Last Updated 4th February 2001
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Morris Dancing through London 8th/10th July 1955
The fiftieth meeting of the Morris Ring and the chief event in it’s coming of age celebrations was held in London on the weekend 8th 10th July 1955
The arrangements for what has been described as the greatest Morris gathering in history were carried out by the joint committee of the following clubs: - Greensleves, London Pride, Ravensbourne, Beaux of London City, London Rodney, Westminster and the University Morris Men in London.
The meeting opened on the Friday evening with a Morris Ale at Cecil Sharp House beginning at 8 o’ clock. Apart from the very large number of dancers this occasion was memorable for the presence of a most distinguished visitor in the person of Dr. Ralph Vaughan Williams, OM., who, as president of the English Folk Dance & Song Society, presented to the Squire (Donald Cassels) on behalf of the society a handsome silver ceremonial brooch suitable for use as a badge of office for the Squire of the Morris Ring. In making this presentation Dr. Vaughan Williams was unable to refrain from exercising his caustic wit on the recently expressed opinions of three learned judges of the Appeal Court regarding the artistic value of folk dances. The Badge
[p3- Souvenir programme 50th Ring Meeting - London]
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itself is indeed a work of fine craftsmanship designed from a drawing by Alec Hunter and made by A.H. Guise at the Royal collage of Art; and the Squire suitably expressed the gratitude of the Morris Ring to the society for this magnificent 21st birthday present, reminding us that the Squire’s staff and the Squire’s Badge, the Ring’s only tangible treasures, are both gifts from the society and tokens of lasting friendship.
The Ale concluded at 10pm. And for the night most of the men were lodged in hostels which during term time house students of the London University. Nineteen tours had been arranged for Saturday morning & afternoon, each planned and conducted by one of the organising clubs. The itineraries are given in full in the printed programme, and all were successfully carried through with the exception of tour 17 which had to be cancelled, the clubs concerned joining tours 18 &19. The day was fine & sunny and a wide area of London was covered, including Harrow, Hampstead, Highgate, Hornsey, Finsbury Park, Holloway, Camden Town, Islington, the City of London, Bloomsbury, the West End, Kensington, Shepherd’s Bush, Hammersmith,
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Kew, Richmond, Mortlake, Barns, Putney, Clapham, Lambeth, Chelsea & Westminster. It is probably true to say that the multiplicity of excellent dancing sites to be found in the metropolis was as much a surprise to visiting dancers as the ambiguity of Morris dancers that day was to London taxi-drivers. It was also proved that, with careful choice of sites even the present day roar of London traffic was powerless to drown out the Morris; and one measure of the public interest aroused was the great rapidity with which the sixpenny programmes were sold out on all tours. It is reported that one [interpolated from p5 "Donald Cassels on this tour was "moved on" by the law in Oxford St also!"] past Squire of the Ring became involved in altercation with an arm of the law over a dancing site in Regents Street, but elsewhere the police were friendly & co-operative. The teams got their lunch & tea en route [interpolated from p5 "Drinks were served to Tour 10 on the steps of the Athenaeum"] and at 5.30 all the tours converged on 9 dancing sites in Westminster and near Trafalgar Square. The BBC took a sound recording and television film [interpolated from p5 "transmitted on the Sunday evening"] in Broad Sanctuary. The final to the day’s dancing consisted of seven successive and independent processions dancing the Winster Processional along the South Bank from County Hall (with occasional respite) to Waterloo Bridge: this spectacular
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manoeuvre being carried out in brilliant evening sunshine. From the bridge the men made their way in their own time & by various methods of transport to the Royal Collage of Sugrions, Lincoln’s Inn Fields. Here it was the privilege of club Squires & past & present officers of the Ring to enjoy pre- pramdial drinks in the Fellows Room at the generous invitation of the Squire of the Ring. The Feast was held in the Great Hall of the collage by kind permission of the President, and it is estimated that about 380 men sat down for the meal at 8 o’clock. The Lord Mayor of London, the Mayor of Westminster, the Dean of St. Paul’s, the President of the Royal Collage of Surgeons, the Secretary of the English Folk Dance & Song Society, William Kimber and Dr. Joseph Needham F.R.S. were among those who had been invited as guests but none were able to be present. With the exception of the late Richard Callender (how he would have rejoiced in the occasion!) ever past & present Officer of the Ring was however seated at the top table together with the Squires of all the clubs represented at the meeting. This table ran the length of the hall and at right angles to it were 12 parallel tables and two more in the adjoining Council Room. The Morris Ring grace was said by the Recorder (Arthur Peck); and an
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excellent meal of cold meat & salad, strawberries & ice-cream, and coffee was thoroughly enjoyed, volunteers from among the men assisting with the serving of it.
