A glorious day of sunshine in Adderbury for our Day of Dance started out in St Mary’s Churchyard, with our traditional ceremony of honouring Charlie Coleman – the last surviving dancer from the early 20th Century pre war side. Chris Garrett gave a reading of the poem Adderbury Sunrise, and Donald McCombie led us in the Day of Dance song, which we’ve now been singing for 15 years, after Chris asked Donald to write a song to celebrate the day. Charlie’s son Mike poured the first Hooky of the day for Charlie, and we made our way round to Church Lane to dance Sweet Jenny Jones with three sets of dancers.
Triple sets were a common occurrence throughout the day, with David Snell and Iain Wilkinson doing an excellent job of leading third sets alongside myself and John Ekers. Our quantity of dancers was a brilliant sight for me as Squire, and our wonderful audiences throughout the day.
Before making our way to the Streams, we paused in the Churchyard to pay our respects to Janet Blunt and Tim Radford. Lady of the Manor, Janet Blunt collected manuscripts of folk songs, carols and dances from the village, which were an integral information source in the revival of the Morris tradition in Adderbury during the 1970s. Tim Radford was one of those revivalists in the 1970s, who played a major part in shaping the Morris tradition we know today. Happy Man was sung by our team and dedicated to both these Morris contributors.
After dancing by the Streams and making the most of the wonderful weather, we made our way to Colin Butler Green, and importantly Bryan Sheppard’s memorial handkerchief tree. Bryan worked with Tim Radford and others from the village to form the original Adderbury revival side, which shortly afterwards led to the emergence of AMM and AVMM as distinct traditions. Each year, we honour Bryan’s memory and work by pouring him a drop of Hooky. Jim Plester, one of our musicians and also a founder member gave Bryan a much needed drink on this beautiful warm day, and expressed the view that Bryan would be delighted to know the village tradition was still going strong.
Moving back down the village, we arrived outside Charlie Coleman’s former residence at Rose Cottage, and 16 dancers performed Princess Royal in four sets along the street as a tribute to the tradition Charlie passed down. We continued down through the village to the Red Lion, and our first performance of Black Joke. As experienced dancers know, this is a demanding part of our repertoire requiring considerable fitness, stamina and the ability to execute 72 capers during the dance. Fortunately we are blessed with talented younger recruits and were fielding six dancers of pre university age in this dance spread between our two sets. Although Elijah, Alfie and Freddy, who wanted to join in every dance, performed splendidly, it was the taller Theo, Hector and Dylan who caught the eye with the height and skill of their capering and which drew approving comments from many knowledgeable onlookers.
Later, outside the Coach and Horses, four pairs took on Jockey to the Fair, and showed impressive double stepping, half capering and “Skeggies” for the pub patrons. Our second audience participation Shepherds’ Hey also took place, with just as many participants (roughly 40) as for our first outside the Red Lion. People of all ages, including family, friends and brave volunteers, made for a fantastic and inclusive experience for all. We finished for the morning by dancing Brighton Camp with 22 dancers, and then made our way on to The Bell.
In a break from recent tradition we took lunch at The Bell, where our wonderful Landlords, Rhys and Michelle, provided us with a most excellent feast in their beautifully cool and spacious restaurant. In order to thank them for their superb food and ales, we concluded our lunch break with a hearty rendition of “Come Landlord the Flowing Bowl”. This involved all dancers and musicians, with Raf and Donald singing two verses apiece. Rhys and Michelle were delighted to enjoy this tribute to their first rate stewardship of what is the jewel in the crown of the Hook Norton stable.
Their participation didn’t end there though, as they, and members of Sharp & Blunt and one member of Adderbury Morris joined in our traditional Drinking Jig, watched over by the Hook Norton Shire Horses and a huge crowd. The audience cheered and jeered as appropriate, as pairs of drinking dancers tried to outdo each other in downing their libations. For the second year in a row, Michelle out-drank Rhys and one member of our side was beaten by his grandson.
Dancing continued including a third Shepherds’ Hey, with Sharp & Blunt and more audience members joining us. A long line of dancers stretched all the way to the road closure barrier at the end of the street, with everyone dancing foot up, cross over and foot down in near perfect harmony.
The day was coming to a close, and the time for an important tribute had arrived. All sides had been practicing the Adderbury Morris Men’s version of Happy Man, which was to be danced together in honour of Tim Radford and his work with the Morris in Adderbury. Two long sets performed the dance, synchronised together as three teams united for this one special dance, unique to the village of Adderbury.
After many more dances, Adderbury Village Morris Men ended our day by performing one last Brighton Camp, and later a four man Jockey to the Fair. For this final AVMM dance, Chris Leslie joined Donald and once again, it was two of our younger dancers that caught the eye with their competitive capering.
I couldn’t have asked for more from our side who had practised hard since February and who danced fantastically well throughout the day. All members of the side came together and put on an excellent show.
Thank you to our dancers, the musicians, the organising committee, the parish council, the stewards, and the pubs for providing refreshments. The large number of empty casks seen in the garden of The Bell on Sunday suggested that this pub had certainly reaped the rewards of a glorious day.
We appreciate all the support we received on the day and on our social media after the event, and it’s what makes dancing so rewarding. The joy of Morris dancing is a pleasure to share. We have plenty of events coming up, so keep an eye on our Facebook page and website for more photos and reports in the coming weeks!!
Ryan (Squire)
Editor’s note: On behalf of the entire side, I should like to thank Squire Ryan and Bagman John for all they did to prepare us for the Day of Dance. We are looking forward to a busy dancing schedule and thanks are due to John for coordinating this. I should also like to thank those who regularly provide content and photos for our website and FB page, in particular, Donald.