Morris Dances @ Workingham Festival

This guy looks like he's from "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory". Several theories have been put forward concerning the roots of morris dancing because of the lack of surviving information on the subject. There are a few references from before Tudor times which mention 'morisco' (Moorish) dances being performed at various locations in Europe, especially at European courts. In Tudor times, they seem to have been a common feature of holiday games and sports, the two terms 'morris' and 'morisco' both being used to refer to such activities. They have since been very much associated with seasonal festivities, particularly Mayday and Christmas. This has led some to suggest the dances to be a remnant of early, preChristian religious rites, but any evidence for this is seemingly absent. In addition, during the late 1880s there was a rise in interest in popular antiquities, mainly among the leisured classes. PreChristian pagan religions seemed to hold a popular fascination at the time and many of these amateur historians claimed links between paganism and nearly every surviving 'quaint' tradition, to the near exclusion of other possibilities. Many eminent and respected people also gave credence to this view with the result that, in some quarters, it has remained unchallenged since the turn of the century.At least one alternative explanation is that they were dances invented by the Moors, or by others in order to depict the Moors, brought through Europe to our courts, and that the common people, in trying to emulate the entertainments of the nobility, continued the practice long after the courts had lost interest.It is further confused by the diverse forms of dance and drama which have come down to us with the name of 'morris' in various parts of our country, and by apparently similar forms found in parts of Europe.The sad and rather dull fact is that no-one really knows.