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The ancient English morris dance

Heaney, Michael2023

Book

Total copies: 1

Summary

The idea that morris dancing captures the essence of ancient Englishness, inherently carefree and merry, has been present for over 400 years. This book traces the history of those attitudes, from the dance's introduction to England in the fifteenth century, through the contention of the Reformation and Civil War, during which morris dancing and maypoles became potent symbols of the older ways of living. Thereafter it developed and diversified, neglected and disdained, until antiquaries began to take an interest in its history, leading to its re-invention as emblematic of Victorian concepts of Merrie England in the nineteenth century.