The following is an essay on the Morris by Christopher Witcombe
and can be seen in context at :
http://http://witcombe.sbc.edu/earthmysteries/EMmorris.html
Although the link between Druids and megalithic sites is tenuous at best, there seems to be no reason to doubt that both the celebration of ancient Celtic festivals and the rituals performed at stone circles and other megalithic sites included dancing in one form or another. Evidence for the latter is virtually non-existent, but folklore and other clues suggest, for example, that dance may have been performed at Stonehenge if only through the suggestive description by Geoffrey of Monmouth, writing in the 12th century, who calls Stonehenge the Dance of the Giants ("chorea gigantum"). Much later, Morris dancing used to take place around the ancient barrow at St. Weonards in Herefordshire. Morris dancing, in fact, has been claimed to be a remnant of a pre-Christian Celtic, or Druidic, fertility dance.
Morris dancing also figures among the evidence in support of the claim that dancing formed part of the celebration of Celtic festivals. Among the earliest references to Morris dancing are those made by Shakespeare, who, in "All's Well that Ends Well" (II.ii.21), makes it clear that the Morris dance was commonly performed on May Day (May 1). That Morris dancing was associated with May Day celebrations in the early 17th century is also suggested through King James the First's "Book of Sports" which permitted among the amusements to be enjoyed on a Sunday the continuation of "May games, Whitsun ales and Morris dances, and the setting up of May-poles..." The Whitsun ales referred to are beers produced for Whitsun (or Whitsunday, celebrated in the Christian calendar as Pentecost) which Shakespeare, in "Henry V" (II.iv.18), says was also a time when Morris dances were performed.
The origins of Morris dancing are lost in the mists of time. It survives today as a form of folk dance performed in the open air in villages in rural England by groups of specially chosen and trained men and women. It is a ritual rather than a social dance which the dancers take seriously. It is felt that the dances have a magic power and serve both to bring luck and to ward of evil. Attempts to uncover the origins of Morris dancing have focused mostly on the name. Some believe Morris to be a corruption of the word "Moorish" and therefore to have originated in Africa. In order to explain how African dancing could crop up in England, it has been suggested that Moorish captives were brought back from the Holy Land by crusaders. Or, alternatively, it has been suggested that John of Gaunt (1340-1399), Duke of Lancaster, following the failure of his campaign in Spain to claim the kingship of Castile and Leon, returned to England with Spanish Moors as captives.
In this sense, the word "Morris" would seem to be related to a "Morisco", which is a form of court dance performed in Italy. However, Joseph Strutt (1749-1802), in his "Sports and Pastimes of the People of England", doubts this was the origin of Morris dancing, stating that "the Morisco or Moor dance is exceedingly different from the Morris-dance...being performed with the castanets, or rattles, at the end of the fingers, and not with bells attached to various parts of the dress." Otherwise, Strutt suggests that the Morris-dance originated from the "Fool's Dance" (traceable to the 14th century), in which the dancers dressed in the manner of the court fool, and from which can be traced the bells used by Morris dancers.
If Morris is a corruption of a similar-sounding word, it could equally well be "Moorish" in reference to, at the time of Shakespeare, boggy land, and later used in connection with moorland or heath land. It has also been suggested that the word Morris is derived from the Latin word "Morris" meaning tradition or custom. Then again, it might be derived from the game "merelles", forms of which were called "nine penny Morris" or "nine men's Morris" (referred to, for example, by Shakespeare in "A Midsummer Night's Dream", 2, 1, 98). On the continent, the name was applied to the stepping, dance-like game of 'hop-scotch.'
Attempts to discover the origins of the dances performed have revealed a general connection with other ritual folk dances elsewhere in the world such as santiagos, moriscas, and matachinas of the Mediterranean and Latin America, and the calusari of Romania. The ultimate source of this type of dancing, however, remains hidden. The suspicion, though, is that they are of pagan origin performed as part of ancient fertility rites. The music and dances were perhaps intended to attract beneficial influences, while the bells, fluttering handkerchiefs, and clashing sticks served as the means to scare away malevolent spirits.
Traditional Morris dancing is today associated with the Cotswolds, a region of England located between Oxford and the Welsh border. Cotswold Morris is danced in sets of six dancers arranged in two rows of three. For some dances, handkerchiefs are held in each hand, while for other dances short sticks are carried, and struck against each other or against those of a partner. Part of the costume includes bells, usually worn tied below the knees.
Costume varies from one Morris team, or 'set', to another, with each village also producing its own steps and dances. Morris men usually wear a white shirt, white trousers or dark breeches, and black shoes. Coloured sashes, or baldrics, worn over one or both shoulders, or a waistcoat, serves to distinguish different teams. The Stroud Morris Dancers in Stroud, Gloucestershire, for example, wear white trousers and shirts with red and green sashes (the colours of Stroud) shown performing the Stick Dance, Sidmouth, England
A variant of Cotswold Morris is Border Morris, associated with the Welsh border counties, which has sides of four, six, or eight men who darken their faces and wear 'rags' and dark trousers. Border Morris is danced more vigorously than Cotswold Morris and involves much clashing of sticks. Cotswold Morris is usually performed from May 1 to September, while Border Morris is traditionally performed in the winter months. Another form is North West Morris, in the North West of England, which is more of a processional dance with sides of at least nine men wearing clogs.
