Set in the charming, intimate market square at the centre of the old village, the Farmers’ Market in Kineton has become one of our favourite regular annual events. The sun shone, and an appreciative local market crowd enjoyed watching us dance. We danced fifteen of our regular dances, including engaging with the market shoppers by dancing Shepherd’s Hey a second time with members of the audience, thus once again spreading the enthusiasm and raising awareness of traditional Cotswold dancing. A special mention should go to our three boys who were present; all were praised individually for the quality of their confident dancing and I was moved to emphasise to them and their mums how important they are for the future of our side.

The weather turned out much warmer than some of us expected and, after a few exertions with stick and hankies, one dancer particularly regretted wearing a vest under his shirt! However, a quick costume change at the half time break brought the temperature down. Percy brought a smile to many faces by sampling all the wares offered at the various stalls and he met a new friend in the form of a small cow at the ice cream stall! Because of its popularity we had originally managed to line up eleven dancers, but sadly on the day three of our number were absent due to illness; we wish them all a speedy recovery.

Our thanks to Hannah for the lovely photos and to Miles, who organised the market and supplied drinks and refreshments on the day.

David Snell, Bagman

Heading out into the gorgeous Cotswolds we had been invited to Lower Brailes for a dance-out with two sides hailing from Warwickshire – Shakespeare Morris and the Flowers of llmington.

The evening started with our side dancing outside the George Inn, where we warmed up the crowd with Sweet Jenny Jones, Haste to the Wedding, Lads a Buncham, Hail to the Chief and Washing Day. Two of our newer recruits Matt and Chris, who had made it to the evening, danced brilliantly as well as Owen who really helped to add a youthful element to our side and bring the average age of the side down! Seeing an opportunity, as the other sides began to arrive, we offered them, and members of the audience, up to dance Shepherds’ Hey – providing the crowd with a taste of what we do and the other teams with a much needed warm-up!

After this Shakespeare Morris and the Flowers of Ilmington began their set of dancing with a procession from St George’s Church which myself, Richard, Matt and David with our faithful Horse Charlie joined in on. We enjoyed a pleasant break taking in the dances of our fellow Morris sides, marvelling at the way in which similar songs and tunes are crafted to create different dances, routines and figures.

Invited to dance again, John led the side in a dance of Postman’s Knock in which overzealous strikes left Richard with only half a stick mid-way through the dance! Whilst I was distracted entertaining the crowd, a quick-thinking Shakespeare Morris dancer managed to swap out the broken stick – a smooth transition which comes from years of experience.

We rounded off the dancing with turn and turnabout, in which we followed Shakespeare Morris and the Flowers of Ilmington’s versions of Princess Royal and Constant Billy with our own! We were once again, revelling at the difference between the sides’ interpretations of the tradition. Since we were so close to the village it’s named after, we danced Stourton Wake before combining the three sides to perform a Brighton Camp for fourteen people as the light was getting to the point where it would stop play.

Not to be outdone though, Shakespeare Morris invited us to conclude with another procession of Constant Billy. It was a superb way to end, dancing side by side with Shakespeare and the Flowers.

Thank you to everyone who came from all three sides – it was great to have you all there and learn more, seeing all the dances is always an interesting and pleasurable experience as we learn about the Morris and its many intricacies. We’d especially like to thank Robert Albarton, Bagman of Shakespeare for the invite. We look forward to seeing you all again in the near future!

Squire Ryan

AVMM were delighted to be invited back to this beautiful unspoilt village to participate in their traditional celebration of May. Assembling with a good sized crowd outside the Village Hall we processed through the village, dancing all the way to the green next to the magnificent church, accompanying the May Queen and her assistant and followed by the madding crowd. As we are a side without a traditional processional dance, we danced energetically behind Percy the horse to the tune of Speed the Plough. This provided all the warm up we needed as the road through the village is both longer and steeper than first appears to be the case.

Following the hailing and crowning of the May Queen and the singing of a supposedly traditional May carol of dubious provenance led by Donald, we performed our first set of dances to an enthusiastic audience. Beaux of London City (Shooting) went down particularly well, with Dylan and Percy milking the dramatic end of this dance for all they were worth. Our usual crowd participation number (Shepherd’s Hey Jig) featured a very healthy number of enthusiastic volunteers of all ages. A fine rendering of Postman’s Knock marked the end of our first set. However, some of the fitter younger members of the set used the break to join in the traditional sports (foot, egg and spoon, sack, wheelbarrow races et al.), where they acquitted themselves very well. Older and perhaps wiser members chose to take advantage of some relaxation time by enjoying the excellent cask ale on offer and looking for bargains on the book and plant stalls.

Our second set of seven dances had to include Stourton Wake, as we were so close to the eponymous river. We also danced Constant Billy, Bluebells of Scotland, Washing Day, Old Woman Tossed up in a Blanket and finished, as is customary, with Brighton Camp. Special mention, though, must be made of the four man double Jig, Jockey to the Fair, featuring members of the same family including for the first time, young Owen, dancing with his Dad, Troy. It was good to perform this challenging dance on the green around the maypole splendidly bedecked in the colours of the Ukrainian flag. Special thanks as ever to Donald for inviting us and for providing the musical accompaniment without which we could not dance. Thanks too to our guest musician for the afternoon, Nigel Dunn, of Shakespeare Morris and the Flowers of Ilmington.

It was also good to meet up with our old  friend and former vicar of Adderbury, Stephen Fletcher, keeping an eye on his old flock and enjoying the proceedings as much as we did.

As I left, the tug of war was still being keenly contested between the local children and an invitation side featuring several familiar figures wearing bells and AVMM baldricks. It was a  lovely reminder of all that is best about traditional rural life. Thanks to Squire Ryan for leading the side and for his efficiency in marshalling the troops and to Hannah Ekers for capturing the atmosphere of the day so well with her photos. Our next dance out is at Kineton Farmers’ Market on Saturday 14th May from 10am.

John Ekers, Former Squire