Squire
Dan mobile 07794 848425
Bagman
Joe mobile 07831 442603
Code for UK is +44
All telephone bookings
should be made through the bagman
We are members of the Morris Ring and mainly do Cotswold tradition dances which were collected at the end of the 19th century and early in the 20th century.
The costume uses a straw hat of the style used by Royal Navy seamen until the 1920's. Around the hat is the tally band for HMS Plymouth. The tabard depicts a sailing ship passing one of the Plymouth fortifications. The breeches are navy blue emphasising the naval links with Plymouth. This is completed with white socks and black shoes.
We have originated our own dances using the 19th century pattern navy cutlass. These dances are unique to Plymouth Morris Men and will be seen nowhere else.
In addition to local events, we travel to Lichfield and Southampton in most years and to other venues. The team have performed in France (Brittany, Normandy, Montrejeau), Jersey, the Netherlands, Hungary and Serbia, and with other teams in Czech Republic and Poland.
KEY PLYMOUTH ANNIVERSARIES:
1482Payment for dancing in the streets of the city
18 Mar 1838Transportation of the Tolpuddle Martyrs
28 May 1967Sir Francis Chichester completed his solocircumnavigation of the world in Gypsy Moth
11 June 1583Sir Humphrey Gilbert left for Newfoundland
12 July 1776James Cook departed on his fatal third voyage
19 July 1588Sir Francis Drakeleftto defeat Spanish Armada
6 September 1620 Pilgrim Fathers sailed for America
21 October 1805The Battle of Trafalgar
27 December 1831 Darwin’s Beagle sails from Plymouth
Early Records of Morris Men in PLYMOUTH
In 1386, John of Gaunt brought back a troupe of Moorish dancers from Spain. The combination of their practices with the English Fool's Dance is said to have provided a basis for the Morris Dance.
Written records of the morris include the Wardens' Accounts and Court Minutes of the Worshipful Company of Goldsmiths who made a set of payments to entertainers and for food and drink at their annual feast on St Dunstan's Day (19 May 1448 or possibly 1449).
In December 1466 and on New Years Day 1467, the household accounts at Lanherne in Cornwall record payments for morris dancing. The Drapers' Guild records for London indicate dancing on 28 June 1477.
The Receivers' Accounts of Plymouth record a payment for dancing in the streets of the city in 1482. The reference is to Thomas Tregarthen's Book: the oldest book of account which had been preserved among the Municipal Records. The book was destroyed in the Plymouth blitz, with all the old records of the bills.
Worth took extracts from various documents to compile a calendar of the municipal records. In 1540-1 John Ude recorded:
Itm pd for ix yards of cloth to make a coat
for Tom hordson the ffoole vjs (6s.)
Morris dancers appeared in Plymouth in 1564, 1566-1570 (all five years), 1574, 1575, 1577, 1585, 1587, 1594, 1595 and 1605, and are mentioned in the City Accounts for May Day 1574-5 and 1576-7.
In 1566-7 Edward Cocke recorded
Morice dancers 5s. for a breakfast
In 1574-5, there was an additional payment:
Itm pd to hym thatt played apon the hoby
horsse vjd (6d.)
In 1583, Sir Humphrey Gilbert left Plymouth for Newfoundland in an attempt to found a colony. A member of his company wrote of the preparations "....we were provided of musike in good variety, not omitting the least toyes, as Morris dancers, Hobby Horse and Maylike conceits ...."
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Plymouth Morris Men
Programme for 2014
All dates are subject to confirmation
and dependent upon the weather
and on any other imposed restrictions:
check the website for any changes.
Do you want to keep fit with Gym Fees?
Then join The Plymouth Morris Men. The dancing is more energetic than you think, sociable and good fun.
We hold open Workshops, where we teach the basics of the dance and hone your skills, on Wednesday eveningsfrom October to April at 8:00-10:00pm. If you are under 16, you must be accompanied by an adult
We are currently changing our practice venue, look at our web site or contact Joe (the Bagman) for details of the new location.
For further information contact Joe on07831 442603 and visit our web site. Or, why not chat to one of us NOW or just turn up on the night.