What I find far from fine is when, as Lynne points out, some Ring sides will not even dance at or attend an event when other mixed or female sides are attending. That, to me, is an unacceptable and insulting attitude towards others who dance the morris. There's no parallel here with, say, choirs, who generally enjoy hearing other choirs with a different gender profile and sharing big musical events together.

I'm not sure quite what answer Dick was hoping for when he asked the question, but it would not trouble me at all to learn that the Ring sides were declining in popularity and on their way to social extinction. Unless they change their attitudes, that's what they deserve.

Marje