There's Morris Dancing done as public entertainment (well aspiring to be public enteertainment) and there's (maybe the same dances and the same people) done as ritual. When a bunch of dancers gather at 5am to dance at the Puddlestone on May 1st in Standon, there's not much public entertainment going on. And the pubs aren't even open.

And I've never been to see them because I'm snoring away in my bed,like all sensible people. But I'd be annoyed if I heard it wasn't going to happen. And I know mpeople who'd be so annoyed they'd get out of bed and do it themselves, probably swearing volubly while they were doing it.

And in a sense even when Morris Dancing is done more as entertainment (in front of a pub for example) there's an element of that - just turn and look at the people passing. So many of them smile approvingly as they walk by, pleased that it's still going on. And I'm not talking about folkies here either. It's a bit like village cricket, there in the background, not a spectator sport at all, more a seasonal ritual.