The Loyal Toast was given by the Squire, followed by the Immortal Memory of Cecil Sharp which was drunk in silence. Douglas Kennedy then proposed the toast of the Morris Ring & it’s Squire, Donald Cassels. Douglas congratulated the Ring on it’s coming of Age, and congratulated the Squire and his collaborators on making such a magnificent occasion of this celebration. He suspected the sun had been shining all day solely because of the Morris. He recalled his own first public performance in Suffolk Street in 1911 in the first revived side and noted that a team had danced there again to-day. Now through the activities of the Ring the revived Morris was no longer an indoor activity but back in it’s natural environment as it is has always been with traditional teams. Much of the dancing had impressed him with it’s sense of confidence without individual display, and he had no doubts about the inportance of dress (including hats), Fools & Hobby horses, and of course the musicians.
Donald, replying to the toast, thanked Douglas for his remarks and expressed his pleasure
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at the close relationship maintained between the Ring and the EFD&SS symbolized once again by the beautiful ceremonial brooch presented last night. He reviled that his own second name was Kennedy & traced a probable connection in ancient Scottish clan history. The Squire then read a telegram from Joseph Needham who originally conceived the idea of the Ring, sending greetings and regretting his inability to be with us. There were also apologies from Bill Kimber, George Chambers, & from a number of clubs to come through. The Squire expressed thanks to those clubs which had arranged meetings as part of the anniversary celebrations: to Arthur Peck for preparing the 21st birthday broacher, to Jack Thompson & the Hive Printers for printing it at very short notice, & to the EFD&SS & Bill Cassie for thee loan of blocks & photographs. He announced that the ale at the feast had been presented in part by Ravensbourn Morris and in part by a anonymous donor who had now allowed his name to be reviled – Mr Llewellyn Thomas of London Pride. After welcoming the men he the Squire offered some admonitions for the future regarding the dangers of deliberate changes (as opposed to natural evolution) in the
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Morris, on the function of the Fool, & on the importance of uniformity of dress within the team. In conclusion he urged all to
"Dance on and on till every village pub
is local to an active Morris club,
till men with dance and foggy, foggy ditty
Enliven every tavern in the city."
Further supplies of alcohol having been obtained & distributed, Alec hunter was invited to propose the toast of the London clubs & Ravensbourn. He began by making play with the numbers 10, 21 & 25 which are customarily celebrated as special anniversaries: Beginning in 1899 when Cecil Sharp first saw the Headington Quarry Morris he pointed out that it was just 25 years latter in the week of Sharp’s death that the first tour of the Travelling Morris led by Arthur Heffer & Ralph Gardiner went out into the Cotswolds. Ten years after this the Morris Ring was founded and 21 years from then brings us up to the present celebrations. Speaking of the very early days he recalled "Uncle" Herbert Thomas who boasted that he had danced Ladies Pleasure to every Woman’s Institute in Oxfordshire. It was the realisation from 1924 that the Morris must live it’s own individual creative life that led to the meeting of the Morris clubs at Ardley & Thaxted, and so to the founding of
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the Ring, the idea of which was conceived in the fertile brain of the Cambridge student & philosopher Joseph Needham by who’s energy & enthusiasm it was also successfully launched. Alec continued by recalling landmarks in the Rings history, notably the meeting at Wargrave in 1936 with Bill Kimber instructing & Billy Wells as Fool: it was then that we learnt what the fool should be and how essential he is to the Morris. Alec at length got round to the subject of his toast, reciting the responsibilities which had been undertaken by each of the clubs concerned: London Pride had dealt with the BBC, arranged sleeping accommodation, & organised the Sunday lunch at Bart’s Hospital; Beaux of London City arranged the Ale at Cecil Sharp House & were responsible for posters, and Sunday lunch at London Hospital; Ravensbourn provided the Treasurer for the meeting in the person of Geoff Metcalf, a barrel of ale, and arranged for the dancing on Tower Hill on Sunday; Westminster ran an enquiry bureau at the Abbey Community centre and arranged for the dancing in Westminster & the visit to the Soho society’s International Fair on Sunday; London Rodney organised press publicity; the University Morris Men in London arranged for the service at St.
