Yes , old fat and grey need replacing, they are awesome

I'm an American so this form of dance is new too me but i love waching it the music and the costumes i hope it continues too grow and never dies 😊

I am sure they will be really pleased with your comment. It was great to film them on their first outing with other teams.

It's BS

Is that what they are? I thought they were New Model Army fans.

Thank you for your comment, I was lucky to see and film them in Ludlow and I hope they inspire more more young people to get involved.

Hopefully, young men as well as young women.

And stop bowing down to the pc brigade

Who has stopped you from embracing our culture? What hate filled rubbish. We’ve been Morris dancing for years! There is no law and no culture war against us. If you want to see more, go see it. If you want to see more join a Morris Side. Stop spouting rubbish.

@@wodens-hitman1552What rubbish! What PC crowd has stopped you from having a Morris Side? What laws are there that say, “No British heritage dancing allowed!”? What bloody rubbish! Are you in a dance group? Do you support a British Folk Festival with donations? I doubt it. If you fail to see Traditional British culture being embraced it’s your fault. Festivals are everywhere and if you want more, host one! We can always use more. Stop being lazy and stomping on others different.

Mind you, if the far right are going to make Morris dancing compulsory, I am looking forward to their next election campaign.@@williamcaton8432

@@williamcaton8432Ever heard of the black faced Morris being attacked for blacking up when it was nothing to do with race. That’s what he means.

They were having a good time and I hope they continue to attract new members with the same attitude.

​@@MorrisDancersUKHear hear!

Oh sorry, younger men too. LOL!

Many thanks for your comments.

They will be in demand for future events.

Mr. Softee dance, breaking tradition in 1980. kzfaq.info/get/bejne/r9GErMaAvq_DdHk.html

Thank you, I am sure the dancers will love your comments.

Thank you.

Hi to Brisbane.

Ciao to Brisbane from Rome, Italy😍 un'abbraccio❤

@30306 Ciao back to Rome from Brisbane. Thank you for making me smile 😃 Rome is such a beautiful city ❤️

They don't call the North East USA 'New England' for no reason.

And a Happy Christmas to Greece.

Oh, you are easily pleased. 😀😀

That was for Morris Federation's AGM on Saturday 30 September. Some Morris sides were dancing in Bishop's Castle and some in Ludlow. As Ludlow was nearer I decided to film there. It is a lovely town.

@@MorrisDancersUK It is indeed - most of it at least!

Many thanks.

Cheers 🥂🌹❤️ Merry Christmas✨️

I just hope they continue to dance in the same way in the future because it is so entertaining.

The money was only resting in the account lol

Oliver Cromwell was born 25 April 1599, 151 years after the earliest confirmation of a performance of morris dancing in England on 19 May 1448, when Moryssh daunsers were paid 7s (35p) for their services.

@@MorrisDancersUK No nothing is as it seems. Stick fighting in Ireland started LONG befor Cromwell was there. You need to calm down. Cromwell banned it

@@MorrisDancersUK oh the 19th of may?

@@MorrisDancersUK The use of armoured infantry in Gaelic Ireland from the 9th century on, came as a counter to the mail-clad Vikings. The arrival of the heavily armoured Norse-Gaelic mercenary Gallowglasses in the early 13th century, was in response to the Norman invasion of Ireland and the Anglo-Normans use of heavily armoured Men-at-arms and Knights. Although the Irish did have knights heavily armored soldiers prior to the gallowglass these were called Ridire in Irish meaning knight as mentioned in the Visio Tnugdali

@@MorrisDancersUK you know what you know but it isn't much

I hope they continue as a side, they are very entertaining.

Hi, I have been told that it would be the melodeon. But you can hear the oboe more clearly!

@@MorrisDancersUK For sure - I like the melodeon, but that oboe carries really well, and adds a mysterious feel to the tune!

A different morris tradition.

Hi, I have emailed your question to Gidderskins.

Hi, Gidderskins have told me that they composed the dance but it has no name. The tune is The RSB (Raunchy Star Bird) by Andy Cutting.

You were so attracted to him you could not take your eyes off him, that's fair enough.

For some reason the different teams of Morris dancers are called sides.

Accidents will happen even though they rehearse a lot. Dancers have slipped or tripped and it will continue to happen where there are live performances.

Thank You! /Submariner 🇷🇺/

Low self-esteem can be a major reason for putting others down.

Women have been dancing Morris for over a hundred years possibly longer.

You ok hun? 🙄

Cuckoo!

