the curly-headed ploughboys

2 7 11 14

ISSUE 74Spring 2018

Full contents

on back page

Photo

St e

ve

Ho

lder

THE CURLY-HEADED

PLOUGHBOYS

Pete Simpson third from left and fellow Jockey Morris Menastonish the crowds in the rustic setting of Birmingham'sNew Street during the side's annual Plough Tour. See page 2

The Morris Ring

At 08:37 on Saturday, 6th

January 2018, I added theabove to my Facebookaccount.Well, what else would anyoneexpect for that time of year inEngland!For many years Jockey Men’sMorris have marked PloughMonday, the traditional dayof farm labourers returning towork, by dragging a plough(and dancing) in CentralBirmingham.A plough? In the middle of theUK’s second city? Many abemused Brummie has comeup to us over the years to betold we’re doing it to ensurethe city’s prosperity andgrowth. It must have worked:Brum has been transformedover the last twenty years, andthere are a lot of veryprosperous people in theburgeoning constructiontrades hereabouts.

For a long time we’ve startedthe day with the blessing ofthe plough at St Martin’s inthe Bullring. This was ourplan for 2018; however, thechurch staff emailed the

bagman to say that as they’dnot heard from him recentlythey had no-one available. Ifthey’d only read the twoemails attached to thismissive they might havenoticed they were both datedDecember 2017. Oops,straight to the first spot atEdgbaston Street, then.Guests, the lifeblood of ourtour; well, we’ve all had ourturn at dragging farm-machinery around the shops,we’re keen to share theexperience with our friends.This year’s guest list ended upsomewhat biased towardsBirmingham and its environs.Apart from ourselves, we hadBlack Adder, Beorma andGlorishears. all hailing fromBirmingham. From nearbyStourbridge we were joinedby Bedcote Morris. We weredelighted to be joined, also, bya full contingent of MerseyMorris Men. Finally, but by

no means least, a scratch sidemade up of members ofWestminster, Ravensbourne,Leeds, Thames Valley, 1st

Sedgley, Stafford and therecently demised Green Mancompleted the muster.First dance, a massedHighland Mary, Bampton tothe tune Speed the Plough ofcourse (we Jockey boys rarelymiss an opportunity to beobvious!). After a few danceswe split into two groups totour the city centre. Using a‘follow-me’ tactic we wereable to keep innocentbystanders on their toes; justas they breathed sighs of reliefas the first wave moved on,the second hit from the rear!Despite the cold, damp start agood time was had by all. Bythe end the weather had evenimproved to just cold.Thanks to all who attended.We hope you enjoyed it asmuch as we did.

Freeze the Plough“A cold, damp and miserable Saturday in the centre ofBirmingham – it must be the annual Jockey PloughTour!”Jockey Morris Men's Steve Holderwraps up warm for Brummagem's chillystreets.

Mixing it up outside St Philip's Cathedral

Photographs by theauthor

Mersey Morris Men

THE MORRIS RING CIRCULAR Issue 74 Spring 2018

2

Squire'sRantings

Squire of the Morris RingEd Worrall manages tofind affordable ale in thecapital, gets to dine in aCambridge college andfollows in Father Ken'sfootsteps.

The sharp-eyed amongst

you will spot a none-too-

subtle adjustment to the title

of this regular item. Enough

said!

The start of July found me in

Reading for Kennet Morris

Men’s 60th anniversary

celebrations. The event was

organised as a day of dance,

much like the national Joint

Morris Organisations event.

Sides from around the area

from all three Morris groups

were invited to help celebrate

Kennet’s milestone. Dance

spots in and around the town

centre were followed by a

finale in the town’s Forbury

gardens. It was a great day out

with over fifteen sides taking

part. Special mention must go

to Customs & Exiles, a mixed

Northwest side whom I met

earlier in the year at Osset

Beer Cart. Excellent dancing

and a credit to the Northwest

tradition. A wind-down

session next to the river

Kennet at the Jolly Anglers

pub complete with BBQ,

ended the day in style. Many

thanks to Pete and Ann de

Courcy for putting me up.

However, my weekend was

not yet done. I was up early on

the Sunday morning to head

for Stoke Bruerne near

Northampton to meet up with

Rose & Castle Morris for their

weekend of dance. If you have

never been to the Boat Inn at

Stoke Bruerne, you are

missing out. A wonderful

canal side pub and Rose &

Castle’s practice venue. I

arrived just in time to play for

my own side Saddleworth

who were due to dance about

thirty seconds after I got

there. Bus tours had been out

on the Saturday and another

great set of sides were dancing

from all three organisations. I

counted about thirty Morris

sides watched in two days!

Dancing on home turf with

Saddleworth at our local Folk

Festival and a break from

Morris to celebrate Carolyn’s

and my wedding anniversary

were next.

The end of July saw me and

my own side in London for

Ravensbourne Morris Men’s

London Ring Meeting. The

opportunity to dance along

both the South Bank and

outside the Tower of London

was too good to miss.

Saddleworth also took the

opportunity to process

Northwest style across Tower

Bridge![See MRC 73]

Ravensbourne deserve huge

praise for putting together the

weekend including some

challenging spaces to arrange

dance spots. Despite the rain,

the show dancing was good,

started by Saddleworth, who

then processed off to the

Wetherspoons across the

road. Well, it was the cheapest

pint we had found all day…

The highlight, apart from a

surprise visit from old friends

Leeds MM who were added

into the show, was Taylor’s

Men dancing into the Morris

Ring. This is a tradition that

goes back many years, and is a

way for a side to ‘arrive’ as full

members. Taylor’s Men did

not disappoint, performing a

9 man version of

Longborough Trunkles.

Excellently danced and

excellently played by their

musicians also. It will be

always be a highlight of my

Squireship to have presented

Taylor’s Men with their staff

of membership at the feast

that evening.

Incidentally, the staff

presented to them had

previously been held by

Sheffield University Morris

Men. They had danced into

the Morris Ring in 1972 at a

London Ring Meeting, which

Steven Archer, our Treasurer,

had attended as a dancer with

Bathampton. Steven danced

in the Taylor’s Men set. By

way of further symmetry a

new mixed Sheffield

University side started in

2017. I contacted them after


3

the meeting to pass on the

story, and they were delighted

to hear something of the

history of Morris at Sheffield

Uni. They hope to obtain

some of the old kit and regalia

from the old Sheffield Uni

side and bring them back into

use. It showed me that the

passing on of traditions did

not stop with Sharp, it goes on

around us all the time. We

should be mindful of what we

ourselves can pass on.

