Border Morris - History

History

This was usually a village dance done in winter for fun and a bit of money. Dances exist for from three to twelve dancers. The dance depends on the numbers available, as at Brimfield. The dances collected from a particular place sometimes differ quite markedly between informants, as at White Ladies Aston, reflecting the flexibility from year to year. Sometimes a gang would only have one dance, sometimes two, or as at Malvern and Pershore an indeterminate set of figures. The common features are the rather short sticks and sometimes a stick and handkerchief version of the same dance, also usually a high single step akin to the local country dance step. Such detail as starting foot rules and phrase endings are notable for their apparent absence. Some of these village sides blackened their faces - thought to be for reasons of disguise. There is no record of any sides dancing together. A few – both Upton-upon-Severn dances for example – matched the complexity of Cotswolds Morris, but many – e.g. Bromsberrow Heath – had a stark simplicity of one figure and one chorus repeated forever. Details of the collected dances can be found in Roy Dommett's collected notes, referenced below.