Obit: Roy Dommett, Morris dance mentor (2 Nov 15)

05 Nov 15 - 07:28 AM (#3748673)
Subject: Obit: Roy Dommett
From: GUEST,George Frampton

Beth Neill passed on the message to me that Roy Dommett died on 2 November 2015. There was a brief item in yesterday's 'The Times'; hopefully his passing will merit a deeper appreciation by one of the quality dailies soon, English Dance & Song and Folk Music Journal.

Roy was THE inspiration for many of us in the post-'Morris On' wave of dancers and musicians in the 1970s. He was on demand for the endless series of Morris tutorials he was prepared to give, and is always referenced as the brains behind Lionel Bacon's 'bible' A Handbook of Morris Dancing.

He would often appear at festivals with Tony 'Tubby' Reynolds, dressed in his gargantuan Andy Pandy outfit: Tubby playing his rustic 'country' fiddle to Roy's knowledgeable instruction, interspersed by talks on 'how it was' and broadening peoples' horizons with newer ideas and research he himself had undertaken.

On a few personal notes, he drove over from his home in Fleet in Hampshire to act as tutor in the early years of Fleur de Lys Morris from Godalming, to whom he taught stave dances from Dorset which he'd researched from friendly society logbooks, along with a few dances from Ilmington and Hinton-in-the-Hedges and the Shropshire Bedlams/Martha Rhoden's repertoire which were in vogue in the late 1970s (and still are!!)

The world of technology will recall him as a scientist in rocket engineering at the former Royal Aircraft Establishment in Farnborough, and never one to suffer fools gladly (morris fools excepted!) His critics in the world of Morris will chide that he had created and taught 'new morris' where none existed before. We won't know the truth behind that assertion, but it certainly enriched a jaded world taken over by corpulent tankard-bearing bearded school teachers, bank clerks and the like convinced they were emulating a dance form researched diligently by Cecil Sharp and co in the first quarter of last century.

There must be dozens if not hundreds of teams in the UK and America who have not benefited from his tuition in one way or another.

My thoughts go out to Margueritte and her family.

By his example and enthusiasm, the baton has now been passed on, but he leaves a (physically) immense hole in the lives of those who met and knew him.

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05 Nov 15 - 07:38 AM (#3748676)
Subject: RE: Obit: Roy Dommett
From: maeve

Another loss. How generous such gifted musicians are to others!


(I suspect George intended to say, "There must be dozens if not hundreds of teams in the UK and America who have benefited from his tuition in one way or another." George- if the 'not' was a typo, a word to a moderator or a note here will fix it for you, in which case mods, feel free to remove this paragraph as well!))

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05 Nov 15 - 09:05 AM (#3748694)
Subject: RE: Obit: Roy Dommett
From: RTim

Roy was a personal mentor and great friend of mine for many many years.
WE would talk for hours whenever we were together.
The last time I saw him in October 2014 - he said that would probably be the last time we would see each other; However he said - "I am not giving up - we done good!"
To which I replied - I am not sure about the WE - but I know what you have done for me and many other dancers and musicians.
He said - "Lets see what the legacy holds."

His legacy is enormous and so selfless. He gave up hours and hours in the pursuit of Morris of in all it's forms. He filmed, recorded, wrote about it, taught and inspired most of the current generations of Morris dancers - and never expected anything in return.
With Marguerite by his side he was a constant at all the important events over the last 40 or more years - and although a man of many opinions, he seldom said anything negative about what he saw - he just reported on it.
For me his death is a loss of a great friend - and a great loss to the Morris dancing world.
Tim Radford

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05 Nov 15 - 01:11 PM (#3748747)
Subject: RE: Obit: Roy Dommett
From: GUEST

A sad loss to the folk world. Roy was a fellow "Hampshire Hog" and in the early 70s we asked him to take part in our Odiham Mummers play, which was very similar to the one he knew. We asked him whether he was alright for St George kit and he reassured us that he was. Imagine our surprise when he turned up in his Andy Pandy costume with a baseball bat over his shoulder! Needless to say, he made a brilliand St George.

