THE HISTORY OF MORRIS DANCING IN
LICHFIELD
The
earliest record found so far pertaining to morris dancing in Lichfield is in
the Staffordshire county records of 1747, in which a payment was made to Morris
Dancers who danced at the election held that year.
In
addition to being paid to dance at elections, the morris dancers were paid the
sum of one guinea every Whit Monday and every Christmas throughout the latter
part of the 18th century. The last payment to be shown in the county records
was in 1830, and by this time the benefactor was Lord Anson (an ancestor of the
current Lord Lichfield).
Early
written records associate the Morris with the Lichfield Whitsun Bower, an event
dating back to at least 1132, and which is still held in Lichfield on Spring
Bank Holiday Monday. An engraving dating from about 1780 shows the Lichfield
Whitsun Bower procession passing through Market Square. The procession is led
by a pipe and tabor player, a fool, Maid Marian (a man dressed as a woman), and
eight morris dancers dressed in breeches and white shirts sewn with ribbons.
They wear no hats nor bells and clash short sticks together as they dance.
Records show that the morris men performed at the Bower until the late 1870s.
From
1890 to 1914, a team of boy dancers from the Midland Truant School appeared in
the Bower. They were led by a Mr George who was one of the pre-1890 dancers.
Then from 1919 to 1929 another team of boys, led by George Gallimore, took part
in the Bower. From 1929 until 1936 their place was taken by English Electric
Morris Dancers from Stafford.
In
the mid 1950s, the Men of Mercia Morris Men from Burton danced in Lichfield and
met a number of old people who remembered the old dances. They subsequently
received the notation for the dances and were able to reconstruct them. A
recent paper given by Roy Judge to the Folklore Society (written with the
assistance of our member, Pete Wallis) suggests that the details received were
in fact a hoax perpetrated by Bill Everett, one of their own dancers. If this
was true, then Bill took the secret to his tragically early grave.
Since
being reconstructed, the Lichfield Processional dance has been performed in the
Bower, first by Men of Mercia, then by Green Man's Morris, who in recent years
have been accompanied by the present Lichfield Morris Men.
FURTHER
INFORMATION
Lichfield
Morris Men meet on Thursday evenings, practising throughout the winter and
touring local villages in summer. In addition they can be seen at shows,
events, and festivals most weekends in the summer. If you want to try your hand
(or feet) at Morris dancing, new dancers or musicians will be made most
welcome. Please speak to any of the dancers, or contact Pete Wallis on
01543 491139 for further information, or email pwallis@ntlworld.com.