Border Morris
Border Morris
Where
The English-Welsh borders - the counties of: Shropshire, Herefordshire and Worcestershire.
Context
In the 19th century Border morris was a simple form of dance usually performed by men for money. They would tour their local areas in the winter months when there was less work on the land and people were more likely to be charitable because Christmas is a traditional time for giving. Border morris was a cadging activity like busking today, the dancers offered entertainment (dance) in return for money. The teams were small and were most likely to be accompanied by percussion instruments such as triangles or drums.
What
In the early part of the 19th century Cotswold, Border and Northwest morris clothing would have been indistinguishable from each other. Dancers would have gone out in their finest Sunday best clothing, perhaps dressed in white, covered in ribbons and topped off with a smart hat. Throughout the 19th century the quality of their costumes got cheaper, coloured strips of rags were attached to old clothes. Sometimes these clothes were normal jackets but turned inside out and sometimes they used women’s clothing. In some places these rags were replaced with paper, perhaps due to a local paper making industry and by the 1920s some dancers were wearing fancy dress costumes. There were two main purposes to the wide styles of costume used in this type of morris 1) to entertain and 2) to symbolise performance. This was something special and different, this was morris dancing.
Black Face
There are several references to morris dancers in this area putting soot and other black substances on their face. This distinctive feature of the costume alongside rag jackets has become symbolic of this type of morris dance. Many contemporary teams wear black or coloured face paint or masks as an element of disguise. Dancers today feel that this costume element adds mystery to their performance and do it in the belief that in the past dancers were disguising their faces. If you are interested in this topic and want to explore further please follow the links below.
Today Border morris dances create eye-catching costumes often using rag jackets, (a jacket or waistcoat covered in many rows of ‘rags’ - thin strips of fabric) and disguise as their base. Whilst some teams wear old fashioned working style clothing replicating what might have been worn in the past, other teams have used the rag jacket - and - disguise combination to great visual effect. Alternative morris is a recent development with teams creating dark, gothic style costumes. They dance mostly in black and create very striking performances, often with heavy drumming and mysterious tunes.
Key words
Alternative, black face, cadging, disguise, masks, percussion, rags, rag jackets, ribbons, Sunday best, symbolise/symbolic.