My usual August break saw

weeks of rushcutting leading

up to the Saddleworth

Rushcart Ring Meeting on the

August Bank Holiday

weekend. It was a special

feeling to take part in my

side’s most important event

as Squire of the Morris Ring.

The Rushcart has become an

important part of our local

community and a focal point

of the parish church’s year.

Many of you will have been to

the Rushcart and know what

it is like. However, it means a

lot to us, as a side, that we are

so well supported – not just by

our own community, but by

the Morris world also. The

Rushcart in 2018 will also be

on the Bank Holiday weekend

and will see me dancing out as

Morris Ring Squire on the

Sunday afternoon, straight

after the Church service. I can

think of no better way to end

my term of office.

The following weekend

Carolyn and I went to Derby to

help Ripley Morris Men

celebrate their 90th

anniversary. Except after a

re-count they decided it was

their 92nd anniversary.

What's a couple of years

between friends? This was a

day of dance in similar format

to Kennet’s and it proved

again to be a successful

formula for an event. City

centre dance spots, easy

transport links for sides to get

to the event and plenty of

facilities available for food

and beer (and there are some

excellent pubs in Derby!). All

of this makes the day

financially accessible for

guest sides and it was a well

attended day.

The next Friday night we both

went over to help Grimsby

Morris Men celebrate their

50th (I checked and they had

definitely got their sums

right). Also there was Paul

Cross as their area rep and his

wife Debs. It was an informal

evening and lovely to spend

time with a side I have rarely

seen. In talking to their

squire, he thought the last

Squire of the Ring who had

come to see them on home

turf was Kenneth Loveless!

Well, Father Ken is somewhat

of a hard act to follow, but I did

my best. In many ways, sides

like Grimsby are the bedrock

of the Morris Ring: active in

their local community and

perhaps taking in one or two

events further afield in a

season. It was a pleasure to

share their celebrations and

to represent the Morris Ring

in doing so.

The end of September saw me

back in Cambridgeshire for

Peterborough Morris Men's

day of dance. It was a good day

and I was pleased to present

Ollie Simons with his staff of

office after he danced in as the

new squire. Having done the

same for his predecessor the

previous year, it's become a

regular arrangement!

Early October took me back to

Earlsdon for their annual

Earlsdon tour, one of my

favourite days out in Morris: a

Northwest processional tour

around Earlsdon with one of

the best sides you’ll see. One

coincidence during the day

was being introduced to the

landlord of the Broomfield

Tavern, who is the nephew of

the late Colin Fleming (Squire

of the Morris Ring between

1972 and 1974). It's a small

world…

In mid-October I went up to

Leeds for the day to meet up

with the 18-30 weekend.

There was some great dancing

and I was made to feel very

welcome (and old in a good

way). The 18-30 weekend has

brought together young men

in Morris Ring sides for some

years now and brought sides

together also in the process.

This can only be a good thing

for us as an organisation.

The following week I was in

Birmingham for Jockey

Morris Men’s day of dance. As

an associate member of


4

Jockey, it was a chance to

wear my Jockey kit and blend

in for the day. Birmingham is

a great city centre for dancing

and Jockey are renowned for

their hospitality – a winning

combination for a great

Morris day out. The usual

wind-down over Belgian beer

took place in the Post Office

Vaults to end the day. As they

say in Jockey, “Marvellous!”

The following day was the

Advisory Council meeting in

Ryton-upon-Dunsmore at

the home pub of the recently

formed Knightlow Morris

Men (Ollie is the landlord and

a dancer). Much useful

discussion ensued.

The Winter Ale season then

kicked in. It started with

something a little out of the

ordinary, however: an

invitation to Cambridge

Morris Men's feast. Having

spent my Morris life touring

the Scout huts and Village

Halls of England attending

Morris do’s it was quite

something to attend one held

at Trinity College Cambridge!

It was an honour to be invited

and to become an associate

member of Cambridge MM as

part of the proceedings.

Students of Morris Ring

history will know that the

impracticality of inviting

large numbers of men to

attend the Cambridge feast,

and therefore to become

associates of CMM to keep

people in touch, was one of the

reasons the Morris Ring was

created. And so it became

possible to maintain links in

another way. This has given

me a profound sense of the

history of the Morris revival

and the Morris Ring’s part in

that; it is something I am

proud to help continue.

The Open Morris AGM was

next up and, once again,

along with Mel Barber

(President of the Morris

Federation), I made myself

useful as a teller for their

voting. I look forward to

welcoming representatives of

the Federation and Open to

our ARM in March.

Anker Morris Men’s Ale

followed that and I was once

again asked to present a staff

of office to an incoming

Squire. This time (and

perhaps for the first time in

the Morris Ring?) the

presentation was made to a

woman: Emma Melville.

Emma is an excellent

musician for Anker, and

many other sides. Welcome

to the Squires' Union, Emma!

My final Morris expedition of

2017 was to the Original

Welsh Border Morris tour, an

annual event on the Saturday

before Christmas with

performances in and around

Worcester. The Original

Welsh was one of the first

revival sides to focus on the

collected Border tradition

and has met annually ever

since the early 1970s. Seeing

the collected dances in their

own locality – White Ladies

Aston, Evesham, Upton-

upon-Severn, Pershore – was

quite special . Like a Rushcart

in Saddleworth, a rapper tour

in Monkseaton or

Headington Quarry at the

Miner’s Arms, seeing

something in its original

setting can offer new insights.

The Morris traditions can and

should be danced anywhere,

but an appreciation of the

source can help us better

understand what the essence

of a tradition is.

See you at the A.R.M!

Ed

THE MORRISDANCERthe digital journal that expands our understanding of the Morris in all its forms

Edited by Mac [email protected] from the Morris Ring website.


5

During 2017 Faithful CityMorris Men celebrated

50 years of dancing in andaround Worcester. Thehighlight of this season wasour celebration weekend over7-9th July. The Saturdaycomprised a coach tour roundBredon Hill, stopping at TheSwan in Birlingham, TheQueen Elizabeth in ElmleyCastle and The Star Inn inAshton Under Hill. Onreturning to our base at thevillage hall in Sinton Green weenjoyed a pig roast, archive

the Morris Ring. In theevening, even more friendsarrived, filling the hall andcausing us to spill out into thebeautiful sunny evening.The toast was proposed byMike Garland, formermember of Faithful City andformer Squire of the MorrisRing. Our own squire’s replyhighlighted the strength ofour side which spans thegenerations with agesranging from 12 to…muchhigher! As a result, there’s awealth of experience withinthe side; we even havefounding member, JohnBarker, as an active musician.We are also lucky to have newmembers helping to secureour future.

