After eight years of running a hub of Morris Dancing in the village of Adderbury, the resident landlord and landlady Chris and Sandra are sadly retiring from The Bell Inn. We thought it was only fair to make a song and dance of it, so decided to gather on Friday evening to wish them all the best. In typical Morris fashion, after a week of fair weather it was a cloudy and blustery evening outside the Bell. Undeterred, our team and loyal supporters had come out to help wish farewell to Chris and Sandra. We started with the usual Sweet Jenny Jones and Haste to the Wedding (Flasher), followed by the Beaux of London City (Shooting), in which our youngest member Luke performed brilliantly – even better than I did at some points!

From one of our newest members to one of the longest serving – it’s at this point that I need to make special mention of Former Squire David Reed, known affectionately as ‘Dorset Dave’ and his wife Chris who had made the effort to join us. After taking the decision to move to Wales to be closer to family, this may be one of the final times we get to see them. As a token of our appreciation for everything that Dave has done for the team over the years, we presented a photobook which included memories of his time with us. There’ll be a much more in-depth thank you at a later stage, but this gift hopefully goes some way to showing how much we’ve appreciated the knowledge and wisdom passed down over the years.

After Stourton Wake, I nipped into the pub for some refreshments and I could hear the Postman’s Knock being called outside by Troy. Having fetched a refreshing lemonade, it was three pairs for Jockey to the Fair and me praying the bubbly lemonade would stay down! Of course, being a professional, all was well and John, Dylan, Troy, Owen, David and I put on a good performance despite the sloped nature of the road. At this point we invited Chris to take a quick break outside the pub to listen to our serenade of ‘Come Landlord fill the Flowing Bowl’. A song which we only pull out for very special occasions! We did offer to sing inside the pub, but for some reason Chris didn’t want a load of rowdy Morris Men with large sticks in his establishment…

We danced Constant Billy as per the request of our Bagman David (who had squeezed in a dance-out and a theatre trip in one evening), and it was at this point we decided to bring in the children watching and do our obligatory Shepherd’s Hey Jig. I could definitely see a lot of prospective future members for the side which is always encouraging. We began winding down with the Bluebells of Scotland, Old Woman Tossed up in a Blanket, Lads a Buncham and Hail to the Chief, and then dragged Chris away from his bar once again to dance Brighton Camp with the signed stick which we presented to him. I would say that Morris men were impacting his usual business focus, but I’m sure we made up for any distractions with our own drink orders. The coats were coming on, the clouds had rolled in and at that point it was time to draw things to a close.

Thank you to everyone who came, Donald for the music and Hannah and Dorset Dave for the photos. Really though, this thank you section needs to be for Chris and Sandra who have done so much for all Morris sides in the past eight years of running the Bell. Thank you for the pints of Hooky, lemonade, Coke and water, a place to relax post practice and the setting for our AGMs. You’ve been contributing to the side long before I even knew it existed and you truly will be missed by the team in a way that words cannot fully express. We wish you both all the best for the future, and hope to still see you around and about in the village soon. Perhaps with some free time on your hands Chris, you may consider taking up a hobby. I hear dancing is good for your physical and mental health…

Squire Ryan

The Fringford Beer Festival has become a mainstay of our dancing calendar and after a 2-year COVID-imposed hiatus, the side was once again looking forward to entertaining the Fringford crowds. (The fact that we are paid in beer tokens has nothing to do with it. We swear!).  After a week of sweltering temperatures, the weather had sadly turned as eight dancers and our musician Donald assembled in drizzly conditions.  With Squire Ryan being unavailable, it was down to past Squire John and Side Treasurer Troy to call the dances. With a precipitous break in the weather and a curious crowd coalescing, we started with our traditional opening dances of ‘Sweet Jenny Jones’ and ‘Haste to the Wedding’.  These were quickly followed by ‘Constant Billy’.  After a quick break to clear some confused worms from the grass dancing surface, no doubt attracted by the rhythmical percussiveness of the dancing, we proceeded to dance ‘Hail to the Chief’ and ‘Washing Day’.  The Fringford audience were clearly enjoying the display of traditional Cotswold Morris and so we continued with a performance of ‘Shepherds Hey’, following which we invited members of the audience to join us in an abridged version of the dance.  This opportunity to share our tradition has become a regular and much enjoyed feature in our dance sets.  Our final dance of this set featured the first full dance by our youngest and newest dancer Luke (aged 5), dancing a perfect ‘Beaux of London City’ (Shooting) to the delight of the crowd and his fellow dancers.  

After a short interval, during which we were able to sample some of the many fine ciders, ales and porters available at the festival, we were back in action.  Our second set commenced with something of a historic moment for the side: Namely, ‘Lads a Bunchum’ being performed entirely by family members of ex-Squire John.  Not since William Walton’s family danced in Adderbury in the late 19^th Century has a side been comprised entirely of members of the same family.  Additionally, and in keeping with the side’s goal of sustaining the tradition through teaching the next generation of dancers, three of the side were under the age of 12!  This historic moment was followed by performances of ‘Old Woman Tossed Up in a Blanket’ and ‘Postman’s Knock’ featuring young Luke’s 3^rd dance for the day.  A somewhat chaotic ‘Princess Royal’ for 8 dancers followed with dancers being distracted by dropped hankies, some errant calling and the reappearance of the worms who were possibly massing for a counter-attack.  However, we quickly recovered to host another superb audience participation in ‘Shepherd’s Hey’.  With the weather starting to turn and the rain setting in, we performed ‘Bluebells of Scotland’ and ‘Stourton Wake’ before finishing with our traditional final dance of ‘Brighton Camp’.

