I'm a member of the John Clare Society (if you haven't heard of him, John Clare was a 19th century rural poet). Every year, since about 1982, I've attended a festival in his native village of Helpstone (in Cambridgeshire - it came under Northamptonshire in Clare's day).

The festival is in mid-July, on the Saturday closest to Clare's birthday (13th July).

Every year, around mid-day on festival day, Peterborough Morris dance outside the two village pubs (The Blubell and the Exeter Arms). In all that time I have never once heard anyone snigger or take the piss. The audience watches attentively, applauds politely and contributes to the collection. It seems to me that many people actually like Morris and accept it as part of the English rural scene - especially in a context like the Clare festival.