videos and reminiscing forthe rest of the evening. It was a hot day but everybodygallantly joined in at each ofthe pubs, even after theenormous lunch we had atThe Queen Elizabeth. In fact,we had three sets up togetherdancing Balance the StrawFieldtown straight afterlunch! The whole tour wasmade more special by havingso many former members aswell as friends from othersides with us, including JonMelville, current Bagman of

Faithful City at 50Tim Kelsey reports on a memorable weekend

Current and former membersof Faithful City Morris Men

PhotosbyTim Kelsey

Faithfully balancing Three sets for Fieldtown


6

the following offer: we woulddance free of charge at anevent of their choice, if theysent along parents/staff to ourpractices so that they coulddance with us at the event. Theidea was that we might gainsome recruits. The letters weresent out in January and wewaited for the replies to comein.In the event, we had tworeplies! One, in May, asked ifwe could dance in July, (theywould send someone to ourpractises in June to learn thedances), and one other schoolasking us to dance in June.They would send six or sevenpeople to our practices fromthe end of January.Of the men that they sent,three stayed with usthroughout the practicesessions, and by the time of theevent, two had indicated thatthey wished to stay longer. Atthis point we felt that theexercise had been valid, asthey were proving to be abledancers, and when we dancedat the school, several of theparents ‘had a go’, butultimately, for a variety ofreasons, this wasunsuccessful.Unfortunately for us, one ofthe guys already ran a scoutgroup and sang in an amateuroperatic society. When youadded to this that he was also aconsultant anaesthetist at alocal hospital, it soon becameobvious that something wouldhave to give – and yes, it wasthe Morris.The second recruit did staywith us for almost a year, butthe financial crash put a strainon his business, and given thefact that he had a young family,meant that he did, reluctantly,leave.We danced at a local secondaryschool, a local scout group,and gave some instruction.Very enjoyable, but again nointerest.We also tried dancing in localshopping centres, advertisingin local papers, using the

It is now just over a year sinceFebruary 2017, when the

men of Green Man made thedecision to close the Club.What follows is a purelypersonal attempt to chart thecourse of the Club in the lastfew years, in the hope thatwhat happened to us, canpossibly be avoided by others.

I first joined Green Man, inJanuary 2000, at the youngage of almost 50! I had neverdanced morris before, but Iwas made to feel verywelcome. I didn’t feel out ofplace either, age wise – at thattime I think that there wereonly a couple of men who wereyounger than myself.I knew little about the Club,but was soon to learn of its’illustrious history. I’ll not gointo that here, but suffice it tosay that during the late 1950sand 1960s the Club hadperformed at major festivalsboth in the UK and outside it,and had provided two Squiresof the Morris Ring, JohnVenables and Ray King.Over the next few years, wesaw the addition to our ranksof one new and one returningdancer, but the lack of recruitsdidn’t seem to matter too

much, as we were stillperforming each week, andmanaging to put out two sideson most occasions. In 2005, when the Clubcelebrated its 50th birthday,Colin Spencer produced AShort History of The GreenMan’s Morris and SwordClub. In it he expressed

concerns about the future ofthe Club, pointing out the lackof recruitment of youngerdancers and the ageing of theexisting members. This Ithink, was the first time thatmany of us had thought ofthese issues seriously. Hementioned in the book that atone time the club had had highhopes of continuing via thesons of existing men. Althoughthis group did perform inpublic, it failed to bear fruit.We soon decided that we mustdo something to try to recruitnew members. We werealready trying to persuadeaudience members ‘to have ago’ during our shows, and wedecided to try to redouble ourefforts in this field.We also adopted a suggestionthat we should write to asmany of the schools inBirmingham as we could, with

Green Man's Morrisatthe 2006 LichfieldBower

Green Man’s Morris and Sword Club: the final chapter

Paul Oldhams, Green Man's last bagman, tells the all-too familiar story of a sidestruggling with the competing challenges of everyday life – and anno domini.


7

Morris Ring publicity boardsand offering a free drink toany one who would comealong to a practice afterwards.Again, we had no takers.Among other efforts were theprinting of leaflets and beermats, which we distributedfreely and left in thosehostelries in which wedanced, and a standing chartwas professionally madewhich we carried with us. Itgoes without saying that wealso took the details of anyoneexpressing an interest.In 2015, informal discussions

took place with StaffordMorris Men and UttoxeterHearts of Oak Morris Menabout joint performances, butexcessive travelling workedagainst us.Our final throw of the dice, in2016, was to decide to moveour base of operation fromErdington in Birmingham toLichfield. This idea hadearlier been rejected, becauseit could offend the membersof Lichfield Morris Men, inthat they might feel that wewere drawing on their pool ofpotential recruits. By 2016,

however, Lichfield MMseemed to be in declinethemselves, and although wesuggested that they joinedwith us at our practices, theywere unable to do so.We met in a city centre pub,advertised in the local papers,and although again weoffered various inducements,we had no takers. By now, inlate 2016, our number of fitmen had dropped so that wewere unable to put out a side.We had already decided in2016 that, apart from theLichfield Bower, we would

accept no fee-payingbookings, and in December2016 decided that we wereunable to dance out. Once thisdecision was taken, it wasonly a short step to decide thatwithout performance, therewas no real point in existing,and we decided to close.Where did we go wrong? Didwe go wrong? With hindsight,it is easy to criticise. Perhapsin the early days the Club setits standards very high, wasnot prepared to moderatethem, and therefore lostrecruits. Perhaps again, the

Club lost the chance ofrecruiting sons of the thendancers. Certainly, in mytime, I think that there was adegree of complacency, andby the time that we realisedour problem, it was too late.We were unable to attractyounger men, as we were nolonger ‘young’ ourselves.All I can say is that if we couldhave done more, we wouldhave done, but how can beingoutside in the ‘fresh’ air andexercising compete with 24-hour television, computers,Xboxes and the like?

Since the decision was made,many of us have been inreceipt of good wishes and toour friends in the Morris wethank you for these. Some ofour men have joined otherclubs, but for most, the end ofGreen Man has meant the endof our dancing days. TheLichfield Bower processionwhich we led for 60 years hasbeen left in the capable feet ofthe ladies of Three SpiresMorris.

The dancers and musicians of Green Man's Morrisand Sword Clubrelax at the 2006 Chipperfieldweekend, hosted by Greensleeves Morris Men.


