Morrising

Pigsty Morris, dancing at Blaise Castle

Yes, as you may well have guessed Liz Hassall and I went Morris Dancing on Friday night. Some people (bigdaddystevieb being one of them) have raised a few issues with ordinands dancing the Morris. I can assure you that any Morrising that is danced in the twenty first century is done without any pagan intention. Most Morris dances that exist today have more in common with Victorian obsessions with ideal notions of English 'folk' than with dangerous pagan rites. Cecil Sharpe was an effective collector of the English folk song and dance and most of what we see and hear today is down to him and his contemporaries.

Anyway, we went to the Kelvin Players rehearsal rooms/theatre, off the Gloucester Rd, for a Morris Dancing taster session led by Pigsty Morris. They were great enthusiasts and made the dances look very easy (I can assure you they weren't). The best thing about the group was their generosity and ability to include us. I realised quite how unfit I am - but I am at least co-ordinated so I didn't cause any injury with my stick. I danced with a stick! My hands are still sore because one of the pigsty morrisers was a bit rough and repeatedly hit my stick too hard. It was the bouncing that got me (I think I might need a slightly firmer bra). You have to bounce a lot.

I really have had a very exciting week. But today I am paying the price for my exuberance. I have sore legs, the soles of my feet feel like they have been slapped with twigs repeatedly, my arms hurt and my hands are very weak and red (they also have required quite a lot of hand cream to make them soft). So, I am having a well earned early night.