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Paul’s; and Greensleeves issued the circulars, collected the returns & ran the enquire bureau at Cecil Sharp House on Friday. To all these the Ring was deeply indebted for the immense amount of hard work and thoughtful planning which had resulted in an un-forgettable occasion, capped as it was by bright sunlight & high water at Westminster that evening. The toast with acclamation, and Gordon Neil (Squire of Greensleeves) replied on behalf of the organising clubs, expressing the appreciation of the Squire’s wise guidance & his hospitality in their planning deliberations. In the case of Greensleeves & probable with other clubs also, the main burden had fallen on the Bagman & these individuals particularly deserved our gratitude.
The Squire presented staffs of membership to the Squires of the following clubs: - Leeds, Longstraw, Chanctonbury Ring & Orpington. The Bagman read from the Minute Book the account of the commemorative meeting at Ardley in May, and at 10.45 the men dispersed, some to finish with a few dances outside of the college.
On Sunday morning at 10 o’clock nearly 300 men assembled in the crypt at St. Paul’s Cathedral, blissfully unaware that their sounds of ribaldry rose through the circular gratings to the assembling congregation
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[At this point is inserted a loose page bearing the following]
London Ring Meeting July 1955
Note written in lof E.J.R. 4/6/82. At the Ale, on the Friday evening, William Kimber, seated on a chair, played his concertina for Douglas Kennedy to dance H. Quarry Jockie to the Fair - DNK with his back to the doors to the main hall, and WK facing these doors.
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as though from some hellish dungeon. At length they were led by the Squire back into the light of day & then trough the west door of the Cathedral to take their places on the right hand side of the nave for Matins. The preacher was the Reverent A. Jessop Price whose references to the Morris caused the Squire to flinch & assured the Bagman that he had not primed him on the subject. As another service was due to follow immediately there could be no dancing outside the Cathedral, & the men sorted themselves out into three pre-arranged parties, one to follow London Pride to Clarkenwell, a second to join the Soho Society’s International Fair in Soho, & the third to follow Beaux & dance at London Hospital.
At 2.30 all the teams gathered on Tower Hill, each finding their own site for an hour’s dancing in brilliant sunshine and with a large crown of spectators. At 3.30 all the musicians were called to the centre of the ground & all teams gathered round to dance Brighton Camp & Bonny Green Garters, finishing as a mass round the Squire who was finally bourn out aloft a triumphal finish to an occasion that was probable unique, certainly memorable to all those who both took part, and which must have presented many moments of real magnificence to the London public.
The following 42 clubs took part in the Meeting:-
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Beaux of London City, Bedford, Cambridge, Chanetonbury Ring, Coventry, East Surry, Exeter, Gloucestershire, Greensleeves, Grenoside, Headington Quarry, Jockey, Kings Collage N/C, Leeds, Letchworth, London Pride, London Rodney, Longstraw, Manchester, Men of Mercia, Northampton, Orpington, Oxford University, Ravensbourn, Roding Valley, Rugby, St. Albans, Stockton, Thames Valley, University Morris Men in London, Westminster, Whitchurch, White Horse, Winchester, Benfleet Hoymen, Bristol University, Burton-on-Trent, Colchester, Foresters, Standon, Thames Side & Whit Rose.
[Signed]
Donald Cassels.
Squire.
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