8


Since the Thaxtedweekend in 2017, which

celebrated 90 years of theannual gathering, a numberof important historical factshave come to light. MikeGoatcher, Matt Simons and Ihave pooled our researchand knowledge of the earlydays of the Morris weekendsin Thaxted, and this articleis the result. (It also gives methe opportunity to challengesome earlier misconceptionsand misunderstandings.)This year it will be my 60th

full visit to Thaxted,although I must have drivenover on the Sunday in 1956or/and 1957 as I have a veryclear memory of Alec Hunter(who died in January 1958)acting as MC at the countrydancing then held in theyard of The Swan.In 1958, when Squire of theCambridge MM, we dancedOrange in Bloom at themass show and again (byspecial request) in thevicarage garden where theSunday country and Morrisdancing was held for the firsttime. The following year wewere also very greatlyhonoured to dance The Roseduring the church service.This was the second suchoccasion and Father Jack[Putterill] told thecongregation not to mentionsuch an activity in case thepress got hold of it: ‘Thedancing is part of theoffertory—please do notclap!”Whilst congratulating theThaxted Men (especially thecurrent members who work

so hard each year to give usall a well-oiled, enjoyableweekend) and, indeed, alltheir predecessors inmaintaining the traditionover 90 years, we must notforget how it all began. Themen of Thaxted, Cambridge,Letchworth should also beremembered along withCecil Sharp.In the very early days of therevival, Morris dancing wastaught in schools often, butnot always, by womenteachers, and for adults werecatered for by local branchesof the English Folk DanceSociety. By 1910 suchactivity was well establishedat Letchworth, Thaxted andCambridge among otherplaces. Development washalted by the Great War, butby 1920 the dancing hadrestarted in all three towns

by groups primarily formedto encourage men to dance,as the Morris had ofnecessity been taken over bywomen. The men in eachplace wanted to get out ofthe grip of the EFDS, formedin 1911, and to give displaysrather than just tocontinuously learn the stepsetc. There was a great deal ofcontact between the groups,encouraged by Alec Hunter,then of Letchworth and laterof Thaxted, and they heldfolk dance weekendstogether, which includedmen’s Morris, from 1923. In 1926 men from the threeclubs, with some others,gathered for a verysuccessful weekend inArdeley, a small village nearLetchworth, where the vicarwas Rev Francis Harton, alifelong friend of Alec andindeed known as “FatherFolky”. Harton, however,was subsequently appointedDean of Wells; the new vicarnot being interested in suchactivities, it was decided tohold the weekend in 1927 inAshwell, about eight milesaway. The incumbent therewould not allow dancing ona Sunday but Conrad Noel,Vicar of Thaxted, welcomedsuch a gathering andsanctioned Sunday dancing,providing the men attendedthe Church service first. Thistradition has shaped all RingMeetings since, until veryrecently.Hence July 1927 saw the firstofficial gathering in Thaxtedof Morris men from varioussides; they attended as

Thaxted and the Morris RingCambridge Morris Men's John Jenner, assisted by Mike Goatcher and Matt Simons,

reflects upon the events that shaped the formative years of our organisation.

Alex Hunter

9

individuals much as weattend present dayinstructionals. Thesegatherings were supportedby the EFDS but the men,gave shows in and aroundThaxted. The weekendfinished on the Sundayafternoon with countrydancing. So started theMorris weekend for menwhich, with the exception ofthe five war years, has beencontinued by ThaxtedMorris Men ever since. Joseph Needham, who knewAlec Hunter well and hadalso been for some years afrequent and active visitor toThaxted church (but who didnot take up the morris until1930), was Squire of theCambridge Morris Men in1933 and wanted there to bea much closer connectionbetween Cambridge andmen from other clubs. Theonly method then was bypersonal invitation to theCMM annual feast, whichalso bestowed honorarymembership. But there werenow too many men who hadconnections with Cambridgeand The Travelling Morrice,so it was suggested thatother men or even wholeclubs might becomeaffiliated to the CMM.However, on October 5th1933 Joseph and ArthurPeck, on their way back fromchecking out a venue for aprojected Cambridge MorrisMen training week inNorfolk, formed the basicideas for a nationalorganisation and called ameeting of other residentCambridge dancers onNovember 2nd 1933. As aresult it was agreed to writeto the six clubs who hadclose connections withCambridge, with the

suggestion to form anassociation to be called “TheMorris Ring”. Four of theclubs wrote back inagreement, but it seems thatGreensleeves Morris Mennever received the letter.After a letter of explanation(a copy of which is extant)they gave their full support.During the training week adraft constitution was drawnup by Joseph and Arthurwith the help of suggestionsfrom other men. There iseven a photograph of Josephand Arthur working on theconstitution. It was thoughtthat Alec Hunter, though notpresent, should be asked tobe the first Squire; WalterAbson agreed to be theBagman.Consequently the MorrisRing was formally institutedat the 10th feast of theCambridge Morris Men onthe following Saturday: April14th 1934.It was agreed that the otherclubs and individual Morrismen should be informed thata meeting to discuss TheMorris Ring as “somethingin being” would be heldduring the annual Morrisweekend in Thaxted and anoutline given of its natureand purpose. A copy ofJoseph’s letter is in thearchives. A meeting ofrepresentatives from five ofthe founder clubs was heldin Mrs King’s house inNewbiggin Street, whereJoseph, Arthur and othermen usually stayed for theweekend, and the proposeddraft constitution with smallamendments was agreed.This was followed by ageneral meeting of all theMorris men in the vicaragegarden on the Sundayafternoon, when the draft

constitution was explainedand the Morris Ring waswell and truly constituted.The inaugural meeting of theMorris Ring was held laterthat same year (on October20th) at Cecil Sharp Housewhen Douglas Kennedy, thedirector of the EFDSS, itselfformed just two yearsearlier, welcome the Ring asa fellow society.The representatives of thethirteen clubs there presentformally agreed the finalversion of the constitutionand elected the first officers.Douglas then presented thestaff of office, given by theEFDSS, to Alec Hunter who,as the first Squire, took thechair and The Morris Ringwas finally established. From 1935 the already wellestablished Thaxted Morrisweekend took on the mantleof a meeting of the MorrisRing, though initially stillreferred to as “The MorrisWeekend”, whereas othermeetings until the war wereorganised by the MorrisRing bagman. With the hardwork of Thaxted Morris Menand great support from thetownspeople of Thaxted, thishas continued every yearand for the last two years hasreverted to its pre-1935name.All this leads me to concludethat, at the very least, thenames of Alec, Joseph,Arthur and others should beremembered (along, ofcourse, with that of CecilSharp) for stabilising theMorris revival and for givingus the weekends in Thaxted,Ring Meetings and the clubdays that we all so enjoytoday.


