All good stuff.

Who decides what the next dance will be? If it is dancers then singing some words to the tune would work well in letting the musicians know what to play.

The role of song in ritual/ceromonial dance is clearly many and varied. I was mostly interested in those little snippets that are quite common in Cotswold at the start of the dance.

Looks like we are close to a possible explanation. Any further evidence from the world of Morris?