This Sunday is May Day, a day that “marks the end of the unfarmable winter half of the year in the Northern hemisphere, and it has traditionally been an occasion for popular and often raucous celebrations,” as Wikipedia states. One of those celebrations will be by a local group of Morris dancers.
Photo from the 2010 May Day celebration.
Morris dancing is a centuries-old English folk dance with “bells strapped to our legs and hankies or sticks carried in our hands,” Dave the foreman of the local troupe Sound and Fury Morris and Sword says.
Photo from the 2010 May Day celebration.
“We like to think that we help prepare the earth for a fertile year, with plenty of rain and warm sun to bring in bountiful crops, particularly hops,” Kimberly with the group tells us. “This year we have chosen Ballard as the center of our May Day tour, and we would love to invite Ballardites to enjoy May Day with us!”
The Sound and Fury Morris and Sword troupe will be performing twice in Ballard on Sunday – from 9:30 to 10:15 a.m. at the Ballard Locks and again from 11:30 to 12:15 p.m. at the Ballard Farmers Market.
“Try everything once, except Morris Dancing.” :)
Whatever floats your boat. Looks to me like another good reason to drink. And after all, isn’t that what life is all about?
Bloody Morris dancers!
Why do Morris dancers wear bells? So they can annoy blind people as well.
A man goes in to a pub and says “Do you serve Morris dancers?” “Oh yes” says the landlord. “Good” says the man. “I’ll have a packet of crisps, and a Morris dancer for my dog”.
Why do people do line dancing?
So Morris dancers have something to laugh at…
Some morris dancers were performing at a festival and one of the spectators decided that he’d he like to have a go. He made some enquiries and wais given a form to fill in. He completed the first parts OK … Name ? Address? Age ? ….
Then he came to the last question – “Have you been circumcised?”.
Not wishing to divulge such personal information without good reason, he discussed the point with one of his friends.
“Why do you think they need to know if I’ve been circumcised?” he asked.
“Well!” replied his friend “you have to be a complete pr*ck to be a morris dancer.”