10

This is a short history ofthe One Day Wonders

Travelling Morris, whichwound up in 2017 after 30Annual Tours [see MRC73 -Ed.]. We think it’s worthrecording as the team had aunique combination offeatures.The brainchild of ChrisBarber, at that time Fool forForest of Dean Morris Men,the team grew out of hisfrustration at the tendencyfor normal Morris outings tosuffer from “one more man”syndrome, where anincomplete set waited to

dance while men got a beerin or had an ice-cream. Afterhis experience at the Foolsand Animals Weekend runby Wath-upon-DearneMorris Men in 1987, wherehe found men werepractically elbowing eachother to get into the set,Chris had the idea of startinga once-a-year team of 8men: 7 dancers keen todance, with a musician.Having canvassed likelyrecruits, he got the 8 men,and with Tony Ashley ofAnker Morris Men the firsttour was planned for May

1988. Bob Collier of Forestof Dean sketched out the kit,and David Wintle, then alsoof Forest of Dean, suggestedthat the team should dance asingle tradition on tour,rather than the morecommon miscellany. Thefirst tour was based at theSun Inn at Clun, and thisvenue, plus the “one day”nature of the team, led to theadoption of the logo of aSmiling Sun. At the end ofthe first, successful, day themen discussed and settledon a set of basic principlesfor the team to continue.


Just wondering… for thirty yearsJoe Oldaker is in retrospective mood as he considers a truly

unconventional set of Morris men.

David Wintle leads the One Day Wonders

Travelling Morris in an Oddington dance at The

Plough, Wistanstow, on their farewell tour in

2017. Tony Ashley obliges on melodeon.

Pho

toD

an

Fr o

oty

11

The name “One DayWonders” was of course anecho of Will Kempe’s famousexploit, with “Travelling”incorporated because theteam did. The men would meet on aFriday evening and practicethe dances, tour on theSaturday, hold an AGM onSunday morning, andreconvene twelve monthslater. The roles of squire andforeman would rotatethrough the membership,with the squire responsiblefor the tour organisation,and the foreman for thedancing. The squire couldchoose where the tour went,and the dance tradition wasto be decided by theforeman, taught on theFriday evening, and dancedduring the tour. Thetradition would not bepublicised in advance to theteam, except for the musicbeing given to the musician.It was intended to avoidrepetition of any tradition,though in the 30 years of theteam’s existence this provedimpossible to sustain, as notall nominated foremen feltable to research and teachsomething entirely different.If a member had to drop out,it was intended that heshould nominate areplacement. This totallyfailed to work in practice,and replacements werenominated by othermembers when needed,following the rule that asoriginal men retired, noregular Morris team shouldhave more than 2 membersin ODW. This was to avoidthe team dance stylebecoming too fixed, and themembership too inward-looking. Generally, the tourorganisation was to avoidthe indoor camping commonto Morris events, and this

worked, though a couple ofself-catering bunkhouses didfeature, as did the YHA,alongside the more usualpubs.The rules proved a soundbasis for the team’sactivities, with minoradjustments, throughout thethirty years.How did team membershipwork out? Four of theoriginal eight attended allthirty tours. In 2009 thenumber was increased tonine men, due to ongoingproblems with injuries andillness, but in 2016 numbersreverted to eight, againbecause of illness, and thisdid not change again as itwas planned to wind theteam up in 2017. On twotours (1994 and 2008) onlysix dancers and a musicianturned out due tounavoidable last minuteabsences.The following regular Morristeams were represented inthe membership through thelife of One Day Wonders:Forest of Dean, Anker,Whitchurch, LassingtonOak, Green Man, Coventry,Packington, Pinewoods(USA), Northampton,

Kennet, Handsworth,Cambridge, East Suffolk,Icknield Way, Wath-upon-Dearne, Helier, Brackley,and Lincoln &Micklebarrow. Some menwere simultaneously orsuccessively members ofmore than one other team. It will be obvious that overthirty years, in observing the“no repeats” rule for Morristraditions as far aspracticable, the team wouldhave danced a wide variety.In fact twenty-four distincttraditions were performed,with six having repeats:Longborough, Adderbury,Wheatley, Ilmington,Withington, Sherborne,Bledington, Bessels Leigh,Brackley, Bidford,Headington, Bampton,Ducklington, Lower Swell,Kirtlington, Derby,Eynsham, Snowshill, andDuns Tew were performedonce, and with repeats:Badby (2), Bucknell (2),Stanton Harcourt (2),Fieldtown (3), Oddington(2). The repeat of Oddingtonwas a deliberate teamdecision, as it was danced onthe first Tour, and hencechosen for the last, with

The early years Longborough at Haddon Hall in 1990.


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the same foreman, thoughthe actual dances and stylediffered markedly. Likewise,because the foremanchanged each year, therepeats never duplicated theprevious versions.Tours were located all overthe place, from the Gower inthe West to the Norfolk coastin the East, and from theNew Forest in the South tothe Yorkshire Dales in theNorth, plus overseas toJersey. Among particularlymemorable spots were thespectacular courtyards atHaddon Hall and BlenheimPalace, dancing below thekeep at Gorey Castle onJersey, at historic houseslike Charlecote, CoughtonCourt, Calke Abbey, in townslike Warwick, Oakham andWells, on scenic tours inLincolnshire and Yorkshire'sWharfedale – the list couldgo on. Throughout there wasalways (of course!) acarefully chosen selection ofpubs, some highlynoteworthy, for refreshmentand lunch. Certain elementsof the tour became“traditional”: a tea stop(because in the early yearspubs were not open in the

afternoon!), and a dinnerand après Morris session atthe end of the tour.The combination of theabove features made the OneDay Wonders TravellingMorris a unique experiment,as no other Travelling orOnce-a-Year team followsthe same rules, particularlyin choice of dance traditions,where the requirement tolearn six dances on Fridayevening to a standard fit toappear next day meant allmembers had to beexperienced dancers; thetradition taught could betotally unfamiliar, or verydifferent in style to theversion a man usuallydanced. This is what mademembership reallyinteresting in terms ofMorris. For the dancer itrefreshed the habit ofconcentration on thetechnical aspects ofperformance, and for theforeman it presented theopportunity to research andteach a tradition not done byhis own team, or toreconstruct from sometimesvestigial notes an otherwiseobscure tradition and try itout. The whole experience

broadened the knowledge ofthe membership oftraditions not usuallyencountered, and gave anappreciation of how atradition apparentlycoherent in performance isactually the result of carefulselection from very variedand sometimes conflictingsources and authorities. If this sounds rather seriousand academic, it should benoted that the annual tourswere very enjoyable andsociable throughout – thecamaraderie one hopes tofind in Morris was alwaysevident. There is a fund ofmemorable moments, somefunny, some more serious,which there is no space toinclude here, and the aprèsMorris sessions brought outsome excellent music andsinging.This account is put forwardnot just for the record, butalso in the hope that a newgeneration of dancers mightthink the ideas worth takingup and carrying on – theoriginal plan of steadilyrecruiting younger“Wonders” as men droppedout failed to happen, but afresh group might like togive it a whirl, as it offerssomething not available viathe 18-30 Morris, and couldlead into something else forthose no longer eligible forthat. There is a detailed Logand photo record of the teamfrom the beginning, sofurther information aboutthe One Day Wonders andwhat we did can be obtainedfrom the author byinterested parties.

