Red faces all round as morrismen entertain with traditional dancing

TRADITIONAL Red Leicester Morrismen painted a village red when they performed a variety of dances on Boxing Day.

Dressed in their tatter-coats and top hats bedecked by pheasant feathers (and maybe with the odd bauble or two), and faces painted red with traditional Leicester sheep raddle (or ram raddle), the group drew crowds to the Griffin Inn, in Swithland.

Their performance, which lasted about an hour, included the Sproxton Wooing Play, in which the bridegroom is killed by the evil Bealzebub, but then resurrected by a quack doctor.

The ancient English tradition of morris dancing goes back centuries, but its origins are shrouded in mystery.

A spokesman for the Red Leicester group admitted: “It’s so old that nobody knows how it started or what it means, though there are plenty of theories.

“Everyone seems to agree that it’s something to do with the cycle of the seasons and making the crops grow.”

The Red Leicester group dance every Wednesday evening from May to September, touring the city and county.

“We dance Cotswold Morris in the summer months, dressed in white clothes with flowers round our straw hats,” said the spokesman.

“In the winter when we perform we are Red Leicester Morris. In this guise, we perform Border Morris, with our faces painted red and wearing tattercoats and top hats decorated with feathers.”

The group will next perform in Birmingham city centre on Saturday, January 11.

■■If anyone wants to give morris dancing a try, new recruits are always welcome. From October to April, the group practises at St Stephen’s Church Hall, New Walk in Leicester.