
dining out in England</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Beer<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>3/10<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>The cider was okay but otherwise my
advice is to drink wine and spirits</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Music<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>6/10<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Some folky pub acts in Brisbane, and
being a bit of a world music fan I enjoyed the aborigine culture centre. Other
than that, Aussie folk music seems to be either C&W or Rolf.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Morris Dancing<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>0/10<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Didn’t see any, although there are
apparently a few sides about, mainly further south than we ventured.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
All in all though, the holiday of a lifetime, which it needs
to be really because we probably won’t be able to afford to do it again for
some time.</div>
Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3893611664545311156.post-90567408916941348882012-07-22T14:30:00.000-07:002012-07-22T14:33:15.151-07:00Who Spilt My Beer?<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
Ah, Days of Dance! Ranking alongside folk festivals as the
real red letter days in the Morris calendar. We had been lucky enough to be
invited to the Buxton Day of Dance by Chapel-en-le-Frith Morris Men, and 930am
saw us, along with others, in the Buckingham Hotel for tea and coffee. I did
see a couple of these Cotswold old-timers supping ale, and hats off to them! I
have to admit I struggle before about 11ish. </div>
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Suitably refreshed, we made our way to the first dance spot,
and at around 1030, kicked off proceedings. The dance spots were really well
organised, with a great mix of sides, and we found ourselves with sword
dancers, cloggies, and Chapel themselves. What a splendid start to the day;
great dancing, good weather, and a fair crowd outside the Pavilion. We did a
John Barleycorn, a Titterstone Clee and an Upton Hanky before moving on. </div>
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It was a short walk to the next spot, outside Buxton Opera
House. Good to see some old friends, the Powderkegs waiting for us! Even better, the Old Clubhouse over the road
was serving an excellent pint of Thwaites Wainwright golden ale. Your drummer filled his tankard and hurried
back to join in with a Bermuda Triangle. I found myself musing over a plaque on
the opera house provided by the Frank Matcham Society, celebrating the
illustrious architect. I was wondering how many members this worthy group must
have. I’ve since found out that there are hundreds, including Timothy West and
Prunella Scales, so that’s me told. You can get a good education from Morris
Dancing!</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
We finished our spot at the Opera House with a Brimfield,
two sets, one of us and one of Powderkegs. Chiefly to “break-in” our newest
dancer, who has been champing at the bit for a while now. She stepped up to the
mark with gusto and took a bow at the end. Well done Ange, on your first
dance-out!</div>
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Anyway, the spot over, it was time for lunch, and a long
haul up the hill to the market place. I must say, I was a bit disappointed with
Buxton Market, a lot of it now turned over to car parking, and not too many stalls.
I think I’d expected it to be a bustling place, full of cheerful costermongers
and barrow boys. A man walked by with a dog. A pigeon landed, hopefully near
the pub tables. I was wondering where our audience was going to come from. The
King’s Head though, was quite full, and did a passable pint of Jennings
Cumberland Ale, and a decent ham sandwich. </div>
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Lunch however, was ruined by an unfortunate incident
involving my wife and a pint of beer. I’d just come out of the pub, full
tankard in hand, when she came over and hugged me. I can’t have had a very good
grip on said tankard, because next thing I knew, it was all over the floor.
(see photographic evidence)<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-lWp6OQim340/UAxxiFm5uAI/AAAAAAAAABg/p1M63kdMsEw/s1600/no+use+crying.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-lWp6OQim340/UAxxiFm5uAI/AAAAAAAAABg/p1M63kdMsEw/s320/no+use+crying.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
I was inconsolable. “THIS IS THE WORST THING THAT’S
HAPPENED TO ME THIS YEAR!” I ranted. “Yes, but I didn’t……” began wife. “I DON’T
WANT TO TALK ABOUT IT” I said. Needless to say, I have talked about it since.
Endlessly. I’m still going on about it
now.</div>
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After lunch, we were dancing with the excellent Boggart’s
Breakfast, Harthill, and St Katherine’s. Some impressive dancing was enjoyed by
a small audience which grew throughout the hour. We did a Jane’s Dance and a
Twiglet, after which the Boggart’s Squire was gracious enough to announce, “well,
how do we follow that?” Follow it they did. Boggarts have a quite different
style, slowish, very precise complicated dances backed up by lovely almost
French sounding tunes and some quite sublime drumming! Well, I would say that.
