The dark side of morris dancing?

[Tooting Gull]

I was down in Devon over the weekend to see the outlaws - and as chance would have it, in the town where I was staying they had a folk festival with a load of visiting morris men.

Some were your usual, traditional 'Cotswold' types - and some were very like this in the pic above. Actually, they weren't as colourful as this, wearing even more black but still with the blacked-out faces (to protect your identity). It's pre-christian, a bit pagan like. And Welsh. Apparently.

At one point I thought I was caught in a nightmare production of The Wicker Man meets the Black and White Minstrels.

Or are these eccentric displays just part of the fabric of our great nation?

This is an inclusive thread, so residents of Lewes can also respond...

 

[Fred Oliver - Legend]

voodoo

 

[Beach Hut]

Didn't a certain NSC moderator do Morris Dancing or perhaps still does.............

 

[element]

I reckon they'd look splendid after a few Harvey's Elizabethan Ales, hic!

 

[Grendel]

There's a very good reason why Morris dancing died out in the 18th century - it's shit and nobody likes it. I curse the bastards who decided to revive it.

 

[looney]

Didn't a certain NSC moderator do Morris Dancing or perhaps still does.............

Would be more fun having a poll guessing which one.

 

[Notters]

I'd rather be associated with Morris dancing than Christianity.

 

[withdeanwombat]

It is evil,evil stuff.

Little John meets Billy Elliot.

 

[Lord Bracknell]

Welsh. Apparently.

Nah. It was invented in Shropshire in the 1970s. Trust me.

[yt]B5eXcZSm1cM[/yt]

 

[skipper734]

Morris dancers face ban over black make-up

By Ian Herbert, Northern Correspondent

Saturday, 10 June 2000


They've been merrily dancing with blackened faces on the England-Scotland border for 200 years but, in the cause of political correctness, the game was up for the morris dancers of Carlisle yesterday.
They've been merrily dancing with blackened faces on the England-Scotland border for 200 years but, in the cause of political correctness, the game was up for the morris dancers of Carlisle yesterday.
Carlisle council has told the city's Sword, Morris and Clog Dancers troupe - which says its black make-up dates to the days morris-dancing poachers daubed charcoal and fat on their faces as a disguise - that its routine may offend tourists. If it does not drop its trademark dance and make-up, the group will be banned from the city's Living Together multicultural festival later this month.
The dancers, who have performed their Borders Dance the world over for 15 years to songwriter Stephen Collins Foster's "Oh Susannah", insist they have never had a complaint.
But Andre Scott Fisher, general secretary for Carlisle's Council for Voluntary Service, differs. "What if a black family visited Carlisle and ... saw their faces blacked up, singing 'Oh Susannah'?" he said. "To do a caricature of someone is a way of undervaluing them. It may be a tradition but some traditions should be stopped dead.
"The women in their group had white faces, while all the men had blackened theirs. That reminded me of The Black and White Minstrels Show. We want Carlisle to be a multicultural society." The City Council agrees. "The combination of blackened faces and a negro spiritual tune might cause offence," said a spokesman.
The dancers yesterday reinforced the roots of their act: blackened faces were the poacher's way of rebelling against authority, they said. "The 'Oh Susannah' tune has been used for years and years," added Frank Lee, the group's secretary. "The dance is a slow step-hop and there aren't so many tunes that fit it well, but "Oh Susannah" is perfect."
The 20-strong group may pull out of the festival. "It's bewildering. We will have to meet and decide," Mr Lee said.

 

[Lord Bracknell]

Morris dancers are, of course, in league with the DALEKS.

[yt]8aQCSy6ruaM[/yt]

 

[1066familyman]

Always enjoy posting this whenever I get a chance. This seems like an ideal opportunity

[yt]b5OM82LTsU0[/yt]

 

[aberllefenni]

Look out for the Witchmen from somewhere in the Black Country. Blacked up faces, black and amber feathers and non of yer poncy hankies, they have pick axe handles.

 

[RexCathedra]

I'm confused. Which one's Morris?

 

[eastlondonseagull]

This one?

.

 

[captainmorganrum]

Some were your usual, traditional 'Cotswold' types - and some were very like this in the pic above. Actually, they weren't as colourful as this, wearing even more black but still with the blacked-out faces (to protect your identity). It's pre-christian, a bit pagan like. And [B]Welsh[/B]. Apparently.[/QUOTE]

Whoa, stop right there, we don't want that, you can keep Morris dancing...

[I]Morris dance
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

A morris dance is a form of [B][U]English [/U][/B]folk dance usually accompanied by music.[/I]

 

[Perry Milkins]

T'would be an excellent thing to do to respond to a Haka before a Rugby game against the all-blacks...

 

[Tony Meolas Loan Spell]

Morris dancers are, of course, in league with the DALEKS.

[yt]8aQCSy6ruaM[/yt]

Im afraid I cant see the image but I would think it may be this. How dare they to one of the finest actors to play the Dr....

 

[Lady Bracknell]

Didn't a certain NSC moderator do Morris Dancing or perhaps still does.............

And it isn't me. Not, no, never.

But if you want Dark Side...

 

[Taybha]

Nearly as scary as the pre cursor to travolta -thurmans hideous dancefloor shannanigans
[yt]5eL-Wd5JkCE&feature=related[/yt]