Agreed Michael - There is indeed eveidence of Morris dance going back to the 1600s. Along with the Robin Hood Plays and various other bits of Elizabethan entertainment. I will re-phrase my comment for the sake of the more pedantic amongst us.

No Morris team currently in existance can claim a long tradition.

Is that better?

But the answer is still no - Morris has not become mere 'fun'. Neither has it become a serious pastime, an academic subject, a deep mystery or the cause of fertile lands. It is, and always has been, Morris. Nothing more or less than a pastime that some people enjoy, some people do not and most people care little about.

D.