ALTON Morris are holding a day of dance in the town centre next Saturday (July 29) to celebrate 25 years since they started dancing ‘Border’ Morris.

They will be joined by four other sides – Mayflower Morris, Hook Eagle, Ellington Morris and Knickerbocker Glory.

The day starts at 11am and there are three dance spots – The Market Square, outside the Curtis Museum/Assembly Rooms, and in front of the community centre. You can catch sight of the colourful dancers until 4.30pm.

Alton Morris, with their distinctive red and green painted faces and jackets, dance in the style that originated in the English villages along the borders of England and Wales. Early accounts of the dancing from the 16th Century describe the dancers as both “unruly” and “disguised”.

In the 17th and 18th centuries, out-of-work farm labourers would smear charcoal on their faces before dancing to avoid detention for begging. These traditions are maintained today with a vigorous, free-wheeling style of performing and a black or coloured face. Visiting side Hook Eagle also dance in this tradition and wear a ragged jacket with faces painted black.

Ellington Morris dances in the ‘Cotswold’ tradition, the style usually associated with Morris dancers wearing white with straw hats, bells and hankies; Mayflower Morris dance in the North West style which originally hailed from Lancashire which is why they wear the clogs of the mill workers; and Knickerbocker Glory are Appalachian dancers, a loose form of tap dancing.

Brian Good, Alton resident and ‘Bagman’ for the side (in charge of the bag of money), said: “I’m delighted we are celebrating the 25th anniversary of Alton Morris with a day of dance. It’s great that we are maintaining this little slice of English folk tradition in the Alton area. Long may it continue!”

Alton has had a Morris side since 1979 when a Winchester Morris man, David Cooper, moved near Alton and founded a Cotswold dance group. After consultation with the curator of the Curtis Museum, he created a costume that reflected the town’s brewing history consisting of black breeches, red socks, a sash or ‘baldrick’ across the chest featuring a lion hop mark and a knitted red hat copied from the brewers’ caps in the museum. It’s fair to say that the hats looked very much like Noddy’s hat but without the bell!

In 1991, it was decided that due to the dwindling number of dancers (possibly due to the brewers’ hats) the side would have to admit women. This wasn’t popular with some of the dancers despite women having been instrumental in popularising and maintaining the tradition in the early 20th Century. There was still anti-women discrimination in the Morris world at that time and it meant that the side had to leave the all-male Morris ring. Accordingly, it was agreed that women would only dance ‘Border’ dances and ‘Wimmin’s’ dances while the men did ‘Border’ and ‘Cotswold’. The costume or ‘kit’ retained the black breeches and red socks but gained a black jacket with red and green ‘tatters’ as well as a bowler hat that the dancers decorated with badges, ribbons and flowers. Bells were still worn under the knee.

The new mixed Alton Morris started practising in the autumn of 1991 with a view to ‘dancing out’ in the summer of 1992. They first performed at the Assembly Rooms in Alton in aid of the charity Tree Aid. The side only knew four Border dances and, as they rarely had enough men to dance Cotswold or women to dance Wimmin’s dances, they became really proficient at their somewhat limited repertoire. In fact, they soon gave up any idea of having equal numbers of men and women in a dance too, except for the notable exception of one dance called Willy Whacking!

After the first year the side gave up Cotswold and Wimmin’s dancing to concentrate solely on Border dances which they do to this day.

The lively side can be found dancing at many festivals and at one time were involved in the Bower Decking which David Cooper started in the village of Oakhanger where he lived. The dancers, musicians and villagers processed into the woods, cut down some tree branches, processed back out and built a bower for the May Queen. They have also danced at Wimborne, Chippenham, Oxford Sidmouth and Rochester festivals to name but a few.

Of course, like all self-respecting morris sides they can also be found dancing outside pubs on summer evenings. So far this year they have visited several local pubs, including The Three Horseshoes, the The Greyfriar and The White Hart. On July 28, you can also see them at The George in Alton. One tradition that seems to have mainly died out now is the pub landlord providing a foaming jug of beer for the thirsty dancers, a tradition much mourned by Alton Morris today!

In the winter months the side practises at Alton Infant School on Friday evenings and new dancers and musicians are always welcome. For more details or to get involved, e-mail [email protected] or call 01420 542819.