Folklore: Morris dancing costumes

Subject: Folklore: Morris dancing costumes
From: Lucy Wright
Date: 12 Mar 11 - 05:26 AM

Hi all,
I was wondering if anyone could help me find more information about the history of morris dancing costumes / clothing? Are there any books which discuss this in any detail?
Thanks,
Lucy

Subject: RE: Folklore: Morris dancing costumes
From: GUEST,Suibhne Astray
Date: 12 Mar 11 - 05:40 AM

In terms of The Revival there's been a lot of developments in recent years - and various colours of make-up too. But folklore? I wonder, although there is Carnival (Fluffy) Morris of course which isn't something that seems to figure in Folkie agendas but nevertheless is a thriving concern in the North West with real claims to folklore & tradition.

Check out Johnny Haslett's site too: http://johnnyhaslett.co.uk/ though as I recall from Georgina Boyes The Imagined Village the EFDSS sniffed at a lot of this stuff back in the day too.

Subject: RE: Folklore: Morris dancing costumes
From: Lucy Wright
Date: 12 Mar 11 - 07:28 AM

Thanks for the link.. that looks like a great resource.
I wasn't at all sure i selected the correct "Common Prefix" when i was posting this thread either!

Subject: RE: Folklore: Morris dancing costumes
From: GUEST,Folkore
Date: 12 Mar 11 - 07:56 AM

Fine Lucy!

Subject: RE: Folklore: Morris dancing costumes
From: SteveMansfield
Date: 12 Mar 11 - 09:15 AM

I'm not aware of any literature on the subject but the Combined Morris Organisation at http://www.morrisdancing.org/ might provide some leads and further reading.

We, The Powderkegs, know how OUR kit developed but that's probably not much use to you as an isolated example!

That's the correct phrase, by the way, 'kit', rather than 'costume' - a minor point but it might help with your enquiries.

Subject: RE: Folklore: Morris dancing costumes
From: Jack Blandiver
Date: 12 Mar 11 - 12:49 PM

Folklore is a strange one really. Ironically I think of neither Folk Song or Morris Dancing (and many of our Folk Customs) as having anything to do with Folklore as such, given that they're self-conscious theatrical revivals far removed from their original Folkloric context, though there are exceptions and they're all great fun. If you had a Folklore of Folk though, it would have to be an ethnological study of the Folk Scene as a whole and would make for an interesting read, but maybe wouldn't appeal to Folkies as such. Channel 4 did something many years ago - I think David Toop was behind it, and it didn't make for pretty viewing really as it nailed the revival as a reactionary post-modernist middle-class indulgence. There's a Folklore: What is Folklore? thread that didn't get very far but still makes for an interesting read.

We get Fluffy Morris a lot in the North West, giving our local paper the choice headline once of Morris Dancers Trash Marine Hall Foyer. Can you ever imagine such a thing from the proper Morris Sides in their non-fluffy (though just as dodgy) kit which seems to grow more paganised every year? Lots of Black Faces too, which we've dealt with at some depth here before (see HERE) but if you look at the sober kit Morris Sides were wearing back in the 1970s and compare them to The Wicker Man cast-offs we see today then a few questions might be begged regarding Morris terms of the Volk Zeitgeist and the current renaissance thereof. Of course this results in Marranzano-twanging storytellers dressing up LIKE THIS although I might crave your indulgence with respect of it being some sort of excercise in living archaeology - and I did win an award for Best Costume that year which I display with pride on the same shelf bending down with my Folklore books, including Johnny Haslett's first volume of Morris Dancer and Rose Queens which is the very pip.

Subject: RE: Folklore: Morris dancing costumes
From: Old Vermin
Date: 12 Mar 11 - 02:42 PM

http://www.docrowe.org.uk/index.html perhaps

Subject: RE: Folklore: Morris dancing costumes
From: GUEST,Curtis
Date: 12 Mar 11 - 06:26 PM

If I'm correct,Stan rogers makes a few comments on Morris Dancers on one of his records. Home in Halifax I think. Someone around here surely knows more than I. His comments were meant as comic relief though and probably don't really tell you much about Morris dancers.

Subject: RE: Folklore: Morris dancing costumes
From: GUEST,Geoff the Duck
Date: 12 Mar 11 - 08:43 PM

Traditionally only the rich had money to spend on clothes which didn't serve a purpose. The rest of the population had a shirt for the week and one for Sunday Best. In latter days they might have had kit for cricket - hence Morris dancers in white. The only way to disguise "ordinary clothes" was to attach ribbons or "tabs" of cloth.
The only way to judge what was worn is by contemporary evidence such as artists impressions - woodcut of Kemp's Jig. Of course, in that case, the costume probably had more to do with what Shakespeare's actors might wear then any "morris tradition".
Quack!
GtD.

Subject: RE: Folklore: Morris dancing costumes
From: Sian H
Date: 13 Mar 11 - 11:14 AM

And many woodcuts or old published descriptions of Morris dancers exist to show early kit. The Morris Federation and similar organisations have info on their websites, as do many Morris sides' websites. I think there are images in a book called Folklore, Myths and Legends of Britain by Readers' Digest, from the 70's.