Morris MayDay

The 1st of May was a bit of a landmark for me this year, it was the first time I'd seen the dawn from 'the early bird' side... previously, the sun popping up has largely been a feature when I've stayed up too late rather than something which I got up to see..... Fereday and the Morris Men were dancing up on Castle HIll in Huddersfield at sunrise.... it's tradition, you see.... mind you, it's a personal tradition of mine to squeeze as much time under the duvet out of the miracle hour between 8am (45 mins AFTER my alarm goes off) and 9am (when I'm supposed to start work).... but I digress....Alarms went off at 3:45am, mine plays a cod steel drums jingle, Fereday's plays something that sounds like tubular bells (but isn't).At 3:48am, I sent an email from my BlackBerry to my friend at work which read "Look at the time of this email!!!!!"At 3:55am, the alarms bugled a second time and we get up - much rubbing of eyes, complete 'bed hair' variations, creaking joints, et al.By 4:30am, Fereday is dressed like an ice cream man (white shirt and trollies without Morris accountrement of bells and ribbons) and having a second cuppa in the kitchen - I've had to take a massive gulp out of the cup because it was full to the brim, and we just can't have a Morris whites / coffee spillage incident at that time of the morning!By 5:15, navigating mostly by zen - "It's up there, just turn up the hill...." - we reach Castle Hill... fellow Morris Men are already there, as are a band of Druids..... dressed in black, a couple with blacked-up faces... which, depending on your view, was either a brave or foolhardy way to drive through the local area... initially, I'm nearly doubled with laughter repeating "Your my wife, now" (ref: League of Gentlemen character). Fereday isn't shocked to learn that my social skills don't 'wake up' until gone 9am..... Still, Fereday and I are wearing full-length fake fur coats, mine is hot pink, his is grey, so I wouldn't be surprised if the Druids were doubled up at the sight of the Honey Monster's parents hoving into view across the hilltop...At 5:16, dancing commences.... Fereday's side are suffering from the early morning, but perhaps Fereday is feeling it most.... not knowing one dance very well, he is forced to free-style when he can't hear the caller on his left and gets different directions from the Morris across from him... at one point he ends up on the wrong side .... 4 Morris vs 2 Morris... and everyone has a good giggle.... you can just about hear my cackling over the howling wind on my video recording of it, thankfully you can't hear me comment that Fereday looks like a Flowerpot Man....Some lovely, young lady Morrisers arrive from Sheffield, borrowing from cricket, I think of them as "The Tourists", they've been invited by Fereday's side....no one invites the Druids, but they nevertheless turn up every year and dance ferociously while the rest of us huddle up at the side of the iron-age hill fort (AKA the 'Castle') above the dancing area.... It's thought that the Druids proceed with some rituals after the Morrising, but when the Morris Men 'waited them out' one year, nothing happened, the Druids just wandered about waiting for the Morris Men to leave... which they eventually did.... everyone presumes that the Druids then got on with stripping off and chasing rabbits... or something...The lady Morrisers wipe the floor with the rest of them.... they jump high, are in step with one another, and are all beautiful and young.... I hate them instantly and am suspicious that they have been designed by Disney Studios despite the lack of chubby cartoon birds (in contrast, Fereday's side looking like the creation of Jim Henson's studio).Fereday's side does a dance referred to as 'Mrs C' which involves a slow, held bow to each other... the Lady Morrisers take to the field running around Fereday's side slapping bottoms as they go... this is apparently the reason why they do this dance each particular year.... hmmmm.... luckily for him, Fereday was 'benched' for this particular dance....The last dance, an 'all together now' which resembles nothing so much as a pair of very lively, chaotic bus queues starts up before 6.... there's a catastrophe as one of the Lady Morrisers falls victim to a rabbit hole and goes down....Fereday's Honey Monster coat comes in handy and an ambulance is called... Morris can be a dangerous pasttime!Finally, we set off towards breakfast which is provided by a Mo' Mum and Dad living nearby.... I have black coffee and check my BlackBerry... my world clearly hasn't begun to move yet....We're home before the rush hour starts and, after brewing a pot of coffee and feeding the rabbits (who are very blinky having been woken up to be given their breakfast), we go back to bed for a nap....The BlackBerry goes off at about 9:30am.... a response to my email: "You dirty stop-out, where have you been?"

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Comments

Graeme @ BGS May 9, 2009 at 9:45am

I see the local rag reported the event.

http://www.examiner.co.uk/news/local-west-yorkshire-news/2009/05/02...

It’s a hell of an early start, no wonder you don't get a lot of spectators.
Cat Fereday May 9, 2009 at 9:50am

Fereday is coping with the fame very well....if he does have a 'Britney Moment', there's not much hair left to lose.
Graeme @ BGS May 9, 2009 at 9:56am

Bless him.

I remember many years ago my old boss said that when reviewing CV's for possible interviews he would always try and get a morris dancer to come in but I don't recall anyone putting morris dancing down on their CV! It must be a closet thing! At least Fereday has come out.
Cat Fereday May 9, 2009 at 9:59am

Out and Proud! Do you have your old bosses phone number? Was the work well-paid?
Graeme @ BGS May 9, 2009 at 10:06am

When I lived in Bermuda their "morris dancers" were called Gombey dancers. Check out http://www.bermuda4u.com/Essential/video-gombey.html

Always scared the living day lights out of me and pity the person making the costumes.
Cat Fereday May 9, 2009 at 10:09am

Blimey - Fereday noticed that one was out of time, and then that there probably weren't enough replacement hips available in W Yorks for his side to try that dance... many are (what we politely term) 'vintage'.... though he does claim that they could put a side together with an average age of 20... that's Fereday for you, always pulling the average up!
Graeme @ BGS May 9, 2009 at 10:21am

Fereday doesn't fit the standard "morris man" image of wearing glasses, smoking a pipe and having a zimmer frame to hand. I guess he is not too concerned about his public image. But seriously it is nice to see the younger generation taking up the "hobby" or in a few years the tradition will be lost. Now beautiful and young lady morris dancers may just keep it going :-)
The Perfumed Garden May 9, 2009 at 12:25pm

I wasn't going to mention this but what the hell. We too held a May Day bash but at a more civilised time on Saturday evening. This mainly to drink the 250 pints of village cider we made but did involve a may pole dance by some of the young (ish) wenches and a molly dance by the chaps. Most guests adopted the dress code of 'smocks and clevage'.

One of the clever molly dancers is putting together a dvd of the evening. If I dare I might post some pics.

simon
Kerrie John-The garden design Co May 9, 2009 at 3:59pm

Cat, please can we see the video?
The Perfumed Garden May 19, 2009 at 12:25pm

Hi Cat, have a look at this link. If Fereday wants a transfer to a premier division team, let me know.