More recently, Roy presented a talk and workshop to our Border Morris side and taught us a dance. Thinking of his rocket science background, we thought about calling it "Dommett's Comet" but ended up with calling it "Roy's Rocket".

My memories of him are as a lovely man,generous with his knowledge and a great character. Larger than life in many ways.

Condolences to Roy's family

Tradsinger (as guest while my laptop is being repaired)

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07 Nov 15 - 05:44 AM (#3749039)
Subject: RE: 2015 Obit: Roy Dommett, Morris dance mentor
From: GUEST

Obit in the Daily Telegraph.

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07 Nov 15 - 06:12 AM (#3749042)
Subject: RE: 2015 Obit: Roy Dommett, Morris dance mentor
From: Richard Hardaker

My abiding memory of Roy will always be at Letterkenny folk festival in 1979 where he was performing with Tubby Reynolds and Bath City Morris. I was there with Carlisle Morris rapper team and we were dancing on a makeshift stage at the late night session in the Ballyraine Hotel; it might have been a series of boards balanced on Guinness crates! At one point the stage appeared to be on the point of imminent collapse, and Roy (in the Andy Pandy outfit mentioned in the Telegraph obit) threw his considerable bulk full length across one corner of the stage to counterbalance the dancers at the other end.

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07 Nov 15 - 01:06 PM (#3749093)
Subject: RE: 2015 Obit: Roy Dommett, Morris dance mentor
From: GUEST, topsie

For some reason I was thinking about him in his Andy Pandy suit just a few days ago. Sympathy goes to Marguerite and to his sons.

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08 Nov 15 - 03:21 AM (#3749186)
Subject: RE: 2015 Obit: Roy Dommett, Morris dance mentor
From: GUEST,CJB

The Daily Telegraph has an excellent obit. But usually the Guardian has obits. for folk folk. Strange they should ignore such a charismatic and influential figure both in the folk / morris scene but also in rocket / nuclear science. CJB

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08 Nov 15 - 05:37 AM (#3749197)
Subject: RE: 2015 Obit: Roy Dommett, Morris dance mentor
From: GUEST, topsie

It is also strange that there has been so little reaction on here.

PS I should have said "Sympathy goes to Marguerite and to THEIR sons".

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09 Nov 15 - 03:24 AM (#3749402)
Subject: RE: 2015 Obit: Roy Dommett, Morris dance mentor
From: BobL

He was also a great caller. I remember him at a Sidmouth LNE with the Oyster Ceilidh Band, doing traditional dances we'd never encountered before, the fruit of his researches. An unforgettable evening.

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09 Nov 15 - 05:37 AM (#3749425)
Subject: RE: 2015 Obit: Roy Dommett, Morris dance mentor
From: GUEST,CJB

Indeed the 'quietness' has also been replicated on the Morris mailing list.

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09 Nov 15 - 05:48 AM (#3749428)
Subject: RE: 2015 Obit: Roy Dommett, Morris dance mentor
From: GUEST, topsie

Does anyone know about funeral arrangements?

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09 Nov 15 - 06:26 AM (#3749445)
Subject: RE: 2015 Obit: Roy Dommett, Morris dance mentor
From: GUEST,CJB

Roy's lectures at Sidmouth - 1983

I offer these lectures in Roy's memory (they've been available on the web for years):

https://www.mediafire.com/folder/psyztv22l295p/Roy_Dommett_-_Sidmouth_-_Morris

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09 Nov 15 - 01:18 PM (#3749540)
Subject: RE: 2015 Obit: Roy Dommett, Morris dance mentor
From: GUEST,Hubert and Margaret Henstock

So saddened to see Roy's obit. He gladdened our lives when we we neighbours in Church Crookham many years ago when our families were young. His ability to dance, play the accordion and keep everyone amused was legendary, but there was never any clue that he was involved in such secret work. Our condolences go to Marguerite and their sons. A larger than life character who will be much missed.

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