Morris Dance

The Morris Dance (also spelled Moresgue, Morrice, Morisque, or Morrisk) is a form of a traditional and very lively art of folk dance performed in rural England. It is usually done by a group of people that is arranged in a specific formation. The group wears characteristic costumes with bells and ribbons attached to them, holding handkerchiefs or sticks in order to underline their dance rhythm. The dancers are often joined by another person who represents a legendary or symbolic character such as The Fool, Hobby Horse or Maid Marian etc.

History

The earliest reference to a morris dance was found in the will of Alice Wetenhale from Bury St Edmunds in 1458. She wanted to leave her daughter “three silver cups, sculpted with a morris dance”. Having a reference to a morris dance appearing in a will does not give too much information about the relevance for the people at that time per se. But it indicates that it must have been of common knowledge in the fifteenth century. Further references from the sixteenth century place the morris dance in the royal court of Henry VIII. In the course of the Tudor dynasty the morris dance was a prominent event that usually took place in front of the court during seasonal revels or in urban procession to spread the holiday spirit. They were also a part of midsummer guild processions and May games. Morris dancing was first mainly celebrated in Renaissance cities but later on shifted more into rural areas.

References

"Morrs Dance." Encyclopædia Britannica, September 2014, EBSCOhost, http://widgets.ebscohost.com/prod/customerspecific/s9118275/vpn.php?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&AuthType=ip,uid&db=ers&AN=87996460&lang=de&site=eds-live&scope=site. Accessed 04 January 2018.

"morris dance, n." OED Online, Oxford University Press, June 2017, https://www.oed.com/view/Entry/122405. Accessed 04 January 2018.

Forrest, John. The History of Morris Dancing, 1458–1750. Cambridge: James Clarke & Co Ltd, 1999.