We thoroughly enjoyed the opportunity to share our Morris tradition with all, and the many positive comments – and even membership enquiries – received afterwards were testament to the Fringford audience’s enjoyment of our dancing.  Many thanks go to the organisers of the festival for inviting us back, the dancers who turned out, Hannah for the photographs and as always, to Donald for the music.

Treasurer Troy

A glorious Saturday in June was the ideal backdrop for us dancing at Chris and Charlotte Gasson’s Wedding Party at their scenic Coldharbour Farm in West Oxfordshire, to provide some entertainment for their guests. Once we decided on which way to dance in Chris’ yard, we started with Sweet Jenny Jones and Haste to the Wedding. Amongst other dances we notably had some audience participation as part of a Shepherd’s Hey Jig, with many of the younger party guests having a go at our tradition (though sadly some lived a little too far away to perhaps be future members). Former Squire John adds: It was a challenge trying to identify some of the bearded middle aged guests who claimed to be former pupils of mine. I assumed they were telling the truth as they recalled details of Biology practicals I did with them that wouldn’t be allowed today. At least one of these expressed serious interest in joining AVMM. Later, some members of the side had to leave the celebration to spend the latter part of the evening playing at a ceilidh in Preston-on-Stour, where we also taught the audience the Shepherds’ Hey Jig and  demonstrated Princess Royal. We never stop sharing the joy!

After rounding things out with an eight man Brighton Camp, we took a quick photo opportunity in front of Chris & Charlotte’s Hay pyramid. Donald, who had taken the time out of his busy weekend to play for us, sadly had to head off, but John stepped in and we finished out the afternoon with an extra encore of Washing Day (on a very high spin cycle), Bluebells of Scotland and Sweet Jenny Jones.

Thank you to everyone in the side, along with our supporters, who came and performed in the gorgeous afternoon sun, and to Donald and John for supplying the ever essential music. A special thanks though has to go to Chris. As one of the newer members of the side, Chris has a lot in life to juggle including a family, farm and veterinary occupation, but he has made time for almost every event and practice since he first joined. It was an absolutely fantastic opportunity to show our appreciation for all that hard work and commitment. Chris and Charlotte; we were grateful for you keeping us fuelled up on Beer, Pimms and Ice Cream, and we wish you both all the best for the future and thank you once again for inviting us to perform!

Squire Ryan

Happy Platty Joobs everyone! This Saturday we had a brilliant time dancing out in Adderbury to celebrate the Queen’s Jubilee, and I’m here once again to tell you all about it. Arriving at the Bell, the cloud and wet weather didn’t dampen our spirits as we got started with our usual fare of Sweet Jenny Jones, Haste to the Wedding and Beaux of London City (Shooting). Noticing the younger members of the crowd that were beginning to gather, we danced Shepherds’ Hey followed by a jig involving a number of audience members. Having got everybody warmed up on the chilly day, we danced Constant Billy, before being approached by Louis – the owner of the Tythe Barn in Adderbury.

The Tythe Barn is celebrating its 600th Birthday and considering we dance in it for practices at the beginning of the year, we were more than happy to fulfil Louis’ request of devoting a dance to it. After singing Happy Birthday in the key of Adderbury, we danced Brighton Camp for ten people. We are always grateful to Louis for providing us with somewhere to practice, as it plays a part in keeping this tradition going. It turns out as well, that not only has the Barn hosted Morris Men, but also GIs from America during WWII! Although considering some of the ‘artefacts’ they left behind (beer bottles, mess tins and cigarette papers) I’d like to think we leave it in a much better condition after our practices. The Tythe Barn truly has a rich history, and it’s great to know we’re a part of it.

Praying for the weather to hold out, John gave my voice a much-needed rest, and called the Bluebells of Scotland followed by a rather appropriate royalty-themed Princess Royal (which to settle an argument we had at the time, is currently Princess Anne). We decided to give ourselves more of a workout (as if we weren’t dancing hard enough), and chose to do Black Joke on an incline, with the sloped road adding even more of a challenge that the team overcame as expected. Due to a bell pad issue, I handed over calling duties to Troy, who led a dance of Washing Day, whilst David and I made emergency repairs – truly our bagman’s talents know no limits!

Making our way over to the Coach and Horses for some post lunch dancing, we kicked things off with Lads a’Buncham, followed by a Shepherds’ Hey jig with eight pairs. Seeing the crowd were keen to join in, we got a deluge of audience members, including a few of the team from Sharp and Blunt, joining in for yet another Shepherds’ Hey jig. Doing two audience jigs, and managing to get such great participation is one of the best parts of dancing out. Sharing in our tradition with people of all ages and backgrounds is truly wonderful.

Continuing to dance turn and turnabout with Sharp and Blunt, we performed Postman’s Knock, Stourton Wake, Old Woman Tossed up in a Blanket; a song which I think the Queen would perhaps not approve of. After dancing Shooting once again, we used a minor break in the rain for Dylan, Troy, David and I to dance Jockey to the Fair and this helped us to stay warm. Sharp and Blunt then led their version of Sheperds’ Hey – which actually has more differences than you would think – making a great end to the day!

Thank you to everyone who danced, as well as our Musicians Donald, Jim and Malcolm who played and kept us going no matter the weather! A special pat on the back goes to Dylan who was up and dancing or horsing for all of our songs today – I truly do envy your boundless energy! Thank you, Hannah, for capturing some special moments in the official photos of the day and thank you Sharp and Blunt for sharing the spotlight and letting us dance together outside the Coach and Horses, as well as for dancing with us throughout the day. Finally thank you to the entire organising team behind the Adderbury Jubilee Festivities, it was an excellent opportunity to dance throughout the village, and we hope everyone enjoyed it!

Squire Ryan