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It was this essay that prompted me to note my theory regarding Morris dancing:
A Morris dance to the music of time
or
Origin of the specious
Mr. Witcombe notes some very salient points in his extremely informed essay and mentions the main theories re the origins of the Morris from it being a pre christian fertility dance, being brought in by the Moorish captives and also being Moorish as in wet boggy moors.
I am voting for the pre christian dance here.
I hasten to add,however, that I do not go for the pre christian fertility dance.
I go for pre christian dance because threshing and winnowing have been around for a lot longer than christians.
A threshing reference is relavent to one of the other points Mr. Witcombe makes in that the Morris is not dissimilar to some other stick dances from around the world.
One of the dances he notes is that of the calusari of Romania.
Slovakia is a Romanian neighbour and below are some pictures of a "Cepovy" performance, a folk dance full of energy and quite typical for the Low Orava Region of Slovakia. The dance represents the old traditional way of threshing cereals with flails.
Dancing with sticks.
Here is another picture of the Slovakians dancing
Note that in this picture the men are stepping uniformly and waving sticks (flails) about.
Let us compare that to this:
Men threshing in a barn, uniformly waving flails about, and then to this:
(Isca) Morris men stepping uniformly and waving sticks (flails?) about.
In pre and post christian Britain, prior to the mechanisation of certain agricultural practices, threshing and winnowing were done by hand.
A number of different methods were used and these included flailing the wheat to seperate it from the chaff, see men threshing in a barn pictured above , and the use of threshing boards:
A threshing-board is described as: An obsolete farm implement used to separate cereals from their straw; that is, to thresh.
It is a thick board, made with a variety of slats, with a shape between rectangular and trapezoidal, with the frontal part somewhat narrower and curved upward (like a sled or sledge) and whose bottom is covered with stone shards (lithic flakes), or razor-like metal blades. The board was pulled over the laid out wheat and dragged by men or a beast of burden in a figure of eight*. Workers often rode on the moving board in order to give extra weight to speed up the seperating of wheat and chaff.
(Referenced from the online encyclopeadia,Wikepedia)
*A figure of eight or, perhaps, a whole hay?
The above picture is of a threshing flail.
Note it has two main pieces of stick, one long and one short, joined by a chain.
Morris dancers use two types of stick: One long and one short.
The following is an extract from my Morris blog and concerns the Forest of Dean Morris Men:
The Forest men danced wonderfully and I was particularly impressed by a dance they performed with each man carrying both a long stick and a short stick.
The dance is called Jenny Lind and as well as being beatifully danced by the Forest men I was immediately struck by the thought that a long stick and a short stick are what makes up the two ends of the threshing flail when joined together with a chain.
Below is a selection of stick dances from around the world
Egyptian Stick Dance
Calusari stick dance performed by Ilie Paduroiu a legendary Calusari dancer.
Rajastan stick dance
Romanian stick dance
Silambaattam stick dance
The thing that these dances have in common is that they all represent ancient farming practices and in particular the act of threshing.
Here I venture from the land of fact into the realms of enlightened conjecture and ale fuelled surmise:
Picture a wet day in the gloucestershire countryside in 87 BC, September the 4th, just before lunch, say 11.45am, at Farmer Tull's farm.
The farmer, his family and a couple of his workers are in the barn (probably an annexe to the farmhouse where the cattle and the workers sleep) and are involved in the process of threshing.
Farmer Tull, his four sons, Jasper, Jethro, John and Jack and his farmhand, Cadfael are threshing away with their flails being ever careful not to do severe damage to each other with the flails.
It is hot, heavy, hard and boring work.
Six men bashing wheat with flails in turn: 1 thresh, 2 thresh, 3 thresh, 4 thresh, 5 thresh and 6 thresh and repeat and repeat and repeat.
"Hang on, Dad", says Jethro, "If we were to stand three a side facing each other over this here wheat and number ourselves 1,2,3,4,5 and 6 and 1, 4 and 5 were to bash the wheat and then 2,3 and 6 were to follow as 't'others stepped back, then I reckon we could get this job done quicker than each taking a turn one in six"
"Yer mad", says Farmer Tull, "But, Son, you just might be mad enough to have 'ad a great idea, let's try it!"
1.00pm:
In walks Mrs. Tull with bread and cheese, cider and sausages, "Time for a break, lads 'cos you are going to need this food and drink to get you through the rest of the days threshing...Where's the wheat?"
"Tis done, Mum. Jethro had a great idea that worked so well that we are going to fetch tomorrow's threshing work in and finish it off after lunch and then, if it stops raining we can do the winnowing and save a whole day's work!"
When threshing the last of the stored wheat, Jethro has another idea, "I was watching Farmer William's boys threshing recently and they had one of they new fangled threshing boards that you pulls over the wheat.
They go's in a figure of eight with boys dancing on the board to add weight. Lets do the 1,4,5 and 2,3,6 thresh but walk around in a figure of eight as we bash. Twill be quicker as not only are we bashing more wheat but we be a trampling it under foot with our clogs as well!"
