Too true. Morris dancing (and longsword) are both cursed by this. I still know teams that claim on their websites that they are dancing a pre-Christian pagan ritual dance.
All the evidence shows that morris is 600 years old max and that the dance has evolved a lot over that period.
The Cerne Abbas giant may be a product of the English Civil War - one theory has him being made by the Dorset clubmen. He was probably intended to represent Hercules - there are traces of a lion skin or similar hanging from his arm.
Wheras the Uffington white horse is genuinely ancient (I forget which dating system they used, but it was a proper scientific one)
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branchandroot
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Date: 2018-01-24 11:53 am (UTC)All the evidence shows that morris is 600 years old max and that the dance has evolved a lot over that period.
The Cerne Abbas giant may be a product of the English Civil War - one theory has him being made by the Dorset clubmen. He was probably intended to represent Hercules - there are traces of a lion skin or similar hanging from his arm.
Wheras the Uffington white horse is genuinely ancient (I forget which dating system they used, but it was a proper scientific one)