Joe Oldaker served formany years with the OneDay Wonders TravellingMorris. He is Bagman ofAnker Morris Men.

Still going strong Dancing Longborough

at Shrewsbury Castle in 2015.

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During the cold dark daysof last winter an advert

was placed on the MorrisRing website that theAustralian Morris Ringwould be celebrating their70th anniversary in August2017 with a tour taking in 3major Australian cities aswell as a variety oflandmarks and places ofinterest. Not needing muchexcuse to go out to join thiscelebration, I madearrangements back inJanuary to join them for thisOdyssey.August came around veryquickly and I left Heathrowwith no idea of what wascoming and a suitcasestuffed with kit and variousessentials. After two daystravelling (including a stopin Singapore) I landed inAdelaide early on a chillyThursday morning and hadsome time to sleep off thejetlag. The tour began onThursday evening when Iwas taken to the Adelaide

Morris Men practice night. Itwas there that I met RaggedRobin Morris whorepresented the rest of theEnglish visitors on the tour,and along with Adelaidemorris dancers from variouslocal groups was treated to aworkshop describing threeof Ragged Robin’s dances. Iwas introduced to the Squireof the Australian Ring, MikeJames, who had very wiselydecided to go to England thenext day to ensure that whilethe tour was happening hecould claim plausibledeniability if things wentwrong… The following nightwas the launch party for thetour with a chance to pick upthe tour badge and t-shirt,and also to meet many ofAdelaide’s morris dancers.The first weekend saw alarge number of morrisdancers gathered in the cityof Adelaide to kick the touroff in fine style. Besides theusual scratch morris thatoccurs at these events, I was

privileged to be inductedinto the Kellybrook traditionby the Britannia Morris Menof Melbourne to help makeup numbers. Taking in a fewpleasant pubs in the city onthe Saturday, we had goodweather and made the mostof it. We were officiallywelcomed to the country byan elder of the localAboriginal nation at thefeast on Saturday night,which was a very importantreminder to us all that whilewe were celebrating onetradition, the traditions ofthe land and its people wentback much further. Sundaysaw us ascend to the topMount Lofty, the highestpoint in the local area, andwith a beautiful panorama ofthe city of Adelaide below,we impressed the groups oftourists who’d come toadmire the view with a widevariety of dance styles andtraditions. We also called inat a couple of vineyards tosample the local wines.

Peter Austin slips away from Jockey Men's Morris for some Antipodeanantics as our sister organisation reaches a landmark year. Photos by the author.

The Australian Morris Ring Tour

Smile! The Australian Morris Ring Seventieth Anniversary Tour Members assemble.

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Serafino in particular is wellworth a visit as its Tawny(port but without thelitigious labelling) was verydelicious.We moved to Halls Gap inthe week to enjoy thedelights that one of the mostspectacular National Parksin the state of Victoria has tooffer. Alongside dancing atlocal hostelries and notableplaces (including a formerasylum in Ararat), we wereable to view some ofAustralia’s mostrecognisable wildlife rightoutside our accommodationincluding kangaroos,kookaburras and blue wrens.Several of us took theopportunity to climb the upto the peak of MountWilliam, known locally asthe Pinnacle, which at 3832feet above sea level wouldhave provided a spectacularview if the cloud had notchosen the moment wereached the top to descendand obliterate most of thepanorama. The YHA in HallsGap is good accommodationfor anyone passing throughthe area as the proprietor isa born and bred Mancunianand the facility provides anexcellent self-catered basefor exploring the nationalpark.Towards the end of week onewe drove down to the coastto the town of Anglesey (yes,you read that correctly) butnot before stopping off in thetown of Lorne on the GreatOcean Road to dance on theend of their magnificentpier, a real highlight of thetour and one the best spots Ihave been privileged todance at. After a night in theYMCA at Anglesey we moved

on to Melbourne. A day ofworkshops on Saturdayprovided a nice opportunityto socialise and try out newtraditions (including theSydney tradition, taughtvery ably by VeronicaWagner of Black JoakMorris, Sydney). The feast inthe evening was followed bysome very lively dancing andspecial mention must bemade of Brandragon Morriswho, alongside being thehost side for this leg of thetour, also performed somelovely North West dancersboth at the feast and duringthe tours of the Yarra wineregion and the City ofMelbourne over the next 2days. The Sunday tour

included a stop atBeechworth Bakery, which isworth a visit if only to try thepopular Lamington cake (ora Dame Edna if you feelexotic!). Monday took usinto Melbourne and somevery pleasant drinking spots.The Upton hanky dance inthe Sherlock Holmes willparticularly stay with me fora while given we had verylittle practice and not muchspace to perform it in. Butwe carried it off in fine stylewhich just goes to show thatrehearsal is vastly overrated!A reduction in numbers afterMelbourne meant that wesaw some interesting jigscome to the fore includingLongborough Princess

Higher calling Atop Mount Lofty

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Royal and Cuckoos NestFieldtown. Mention must bemade of Geoff Wark(Adelaide) and AlanWhitbread (Ragged Robin)who were the mainstay formusic for the majority of thisweek until we reachedCanberra. Indeed, Alanentertained us with somebeautiful concertina tuneswhile we enjoyed the sunseton the hotel balcony with agreat deal of wine andcheese. The week saw usvisiting various places ofinterest including the townof Glenrowan wherenotorious outlaw Ned Kellyhad his last stand. We stayedfor two nights in the town ofRutherglen and weredelighted to be able toperform FieldtownValentine outsideValentine’s bakery in themain high street.We joined up with our hostsfor the final leg of the tour,Surly Griffin Morris, onThursday and went into theoutskirts of Canberra tosettle into a very nice YMCAhostel for the final 4 days. ABroad Cupid Badby on top

