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Post by Swampirella on Jan 13, 2022 18:14:20 GMT
Just read a seasonal article about wassailing, so thought that would make an interesting thread there. Then realized there was none for Morris dancers, whom I believe most (British) people find "terrifying". (EDIT: I meant as in weird, annoying, etc.) There probably aren't that many of each so I've combined the two. Here's one I re-read last month.
Wassailing - Steve Lockley |
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Post by PeterC on Jan 13, 2022 18:39:15 GMT
Cold Spell - David Langford
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Post by helrunar on Jan 13, 2022 19:24:52 GMT
Really, most Brits find Morris dancers terrifying? I had no idea. I always get such a sweet feeling when I come across a Morris side doing their thing here in the Boston area. Not all that often but if I'm lucky, sometimes in May or June.
I've also heard a lot of people find clowns really scary which seems curious. But there you are.
H.
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Post by Swampirella on Jan 13, 2022 19:29:09 GMT
Really, most Brits find Morris dancers terrifying? I had no idea. I always get such a sweet feeling when I come across a Morris side doing their thing here in the Boston area. Not all that often but if I'm lucky, sometimes in May or June. I've also heard a lot of people find clowns really scary which seems curious. But there you are. H. I was being sarcastic, but I'm pretty sure many people (including non-British) at least find them annoying. I've never found clowns scary either, but also never found them funny.
A bit jealous that you've been able to see some in Boston...
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Post by Shrink Proof on Jan 13, 2022 19:31:47 GMT
Really, most Brits find Morris dancers terrifying? I had no idea. I always get such a sweet feeling when I come across a Morris side doing their thing here in the Boston area. Not all that often but if I'm lucky, sometimes in May or June. I've also heard a lot of people find clowns really scary which seems curious. But there you are. H. Morris Dancing is very much an English, as opposed to British, thing. And no, folk don't find it terrifying. Weird, definitely... |
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Post by ropardoe on Jan 14, 2022 10:49:14 GMT
Really, most Brits find Morris dancers terrifying? I had no idea. I always get such a sweet feeling when I come across a Morris side doing their thing here in the Boston area. Not all that often but if I'm lucky, sometimes in May or June. I've also heard a lot of people find clowns really scary which seems curious. But there you are. H. Morris Dancing is very much an English, as opposed to British, thing. And no, folk don't find it terrifying. Weird, definitely... I think there is a lot of love for Morris dancers in the UK (and a lot of sneering - it's so easy to sneer). The much darker Border Morris features in a number of genre stories, not to mention in novels by Phil Rickman and Terry Pratchett. It's not just a UK thing either - it's very popular in Australia. My brother-in-law was a member of a team in Victoria for some time. Oh, and there's one Border team, the Mythago Morris, which is named after possibly the best fantasy novel ever written: Rob Holdstock's Mythago Wood (actually not the best - that's the follow-up novel Lavondyss - which does feature a terrifying Morris scene!). |
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Post by dem bones on Jan 14, 2022 11:39:32 GMT
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peedeel
Crab On The Rampage
Posts: 61
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Post by peedeel on Jan 14, 2022 11:39:39 GMT
Really, most Brits find Morris dancers terrifying? I had no idea. I always get such a sweet feeling when I come across a Morris side doing their thing here in the Boston area. Not all that often but if I'm lucky, sometimes in May or June. I've also heard a lot of people find clowns really scary which seems curious. But there you are. H. Morris Dancing is very much an English, as opposed to British, thing. And no, folk don't find it terrifying. Weird, definitely... And at times very much like sitting and watching paint dry...boring, for sure, unless you're tanked-up on nine or ten bottles of Sharps Sea Fury, in which case it's exciting as can be!  |
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Post by samdawson on Jan 14, 2022 12:00:28 GMT
I think there is a lot of love for Morris dancers in the UK (and a lot of sneering - it's so easy to sneer). The much darker Border Morris features in a number of genre stories, not to mention in novels by Phil Rickman and Terry Pratchett. It's not just a UK thing either - it's very popular in Australia. My brother-in-law was a member of a team in Victoria for some time. Oh, and there's one Border team, the Mythago Morris, which is named after possibly the best fantasy novel ever written: Rob Holdstock's Mythago Wood (actually not the best - that's the follow-up novel Lavondyss - which does feature a terrifying Morris scene!). I think that's true. I used to find it embarrassing when asked what our national dance was, and included my distaste of MD in my first ever published story, which was based on arriving as a very visibly veggie teen hippy with ditto ditto ditto girlfriend at a country pub and then realising it was a hunt meet one. While we quickly finished our drinks a troupe arrived and began to dance, unintentionally blocking our exit. Rightly or wrongly I identified them with the foxhunting bastards. Forty something years on from that time I now live in a town that hosts regular Morris Dance meets. It's a real education to see not only the huge variety of traditional troupes, but also the way the tradition has evolved, so there are now pagan/green man/wicker man inspired groups, a steampunk one, all women ones and more. A couple of years ago I was walking through the town on a MD meet sunny Saturday to do my Mum's shopping, cutting through the grounds of the local United Reform church to get there, and heard the familiar music coming out of the open doors and windows of the large church hall. It was a drop in learn Morris Dancing workshop. There was something rather pleasant about that, I felt, and have hopefully now lost my previous prejudice. |
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Post by šrincess šµuvstarr on Jan 14, 2022 12:29:33 GMT
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Post by samdawson on Jan 14, 2022 13:08:12 GMT
"Oh look, Josh. How fabulously random! Morris dancers!". Franklin's story should have won a prize for that line alone |
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