I would imagine that comments similar to yours has echoed through the centuries as people of the previous generation believed that only they danced traditional Morris. Morris dancing like all traditions evolves and changes. The original Morris dance would probably be nothing like the Morris dancing during your time. The original Morris dancers would frown on Cotswold, Border and Northwest Morris but these all came about as traditional Morris evolved. In the two weeks that this video has been public it has generated more views and likes than any other video of Morris videos (over 300) that I have uploaded so if it encourages more people to become interested in Morris dancing, join a side or attend a Day of Dance then that is fantastic.

Your comment says more about your personal feelings than about the Morris itself. We know Morris dancing was well established in the 1600s. In 1618, the entire side and 2 musicians were arrested for Morris dancing on the sabbath in Bradmore, Notts. The written records of the arrests are written in such a way as to assume a general understanding of what "Morris dancing" was, so that means it wasn't new or unusual at that time. We know the names of the Bradmore dancers and musicians, but we do not know what dances they did, what tunes they played, or what they wore. The fact that they were dancing on the sabbath in the time of the puritans is evidence that they were the type of people who were not afraid of breaking social conventions. We know that Sharp encountered the Headington Quarry Morris Dancers in 1899 and we even know the tunes and his description of the dances they did. However, very few sides, not even the current HQMD, do the dances exactly as Sharp wrote them down. Costumes have changed (who whitewashes their work boots boots these days?) and instruments have changed. Kimber played the Anglo concertina, invented in the 1800s, for a "tradition" that went back centuries before. Styles have changed. Attitudes have changed. The demographic has changed: most Morris dancers are not farm labourers, builders, or quarry workers. The location has changed: Cotswold dances performed in Canada, the Netherlands, the USA, and Hong Kong, as well as all over the UK. The context has changed. It has gone from being local dances by local people, once or twice a year, to a weekly hobby. The repertoire has changed enormously. Some of the most popular dances these days were "composed" or "reworked" after WW2. "The Morris" as we now know it was largely invented by Sharp, Neale, and others as they used the collected material as a basis for promoting their own social, political, or religious agendas. (See Dr Matt Simons' research on this.) For most of the 20th century, there were more female dancers than male. Indeed, the (formerly) all-male Morris Ring was set up in 1934 to provide a context for men to dance with other men because male dancers were in the minority. Morris dancing is a unique blend of ritual and street entertainment, and it is no one's job to dictate the style, repertoire, or costumes because it will continue to develop in order to remain relevant. This side int he video, as a new side, does it well. Young people performing the Morris proudly and enjoying it is a wonderful thing.

@@mikefule330 I would like to thank you for taking the time to write and post this response. You have obviously studied Morris for some time and you opened my eyes to some of the history. I enjoy filming the Morris sides but I know very little of the history. Many thanks.

@@MorrisDancersUK Thank you. I have been a Cotswold dancer 40 years and am Foreman of my side. The side shown in the video is not Cotswold, of course, but the principles are the same. In 1898 there was no such thing as "The Morris". There was only "morris dancing" which was an old custom that was dying out. Since the revival (post 1899) enthusiasts have tended to group historical styles together. The dances collected from the Cotswolds are all called "Cotswold" even though there are substantial differences between, say, Headington and Fieldtown. The dances from the English/Welsh borders are all grouped together as "Border", and so on. It's a bit like Neanderthal man being named after the place where a few bones were found, even though the species had been widespread in its time. Historically, these groupings of dances would not have been recognised. Each village side just did "morris dancing" with little thought for what happened in other villages, or regions. We know Morris dancing in one form or another was once widespread. We have the record I mentioned from Bradmore, Notts, and there are surviving traditions at Winster, and Hayfield, both in Derbyshire. Rattlejag Morris have reconstructed/devised some very unusual dances based on records of traditional dancing in their area of Nottinghamshire. Whether it is a performance or a ritual or somewhere in between is a matter of personal perspective. I see the side in the video dancing with enthusiasm and some attention to detail, and working as a team, and that makes it Morris to me.

​Tradition means the transmission of customs or beliefs from generation to generation, or the fact of them being passed on in this way (OED). When radical variation is introduced making it starkly different from what might have been passed on from the previous generation, severing custom in the process, any true traditional aspect becomes very tenuous indeed.

The desire to feel superior to others can be a common reason for some individuals to put others down.

@@MorrisDancersUK I don't feel superior to any one. It's just my opinion.

I suppose you're one those cancel culture do gooders?

@@wodens-hitman1552 Not at all. I just find this 'dance' not very sophisticated and I'm not British after all.

@@Presto1920 Who said it was supposed to be sophisticated? It's all about having fun and for the enjoyment of those who watch it as well as dance it. The question arises "why the bleep would you be watching it" if it causes you such pain. Best to turn your computer/TV back the the cartoons.