The Old Morris

Dr E C Cawte visited north Herefordshire in May 1957 on a quest to find out more about the morris dancing of what we now know as the Welsh border Morris area. He found a number of elderly individuals who provided information, some of whom had danced in the old sides.

One such person was Tom Poston, who was a member of the Leominster Morris in the early 20th C, and who described a dance to Dr Cawte that more recent members of the side 'interpreted' to make 'Tom Poston's Stick Dance'

Another old morris dancer that Dr Cawte found was E G Jones or Orleton. Our own Terry Tandler, who lives in Orleton, says he used to be known as 'Chicken' Jones.



When Cecil Sharp visited north Herefordshire at Christmas 1909, Ella Mary Leather took him to Orleton on Boxing Day to meet Mr Trill's Brimfield men who were performing at Orleton Manor. She took two photographs on that visit, both of which have now disappeared from the Vaughan Williams Memorial Library. Luckily Dr Cawte photographed these images before they went missing. The resulting prints are not good quality but we must be thankful that we have anything at all.

     

We are grateful to Dr Cawte for his permission to use these photographs on this website