Morris Dancing
Morris Dance is a form of English Folk dance usually accompanied by music. It is based on rhythmic stepping and the execution of choreographed figures by a group of dancers, usually wearing bell pads on their shins.
The earliest known and surviving English written mention of Morris Dance is dated to 1448 and records the payment of seven shillings to Morris Dancers by the Goldsmiths Company in London. Further mentions of Morris Dancing occur in the late 15th Century: there are early records, such as visiting bishops “Visitation Articles,” which mention sword dancing, guising and other dancing activities as well as Mumming plays.
While the earliest records invariably mention “Morys” in a court setting and a little later in the Lord Mayor’s Processions in London, it had adopted the nature of a Folk Dance performed in the parishes by the mid-17th Century.
