Back in 1953, 70 years ago, the Martlets Sword and Morris Dancing Side formed. Still going strong, they put on day of Dance in Chichester with many sides turning up. Sadly a few sides couldn’t make it, with transport difficulties due to our government’s insistence on forcing train strikes.
The sides gathered outside the Cathedral before dispersing to the different stands, changing on the hour.
The host side wore blue and white with a yellow martlet on their tabards and a side cloth. They demonstrated both Morris dancing and sword dancing on the day. It was interesting to observe that some of the dancers are of roughly the same age as the side and they were still dancing vigourously (and realising that I’m not that far behind).
The first side that I caught were Sompting Village Morris, with both the women’s and the men’s sides dancing seperately.
At the same stand were Oyster Girls, a clog side from the Isle of Wight, wearing red and green.
Alton were a new side to me, dressed in red and green tatters and wearing bowler hats. Their musicians were out in force.
One thing that I noticed was several dancers dancing with different sides and there seemed to be no strong demarcation between Border and Cotswold, with some sides mixing it up with the dances. The biggest example of this was Alton and Fleet dancing together.
Fleet were one of the sides that I caught at Horsham, so it was good to see them again.
As mentioned before, Black Swan Morris were the side that allowed me to pick up on these Days of Dance. It was good to catch up with them.
Mythago were also there, masked up as usual, with their large band accompanying them.
It was also good to catch up with Box Hill Bedlam again. They have their own Day of Dance on 17th June in Dorking.
Broadwood Men were the hosts for their event in Horsham so it was good to see them as one of the sides enjoying the day.
Another side that I had caught at Horsham was Jackstraws.
The Men (and Women) of Wight danced in blue tabards, white shirts and Top Hats.
Mary Rose & Royal George are a mixed side named after two ships that sunk in the Solent due to errors of judgement, with great loss of life.
Winchester were another new side to me.
The last stand I visited before the dancing in Priory Park included Pennyroyal clog, who I’d caught earlier in the day.
It also included the friendly people from Hook Eagle Morris, who I’d also caught earlier.