of the submarine HMASOtway provided a nice breakon the journey at HolbrookSubmarine Museum (over300km from the sea!).Friday 1st September startedwith a workshop ontraditional Aboriginal dancehosted by Wiradjuri Echoes,a very interesting insightinto the culture and historyof the Aboriginal people. The1st day of September isWattle day, which isofficially the first day ofSpring in the Southernhemisphere and a time whenAustralia’s national flower isvery prominent in gardensand along the roadsides inmany areas. Dance spotsincluded Parliament Houseand the National Library,and a glorious view of LakeBurley Griffin which runsright through the middle ofthe city. Saturday took us upto the hills and morewineries to sample, and alsotook us to a meadery.Traditional honey basedmead was served alongsidepizza and salad which was avery agreeable combinationfor lunch. Anothermemorable momentoccurred here as we wereasked to perform a dance fora birthday party that wasalso eating there. I suspectthat no performance ofJockey to the Fair Brackleyhas ever had the figure‘Interline, odds turn, formaround Lisa!’ called before(unless someone with longermemory can correct me…).Nevertheless, the dance waswell received which makesimpromptu performanceslike that all the morememorable. Sunday took usa short distance from our

accommodation to thehistoric suburb of Hall andour last official engagementat the farmers market.Highlights included aLongsword dance by SurlyGriffin and a JockeyBrackley led by myself whichraised a lot of dust to thepoint where my black shoesturned orange. A finalmassed dance was followedby a general feeling of pridein a job well done and a greatsense of camaraderieamongst those of us who hadseen the whole tour throughstart to finish.It was noted that not manypeople from Britain took upon the invitation to visitAustralia and I havesuggested to the organisingteam that perhaps a futureevent in March/April orSeptember/October mightbe more advisable given howbusy most sides are inAugust with festivals andsimilar. But in the main, thetour could not be describedas anything other than asuccess and a very enjoyabletime. I must express thanksto Geoff, Di and Simon andthe army of people whohelped to ensure this was thecase. I strongly recommendthat anyone visitingAustralia takes the time toget in touch with theAustralian Ring to try andarrange a ‘foot up’ with alocal team as there are manypeople who are passionateabout morris down underwho would be delighted towelcome a visitingdancer/musician. As for me,a return trip next year maywell be in the offing so watchthis space.

“In South Australia I took wine…”

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During the summer of 2016he was making a goodrecovery, and felt able andwilling to stand as Squire; hewas duly elected inSeptember. However, withina short time the cancerreturned and had spread.Despite the chemo he was stillactively involved in runningthe side and turned outregularly to practices. In duecourse he declined furtherchemo and was able to turnout to all our summerprogramme events and danceat least one dance at eachstand. He last danced outwith Winchester Morris Menin July 2017, at the last stop ofthe tour, and surprised manyof us by getting up to danceThe Furze Field fromBampton, one of our moreenergetic dances. Sadly, hewas unable to attend anymore events, and diedpeacefully on 6thOctober.A funeral Service ofThanksgiving was held on 25th

October with the Mayor ofWinchester and numerousrepresentatives from manyMorris sides in attendance.Stroph even contrived to singtwo songs at his own funeral:the music hall songs “My OldDutch”, dedicated to hisbeloved wife Lin, and “Ain't ItGrand To Be Bloomin' WellDead”; both typical of his wryhumour and recorded in hislast few weeks. WinchesterMorris Men dancedShepherds Hey from

Stroph Rayner, a long-standing folk, social and

international dancer, joinedWinchester Morris Men in1995, together with his sonTristram. He was elected afull member the followingyear, and, despite being amember for such a short time,he volunteered for, and waselected unopposed to, the roleof Bagman in 1997. Hethought he would only stay asBagman for a couple of years,but he made such a good job ofit that he served nine yearsbefore stepping down. He wasre-elected as Bagman in 2009and continued for a further sixyears until his cancerdiagnosis caused him to stepdown in 2015.

ObituariesFieldtown during the service,and there was further dancingand singing at the wake.In his time as Bagman, Strophmanaged to accumulatemany roles within the club,because he was willing to takethem on and always did such agood job. As Squire, herecognizedhis limitations as adancer, but was veryparticular about how the sideshould perform, seeking toraise standards both indancing and presentation.He remained alert to the end,sending out a number ofemails during his last fewweeks, passing on his wealthof experience and sharingthoughts on what theWinchester Morris Menshould be doing next year andwhat areas could still beimproved upon.In addition to the Morris,Stroph was active in otherforms of folk dancing andsinging, often taking onadministrative roles in theclubs he joined. He wasTreasurer of the Fo’c’sle Clubin Southampton for manyyears, was active inintroducing new dances to theHursley InternationalDancers, and he used hisdistinctive singing style togreat effect in the vaudevillesongs from the early 1900s.Stroph was a very strongadvocate for WinchesterMorris Men, an officer of theclub for 16 of his 22 years withthe side and alwaysdetermined to improve ourstandards andperformances. He will besadly missed.

Derek Stewart

StrophRaynerWinchester Morris Men

1946-2017


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Tony Motley of theMayflower Morris Men

passed away in the early hoursof 24th November 2017. Tonyjoined us in 1986 and becamea reliable, respected,knowledgeable member ofthe side. He was Squire threetimes, from 1992-94, 2003-09, and 2013-14, Bagmanonce, and Fool three times, aposition he currently held.He’d done all the things forour side that you would expecta man devoted to the Morristo do, from organizing days ofdance to performing theMorris abroad, from taking alead role in all our stagedevents (including hisinfamous ‘Slasherthe Turk’ inour Mummers’ play) tosinging or reciting on behalfof the side. He was always inthe thick of whatever the sidegot up to. Some years ago,whilst still dancing with us, healso joined Thaxted for twoyears simply because headmired their skill andwanted to join them. He wasalways deadly serious aboutperforming the Morris wellfor the public whilst ensuringit was still fun for the side andhe always gave full support towhoever was Squire. He toldme shortly before his deaththat taking up Morris was the

best thing he’d ever done. Hewas truly a stalwart of theside, of the Ring, and of theMorris in general.In his ‘other’ life he’d been amember of the King’s Troop,Royal Horse Artillery (whichhe loved) and a policeman(which he did not). He’dworked in various jobs withShire horses and Suffolksfrom driving waggons forbrewery show teams tosupplying saddlers. For thelast twelve years he’d workedfor an undertaker’s whichgave him ample opportunityto exploit humoroussituations (afterwards); hewas always ready to crack ajoke and was aware of thepotentially comic.He was diagnosed with cancerat the end of September andgiven but a short time to live.The dignity and courage heshowed during his briefillness were the mark of theman yet he was alsophilosophical about what wasto come. He was indeed a fine dancermixing agility and vigour (hehad practised karate) withstrength (he could control afully-loaded brewer’s dray),gracefulness (he rode andjumped with poise) andprecision (he was a naturalbut untrained artist). It is aprivilege to have known himand an honour to have dancedwith him.He died peacefully and was inno pain.On 9thDecember 2017 he hada ‘Morris’ funeral – that’s howhe wanted it – bells, hats,colour (even withMayflower’s black and whitechequerboard), noise, banter,energy, exuberance, goodcheer, vitality, dancing – andthat’s how Mayflower withfriends from other sides andthe Ring said our farewell. Weshall miss him sorely andremember him fondly, as willall whose lives he graced. He

Antony MotleyMayflower Morris Men

1944-2017

leaves a widow, Jan, and adaughter, Danyelle.Merry meet, merry part,Tony.