I tend to get quite excited about good drumming. Hells Bells is particularly good. Have a look some time soon.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Peter Halfpenny, the illustrious squire of the Morris Ring,
and member of Harthill Morris was impressed with our side. The Morris Ring is a
very traditional organisation of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">men’s</i>
morris sides. They tend towards men’s border sides because of the extra
aggression and gusto put into the sticking and the shouting. “Having seen your
side,” he admitted, “I am forced to change my opinion”. Well done to all of our
dancers, for putting on such a great display!</div>
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Last spot of the day then, down at the pavilion again. We
did a Jane’s Dance by the bandstand; this went down really well, and was
greeted by applause and cheers from public and other dancers alike. We then
went back up to the pavilion to watch Rumworth dancing whilst a wedding car
came through. Graham, our host from
Chapel, asked if we’d care to do another dance at the bandstand, and we ended
the day with a Manning Tree, one of my favourites. </div>
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The day done, we said a few goodbyes, and headed home. I
said at the start of this blog that Days of Dance are about the most enjoyable
events in the calendar. Buxton Day of Dance surpassed all of that. A wonderful
setting, some fantastic sides, good crowds and fine weather. Thanks to Chapel
for the organisation and allowing us to be part of it. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Even the beer incident had a happy ending. I simply bought
another pint.</div>Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3893611664545311156.post-76577130154117394172012-07-16T14:28:00.000-07:002012-07-17T08:45:08.416-07:00Down By The RiverAnother week, another evening dance out. It's easy to get a bit blasé about evening dance outs, I suppose. Most sides, during the summer, tend to dance out at pubs rather than practice, and around May to June time there is usually frantic ringing round pubs and other sides arranging it all. <br />
This week, we were dancing with Crooked Steeple, a North-West side from Cleobury Mortimer, at The Mughouse, a pub in Bewdley on (and sometimes in!) the River Severn. The phenomenal amount of rain we've had this summer means that we can take nothing for granted, and the weather wasn't looking good all day. The Severn is up at Bewdley, although since they installed the flood barriers the buildings along Severnside are relatively safe.<br />
So with an eye on the skies, we drove the three miles or so to Bewdley and parked up. Having blacked up, dressed in tatters, strapped on the bells, I lugged my three drums around to the pub. I really need a trolley of some sort. Crooked Steeple were already there and ready to go, as were most of our crew. Just time for a pint then. The Mughouse is a cracking pub, serving Bewdley's Worcestershire Way and Wye Valley's Hereford Pale, among others. I chose the Pale and went outside to sing about it. In fact we started with "John Barleycorn" a dance closely following the traditional song about ale, and written by my wife. I sing the first verse to start us off, and the last verse to finish it. Not always in the same key. Anyway, it seemed to go down almost as well as my pint, so a good job done.<br />
We had a great crowd for a Monday evening, a few dozen people watching us over the course of the evening, which is actually quite encouraging. They were appreciative too, and loudly clapped and cheered at the end of the dances. Crooked Steeple are a great North West side with a good band and a new drummer, with whom I compared notes a bit. Well, other musicians don't tend to talk to drummers much ;-) One of the good things about dancing with a North West side is that their dances are all over five minutes long, so you get a good break in between. Plenty of time for topping up the Pale then! I managed four by the end of the evening. And the rain? Well, it kept off yet again.<br />
Standing outside a pub, pint of honest English Ale in your tankard, gazing over the River Severn as it flows by in spate. Good dancing, good music, good company. <br />
Blasé about it all? Actually, I can't think of anywhere else in the world I'd rather be. Evenings like this are really rather sublime.<br />
<br />Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3893611664545311156.post-40781439130563274072012-07-07T11:31:00.003-07:002012-07-07T11:31:30.695-07:00The Rain, The Park and Other Things<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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Saturday 30th June, and the Olympic Torch comes to
Birmingham. We’d been booked to do a little spot on Calthorpe Park. Not knowing
what to expect, we gradually assembled on the car park to an inner city play
centre. A fairly large group of black teenagers were already in attendance,
