Les - I don't know what you mean. There's nothing underlying about it at all. Pretty upfront if you ask me - which is only right, given its (alleged) links with fertility.

As for me, just like other contributors have hinted, it was about having a good time, moving to the music, feeling part of a unit, when you knew exactly where to go and how to get there, with the certainty that your mates would all be in the right place when you got there. A bit like playing for a top-class football team, but with better music.

Then there's be the singarounds and the drinking afterwards. (On the occasions when the drinking came first, the feeling of perfect timing sort of dissipated.)

We'd go round with a collecting hat, and people seemed to assume it was for charity and chuck money in. We felt no guilt in spending it at the bar. Well, we'd never claimed it was for any particular cause, had we? It wasn't our fault if they jumped to the wrong conclusions.

So a, I've said in a previous thread, it's about having a good time, and maybe giving people some pleasure. And maybe showing off a bit. Keeping traditions alive comes pretty far down the list of priorities.