Morris dance

Morris dance, traditional English folk dance dating to the 15th century, usually performed by a group, which is called a “side.” It has long been associated with a merry and cheerful spirit. The word morris was thought to have been derived from the Spanish word Morisco (meaning “little Moor”) and the dance to have Moorish origins, a theory that some early scholars linked to the practice of dancers blackening their faces. However, experts such as English engraver and author Joseph Strutt questioned the Moorish-origin theory, and author and expert on morris dance Michael Heaney argues that the spellings used in the earliest mentions in England point instead to strong Flemish and French influences.

History

References to morris dance have been found as early as the mid-15th century, appearing in a few accounts kept by trade guilds that probably hired the dancers to perform on their feast days, and even in connection with performances at the courts of royalty and nobility. When Henry VII, founder of the Tudor dynasty in England, ascended the throne in 1485, morris dance began to flourish, with the first known performance in his court in January 1494. Already depicted on tapestries and tableware, the dance became a part of pageants and masques. Over the next few centuries, the dance grew in popularity as a form of entertainment during festivities across the country, featuring in parish and civic celebrations such as May Day and Pentecost (Whitsunday). Some people began to arrange and oversee the hiring of companies of dancing men for different occasions. The literary canon of the time also mentioned morris dance, sometimes as imagery, such as in poet John Milton’s Comus (1634):

The Sounds, and Seas with all their finny drove
Now to the Moon in wavering Morrice move

However, toward the latter half of the 16th century, morris dance gradually began to attract criticism and opposition in an increasingly Puritan religious climate. By about 1630, church-sponsored morris events had effectively ended, and by the end of that decade it had almost disappeared from ecclesiastical parish contexts. Over time it became associated with an unrefined, rustic form of revelry, with performances reduced largely to occasional appearances on private estates and in masques in the aftermath of the English Civil Wars (1642–51). With Charles II restored to the throne in 1660, morris dancers got a temporary fillip, but the revival was not enough to restore them to their glory. Support became more localized, and different regional forms became increasingly distinct. South Midlands morris remained tied particularly to May Day celebrations, while in the northwest the dance became more closely associated with rural festivals of rush-bearing and Maypoles. Efforts made during the 19th century by British antiquarian Francis Douce and a few others to understand the tradition of morris dance gave it a certain boost, but the form survived mostly in pockets of Victorian England. In fact South Midlands morris dwindled away by the 1890s, although the northwest dancers were able to evolve and survive.

Discover how ordinary objects work, and expand your understanding of the familiar.

SIGN UP

" height="20" alt="HEW Logo">

Thank you for signing up!"

Back to homepage

By clicking "Sign Up", you consent to the Britannica Privacy Policy and Terms of Use.

A revival began in the early 20th century, when folklorists and enthusiasts sought to preserve and formalize morris dancing amid growing concerns over its disappearance. English musician Cecil Sharp, noted for his work as a collector of English folk song and dance, was at the forefront of this revival. In 1899 Sharp’s interest in the dance form was piqued after he watched a performance by the Headington Quarry Morris Dancers. Later, when Mary Neal of the Espérance Club—a club for working-class girls—approached him for suggestions for English folk dances, Sharp gave her the contact details of Headington Quarry musician William Kimber. Kimber and his cousin then taught morris dance to members of the club.

Sharp went on to write the first volume of the dance-notation handbook The Morris Book (1907) with Herbert C. MacIlwaine. Four more parts followed, published between 1909 and 1913. Sharp also traveled across England to collect folk songs and dances, including morris, and established the English Folk Dance Society in 1911, thus helping preserve the traditions of morris dancing. In modern times various organizations, including Open Morris, Morris Ring, and Morris Federation, promote the dance form and support member teams. As of 2023 there were about 12,500 morris dancers in the United Kingdom and close to 770 sides.

Performance

An energetic, rhythmic dance accompanied by live music, a morris dance is usually performed by a set of six or sometimes eight dancers; on rare occasions, there may be a solo or duet performance. Team sizes in modern times have grown significantly, with groups averaging about 18 members. Although morris sides have been traditionally predominantly male, women have also participated since the dance’s initial days, with what may have been an all-female morris group recorded as early as the 1630s. In fact, a 2023 survey found that female morris dancers in the United Kingdom slightly outnumbered male morris dancers.

Traditional officers of a dance team include the foreman, responsible for teaching the dance routine; the squire, who leads the side; and the bagman, who is the secretary. Depending on the style, the dance may involve skips, jumps, leaps, and capers, with single and double steps the most common moves. Dancers coordinate their movements in figures (set floor patterns with a sequence of steps danced to a phrase of music) and choruses (repeated sections danced between the figures). Common instruments accompanying the dance include a fiddle, melodeon, concertina, pipe, tabor, and accordion.

Explore Britannica Premium!

The trusted destination for professionals, college students, and lifelong learners.

SUBSCRIBE

Dancers have been known to wear white outfits, but the different styles of morris dance have their own variations. The costumes are often adorned with bells—sometimes worn on bell pads tied to the shin—which have come to be identified with morris dance. Dancers have props including napkins, handkerchiefs, sticks, ribbons, and sashes. Some common characters also recur in the dances. Among them are the fool, Maid Marian (who was often historically played by a boy), and a hobby horse. Both the fool and the hobby horse may interact with the audience, engaging and amusing them. Some sides in modern times have introduced their own animals, such as a unicorn.

A number of other English folk customs have at times been associated with morris dancing. It has been linked with the horn dance held each year at Abbots Bromley, Staffordshire. This dance procession includes six deer-men bearing antlers (three white sets and three black sets); Maid Marian and a fool; a hobbyhorse; and a youth with a bow who shoots at the leading “stags” whenever possible. However, experts such as Heaney note that there is little evidence connecting this custom with the morris dance tradition.

Types of morris dance

There are many regional styles of morris dance with their own distinctive steps and costumes. Some are:

• Cotswold morris: Found in South Northamptonshire, Gloucestershire, and Oxfordshire, it is also known as South Midlands morris and was popular in village festivities. White shirts paired with colorful accessories, bell pads, and shoes with thin soles are usually part of the dancers’ attire.
• Border morris: Historically performed largely as a means of earning money, rather like busking, Border morris developed along the border of England and Wales, particularly in Herefordshire, Worcestershire, and Shropshire. The modern form is a more energetic and dynamic style of morris dance, accompanied primarily by percussion. Dancers historically sometimes blackened their faces, but many modern sides have adopted other colors of face paint because of the racial associations of blackface.
• North West morris: Collected chiefly from Lancashire and Cheshire, this style developed in connection with the region’s folk celebrations of rush cart processions. Unlike Cotswold and Border morris, this form developed in urban town settings rather than in rural regions. In modern performances dancers wear clogs, whose hard soles add a percussive element to the dance.
• Molly dancing: Molly dancing originated in East Anglia and was traditionally associated with Plough Monday, when agricultural workers toured villages seeking money during the winter. Historically its dances were often relatively simple versions of country or couple dances, and the costumes could be comic or unconventional, with cross-dressing a particularly distinctive feature.