listening to some really loud RnB on a car stereo. They were fascinated with
our tatters, top hats and blackened faces, and Phil, who had arrived first, had
been roped into a few photo opportunities. One of them had apparently called
his mother who’d also had to come and look, and take a photo.</div>
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<br /></div>
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Everybody ready, we trudged across the grass to the park,
and the stage which had been erected in one corner. There was a samba band
strutting their stuff as we arrived. They were doing some sort of procession,
around the park, accompanied by hordes of kids, parents and pushchairs. Most of
the kids had shakers and rattles that they had apparently been making that
afternoon. The dancers fell in at the back. The band were spared this extra
walk, as we had to get all of our gear over to the stage, but the dancers came
back full of enthusiasm anyway.</div>
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<br /></div>
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As the last strains of the samba band died away, we suddenly
heard our name over the PA system and we were on! A crowd of about a hundred
was there, mainly young ‘uns, mainly African-Caribbean and Asian origin, most I
suspect had never watched the Morris before. The kids were so enthusiastic that
they were crowding in, only inches from the dancers half the time. Some of the
smaller ones found themselves little spaces on the grass and were shyly having
a go. We started with a John Barleycorn, moved on to a Twiglet and went quickly
through a repertoire of about seven or eight dances. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>After nearly half an hour we finished to
rousing applause, to make way for the local sports club prize giving. We even
got a “three cheers” from the sports club guy.</div>
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<br /></div>
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Our spot over, we headed for the ice cream van for a well-earned
break. As we were sitting there, a group of four teenaged girls came up and
asked us if we could do another dance. So we did a Brimfield for them, and
gathered another small crowd. It was great!</div>
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<br /></div>
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A nice afternoon, lovely to do a spot for a genuinely
appreciative audience. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And the rain?
Well, despite a shower in the daytime, and fairly overcast clouds most of the
afternoon and evening, it kept off. We stayed dry. Such is the power of The
Morris.</div>Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3893611664545311156.post-28052408424501212032012-06-29T03:51:00.001-07:002012-06-29T03:51:40.159-07:00I've Got News For You<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
So Wednesday night’s practice then, a rather subdued affair,
I think everyone was tired after the exertions of the previous two weekends. We
practiced a few dances, took the newer members through a few more, and your
drummer had his customary three pints of Symonds cider. The Spain-Portugal
match was on in the bar, and a small crowd of locals were in attendance.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
We had some discussion on amplified music. Our band consists
of four main members, guitarist Clive, accordion and fiddle player Ian, melodeon
and mouth organ player Dave, and myself on percussion. Since the start, we have
used small battery amps in an attempt to balance the sound. The problem that we
have is trying to enable the quieter instruments to be heard alongside the
drums and boxes.</div>
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We’ve experimented extensively with this and are, we think,
justifiably proud of our fairly unique sound. During one mad moment we were
even asked if we do cds! The music we produce is not particularly loud in the
scheme of things, I would even argue that it’s not as loud as a big band with
three or four boxes and a couple of drums. So where’s the problem? The Licencing
Act 2003 makes it illegal to perform any
music in public without there being an entertainments licence in force. There
is a helpful exemption for Morris dancers regarding live <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">unamplified </i>music. So that leaves us out in the cold somewhat.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
A chance conversation with my nephew, a guitarist in a band,
however, brought some good news. The Live Music Act 2012 was a private members
bill which sought to change some of the
act, negating the requirement for a licence for venues with an audience under
200. The Morris exemption rewords to “live accompaniment”. This comes into force in October, and is the
work of tireless campaigning from, among others, Feargal Sharkey and Hamish
Birchall. The peer responsible is Tim Clement-Jones, who tabled the private