Julian Whybra

It is with deep sadness thatwe announce the death of

our beloved Squire, SimonUpton, who passed awaypeacefully at the Sue RyderHospice in Leckhampton.All there firmly believe that hesomehow held on, until afterwe had danced there onSaturday 9th September,following our traditional dayof dance, collecting funds forthem in Cheltenham.On this day we collected over£1000 for the Hospice and itis our 2018 chosen charity.Until his retirement shortlyafter his 60th birthday, Simonwas Head of Languages atChosen Hill School, nearGloucester, being fluent inboth German and French.As well as being Squire ofGMM, Simon was the Squire,mentor and teacher of a newmixed side, theGloucestershire MixedMorris (now called TheMiserden Morris) in aGloucestershire traditions,legacy project which startedin September 2016.Simon was a great man, a finefriend and a wonderfuldancer and teacher, havingdanced with theGloucestershire Morris Menfor over 50 years, firstly as aboy with his father, the lateRon Upton (also a formerSquire of the side). He was a wonderful husband,father and grandfather and issadly missed by all.

Tony Poulter

Simon UptonGloucestershireMorris Men

1953-2017


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Ed Bassford, who has diedaged 69, started Morris

dancing in 1967 as a 2nd yearSocial Anthropology studentat the University of Sussex.Following a Morris Ringdirective to try and get youngpeople involved in Morrisdancing, Chanctonbury RingMorris Men, led by PaulSetford, started teachingstudents at the University inthe Autumn Term 1967, andEd attended the first practice.This initiative led to theformation of the University ofSussex Morris Men and Edwas a member until he joinedChanctonbury in the early1970s. The two sidesdeveloped a closerelationship: sharing thesame teachers, repertoire andstands. The University sidehas now evolved into theBrightonMorris Men.In April 1975, Ed along withfellow dancers Ed Lyons, EricMoquet and Dave Hoodattended a workshop of NorthWest Morris dancingorganised by the ManchesterMorris Men and held inPershore, Worcestershireand led by Derek Froome andRoy Dommett (our fourattendees are now known asthe Pershore Four). Thisenthused Ed, and he startedChanctonbury’s North Westside. This type of dancing wasdifferent from the Cotswoldstyle that was generally seenin Sussex at that time: thenoise of clogs, colourful kit

Ed BassfordChanctonburyRing Morris Men

1948-2017

and the loudness of the music.Ed was proud thatChanctonbury was the firstside south of Coventry to dothis type of dance. Ed led theNorth West side until 1992.Ed was the Squire ofChanctonburyfrom 1975-77.Ed was always keen to imparthis knowledge. When theKnots of May started in 1974,Ed was there teaching. Again,when Cuckoo’s NestWomen’s Morris started in1977, Ed taught them toduring their fledging years.During his time, Ed made areal difference to the qualityand variety of dancing locallyover the past 50 years.He faded away fromChanctonbury in the early1990s, but would makewelcome return to the NorthWest side on specialoccasions, for example to leadus through the streets ofLewes on Bonfire Night.Later, when he became too illto dance, he would maintainan interest and spectatewhenever possible.In the 1970sand 80s, Edwas apopular Barn Dance callerwith the Sussex-based bands,“The Pump and Pluck Band”led by Vic Gammon, and “TheBiggest Trio in the World.”

Sean Goddard

Ed Lyons, who has diedaged 66, joined

Chanctonbury Ring MorrisMen in 1971, initially dancingCotswold traditions for atleast seven years. In 1975 he

Ed LyonsChanctonburyRing Morris Men

1950-2016

was one of the ‘Pershore Four’who attended a workshoporganised by ManchesterMorris Men at Pershore, tospread knowledge of NorthWest Morris; this became hispassion.In 2000 he took over asCaptain of North West andtaught the team until hisdeath. There were many highpoints for the team under hisleadership and tutelage, butpossible the pinnacle was

taking the team to Thaxtedforthe 100th anniversary in2011. Latterly he wasinstrumental in forming andteaching a local ladies’ side,“Temporary Measured”,whose debut at Lewes FolkDay 2016 was another tour deforce.His passion for Morris, hisdriving ambition for the teamto be the best it could, hispride in his Yorkshireheritage and belief in honesty,and his dry sense of humourand rich smile will be missedby us all.

Sean Goddard


19

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ContentsPloughing on: The Jockey Men's Morris Club Steve Holder 2

Squire's Capers Ed Worrall 3

Faithful City at Fifty Tim Kelsey 6

The Green Man's Morris & Sword Club Paul Oldhams 7

Thaxtedand the Morris Ring John Jenner 9

One Day Wonders Travelling Morris – a short history Joe Oldaker 11

The Australian Morris Ring Tour Peter Austin 14

ObituariesStrophRayner, Tony Motley, Simon Upton, Ed Bassford, Ed Lyons 17

The Morris Ring Circular is published by the Morris Ring, the internationalassociation of men's morris, mumming and sword dance clubs:www.themorrisring.org.

Please submit itemsto [email protected].

Letters and articles may be subject to shrinkage; photographs should be at least 250dpi at 180mm wide and accompanied by full details of date, location, photographerand identities of featured sides and/or individuals. Single photos are especiallywelcome, as are most forms of literary endeavour. Thanks.

EditorTony Foard 33 Cunningham Drive, Wirral, CH630JX (0151 334 4566)

All rights reserved. Articles in this publication are copyright of the respectiveauthors. No part of this publication may be reproduced without prior consent.Adverts and advertisers appearing in The Morris Ring Circular carry no impliedrecommendation from the magazine or the publishers. The opinions expressed inThe Morris Ring Circular are those of the individual writers.

Nuncest bibendum, nuncpedeliberopulsandatellus–as any fulekno. Chiz!

Are you organising abig(or small)Morrisevent this summer?Send your choicest photos toThe Morris Ring Circular toshow the world what a greattime you had. Brief reportsare also welcome.Full details on submittingsuch goodies, or anythingelse you think will delightour readers, can be perusedbelow. Get cracking!Deadline for the next issue:

30thMay 2018


20

the curly-headed ploughboys

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