"Yer on, you mad bugger" says Farmer Tull.
"Watch yer language, Father" says his wife.
The lads thresh to the new method and the Farmer's daughter, Cerys, sings a song as she watches them. Soon they are singing with her and before they know it the work is done.
They are pleased with themselves and bash their sticks together in salute to each other.
3.00pm and it's time for the winnowing.
Now, remember, it's raining and so the winnowing cannot be done outside with the wind to aid the seperation process as the seperated wheat and chaff get thrown into the air off the winnowing fan and the wheat is caught back on the fan as the wind blows the lighter chaff away and it is a still day so no wind can enter the barn.
Jethro has a great idea! (He's full of it, isn't he?) "As I throw the wheat up I want the rest of you to shake this here sheet what you sleeps under at me and that should blow the chaff away instead of waiting for the rain to stop"
"Yer on one today, Jethro" says Farmer Tull.
His idea works well enough to save a day's work but it is hot and thirsty work with the chaff blowing in his throat and eyes.
"Come 'ere, Cerys, and wave yer hankie at me to cool my face down as I work"
As time goes by and the boys boast of the rapidity of their work, farming neighbours and their workers also come to realise that dancing and singing as you work makes the work easier and faster.
85BC, December the 22nd, Winter Soltice, 8.00pm down the pub;
After a few beers the boys start arguing about who has the finest threshing tequnique.
After a few more, the Tull boys demonstrate their new threshing dance explaining that they go half way round the pile of hay and then do a complete figure of eight the whole way round the hay and then reverse it to double back on themselves and ensure good seperation.
Jethro is the soberest so he sings and calls the moves, "Half way round the hay pile, back to back, whole hay, 1,4,5, bash yer sticks, half hay, back to back, 2,3,6 bash yer sticks, whole hay".
The Oak boys, however, decide that their thresh is better and proceed to demonstrate utilising their Swineherd on pipes and tabor.
The Sweyns Ey lads from across the border in Wales guffaw and do their dance.
The landlord spies an opening here!
"Tell you what, lads, practice and come back for a new year dance off and I'll judge whose the best and I'll have free ale for the winners"
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I contend, then, that Morris dancing directly stems from processes involved in the hand threshing and hand winnowing of cereals and evolved from finding quicker and more entertaining methods of carrying out that work.
Much in the same way that sailors sang when working at sea to unify the rythyms needed to bring sails down uniformly or to weigh anchor: "Haul on the Bowline, Kitty is me darling O, Haul on the Bowline the Bowline haul"
Cotton slaves in the Americas sang to ease their burden: "Gonna jump down turn around pick a bail of cotton a day, jump down turn around pick a bail a day!
Threshing and winnowing?: "Oh, my Billy my constant Billy, oh when will I see my Billy again....."
What about the arguments that surround the actual word Morris?
Moorish connotations as evidenced by the blacking up of faces to look like the Moorish captives?
Faces were undoubtedley blacked up but as disguise for fear of being recognised after bashing some poor sod on the head following the refusal of an ale request or fighting with another side and being reported to the shirriffs for disorderly conduct and later, when friars, monks and priests took over the care of a parish the dancers would not want to be recognised by the incumbent as being a part of any ale induced riotous behaviour.
Almost certainly, as mentioned above in Mr. Witcombes excellent essay, it comes from the Latin meaning Custom:
It became the "custom" to demonstrate the working moves as dances at festivals such as Mayday, Harvest, Hallowe'en and Winter Solstice.
The gaily decorated outfits and bells simply continued the extant practice of putting on your "Sunday best" for festive occasions and the clothes, like the dance itself, underwent an evolution which resulted in the Morris outfits of today.
That evolution is still happening and we have sides that wear top hats, boaters and bowlers, clogs, black patent leather dancing shoes and even trainers as uniform!
None of which, other than the clogs, existed over a couple of hundred years ago.
What about the relationship twixt dancing and ancient agricultural hand work?
There certainly was a dearth of dancing and dancing sides following the mechanisation of agricultural practices in the 18th and 19th centuries!!!
"Tis nigh impossible to dance a Morris with a combine harvester at number 3 and that steam engine's a rubbish fiddler"
In conclusion:
Morris sticks and sticking moves are representations of threshing flails and threshing moves, handkerchiefs represent the winnowing fans and the handkerchiefs used to fan oneself with and to wipe the sweat off the brow of the perspiring workman and the dance steps come from trampling the cereal underfoot to aid the seperation of chaff.
And Jethro?
He went on to invent the automatic potato dibber and changed farming methods irrevocably.
The rest is history (ask Ian Anderson).
(In fairness to the real Mr. Tull I add:
Jethro was an agricultural pioneer and the inventor of the mechanical seed drill)
Jethro Tull
1674 - 1741
Remember, this is simply another theory re the Morris and any who wish to disagree with me are quite right and entitled to do so.
The above essay is not a definitive statement and I reserve the right to add, alter or delete dependent upon the amount of ale imbibed and the company I keep.
Remember:
Never, ever turn your back on a Morris Man!