members bill.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
So if you are out this weekend, in a pub somewhere, and
happen across a fiddle player and an accordionist in the corner, raise a glass
to Feargal, and Hamish, and Tim. Young
bands and musicians need the smaller venues to learn their trade. The Licencing
Act 2003 was slowly killing off grass roots music in the UK.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
As for ourselves, well we’ll just ensure that all our venues
have a licence until October, when they will no longer be necessary. Hurrah for
a happy ending!</div>Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3893611664545311156.post-46884181445246085672012-06-25T08:53:00.000-07:002012-06-25T08:53:03.311-07:00Dancing at the Gates of Dawn, and beyond."So why exactly do we do it then?" That's not your question to me, by the way. It's my question to my wife, as I searched for a sock under the dog's bed in the camper van at 3.45am. We had been camped up, since about 11pm the previous evening on a small dirt track with no toilet facilities, no anything really, close to a busy road, somewhere near Stonehenge. It was still dark, but only just; on the Eastern horizon a faint glimmer could be seen. We, Wytchwood Morris, some pagans from Birmingham, and a Side-With-No-Name had gathered two days after the official solstice for a little ceremony of our own. Hopefully we might even <i>see</i> the sun this year.......<br />
The pagans were late, arriving in a minbus just minutes before sunrise, which occurred, we think, at around 4.40am behind a bank of cloud. To be fair, when we could finally see the sun, it was quite a lovely sunrise; Stonehenge is certainly a great place to be at this time of year, at that time of day.<br />
The ceremony over, the drummer's arms already aching from having to drum seemingly for about twenty minutes, we got down to some serious dancing. Thanks must go to Tony, from the Side-With-No-Name, for helping me out singing all the way through John Barleycorn. His gruff baritone contrasted with my rather unique tenor beautifully. Imagine if you will, a coming together of Luciano Pavarotti and Bryn Terfel. Well it was nothing like that. The dancers, although absolutely knackered, performed as well as ever. A nice fairly genteel Grenadiers from the Side-With-No-Name (henceforth SWNN) followed the John Barleycorn, then we countered with a Brimfield. A Much Wenlock by SWNN was followed by a Manning Tree and then we all had a rest and a wander round the stones. A bit of a photo opportunity, it's not everyday you get to walk around Stonehenge these days, it's quite a privilege really.<br />
You can see some of the photos on our <a href="http://www.wytchwoodmorris.co.uk/index.php/joom-gallery" target="_blank">website</a>.<br />
Having done the Stonehenge thing, we had then decided to carry on dancing at Avebury, the village inside a stone circle about thirty miles to the north, and thus on the way home. After breaking fast at the Little Chef Amesbury (the other Steve and I, true to form, had an Olympic Breakfast, only £7.49), we drove off to Avebury to find the car park locked and bolted against us. Perhaps they'd had a tip off we were coming. We drove into the village and spoke to a nice lady at the visitor centre, who told us that the car park didn't open until 10am, but if we weren't staying all day and were dancing at the visitor centre we could use the residents car park instead.<br />
We parked up, sat about for a bit, waiting for Phil and the SWNN. A gathering of various onlookers, including a fair few Americans, a couple of nice ladies from Old Sarum Morris, and a few Europeans spurred us into action, and after a yawn and a stretch we launched into a few dances. Phil finally turned up some time after 11, SWNN didn't turn up at all, but it later transpired that they had been dancing near the stone circle and also at the Red Lion. I never got to see the Red Lion. I'd taken my tankard to no avail. I did get to sing about John Barleycorn again. It's not really the same as drinking it though is it?<br />
We had a fairly large appreciative audience for most of the morning, and were cheered by the <a href="http://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/avebury/eating-and-shopping/" target="_blank">Circle Cafe</a> staff, who brought us out some free tea. That picture on their website, by the way. That's not real morris dancing. It's something called Cotswold ;-)<br />
We even persuaded quite a few members of the audience to "have a go", audience participation usually being the best way to turn a hundred strong crowd into one man and a dog. Well done to all those who took part!<br />
Around 1230ish, we finally decided we'd had enough, and packed in. All in all, an enjoyable, if rather long, day.<br />
So to my question, "why exactly do we do it?"<br />
I'm buggered if I know, but hopefully, through the coming weeks, I can give a little insight into the strange world that is THE MORRIS. <br />
<br />Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com0